iPhone 16 and 16 Pro: you had questions, we have hands-on answers

iPhone 16 and 16 Pro Q&A

This week, Apple announced its new lineup of iPhones with the 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max. The phones feature a smattering of new camera tech, along with a new button to control it all.

When we asked on Instagram if people had any questions about the new phones, there was a flood of responses. Thankfully, Gear Patrol‘s Tucker Bowe was on the scene in Cupertino, and has been able to gather some hands-on impressions, which should help us provide some answers.

Does the camera button actually improve the photo taking experience?

With the new iPhones, Apple introduced its ‘Camera Control’ button, which you can press to launch the camera. Once in the camera app, you can press the button to take a picture, and swipe across it to adjust parameters like zoom, which lens you’re using, photographic style, and more. The button also features haptic feedback, and Apple says Pro phone users will be able to half press it to lock exposure and focus in the future, similar to how the shutter button on most dedicated cameras work.

With that said, we’ll have to do further testing further to determine whether it actually makes much of a difference it’ll make in the real world. In theory it should, but we’ll see.

Aside from battery is there any difference between the 16 Pro and the 16 Pro Max?

Last year, the 5x pentaprism lens was exclusive to the larger of the pro phones. This year, however, Apple has brought it down to the regular Pro as well, which means the cameras on them appear to be identical.

Obviously, the Pro Max has a larger body and screen, but from a photography perspective there’s no pressing reason to go with the Max if you prefer a smaller phone.

Do the new iPhones feel a lot bigger in the hands? Can you feel the difference from the 15 Pro Max?

The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max feature larger screens than their predecessors, which comes with larger and heavier bodies.

Tucker, who has handled the phones, said: To be honest, all iPhones are pretty big these days. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are basically the exact same size as their iPhone 15 counterparts. But both Pros do have slightly bigger screens than last year’s models. It’s not a night-and-day difference, but when you hold an iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro (or 15 Pro Max and 16 Pro Max) side by side, you can definitely see the difference.

Does it have manual camera controls?

In short, no, not really. You can manually control “depth” (i.e., F-stop) using the Camera Control button, but if you want to adjust shutter speed and ISO you’ll need to download a third-party app. The camera app does include a few new tricks, though, such as the ability to adjust the playback speed of slow-motion footage.

Has the macro lens’ focusing improved?

Apple has upgraded the sensor for the iPhone 16 Pro’s ultrawide camera, which is the one used for macro. However, the company didn’t mention any improved autofocus performance with the resolution.

The focusing should be much improved on the regular iPhone 16 versus the 15, as the ultrawide camera now supports autofocus, in addition to having a faster aperture. The camera also appears to have a larger sensor, though we’ll likely need to get a bit more information before we can confirm its actual size.

Finally…

iPhone 16 Pro versus Pixel 9 Pro?

Stay tuned…