The Pro line of iPhones has been seen as the ultimate choice in Apple’s smartphone lineup ever since the introduction of the iPhone 11 Pro, the first handset to have the ‘Pro’ moniker, in 2019.
In the intervening years, many features have stayed exclusive to these Pro models, such as the 120Hz ProMotion display and special colors like Sierra Blue in iPhone 13 Pro. The release of the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max in 2023 heralded the first time that a feature was limited to the Pro Max: a 5x 120mm telephoto lens.
Although we’re not expecting another exclusive feature to set apart the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, reportedly set to arrive later this year, we’re still expecting some big improvements from the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. With this in mind, we’ll be taking a look at the rumored features of the iPhone 16 Pro to see how they fare against the iPhone 15 Pro.
Chip
The iPhone 15 Pro shipped with a 3nm A17 Pro chip, featuring exclusive features such as hardware ray-tracing for gaming, which can naturally render specific rays of light across objects and characters, resulting in sharp reflections, shadows, and more.
Expect the iPhone 16 Pro to feature a 3nm A18 Pro chip with big speed improvements. This is reportedly due to an advanced N3E manufacturing process which allows for faster clock speeds and better heat dissipation on the A18 Pro.
Design
The design of the iPhone has remained mostly the same since the debut of the iPhone 12 in 2020. The sharp design featuring a shiny frame surrounding these handsets has been a staple. iPhone 16 Pro is expected to continue these traditions with a couple of slight differences.
One big feature that's set to appear in both the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max is bigger sizes. According to leaked reports, the 16 Pro will increase to 6.3 inches, and the 16 Pro Max will grow to 6.9 inches, compared to the current 6.1 and 6.7-inch sizes of the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. This size increase will result in both models being taller and wider than their predecessors.
Another rumored feature is a thinner bezel for the display. This could apply to the entire iPhone 16 line instead of being exclusive to the Pro line like last year.
When it comes to colors, the iPhone 16 Pro will reportedly debut in black, white, and natural titanium. When it comes to an exclusive color, there may be a Desert Yellow or Cement Gray variant that replaces the exclusive blue shade of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max
Camera
The iPhone 15 Pro Max features an exclusive 5x 120mm telephoto lens, but expect that to be carried over to both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro, leveling the camera playing field once again. The ultrawide lens is reportedly set to get a 48MP upgrade, which could result in much sharper images.
Other than that, don’t expect huge improvements to the iPhone 16 Pro’s camera system this year.
Wi-Fi
A small mention, but notable nonetheless, is that both iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max are set to get Wi-Fi 7. Announced in January at CES, the annual trade show usually held in Las Vegas, Wi-Fi 7 is capable of transfer speeds of up to 46 Gbps. This blows away Wi-Fi 6E, the previous version, which has transfer speeds of up to 9 Gbps. It’s widely expected that the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will be supporting this newest Wi-Fi standard.
Battery
iPhone 16 Pro is set to feature a bigger battery when it reportedly debuts later this year. The handset will allegedly pack a 3,577mAh battery, which is a big increase compared to the iPhone 15 Pro’s 3,274mAh capacity.
That’s 9.25% more battery than the iPhone 15 Pro. This could result in the iPhone 16 Pro lasting for far longer than the 25 hours of video playback that Apple claims for the iPhone 15 Pro.
Likewise, the entire iPhone 16 line is rumored to support 40W wired fast charging and 20W MagSafe charging. These are significant upgrades when put against the iPhone 15 handsets, which can charge up to 27W with the right USB-C charger, as well as 15W on MagSafe.
Even if you have an iPhone 15 Pro, this could still be a worthwhile upgrade
If you upgrade to the latest iPhone every year, you might be in line for some significant upgrades, no matter how small they may be. If much of the above turns out to be true later this year, you could be upgrading to a new iPhone 16 Pro featuring a thinner bezel, larger battery, faster charging speeds, a 48MP ultrawide lens, and an exclusive Desert Yellow or Cement Gray shade.
If you don’t own an iPhone 15 Pro, the potential upgrades could tempt you further. For example, the Dynamic Island, which replaced the Notch at the top of the iPhone’s display, can show notifications and change shape depending on the app being used. There’s also MagSafe, a magnetic ring at the back of an iPhone that can attach to several accessories, such as a car vent mount or a battery pack charger.
If the rumors about the iPhone 16 line turn out to be true, it could be a significant upgrade for many users. Are you tempted to upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro? Let us know in the iMore forums.
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