Early reviews of the new iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have arrived ahead of their official release on September 20, 2024.
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available in black titanium, natural titanium, white titanium, and desert titanium, in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities. iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 (U.S.) or $41.62 (U.S.) per month, and iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 (U.S.) or $49.95 (U.S.) per month.
You can learn more about the iPhone 16 Pro here:
● Apple Debuts New iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
Check out our review roundup below!
CNET
The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max have everything we've come to expect in a year-over-year upgrade. Even without Apple Intelligence, the 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Pro and 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max have a slew of upgrades including a good battery life, outstanding photo and video chops and iOS 18. And the negatives are as thin as the borders around the larger screens: You only get 128GB of storage for a grand, plus drab color options and a new camera button that might get accidentally tapped. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are excellent phones worthy of a spot in your pocket -- if you can afford them.
Engadget
The iPhone 16 Pro's subpar battery life holds it back from beating the competition, which is stiffer than ever this year, especially from Google. Luckily for Apple, most people who have iPhones are going to stick with iPhones — it's just easier. For those already sucked into the ecosystem, the iPhone 16 Pro (and particularly the Pro Max) are worth the upgrade from a model that's at least two years old. If you already have an iPhone 15 Pro (or even a 14 Pro), for the sake of our planet and your wallet, you might prefer to hold off on upgrading, especially since this year's devices aren't that much different.
The Verge
A lot of people have asked us if the extra money for the Pro phone is worth it this year, since the spec sheet of the iPhone 16 appears to be very close to the Pro. We've got a full review of the regular iPhone 16 here, but my short answer is that the Pro camera is meaningfully better, and that Apple shipping a 60Hz screen in 2024 is just silly, so I'm a Pro phone person all the way. It really does feel like Apple intended to ship these things with Apple Intelligence, but it's simply not here yet, and the complete feature set Apple's announced with things like image generation and ChatGPT integration won't be here until next year. And if you're in the EU or China, you might be waiting for quite a while, as Apple navigates various regulatory hurdles in those regions to even launch this stuff at all. That's not to say the iPhone 16 Pro is a bad phone — it's a great phone, with some fascinating ideas about smartphone photography embedded in it. But it's also clearly unfinished, and I think it's worth waiting to see if Apple Intelligence can complete some of these thoughts before spending the money on an upgrade.
PetaPixel
After a week of testing, Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake present their full review of the new Apple iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max! Take a look at the photo and video quality, find out if the Camera Control button is a gimmick, and gaze in awe at some glorious 4K/120p slow motion!
Wired
Overall, I had a fairly enjoyable time with the Pro iPhones this year. I've switched over to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus next for testing, but one thing I want to note so far is that the differences aren't that great between the Pro iPhones and the non-Pro models this time around. The biggest one to me is the lack of a 120-Hz screen refresh rate on the iPhone 16, but outside of this, it's a very similar experience, especially since most people aren't utilizing the "Pro" features like recording video in ProRes codec. Dare I say the iPhone 16 also just looks better? The Apple Intelligence capabilities are promising, even if some of it feels like Apple playing catch-up. The marketing sure feels overhyped. But the rest of the iPhone 16 Pro's hardware is polished and powerful too. (More buttons!) I only wish Apple would copy more of Google's call screening features because one thing's for sure: since I switched to these iPhones from the Pixel 9 series I recently reviewed, the spam calls will not stop.
CNBC
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is a solid upgrade, but you'll probably find the biggest changes if you're coming from an iPhone 14 Pro Max or earlier. The biggest improvements over last year's phone are the added camera button, a faster chip, new cameras and a slightly larger display. When it comes to Apple Intelligence, we'll all have to wait for features like using Siri to ask about prior calendar events, questions that require personal context, using Siri to control your apps, or Apple's integration with ChatGPT. So if you're buying now, it's for everything but the AI.
Brian Tong
There's so much chatter about how 'boring' the iPhone 16 Pro & Pro Max are but Apple just doubled down on the future of content creation. I'll show you everything new it can do, and just because this phone is made for a creator, doesn't mean it's made for you. But it's improved battery life and improved cameras are made for EVERYONE.
Marques Brownlee
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available in black titanium, natural titanium, white titanium, and desert titanium, in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities. iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 (U.S.) or $41.62 (U.S.) per month, and iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 (U.S.) or $49.95 (U.S.) per month.
You can learn more about the iPhone 16 Pro here:
● Apple Debuts New iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
Check out our review roundup below!
CNET
The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max have everything we've come to expect in a year-over-year upgrade. Even without Apple Intelligence, the 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Pro and 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max have a slew of upgrades including a good battery life, outstanding photo and video chops and iOS 18. And the negatives are as thin as the borders around the larger screens: You only get 128GB of storage for a grand, plus drab color options and a new camera button that might get accidentally tapped. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are excellent phones worthy of a spot in your pocket -- if you can afford them.
Engadget
The iPhone 16 Pro's subpar battery life holds it back from beating the competition, which is stiffer than ever this year, especially from Google. Luckily for Apple, most people who have iPhones are going to stick with iPhones — it's just easier. For those already sucked into the ecosystem, the iPhone 16 Pro (and particularly the Pro Max) are worth the upgrade from a model that's at least two years old. If you already have an iPhone 15 Pro (or even a 14 Pro), for the sake of our planet and your wallet, you might prefer to hold off on upgrading, especially since this year's devices aren't that much different.
The Verge
A lot of people have asked us if the extra money for the Pro phone is worth it this year, since the spec sheet of the iPhone 16 appears to be very close to the Pro. We've got a full review of the regular iPhone 16 here, but my short answer is that the Pro camera is meaningfully better, and that Apple shipping a 60Hz screen in 2024 is just silly, so I'm a Pro phone person all the way. It really does feel like Apple intended to ship these things with Apple Intelligence, but it's simply not here yet, and the complete feature set Apple's announced with things like image generation and ChatGPT integration won't be here until next year. And if you're in the EU or China, you might be waiting for quite a while, as Apple navigates various regulatory hurdles in those regions to even launch this stuff at all. That's not to say the iPhone 16 Pro is a bad phone — it's a great phone, with some fascinating ideas about smartphone photography embedded in it. But it's also clearly unfinished, and I think it's worth waiting to see if Apple Intelligence can complete some of these thoughts before spending the money on an upgrade.
PetaPixel
After a week of testing, Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake present their full review of the new Apple iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max! Take a look at the photo and video quality, find out if the Camera Control button is a gimmick, and gaze in awe at some glorious 4K/120p slow motion!
Wired
Overall, I had a fairly enjoyable time with the Pro iPhones this year. I've switched over to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus next for testing, but one thing I want to note so far is that the differences aren't that great between the Pro iPhones and the non-Pro models this time around. The biggest one to me is the lack of a 120-Hz screen refresh rate on the iPhone 16, but outside of this, it's a very similar experience, especially since most people aren't utilizing the "Pro" features like recording video in ProRes codec. Dare I say the iPhone 16 also just looks better? The Apple Intelligence capabilities are promising, even if some of it feels like Apple playing catch-up. The marketing sure feels overhyped. But the rest of the iPhone 16 Pro's hardware is polished and powerful too. (More buttons!) I only wish Apple would copy more of Google's call screening features because one thing's for sure: since I switched to these iPhones from the Pixel 9 series I recently reviewed, the spam calls will not stop.
CNBC
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is a solid upgrade, but you'll probably find the biggest changes if you're coming from an iPhone 14 Pro Max or earlier. The biggest improvements over last year's phone are the added camera button, a faster chip, new cameras and a slightly larger display. When it comes to Apple Intelligence, we'll all have to wait for features like using Siri to ask about prior calendar events, questions that require personal context, using Siri to control your apps, or Apple's integration with ChatGPT. So if you're buying now, it's for everything but the AI.
Brian Tong
There's so much chatter about how 'boring' the iPhone 16 Pro & Pro Max are but Apple just doubled down on the future of content creation. I'll show you everything new it can do, and just because this phone is made for a creator, doesn't mean it's made for you. But it's improved battery life and improved cameras are made for EVERYONE.
Marques Brownlee