As Apple unveils their new iPhone lineup with four new iPhone 16 models, many are asking are the new features worth an upgrade?
If you have an iPhone 15 Pro, the new features mainly the Apple Intelligence - their AI system which will be slowly released with IOS18 beta to that phone as well, can wait.
This iPhone is mainly trying to get iPhone11-14 users to switch over, since the base model iPhone 16 offers nearly identical features to the Pro model this year.
Software support
The first reason for opting for an iPhone is its longevity and reliability. The latest iOS 18 supports models as old as the iPhone XS which was released back in 2018. From this trend, we can infer that the latest iPhone will run the newest iOS till 2031.
Although iPhone 15 will get support for one less year which is acceptable for its slightly lower price.
New CPU and battery performance
Despite this, new software works better with newer hardware. The latest base model’s processor has jumped a year ahead with the A18 Bionic, while the iPhone 15 is equipped with an A16 CPU. A18 CPU has a smaller 3 nanometre architecture over A16’s 4 nanometre which is great for battery life.
Apple also mentioned that all the updated lineup will have larger batteries. Although, they did not mention exactly how much. Keep in mind, Apple does say they are offering the best battery life at every new iPhone launch.
More RAM
Apple did not say anything about the RAM at the event or on their website, but by diving into the developer tool XCODE can confirm that all models this year have 8GB RAM which was only available on the pro models of last year’s iPhone.
Although RAM on iPhones work better in real-life use cases as they control both the software and hardware, having an extra 2GB definitely will make the iPhone 16 faster. At the event, Apple compared the base model as 30% faster than last year’s iPhone.
Design
As Apple moved back to the vertical lined camera position of their XS Days for shooting special videos, the decision sparked mixed reactions from users and tech reviewers.
This move is to line up the cameras so you can watch 3D photos on the Apple Vision Pro.
Apple added another camera button known as the “Camera Control”. It’s a multifunctional tactile sapphire button that you can press and slide your finger on like a trackpad.
A single click will open the camera, a long press will take a photo, a light tap will bring up camera settings like brightness and exposure and you can slide your fingers to choose a setting.
This feature will also allow Apple Intelligence. Once IOS18 rolls out, you can use Camera Control to quickly take a photo and have Siri tell you what it is you are looking at, from a quick photo of a restaurant which will show you opening times, reviews and more details to finding out what breed of a dog you’re looking at to adding a poster of a concert to your calendar.
The Action Button too now comes to the base models and is entirely customizable to the point that you can set it to do different things at different times of the day. For example, it can be used as a mute button during the day and auto change to a flashlight at night.
Verdict
After thinking about the Apple’s iPhone 16 lineup, new users or those who are planning to upgrade their older iPhones (till iPhone 13) can absolutely go for the base model iPhone 16.
However, when it comes to the pro models the specifications and advantages are so minor that it does not matter whether the user wants to save some money or go for the latest model. iPhone 14 and 15 users might wait for some more years until Apple announces any revolutionary upgrades for their next models.
