iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have been unveiled at a packed event in California, alongside the Apple Watch Series 10, all-new iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, and redesigned AirPods 4. Starting from £799, the iPhone 16 lineup arrives with a brand-new button that provides a shortcut to the camera, a handful of vibrant new case colours, and a powerful A18 chipset that enables Apple Intelligence.
Rounding out the list of new features, iPhone 16 comes equipped with boosted battery life, a new thermal design so you can play console-quality video games with hardware-accelerated ray tracing — one of the selling points of the Sony PS5 when that launched, speedier Wi-Fi 7, and the customisable Action Button, which was first introduced on the pricier Pro-level iPhone last year.
Recharging is handled via USB-C and Qi2 wireless charging, the new industry-wide standard with faster wireless speeds and magnets to secure your handset in place. Preorders begin Friday September 13, with the first smartphones shipping to customers on September 20.
Speaking about the launch, Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing said: "iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus mark the beginning of a new era for iPhone with Apple Intelligence delivering powerful, personal, and private experiences to our users
"With new ways to discover the world around you and capture memories using Camera Control; a 48MP Fusion camera that gives you two optical-quality cameras in one; a big boost in battery life; and powerful, efficient performance thanks to the A18 chip, this is the perfect time for customers to upgrade or make the switch to iPhone."
iPhone 16 lineup includes black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine colours for its aerograde-standard aluminium frame
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Aside from the hardware improvements, the biggest shake-up to the iPhone 16 is the arrival of Apple Intelligence.
As the name suggests, Apple Intelligence is the iPhone manufacturer's answer to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) features that have become incredibly popular since the arrival of ChatGPT back in late 2022. Apple Intelligence can instantaneously summarise notes into bullet-points, proofread your emails and messages, and create custom emoji based on your written prompts.
It can also find a specific photo — or a few seconds in a longer video — from the Photos app with a simple description. It can also generate new images to help illustrate your presentations, emails, and documents.
Apple Intelligence will offer writing tips, suggest replies to emails and other correspondence, and summarise lengthy notes and webpages in the blink of an eye... with the majority processed on-device
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All of these tasks can be linked together with the revamped Siri voice assistant. Apple has re-engineered the chatty AI assistant, first introduced in October 2011, so that it can better understand natural language, so you can correct yourself mid-sentence and Siri will still understand. You can also type requests to Siri — handy for situations when you don't want to chat aloud to your smartphone.
Visual Intelligence lets you point the camera at anything and tap into these new AI capabilities. For example, the iPhone can tell you about a specific breed when you point the camera at a dog, or opening times when you have a local restaurant in-frame.
Apple says all of this is only possible thanks to the powerful new A18 processor inside the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. That means, while the next version of iOS will be coming as a free update to the previous generations of iPhone, it'll most likely be missing Apple Intelligence.
Unfortunately for those who rush to preorder these all-new iPhone models, Apple Intelligence won't be available at launch. Some features will be available to test in beta next month, but Apple is starting with US English for the time being, with the UK release date of Apple Intelligence confirmed for later this year.
Non-English language users will need to wait until next year to test-out these all-new AI features.
iPhone 16 has a 6.1-inch OLED screen, while the iPhone 16 Plus packs a larger 6.7-inch in your pocket. Protecting those screens is the latest-generation Ceramic Shield, which Apple says is 50% tougher than the first generation and 2x tougher than glass on any other smartphone. That same durable new glass is being used to protect the pricier iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max too.
When it comes to testing these endurance claims from Apple, we're sure YouTubers willare queuing up to be amongst the first to throw these brand-new smartphones on the ground after the worldwide release next weeks — so it won't be long before we seen the claims around this next-generation strengthened glass put to the test.
Apple says the new Ceramic Shield strengthened glass on the front of the iPhone 16 is 2x tougher than glass on any other smartphone
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Inside, Apple has shuffled around all of the core components to make way for a larger battery that's better able to dissipate heat — enabling the powerful A18 chipset to run at full pelt for as long as possible.
With this new internal design and the improved power management baked into iOS 18, the batteries will offer a big boost in battery life. Apple says the iPhone 16 is capable of 22 hours video playback before it needs to be recharged, compared with 20-hours for the previous generation iPhone 15.
Apple has reshuffled the two camera lenses on the back of its iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, so they're stacked vertically for the first time since 2020. When held in landscape, it means the two cameras can capture footage for each eye to enable Spatial Video on Apple Vision Pro
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On the back, the dual cameras have been stacked vertically — a design not seen since the iPhone 12 some four years ago. This layout enables the handset to record Spatial Video, which is an immersive three-dimensional format that can be viewed on Apple Vision Pro.
Apple will also record audio from all your videos in Spatial Audio, so you'll be able to hearing the sounds mapped-out in three-dimensional space around when you're listening back with a compatible pair of AirPods, an Apple Vision Pro, or surround sound speakers.
Apple Vision Pro lets you view Spatial Videos, which shifts perspective as you move around, like peering through a window. It's possible to capture this unique footage from the Vision Pro headset itself, as well as iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, and now, iPhone 16, 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, or 16 Pro Max
APPLE PRESS OFFICEThat's far from the only trick that Apple has added to the camera. Despite sticking with two lenses, Apple says the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus pack the equivalent of four different lens types — unlocking a 48MP main camera, close-up macro photos, ultra-wide angle, and a 2x telephoto zoom.
Apple says the ultra-wide camera has been reworked, so that it can gather up to 2.6x more light for improved image quality.
Aside from the new components, Apple believes the key to making your photographs really sing is its new Photographic Styles. If that sounds familiar, the feature was first introduced with the iPhone 13, but hasn't been updated until now.
Photographic Styles tunes the colour, highlights, and shadows of each specific image — rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, like you'd get from a traditional filter
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This new iteration adjusts colour, highlights, and shadows in real-time, and can be reversed when editing in the new-look Photos app.
The Californian company says that its new Photographic Styles have a deeper understanding of skin undertones, so unlike a traditional filter, which uses a one-size-fits-all approach by adding a colour to an entire scene, adjustments are applied to specific colors of a selected style.
You'll be able to preview the effects of a specific Photographic Style in the viewfinder — with changes rendered in real-time by the powerful A18 chipset, applied after a photo is taken, and reversed at later date.
Camera Control is a new addition to the iPhone 16 that instantaneously launches the camera app. It's equipped with a touch-sensitive surface, so you can slide your finger to zoom or adjust depth-of-field in Portrait Mode
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Accessing the camera can be done with the press of a new button on the side of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, called Camera Control.
Using the Haptic Engine inside the iPhone, it provides a click that's designed to mirror traditional analogue cameras. Pressing the button immediately launches the camera, and pressing it again takes a photo — so you'll never miss the shot. Holding down Camera Control starts a video recording.
But that's not all since Apple has also fitted this new button (the first of two new buttons found on the side of the iPhone 16... but more on that later) with a capacitive sensor to enable touch interactions. Sliding your fingertip on the surface of the button lets you adjust some common control options — such as zoom, exposure, or depth of field — to compose a your photo or video without lifting a finger.
Apple says it's already working with developers will be able to bring Camera Control to their apps, with Snapchat already integrating the feature into a forthcoming update to its messaging service.
On the topic of new buttons... the Action button, introduced with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max last year, replaces the mute slider on the iPhone 16 models this time around.
This customisation button sits above the volume buttons and lets you quickly switch between several functions, like launching turning on the torch, moving between Focus modes for work and home, or idenfiying a song with Shazam. You can also assign a press of the Action button to in-app functionality, like unlocking your car with the FordPass app from Ford.
And of course, you can also set it to toggle Do Not Disturb on your iPhone ...just like the mute slider it replaces did.
iPhone 16 expands on the life-saving Emergency SOS via satellite feature introduced with the iPhone 14, enabling you to connect to the nearest satellite to send and receive texts, emoji, and Tapbacks over iMessage and SMS when there's no mobile signal or Wi-Fi.
Messages via satellite in iOS 18 are end-to-end encrypted, so you won't be sacrificing privacy. With the launch of iOS 18 this month, Emergency SOS Live Video means you'll be able to share a live video feed or photos with participating emergency dispatchers during an emergency call.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have been designed from the ground-up for the launch of Apple Intelligence — a bag of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tricks designed by Apple with privacy in-mind
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And that's pretty much it.
The biggest new addition to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus is undoubtedly Apple Intelligence, which will be coming in December to those in the UK. But there's also the boosted 48MP Fusion camera with a 2x Telephoto option and an improved Ultra Wide camera for macro photography — all easily accessible with the new Camera Control button.
Battery life also enjoys a welcome bump, the faster A18 chipset under the bonnet for console-quality gaming, and there's the five saturated new colours to choose from — black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine.
Preorders begin at 1pm BST on September 13, with general availability one week later on September 20. UK pricing starts at £799 for the iPhone 16 and £899 for the iPhone 16 Plus. Both models will be available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options.
