For the past several iPhone generations, I’ve owned a Pro model. First it was the size—I bought an iPhone 13 Pro Max before the Plus phone was a thing—but it’s other features as well: the ProMotion display, 5X telephoto camera, A17 Pro chip, Dynamic Island, and so on. I’ve never really considered not getting a Pro model… until this year.
For the first time since the iPhone 12, I’m getting a “standard” iPhone this year, the iPhone 16 Plus. There’s a variety of reasons, which I’ll explain below, but the main factor in my decision is that the Pro features are higher-end than I need. The biggest exclusive new features this year are Dolby Vision up to 4K at 120 fps and slightly larger screens, neither of which makes the higher-end iPhones a must-have, at least for me.
Of course, it’ll be a downgrade in some areas, mainly the display. While the iPhone 16 Plus is the same size as the iPhone 15 Pro Max it’ll be replacing, I’m giving up ProMotion and the always-on display. To prepare myself, I turned off always-on and limited the display to 60Hz (Settings>Accessibility>Motion>Limit Frame Rate) and it hasn’t been as bad as I thought. After a day or so, I barely noticed.
Otherwise, most of the new features are available on the standard models, including Camera Control and the new Photographic Styles. And compared to previous years, the Pro and regular models aren’t all that different:
Processor: After a generation gap on the iPhone 15 and 14 models, the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models each have an A18 chip. The main difference is an extra GPU core on the A18 Pro, but most users are very unlikely to notice.
Camera: There still isn’t a telephoto lens on the standard models, but the hardware gets an upgrade to a 48MP Fusion camera, along with numerous new features, including spatial photos and videos, and the latest Photographic Styles. But the biggest upgrade to the standard phones is Apple’s excellent macro mode, which has been a Pro exclusive for years.
Display: The Pro models get ever so slightly larger displays and still have ProMotion 120Hz displays as an exclusive feature for the high-end phones. As I said above, adaptive refresh is nice but Apple’s 60Hz screens are still quite good. And all phones get the one new feature this year: brightness that goes all the way down to 1 nit.
Design: Once again, the iPhone 16 Pro models are made of titanium versus the aluminum on the standard models. (Though the Plus models are still slightly heavier than their standard counterparts.) The designs are very similar to last year’s model as well, but the standard models get a much smaller and svelter camera array.
Colors: The Pro colors are once again very drab and dull while the standard models get much brighter hues. I ordered teal, and after using Natural Titanium for the last 12 months I’m looking forward to some color.
Otherwise, the phones are essentially the same: 5G, faster MagSafe charging, and of course, Apple Intelligence. Apple has significantly diminished the gap between the standard and Pro phones this year, and while I’m going to miss some Pro features, the iPhone 16 Plus has nearly everything I need. So I’m going to try out the standard iPhone for a year. And save a few hundred bucks in the process.