On paper, the gap between the iPhone and iPhone Pro this year looks smaller than ever. My daily driver for the past 12 months has been an iPhone 15 Pro Max, but I’ve been comparing an iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro Max for a few weeks now. The results are interesting.
So let’s dive in to discover what I found and whether you should go Pro for extra dough.
The iPhone Pro never gets to look this sharp.
Design and color: looks matter
All new iPhones retain the familiar iPhone shape. The Pro models have a titanium frame, which Apple argues is more durable than the aluminum on the standard iPhones. However, let’s be real: they all take damage. So probably get a case.
But if you go ‘caseless’, color matters. And this year, the iPhones come in gorgeous ultramarine (blue) and pink versions. By contrast, the Pros are muted with a whiff of bling. For me, the standard iPhone’s the clear winner.
As for size and weight, they’re similar. The standard iPhone is marginally thinner, but not to the degree you’d care. It is lighter, though – to the extent the iPhone 16 Plus weighs the same as the smaller iPhone 16 Pro. That’s something I did notice.
Cameras: more megapixels, more features
All new iPhones get the new Camera Control button. And both models have a 48MP main camera, but the Pro’s is faster and technically superior. That said, I struggled to tell the difference between shots captured on each. And although the ultra-wide camera on the Pro captures more pixels – which is handy if you need to zoom or crop – I found the macro mode was more responsive on the standard iPhone. Also, when viewing macro photos on a 24in iMac, I found my preferences were split evenly between the two phones.
Where you will notice a big difference is in the 5x telephoto lens, which is only on the Pro. If you like to get close to your subjects, it’s superb, and I deeply miss it when using the standard iPhone. I’m less fussed about new video functionality. The Pro has superior mics and can capture 120fps 4K for fancy slow-motion effects. But you’ll likely not miss that if you buy a standard iPhone.
Macro on the iPhone 16 (left) and iPhone 16 Pro (right). The latter has more pixels. Both look great.
Display: smooth or… not so smooth
The Pro models have a clear advantage with a 120Hz ProMotion display that’s smoother and more responsive than the 60Hz display on the standard iPhone. And I found that after using a 120Hz display for years, it’s hard to go back. Everything feels a bit juddery, notably when scrolling in Safari or social media apps. Also, Android devices at this price long ago moved beyond 60Hz screens, so this is the one area that reeks of upsell.
The standard iPhone also lacks the Pro’s always-on display abilities. You might think that a boon, because it means an idle iPhone’s display is always off. But I’ve increasingly been using StandBy widgets and the StandBy clock and photos when my iPhone’s on a desk charger. I miss them when they’re not there.
Performance: closing the gap
In the iPhone XS/XR days, all new iPhones had the same chip. That changed in 2022 with the iPhone 14 lagging an entire generation behind the Pro, with its A15 vs. an A16. Apple tried to claim the iPhone 14 had nonetheless received an upgrade over the iPhone 13, despite the chip having the same name. Any gains were marginal.
This year, Apple wants all its new iPhones to be ready for Apple Intelligence, which has huge RAM demands. This means they all get an A18 chip of some kind, with the Pros getting an A18 Pro. The difference? A touch more graphics grunt for high-end games. For everything else, the differences are negligible.
Wishing the standard iPhone would get a telephoto too…
Other observations
Battery life is superior on the Pro models. Apple reckons you get up to 33 hours vs. 27 on the larger iPhones for video playback and 27 vs. 22 on the smaller ones. What you’ll get day to day depends on how you use your iPhone, but the Pro’s likely to last longer before needing a charge.
USB-C ports are not created equal. The Pro’s USB 3 speeds are much faster than the standard iPhone’s USB 2. But that will only matter if you regularly use a wired connection to shift loads of data.
Pricing is $200/£200 more for an iPhone Pro over the equivalent iPhone . (The cheapest iPhone 16 Pro Max is $300/£300 more than the cheapest iPhone 16 Plus, but only because there’s no 128GB Pro Max. However, I’d advise against buying an iPhone with 128GB storage these days.)
Verdict: iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro Max
This year’s standard iPhone is closer to the iPhone Pro than it’s been in years. In some ways, it’s even superior, with vibrant colors and less heft. The two things that give me pause are the display and the camera.
I use the 5x zoom all the time, and miss the smoothness of the 120Hz ProMotion display when using the iPhone 16 Plus. However, for everything else that matters, the standard iPhone doesn’t feel like a lesser iPhone. I’d happily use an iPhone 16 for years, but… would probably pay the extra and go Pro due to the things I’d miss.
So which should you buy? That depends on your priorities and budget. But I reckon if, unlike me, you don’t care about a telephoto lens or a 120Hz display, the standard iPhone looks good this year – especially in that snazzy pink or blue.