iPhone 16: A Quick Look!

Generally, of the new iPhones, it is usually the plain, suffix-less one that gets the least attention. It has also of late been getting the most hand-me-down upgrades from its Pro siblings. But this year Apple actually decided to give the plain Jane of the iPhones some design and tech love, bringing to it some very distinct upgrades, getting it the rightful attention it deserves.

Apart from bringing the iPhone 16 in some really eye-catching colours (ultramarine blue being the most unique), Apple also added a design element that helped the new iPhone stand out - it re-jigged the camera unit on the back of the iPhone 16 and placed the two camera sensors one below the other in a capsule shaped camera unit in a shade which is darker than the rest of the back of the phone. There is no way in which it can be mistaken for its predecessors which came with diagonally placed cameras in a square shaped camera unit, which was the same shade as the back. The iPhone 16 is going to be easily recognisable even if you place a cover on it!

While the face of the phone is quite similar to the previous years iPhone– the tall 6.1 inch OLED display on the front with Dynamic Island and thin bezels (and STILL a 60 Hz refresh rate), the sides have changed. Apple has added the Action button which we saw on the 15 Pro models to the iPhone 16. And in a pleasant surprise, you also get the much talked about new Camera Control button. This comes as a breath of fresh air considering we were not really seeing brand new features come to the Pro-less iPhone for the past few years.

This year around (after two years), Apple has also bumped up the base iPhone to the same processor line as the Pro ones. While the Pro models come with their own Pro version of it, the iPhone 16 also comes with A18 processor, which Apple claims would help the phone deal with even the most power hungry gaming titles with ease. It also means that the iPhone 16 will get Apple Intelligence (Apple's take on AI without changing its initials) in the coming days!

The iPhone 16's cameras come with the same megapixel count as that on the iPhone 15. The dual camera set up on the back comprises a 48 main sensor and 12 megapixel ultrawide one, while there is a 12 megapixel sensor on the front but there are improvements here as well. The secondary 12 megapixel ultrawide sensor on the back now has autofocus which allows macro photography on a non-pro iPhone now. The phone also gets new features like Spatial video, Noise reduction and Audio Mix. Of course, great photography and videos are on the menu!

Apple has also improved the battery of the new iPhone by two hours and while it comes with the same USB Type C port as last year, you get faster wireless charging (almost as fast as wired)-- the phone can get up to 50 per cent in half an hour both wired and wirelessly. The only catch here is that you would need a 20W adapter for wired and a MagSafe charger attached to a 30W adapter to get that speedy wireless charging.