iPhone 16 and 16 Pro hands-on: Camera Control for everyone

Apple has shown off its latest and greatest iPhones, and the new hardware combined with iOS 18 promises to deliver an incredible host of new camera features that set an exciting baseline for the iPhone platform to launch even further into the pro camera space. Beyond that, other improvements across all phones bring better performance, AI, extended battery life and sharper colours to the iPhone lineup in 2024.

I’m currently split between what excites me the most. On the one hand, the new camera features seem incredibly cool and offer a tremendous amount of depth compared to any iPhone camera system before it. With the new Photographic Styles pipeline, you can tweak and edit your photos with a degree of control that’s bound to excite photographers. Plus, the video improvements in the audio and slow-motion departments promise to be incredibly handy. However, these changes have a steeper learning curve than before, so I expect it will take users some dedicated time to get the most out of the iPhone 16 series cameras.

On the other hand, improvements in durability, battery life, and the addition of Apple Intelligence are things people will use every day, and they should make the iPhone experience significantly better compared to older models.

And then, contrary to all that, the new custom emojis (Genmoji) you can create using AI are gathering the most traction on the MobileSyrup Instagram account, so what do I know…

What impressed me the most

The most exciting feature on the show floor was the camera control (button), but after spending some time testing out the phones, the most shocking thing was the new Audio Mix feature for video. It just seemed to work super well, and the interface in the camera app is well-designed.

Apple has boosted all four microphones to what it’s calling Studio Quality this year on all iPhone 16 models so they can record in Spatial Audio. This gives the phones lots of audio data to play with, which can then isolate voices or sounds to give people more control over the audio in their videos. The first mode, called ‘In Frame,’ cuts out all the surround sound and focuses on what’s in front of the camera. The second is called ‘Studio.’ It adds more audio processing to all voices to make them sound like they were recorded with a studio microphone and cuts out some of the background sounds. The final option is called ‘Cinematic.’ It boosts vocals naturally while lowering other sounds so they fade into the background, as you’d expect in a movie scene. In my demo, this worked incredibly well and also cut out tons of reverb and echo, really making the audio of the iPhone video pop.

Another feature with a lot more depth than I initially expected was the new Photographic Styles pipeline. Now, when you choose a photographic style, you’re no longer locked into that look for life, and you can edit the photos using other styles in post, and then re-edit after that if you want to change it up months, or years, down the line. Beyond that, the new styles are split into two groups. One is to help users take shots with different undertones to help make sure everyone can take photos with skin tones that look how they want them. The others are more stylish and include more film-inspired looks and things like black and white. To take this further, you can open up a new control pad that lets you dial in your creative choices with even more robust controls.

While this might not sound like something everyone will use, the amount of added control this brings to the camera experience is phenomenal, and some of the photo examples I’ve seen look incredibly fun. As a photographer and a phone nerd, I’m super excited to see how this all comes together, and I think it will make this the most fun iPhone camera ever, especially when combined with Camera Control and the new 48-megapixel wide-angle lens on the 16 Pro series.

Camera Control

To make shooting photos even more effortless, Apple has added a new button/trackpad-like control on the lower right side of the phone called Camera Control. This lets you open the camera very quickly, and once you’re in the camera, it can be used for functionality like zooming, changing the cinematic mode blur, choosing a photographic style, or adjusting exposure.

There is a bit of a learning curve to getting used to its controls, but it works well, and I think once people get used to it, it will make taking photos on an iPhone much more efficient. You can also hold down on the button, and the camera will automatically start taking a video.

Apple is also working on using Camera Control to lock focus on a subject so that the camera can be moved around without losing focus. Third-party camera apps like Snapchat and Kino can also use this new interface to add new features to their apps. Snapchat, for instance, lets you swipe on the button to choose who you will send your snap to. This new control method is only used for camera apps, so while it may be in the perfect place to be a shoulder button for shooting games, developers are only allowed to use it for camera-related functions or apps.

Next year, when Apple rolls out its Google Lens-like feature called ‘Visual Intelligence,’ it will also be quickly accessible via the Camera Control switch.

Overall, this new control method is cool, and the number of interactions you can do with a single button is exciting. It registers swipes of varying speeds, long presses, short presses and half presses, making it feel quite tactile when you’re using it.

Redesigned internals

Both the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro Series have been tweaked to allow for a larger battery inside, which should result in all the new phones lasting longer than any other iPhone in the past. The iPhone 16 Plus and Pro Max appear like they are going to be battery champions this year, so if you are always running low on juice, one of those models should help a lot.

Alongside the larger battery, Apple has added some nice repairability options to the phones, including more visible internals to make repairs easier. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus specifically have a new battery bonding method which can be zapped with a small amount of electricity to make the battery pop out easier than prying it out if it was stuck with a traditional adhesive.

Apple has also added more powerful chips to both phones and better thermal management to help them stay cool during high-intensity workloads. The new thermal management should help reduce internal temps by 20 percent, which will help with gaming and AI tasks. However, I also expect it to help with wireless charging, which can generate a decent amount of heat. Speaking of wireless charging, Apple has a new MagSafe puck on sale this year that can fast charge the latest iPhones up to 25 watts, which puts the wireless charging in line with fast wired charging. 

The new chips have also aligned more with Apple’s larger phone strategy this year, allowing both phones to play AAA games and use AI. The Pro models will still offer more power, so you can play some titles with higher frame rates than you’d be able to on the iPhone 16 or 16 Plus. That being said, I’m thrilled that Apple is pushing this power to more devices this year, and hopefully, it entices developers to bring more titles to the iPhone platform and, in turn, iPad and Mac. 

While not exactly an internal redesign, for design nerds Apple has rounded out the corners a little more this year, so the top left corner now matches the corner radius of the camera bump in a pleasing way. The iPhone 16 has gotten new colours, and more saturated back glass, still all matte, and the iPhone 16 Pro series has a new finish on the side rails to give them a little more shine compared to last year’s super matte design. I’m a big fan of this change, and I’m glad Apple returned to giving the Pro iPhones a bit of shine. On the other hand, they still feel quite matte, so overall, it’s a great balance between style and usability. 

As I mentioned in my intro, both phones also have a new, more durable Ceramic Shield, which should make the phones twice as resistant to scratches, cracks and drops that would shatter either the front or back glass.

iPhone 16 upgrades

The iPhone 16 series is getting some significant updates this year with AI, Camera Control, new battery life and the new Ceramic Shield, but beyond that, there are some changes that are only coming to the 16 and 16 Plus. 

The first and most exciting is the new ultra-wide-angle camera, which looks a lot better than last year’s ultra-wide lens. The detail it can capture in fine-grained things like sweaters and outdoor scenes is a great update. It finally gets autofocus, too, allowing standard iPhones to shoot macro photos, which has been a ton of fun on the Pro iPhones the last few years. 

The new chip and camera system also allow the phone to take photos with zero shutter lag, which is a nice upgrade for people who want to take photos of fast-moving subjects. 

You’ve likely noticed by now that the new camera array has been aligned, which I think looks a lot better than the previous offset models. Beyond just looking cleaner, it also allows for the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus to take videos in Spatial Video, which is great for watching on a Vision headset. While it’s a bit of a hedge, I think taking videos of special memories with this new camera is worth it since it will allow you to relive them later if you end up with a Vision Pro or any future Apple headsets. 

The phone also records spatial audio, which again, can really help you get immersed in a memory when you’re rewatching it in spatial mode on a headset.

Finally, like the iPhone 15 Pro from last year, the new iPhone 16 has the Action Button, which can be used for a variety of shortcuts, such as opening the camera or flashlight or even setting your own custom action using the Shortcuts app. 

The iPhone 16 starts at $1,129 CAD for the 128GB version. The iPhone 16 plus starts at $1,279 for the 128GB option. Apple is also selling cases for these phones with built in tech to allow you to use Camera Controls when the case is on. 

iPhone 16 Pro upgrades 

Most of the significant improvements, beyond Camera Controls and the new chip in the latest iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, revolve around the camera. That said, these devices are getting battery improvements and tougher screens. Those screens are also larger than last year’s models, with even thinner bezels. They look absolutely stunning in person. The Pro Max is also an outstanding 6.9 inches, pushing it into tablet territory for those wanting the most phone possible.

Both the primary camera and the ultra-wide have been boosted this year. The main camera can shoot faster than before and record video at 4K 120fps in Dolby Vision. Some of the sample videos, I say, looked stunning once again, making me wish I could go on a trip with the Apple photographers just to see how they manage to get such amazing footage out of the devices. There’s a shot of some horses running in slow motion that Apple has been using in marketing, which looks incredible. 

The main camera is also fast and can shoot ProRaw photos with zero shutter lag. The Ultrawide has been refitted with a 48-megapixel sensor, which should improve macro and ultra-wide shots. 

Both versions of the iPhone 16 Pro also now feature the 5x zoom lens from last year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max, allowing users to zoom in even more (unless you have the 15 Pro Max). I really like the 3x zoom for taking photos of people, so it will be interesting to see how the new Fusion 3x zoom holds up to last year’s iPhone 15 Pro. That said, whenever I test phones with longer zoom lenses, I often find myself getting shots I wouldn’t have taken otherwise, so it’s pretty exciting to see this come to more iPhones. 

The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $1,449 for the 128GB option. The Pro Max starts with 256GB of storage and costs $1,749. You can also get Apple branded cases with a sapphire crystal built into the side so you can use Camera Controls with a case on. 

A big year for pro and amateur iPhone photographers 

Like most years, you really can’t go wrong with any iPhone model. Regular phone users will be able to get better photos, longer battery life and cool pro-ish features like the Action Button and Camera Control with this year’s 16 models.

Pros who use their phones for content capture, shooting short films, and taking high-end photos will be able to get even more out of the Pro iPhones, and people who don’t want a larger phone will definitely be happier to know that both the 16 Pro and Pro Max now have identical camera systems. 

The iPhones go up for pre-orders on September 13 and will be on sale September 20.