Apple today announced the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, which Apple said “is built from the ground up” for Apple Intelligence.
The iPhone 16 features a new capacitive button on the side of the device to make it easier to capture photos and videos; Apple calls this the ‘Camera Control’. The action button, previously exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro, is also included on iPhone 16, replacing the mute switch.
Apple said iPhone 16 includes Apple’s hardest strength glass, protecting the display from scratches. iPhone 16 features a 6.1-inch screen size, and the iPhone 16 Plus has a 6.7-inch display.
The new Camera Control button is touch-sensitive. You can press the Camera Control to snap a photo, or slide your finger along the Camera Control to adjust zoom level. Apple is also launching new visual artificial intelligence features that can be quickly accessed through the Camera Control.
Inside camera apps, the Camera Control includes special UI to house various actions relating to the viewfinder. The rest of the chrome on the display fades away:
Photos taken by iPhone 16 are also improved, thanks to upgraded camera lenses including a new 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera. The iPhone 16 can also capture 3D videos and photos to make spatial videos and photos to be viewed on Apple Vision Pro.
The Action button on iPhone 16 brings the previous Pro-exclusive feature to the base model iPhones for the first time. Positioned where the ring/mute switch used to be, the action button can be configured by the user to perform a variety of actions.
The iPhone 16 is powered by the A18 chip, which is up to 30% faster than the iPhone 15 with its A16 Bionic innards. With iPhone 16, Apple is aggressively promoting Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI features that run on device thanks to the A18 chip, and in the cloud using Apple’s Private Cloud Compute infrastructure.
For improved sustained performance, iPhone 16 internals have also been redesigned with a new logic board design that is more thermally efficient.
Apple also promised longer battery life for users, thanks to the efficiency gains of the chip and a larger internal battery. However, they did not disclose specific numbers to support this claim during the presentation.
Apple Intelligence features will be rolling out gradually over time, including new Genmoji and Image Playgrounds image generation functionality, automatic notification priority and next-generation smarts for Siri. Apple also announced expanded language support for Apple Intelligence, starting with U.S. English, more English dialects in December, and more languages next year.
iPhone 16 and 16 Plus start at the same $799 and $899 price points, with 128 GB storage as standard. You can order iPhone 16 beginning this Friday, and officially go on sale on September 20.
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