In Summary
- Apple launched the iPhone 16 series of phones at its recent Glowtime event.
- The Cupertino brand launched a total of four iPhones, with a number of new features, functionalities, and designs, as well as software and hardware improvements.
- While most of the new features and improvements in the iPhone 16 series were announced on stage, some aspects of the new iPhones were either not mentioned or were given relatively lesser attention.
- We look at ten things about the iPhone 16 series that might have missed your attention. Some might seem important, some less so, but they are all worthy of mention, in our opinion.
Apple took the wraps off its iPhone 16 series at its recent Glowtime event. As in best Apple tradition, the Cupertino brand handed out a masterclass in communication showcasing various aspects of the new devices.
But while the presenters drew attention to major specs and features, such as Apple Intelligence, the Camera Control button, the larger displays on the Pro series, and improved cameras, there were some details that were either not mentioned or did not get the level of attention that others did.
Here are ten things you might have missed in the launch of the latest iPhones, either because they were not mentioned prominently at the launch or not mentioned at all:
Table of Contents
Apple has actually reduced the price of the Pro series in India
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus have been released at the same prices as their predecessors in India, but rather remarkably, the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max come with significantly lower price tags than the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max did – a huge surprise in these days of skyrocketing flagship prices (check those of the Google Pixel!).
The iPhone 16 Pro starts at Rs 1,19,900 for 128 GB, which is Rs 15,000 lower than the Rs 1,34,900 of the iPhone 15 Pro’s 128 GB variant. Similarly, the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at Rs 1,44,900 for 256 GB, which is again Rs 15,000 lower than Rs 1,59,900 the iPhone 15 Pro Max commanded for its base 256 GB variant.
What makes these prices all the more surprising is the fact that both the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max models come with significant hardware improvements, including larger displays, better cameras, and bigger batteries. We are not complaining, though, and hope that this spirit extends to the “regular” iPhones in the coming days, too!
The Pro Max has the biggest display in major flagships right now
At 6.9 inches, the iPhone Pro Max has the largest display among the major (non-foldable) flagships in the market right now. If that sounds hard to believe, check the display sizes of other flagship phones in the market:
- Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: 6.8 inches
- Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: 6.8inches
- Vivo X100 Pro/ Ultra: 6.78 inches
- Xiaomi 14 Ultra: 6.73 inches
- OnePlus 12: 6.82 inches
- Oppo Find X7 Ultra: 6.82 inches
That’s quite a big display step forward! Is the era of big(ger) phones coming back?
The refresh rate of the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus remains at 60 Hz, and they still have no AOD
The iPhone 16 got a lot of love from Apple at the event (a story on that is coming soon) with a changed design, better cameras, camera control, action buttons, and a more powerful processor, among other features, but it still missed out on two features that are available in many phones that come with less than half its price tag. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are now perhaps the only flagship phones in the world that still come with a refresh rate of 60 Hz and no provision for an always-on-display (AOD). We must confess to being surprised, although if they sell well, the absence of these features would not be considered deal-breakers.
The iPhone Plus is no longer the iPhone battery boss
Since its surprise launch in 2022, the Plus variant of the iPhone has been considered to be the best in terms of battery life in the iPhone lineup. Although other iPhones could match the Plus in terms of hours of playing video and streaming video, none could match its ability to play 100 hours of audio on a single charge. That changes now, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max delivering 105 hours of audio playback on a single charge, as compared to the 100 hours of the iPhone 16 Plus (which is still more than the 16 and 16 Pro). There is a new battery boss in iPhone town, and it is a Max, not a Plus.
The selfie cameras seem to have remained unchanged
While the cameras on the backs of all the new iPhones have been changed and improved, the one in front seems to have remained largely unchanged. Apple did not make any mention of the TrueDepth front camera on any of the new iPhones, perhaps because all of them came with the similar sounding 12-megapixel camera with autofocus, f/1.9 aperture, Retina flash, Photonic Engine, and Deep Fusion that was seen on the iPhone 15 series as well. From what we can see and have heard, the selfie cameras on the new iPhones remain unchanged, although we are reasonably sure they will come with some software sorcery from Apple.
The wired and wireless charging speed of the new iPhones is almost the same
Apple continues to keep chargers out of iPhone packages, but the new iPhones have got a charging boost on the wireless charging front. Thanks to improved MagSafe charge, the iPhone 16 series is the first to charge at almost the same speed whether you charge its phones over a wired or a wireless connection. The iPhone 16 and 16 Pro will get charged 50 percent in half an hour over a 20W or faster-wired connection or with a MagSafe charger paired with a 30W or faster charger. The iPhone 16 Plus and 16 Pro Max will charge 50 percent in 35 minutes over the same connections. This is relatively rare, as wireless charging speeds in most cases are well below the wired ones. Is this the first move towards a ‘portless’ iPhone? You never know.
Both the 16 Pro and the 16 Pro Max have similar telephoto cameras
The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max had slightly different telephoto sensors. Although both were 12-megapixel sensors with f/2.8 apertures, the sensor on the iPhone 15 Pro Max provided a 5x optical zoom, while the one on the iPhone 15 Pro provided a 3x optical zoom. This is not the case in the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, both of which come with not only similarly specced 12-megapixel telephoto sensors with f/2.8 apertures but also offer the same 5x optical zoom.
No, you still cannot shoot and record directly to a hard drive from the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus!
The iPhone 16 might have got a camera boost in terms of improved zoom and autofocus on the 12-megapixel ultrawide, enabling it to shoot in macro mode, but you still cannot connect an external hard drive to it and record footage and images directly on it. That is because while the iPhone 16 has a USB Type-C port, it supports USB 2.0, which has a much slower transfer speed of up to 480 Mbps, as compared to USB 3.0 on the Pros, which supports a whopping 10 Gbps. The content creators are still going to go to the Pros for this.
The OIS on the iPhone 16 is still the first-generation
While the main sensors of all the iPhones come with optical image stabilization (OIS), the type of OIS is different. Apple moved to what it called “Second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization” with the iPhone 14 Pro series while keeping the plain iPhone on the first generation of the same. This has not changed with the iPhone 16, where the 16 Pro and Pro Max get second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization, while the iPhone 16 gets simply sensor-shift optical stabilization. The difference is unlikely to be a deal-breaker (we honestly cannot tell the difference in simple snaps and videos), and our sources tell us that it exists to accommodate the (much) higher quality video recording abilities of the Pro range.
Still no Product Red variant
Apple surprised a number of us by not having a Product Red variant of the iPhone 15 series. We thought that it was just a one-off, but now it seems that the iPhone 16 series will not be having a Product Red Variant either, which is a pity, given how iconic the shade was. In fact, the Product Red iPhone had a following of its own, not just for its distinct shade but also because it was part of the Product Red initiative, which raised funds and awareness to help eliminate HIV/AIDS from a number of countries, and also played a key role in combating the recent COVID epidemic. We hope Apple adds it to the vibrant iPhone 16 series colors at some stage, a special edition in a month or two to go with the red of Christmas, perhaps?
