At the “It’s Glowtime” event, Apple announces four new iPhone models like the company usually does annually.
This year, the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max are powered by two new chipsets, A18 and A18 Pro.
The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max feature the A18 Pro chipset, whereas the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are equipped with the A18 chipset.
A18 Pro
The A18 Pro, built on a refined 3nm second-generation process, features a 6-core CPU, with two high-performance cores and four energy-efficient ones.
This design boosts performance by 15% over the A17 Pro while consuming 20% less power. The GPU, with desktop-class architecture, offers 20% better performance and doubles the speed of ray tracing.
The chip supports advanced features like ProMotion displays, Always-on displays, faster USB 3 speeds, and ProRes video recording, thanks to improved memory bandwidth and cache size. A new image processing unit enhances camera and video encoding performance, doubling the speed of the A17 Pro.
For AI tasks, the 16-core NPU handles 35 trillion operations per second, delivering twice the speed and efficiency, with access to 17% more memory bandwidth.
A18
The A18 chip shares many similarities with the A18 Pro, including the same 6-core CPU and the upgraded NPU. It’s 30% faster than the A16 Bionic and uses 30% less power for the same tasks.
The A18 has a 5-core GPU, offering 40% better graphics performance than the A16 Bionic while using 35% less power. However, it lacks the “Advanced media” features like ProMotion displays, Always-on displays, and ProRes video recording, which are exclusive to the Pro version.
iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max
The iPhone 16 Pro boasts a 6.3-inch display and the Pro Max sports a 6.9-inch screen, marking them as the largest displays ever on an iPhone.
Both models use an advanced Ceramic Shield that is claimed to be twice as tough as any other smartphone glass.
A standout feature is the new Camera Control button, which combines tactile feedback with high-precision force and capacitive sensors for touch and slide interactions. It allows users to adjust zoom, exposure, and depth of field, and will soon support a two-stage shutter function.
Later this year, Camera Control will enable “visual intelligence,” allowing users to gather information about places, objects, or animals by holding the button. Developers can also integrate this feature into their apps.
The iPhone 16 Pro introduces a new 48MP Fusion camera with a faster quad-pixel sensor, supporting 4K120fps video recording in Dolby Vision and zero shutter lag for ProRAW and HEIF images.
Both Pro models can capture spatial photos alongside videos, and include four new studio-quality microphones.
Additionally, the iPhone 16 Pro series offers satellite connectivity for sending texts, emojis, and Tapbacks over iMessage and SMS when outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.
The iPhone 16 Pro models boast Grade 5 Titanium bodies and a chassis constructed from 100% recycled aluminum, complemented by an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
In addition to the existing Natural, White, and Black color options, a new Desert Titanium variant is now available.
iPhone 16 and Plus
The iPhone 16 features a 6.1-inch screen, while the iPhone 16 Plus offers a 6.7-inch display. Both models maintain a 60Hz refresh rate and can adjust brightness from 2,000 nits in sunlight to as low as 1 nit in dark environments. They also use the same advanced Ceramic Shield for durability.
The Camera Control button, introduced on the Pro models, is now available on these devices too. The 48MP main camera remains largely unchanged with an f/1.6 26mm lens and 1.0µm pixels, but the new imaging pipeline adds a 24MP intermediate mode, offering better detail than 12MP photos and smaller file sizes than 48MP images.
The phones can record 4K Dolby Vision video at 60fps, and new AI features include wind noise reduction for videos. While there’s no dedicated telephoto lens, a 2x optical-quality zoom is available using the main camera.
The new ultra-wide camera is the same 12MP module found in last year’s Pro models, featuring a 13mm lens, autofocus, macro mode, and an f/2.2 aperture that captures 2.6x more light for better night shots.
Both models support Spatial Videos and Photos for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Additionally, they now include the Action Button, which first appeared on the iPhone 15 Pro series.
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus frames are made from aerospace-grade aluminium, with 85% recycled materials. The back glass is colour-infused, offering vibrant options like Ultramarine, Teal, Pink, along with classic White and Black.
Apple Intelligence and iOS18
All iPhone 16 models will come with iOS18 pre-installed, and the update is scheduled to roll out to all supported iPhones on 16 September 2024.
Apple Intelligence is introducing a range of AI-driven features aimed at enhancing productivity and personalisation. Key features include:
- Writing Tools for improved text generation.
- Movie creation in the Photos app based on descriptions from the Memories feature.
- Natural language search for locating specific photos and moments in videos.
- Clean Up for removing unwanted people or objects from photos.
- Audio recording, transcribing, and summarising within the Notes and Phone apps.
- Summarised notifications, Priority Messages in Mail, and Smart Reply in emails.
- A redesigned Siri that supports typed commands, offers more natural interactions, and answers thousands of questions about Apple device settings and features.
Later in the year, additional features will be rolled out, including:
- Image Playground to generate images and emojis.
- Image Wand, which creates images from sketches.
- Siri will deliver personalised intelligence based on your context, have onscreen awareness, and perform new actions across Apple and third-party apps.
- ChatGPT integration is also expected as part of this update.
Apple Intelligence will not be included in iOS 18. Instead, the initial set of features is scheduled to be released with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 in October.
Initially, these features will be available exclusively in US English. However, a planned expansion in December is set to extend support to localised English versions in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK. Support for Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish languages is expected to follow next year.
Pricing and Availability
Malaysians can start pre-ordering iPhone 16, 16 Plus, Pro, and Pro Max starting at 5am PDT (8pm Malaysian time) this Friday, 13 September, with availability beginning Friday, 20 September.
iPhone 16
- 128GB – RM3,999
- 256GB – RM4,499
- 512GB – RM5,499
iPhone 16 Plus
- 128GB – RM4,499
- 256GB – RM4,999
- 512GB – RM5,999
iPhone 16 Pro
- 128GB – RM4,999
- 256GB – RM5,499
- 512GB – RM6,499
- 1TB – RM7,499
iPhone 16 Pro Max
- 256GB – RM5,999
- 512GB – RM6,999
- 1TB – RM7,999