By Arya Khorshidi.

Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event, which has already been extensively covered here, saw the introduction of the highly anticipated iPhone 16 lineup, and reviews have been incredibly mixed, ranging from ridiculously unsatisfying to revolutionary new inventions. Having upgraded to a 16 Pro Max from my iPhone XS on launch day, as well as being able to have a hands-on experience with the rest of the lineup in the Apple Store, I will try my best to provide an unbiased and reliable review.

First, the elephant in the room; Apple Intelligence.

Apple claims that these phones were “built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence,” which is incredibly misleading. Although these phones are technically (as expected) better performing than the previous year’s iPhone 15s, the differences are minuscule and incredibly hard to notice. In fact, these phones do not contain a single feature of the Intelligence software at launch, with Siri and iOS 18.0 being almost the exact same as last year.

Now, Apple Intelligence will be released on the iPhone 16s in a future software update in December, but even then, the software will be available for iPhone 15 Pro models too! So, my verdict is, if you have an iPhone 15 Pro, please do not upgrade solely for the promise of a game-changing AI, as you will be quite disappointed.

In terms of cameras, the iPhone 16 Pro contains a new 48MP ultra-wide camera. Comparing it to the 15 Pro, image quality is significantly better with improved low-light performance. Although I doubt when you’ll really need to use the ultra-wide camera all that much, it’s a neat upgrade.

The latest Pros also include 4K 120fps recording, which is great, especially if you want to film high-quality videos for homework, schoolwork, or anything like that. With that said, unless you’re not a filmmaker who relies on these iPhones, it might not be as useful as you would think at first glance.

Although I can’t speak for the base 16 phones, the battery life on the Pro models, and especially the Pro Max, is awesome. Tests show the Pro surviving a very respectable 9 hours and 30 minutes, with the Max taking it just that step further, surviving an incredible 11 hours and 30 minutes, making it the phone with the longest battery life (second only to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra). In short, if you are going to be demanding with these phones and despise Samsung, they are for you!

Apart from this, though, changes are not very significant at all. Sure, we can talk about the (useless) Action Button or the slightly better overheating system Apple has implemented, but we can’t ignore the fact all of these phones are physically identical to last year’s. This was a view mirrored by infamous reviewer Marquess Brownlee who looked visibly disappointed and underwhelmed in his yearly reviews of the new lineup.

It feels like decades since we all had a ‘WOW’ factor during one of these Apple events, like when 120Hz “ProMotion” was introduced, the iPhone X redesign or even the “Dynamic Island”. Apple knows their phones will sell regardless, and if they keep pushing out big and revolutionary changes, then that makes it harder for them in the long-term to sell more.

Going back on topic though, from what I’ve seen, if you decide to buy one of these phones then I would advise one of the Pro models. The base phones are still stuck on laggy and old-gen 60Hz refresh rates (our school laptops are higher than that!) and have the most unsatisfying and boring ‘upgrades’ I’ve ever seen, being only £100 less than the Pro models. The Camera Control button, a slightly faster chipset and the action button are not enough to justify this phone. It would just be a waste of money in my opinion, spend a bit more money on a much better phone to last a much longer period.

Ultimately, whilst the Pro models do have good and, in some cases, great upgrades and benefits, there’s not a very clear or abundant reason to upgrade. If you have the spare cash, go for it. If not, it just might be better to wait and see what the tech-giant has in store next year.