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1 min readApple has officially revealed the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus at its 'Glowtime' event, where it also announced a new Apple Watch and AirPods.
This year, users of Apple's standard iPhone 16 and 16 Plus will be treated to a big suite of upgrades usually reserved for the Pro models. Despite a significant performance bump, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are actually cheaper this year (compared with the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus launch price.)
At the heart of the iPhone 16's boosted specs is the A18 chipset. Whereas past entry-level iPhone models have tended to adopt the prior year's premium chipset, Apple Intelligence— Apple's collection of AI features— called for an all-new CPU in the standard iPhone 16 and 16 Plus.
In addition to its various AI applications, the A18 chipset also lets non-Pro users play the AAA games, like Death Stranding, that were previously exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro models. It also enables some impressive Ray Tracing features for more life-like lighting and shadows in video games.
Standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus users will also get the customisable side-mounted Action Button (exclusive to Pro last year) and the all-new Camera Control button, a pressure-sensitive button dedicated to photography features.
While a lot of time was spent on the features introduced by Apple Intelligence, there are some positive side-effects to Apple's AI focus. Siri has been fleshed out to respond to more conversational prompts that can interact with various apps in one request. The iPhone photos app has also been overhauled with AI-powered search features, and new editing features for photos, like the ability to quickly remove features from photos with a tap.
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in five colours: Black, White, Pink, Ultramarine and Teal.
In an unexpected twist, the iPhone 16's significant upgrade will actually cost Australians less this year (compared with the iPhone 15's launch price.) The iPhone 16 starts at $1,399 for the 128GB model while the iPhone 16 Plus starts at $1,599. For comparison, the iPhone 15 started at $1,499 while the iPhone 15 Plus started at $1,649.
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