Two weeks with iPhone 16 Pro: My biggest takeaways

Apple's annual iPhone upgrade was released at the Glow Time event earlier this month, ending all the speculations and rumours about the new iPhones. With the iPhone 16 series, the tech giant keeps up the momentum as fans flocked to pick their favourite of the iPhone 16-quad on day one. Each year, Apple delivers something new, and this year is no different. Pushing the limits on the camera front, refining the design, and offering some breakthrough features, Apple hopes to retain the throne of flagship supremacy.

Here we have the iPhone 16 Pro in Black Titanium for review, which brings subtle yet significant design and performance upgrades to make it a formidable contender in the premium smartphone market. Here are our thoughts on the iPhone 16 Pro after two weeks.

But first, here's a glance at the key specs of iPhone 16 Pro:

Display: 6.3" SuperRetina XDR, OLED with 2622x1206 pixel resolution at 460 ppi
CPU: A18 Pro
Camera: 48MP Fusion (24 mm, ƒ/1.78 aperture) + 48MP Ultra Wide (13 mm, ƒ/2.2 aperture, 120° field of view) + 12MP 5x Telephoto (120 mm, ƒ/2.8 aperture)
TrueDepth camera: 12MP ƒ/1.9 aperture
Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Add-ons: Camera Control, Dynamic Island, IP68, Four studio-quality mics, Audio Mix
Weight: 199grams
OS: iOS18
Colours: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, Desert Titanium
Price: Starting at Rs 1,19,900.

Refined Design and Display

At first glance, the design of the iPhone 16 Pro may seem familiar, but there's more beneath the surface. Apple has further trimmed the bezels incredibly, giving the device an almost all-screen look, with the enhanced display protected by Ceramic Shield. The display itself is a stunner, with a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, ensuring visibility in the brightest outdoor conditions. The Always-On Display (AoD) and Dynamic Island, ProMotion technology with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, Wide colour (P3), oleophobic coating and the whole lot make a natural return.

The display is incredible for multimedia content consumption, gaming or just mindless social media scrolling. And the design is familiar, with the addition of the Camera Control button on the right and a whole lot of recycled material, like 100% recycled aluminium in the internal structural frame, 100% recycled cobalt in the battery and such. The iPhone 16 Pro weighs 199 grams, slightly heavier than iPhone 15 Pro at 187 grams. Apple still managed to keep it under 200 grams, so it's great.

Ensuring durability, the iPhone 16 Pro gets IP68 certification for dust and water protection, so you can dip the phone in up to 6 meters for up to 30 minutes without worry. Just make sure the phone's battery is not low as you won't be able to charge it via Type-C for some time.

iPhone 16 Pro's camera lenses on the back of the iPhone look a lot like the iPhone 15 Pro, which looked like the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro. Frankly, I got no problem with it. Hide the rest of the phone and just these camera lenses will tell if you have an iPhone Pro or the vanilla iPhone. Over the years, the sensors have gotten bigger so when you place the iPhone 16 Pro on the table, it does not sit flat—a slight inconvenience for those who type with the phone on the table top. That's nothing a case cannot fix and the Apple Silicone case with FineWoven wallet that Apple sent to us makes that tickatitock sound disappear.

But if you ask us, Apple continues the "why fix something that's not broken" philosophy. And that works, if you're not one to flaunt, you've just got the new iPhone.

Cameras

iPhone 16 Pro boasts a 48MP Fusion main camera, a 48MP ultra-wide lens, and a 5x telephoto lens, all backed by Apple's quad-pixel sensor technology. There's an upgrade here and content creators are going to love it.

The iPhone 16 Pro now features an upgraded 48MP Ultra Wide camera while carrying forward the same 12MP telephoto and main camera lens. But unlike last year, the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max get the same camera setup, offering up to 5x optical zoom options. Another big upgrade comes for macro photography, which is now supported on the ultra-wide lens, and allows 48MP captures. Macro shots are going to be as detailed as ever, and some early samples prove the upgrade is worth it. Speaking of changes, Apple has refined its Photographic Styles feature with more customization options.

Having shot a few samples with the iPhone 16 Pro, the photos appear more detailed, even compared to its predecessor. But it's all in the details and it surely makes a difference.

Here are a few camera samples, but there are more to come:

However, my interest peaked when I took the iPhone 16 Pro for video recording test. Things have improved, making this the ideal phone choice for content creators.

For starters, the iPhone 16 Pro offers 4K resolution at 120fps. There's a new Spatial Audio capture, which uses four studio-quality microphones to add immersive audio to match the visuals. With the new Audio Mix feature, we could easily choose from four profiles: In-Frame, Studio (removes reverb), Cinematic, and Standard, and shoot with ease even without a mic add-on. This really changes the game as it is an exclusive feature, at least for now. But boy, does it work great. I'm thoroughly impressed by how well it works.

Camera Control

One of the new features of the iPhone 16 lineup is the Camera Control button. It is placed on the lower right side of both the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. This button offers a quick and intuitive way to launch and control the camera.

You can open the Camera app with a single press, and double-tap and slide gestures bring up options for exposure, depth, zoom, and more. It gives more control without needing to swipe through the screen. The idea is to make users like they're shooting with a traditional point-and-shoot camera. But it's an iPhone. And there's a lot of muscle memory associated with shooting with a phone. And this new button defies it all.

Having used this feature surely simplifies taking photos and videos, but the option to adjust settings like zoom or exposure without losing your focus or grip on the phone is what impressed me. Sure, the Camera Control button definitely has its moment in the sun, but it's not that one feature that'll make you want to upgrade.

Performance

Each year, the new iPhone gets a new SiP and this year, the iPhone 16 Pro gets the latest A18 Pro System in Package (SiP) that packs a 6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores, a 6-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. With this, the iPhone 16 Pro handles everything from AAA games to daily multitasking with ease. But there's improvement in power management, which extends the battery life as well.

Having used the iPhone 16 Pro for a week now, it is clear that the new chip is capable of delivering optimum performance. But there's no stark difference between the current-gen and the predecessor, except for the time when I'm gaming and the heat is managed remarkably well. So the new chip surely packs more power to keep things cool even during demanding tasks.

Battery

The iPhone 16 Pro has gotten slightly taller, wider and heavier compared to its predecessor. But that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for a longer battery life. And that's exactly the case. I'm able to get past a whole day comfortably and while testing the phone for camera and performance, the battery ran out sooner.

Clearly, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the better choice if you want better battery life, but the iPhone 16 Pro manages around six-and-a-half-hour screen-on time with a whole day runtime. It let me stick to my usual charging cycles without giving me any battery anxiety. I'm still in the early stages of battery testing here, so stay tuned.

Improvements come at the charging front, a welcoming decision. The iPhone 16 Pro can be wirelessly charged with a 25W MagSafe charger, which means you can get around 50% charge in about 30 minutes - the same as you would with USB-C wired charging. And no, there's no power brick in the box, but you get a braided cable if your old one has worn out.

Our say in the matter

Yes, the iPhone 16 Pro is an impressive upgrade, but for users seeking enhanced camera capabilities. Its design may feel familiar, but subtle improvements in the display and durability keep things fresh. The addition of new features like the Camera Control button is something of a novelty and as we get used to this style of shooting, will know its utility. But the accuracy with which the Camera Control button functions is great.

No doubt, the iPhone 16 Pro is a performance-oriented flagship. While the differences from its predecessor might not be stark in day-to-day usage, the cooling system's effectiveness during intensive tasks is noteworthy. And the faster charging on wireless is surely welcomed here.

Overall, the iPhone 16 Pro continues to impress on certain aspects, which will be appealing to those who have been holding off on the upgrade for about 2-3 generations. For content creators, there's surely some merit here. But my only (and the biggest) disappointment is that the Apple Intelligence, which was supposed to be the highlight of the iPhone 16 Series is missing.