iPhone 16/Plus Any love for the standard iPhone 16?

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

I see a lot of talk about the 16 pro model, but not a lot for the standard 16.

I went from a 12 mini to a 16 pro, but I just couldn't get on with the weight. Feels way too heavy and cumbersome in my hands. I returned it.

I'm now considering the standard 16.

Are any of you loving it? How does it feel in the hand compared to the pro?

It's the best value/$ mid-tier iPhone in a very(!) long time. And the colors/finishes are some of the best ever.

I'd buy it in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the 60Hz display:

No, it's not absolutely necessary to have more than a 60Hz refresh rate.

But I'm not playing along with Apple's product segmentation shenanigans at this price point. Especially not when other brands have been doing >60Hz OLED displays for years and years, and are selling ones in smartphones that sit right next to these 60Hz iPhones and sell for much(!) less than $799-$899.

Conversely, with what little new the 16 Pros are offering, while also being the only iPhones 16 with 2024 display tech, Apple, as usual, wants me to pay too much for a Pro or an acceptable amount and compromise with the display.

No good options means I'm not upgrading.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

It only comes down to basically two things: a third camera and AOD 120 Hz. The price difference is $200. If you're buying in Europe, it's worse and closer to $300.

The base models offer much better value for money. They're also lighter and have a better design with more color options.

Of course going for a 16 Pro isn't wrong either. There are benefits. It's just that the value you get out of a base 16 is very, very good.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

60hz is what makes this not great

as soon as the non pros get 120hz i think it would be a great value phone.

Ridiculous that anyone can defend this when >60Hz is literally the standard in every other brand.

It's the same kind of excuses and defending of the displays in the iPhones 8, Xr, and 11 I saw back in the day.

-If the display tech was so unimportant and not noticeable, why would Apple ever do more than 60Hz in any display altogether?

It's just a cost-cutting measure that Apple shouldn't get away with but does because. You either overpay for old display tech, or overpay to get a Pro/Max.

The emperor is not wearing any pants not matter how emotionally invested you are in him.

-60Hz OLED display in a $799+ 6.1" smartphone is a terrible deal in 2024.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Why are we told the entire mobile sector is down 20% then? iPhones are double the price in some cases compared to an iPhone 6. My 16 Pro Max was £1200, my iPhone 6 was £619. Apple are fine with their revenue, not that I care about that, due to selling slightly fewer devices at a much higher retail price. We are also told the average upgrade cycle compared to ten years ago is 3-4 years where it used to be 1-2 years.

Lots more phone options too from Apple and I highly doubt Pro models are selling in the numbers we saw during the 2014 boom. Not that this is important, I just know in my region the most popularly seen iPhones are standard models and not necessarily the newest. As I said it’s probably the American market that skews the perception more people want the Pro’s and that may be the case there but not necessarily globally.

Down by 20% for what and when? You do know the trend can change quarter to Quarter and YTY. iPhone revenue was a meager 32 Billion in Oct-Dec quarter in 2014, last year Oct-dec quarter was 69 B. The iPhone 13 launch was best Apple revenue/shipments quarter couple years ago. Smart phones may be down by seasonal variations but have pretty much increased exponentially from 10 years ago. If Apple was selling less phones, its activation numbers won’t hover from 35-50% share in US. And Apple is expanding its share in other countries like India, which has over taken both Germany and France in last year or so in terms of revenue from iPhones. China may be slowing down but still huge compared to 10 years ago.

 

[JtheLemur]

Originally picked up a 16 Pro Max. Usually a fan of the Plus. It's nice and I can handle it but the pocketability was… tricky. It's a chonker. So I grabbed a regular 16 in Ultramarine. Damn it's pretty, and light, and the battery is surprisingly good. Sitting here with both, a bit torn. Probably sticking with the regular 16… but… hmm…

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Down by 20% for what and when? You do know the trend can change quarter to Quarter and YTY. iPhone revenue was a meager 32 Billion in Oct-Dec quarter in 2014, last year Oct-dec quarter was 69 B. The iPhone 13 launch was best Apple revenue/shipments quarter couple years ago. Smart phones may be down by seasonal variations but have pretty much increased exponentially from 10 years ago. If Apple was selling less phones, its activation numbers won’t hover from 35-50% share in US. And Apple is expanding its share in other countries like India, which has over taken both Germany and France in last year or so in terms of revenue from iPhones. China may be slowing down but still huge compared to 10 years ago.

I’ll take your word for it. It’s the part of Apple that I have little interest in tbh, I just know people don’t upgrade as often as they did and phone prices now plug the shortfalls manufacturers experienced as a result. Apple and the rest have tried to force longer upgrade cycles though with higher pricing and it’s worked very well.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

Originally picked up a 16 Pro Max. Usually a fan of the Plus. It's nice and I can handle it but the pocketability was… tricky. It's a chonker. So I grabbed a regular 16 in Ultramarine. Damn it's pretty, and light, and the battery is surprisingly good. Sitting here with both, a bit torn. Probably sticking with the regular 16… but… hmm…

Did a similar route, but went from 16 Plus to 16 Pro.

 

[JustinKent]

Is that Teal? Love that colour!

I love it too! I wish I had the guts to take it out of the case more. The color's hard to capture in photos because it’s almost iridescent... it definitely pops!

...ok putting it back in the case now. 😅🤓😇

 

[JustinKent]

Originally picked up a 16 Pro Max. Usually a fan of the Plus. It's nice and I can handle it but the pocketability was… tricky. It's a chonker. So I grabbed a regular 16 in Ultramarine. Damn it's pretty, and light, and the battery is surprisingly good. Sitting here with both, a bit torn. Probably sticking with the regular 16… but… hmm…

The Ultramarine color is amazing... I kinda want one just to have... I vote you keep both 😇

 

[Mr.Fox]

I see a lot of talk about the 16 pro model, but not a lot for the standard 16.

I went from a 12 mini to a 16 pro, but I just couldn't get on with the weight. Feels way too heavy and cumbersome in my hands. I returned it.

I'm now considering the standard 16.

Are any of you loving it? How does it feel in the hand compared to the pro?

No, I don't like this model. It's too small. It is very uncomfortable to use, as if you are holding a matchbox.

 

[gk_brown]

It always seems to be the case on here that the Pro models get the most attention...even if its likely the majority of members probably use the standard iPhone or older models

Yep - I'm a regular MacRumors user but I'm not willing to spend the extra cash on the Pro phone models. Would rather put it towards a better Mac.

 

[wpalomine]

iPhone 16 Black = Smaller + Lighter + Great Battery + Caseless

 

[Chuckeee]

Love the base iPhone 16. Seems like the Pro features are more about FOMO than real utility for the vast majority of people. I'll take the weight savings any day.

 

[Chuckeee]

Ridiculous that anyone can defend this when >60Hz is literally the standard in every other brand.

Easy, I tried it, I cannot see any difference, why pay for something that make no difference to me. BTW let several of my co-workers try, and most could not tell the difference either. This is include a majority of high frame rate enthusiasts. Yes there are some people who can tell the difference of 120 Hz. But for the most part, it is just a number on a spec sheet and people want to brag about "having the best" or just same old FOMO.

 

[Bungaree.Chubbins]

AS far as I’m concerned, 120Hz is just a spec sheet padding exercise. “My phone’s better because this number is bigger!”

The only time I’ve been able to notice a difference is using an iPad Pro side by side with an Air. Even then it was an almost imperceptible difference. I’ve downloaded 120fps videos to my MacBook Pro to to see it, but even though they were being reported as playing at 120fps, they still looked the same with promotion turned off.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t have it, or that they can’t see a difference, just that it’s not a big deal.

Apple has not been big on playing spec sheet one-upmanship. I used to play that in the 90s, but I just don’t care any more!

[edit: formatting and typos]

 

[thadoggfather]

Low power mode and 60hz display is the GOAT combo

Low power mode and a 120hz display is grating to the eyes

 

[QuarterSwede]

AS far as I’m concerned, 120Hz is just a spec sheet padding exercise. “My phone’s better because this number is bigger!”

The only time I’ve been able to notice a difference is using an iPad Pro side by side with an Air. Even then it was an almost imperceptible difference. I’ve downloaded 120fps videos to my
MacBook Pro to I’m to see it, but even though they were being reported as playing at 120fps, they still looked the same with promotion turned off.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t have it, or that they can’t see a difference, just that it’s not a big deal.

Apple has not been big on playing spec sheet one-upmanship. I used to play that in the 90s, but I just don’t care any more!

It used to matter in the 90s!

 

[TVreporter]

Probably as much love as Apple gave the 15… ditching it immediately with the AI rollout.

 

[Ac1d 8urn]

Lots of love for my standard 16. I had a 15 and wasn't even planning to upgrade this year, but then I found out the base 16 was getting macro plus my mom desperately needed a new phone too. She ended up with my 15 and I ended up standing in line on launch day 🙃 No regrets. Macro is totally worth it(camera overall is phenomenal, as is battery life), mom's enjoying her free new-to-her 15, we're very happy.

I think 60 hz is great. Battery lasts longer and cost doesn’t go up. I hope iPhone 17 has 60 hz display as well.

Some YouTubers say that 60 hz is unacceptable because they are YouTubers and tech enthusiasts and think what applies to them should apply to everyone else (pretty arrogant if you ask me) but normal regular iPhone user is totally fine with 60 hz. In fact if you ask regular user they couldn’t even tell what is hz let alone care.

Too bad people are repeating what YouTubers say like parrots.

Agreed. It's getting really old seeing people making a federal case over it. Y'all did just fine prior to 2021. I'm not saying anyone shouldn't like or want 120hz, but most people don't care and tech enthusiasts make way too big a deal about it. If it's important to you then buy a Pro.

I'm very glad the standard iPhones don't have Promotion b/c variable refresh rates trigger my migraines. I'm happy I can still buy a nice phone that doesn't make me ill.

 

[macbookj0e]

The colors of the standard 16 look incredible. The pink is violently pink, the blue is a different shade than we're used to, and the green they picked is just perfection. If they had ProMotion, I'd be typing this comment on that green 16.

I agree, the green in the photos doesn’t do it justice. It’s next level when you see it in person!

 

[kiranmk2]

More iPhones are sold every year than 10 years ago. If iPhone sales were declining from 10 years ago, Apple would be in serious trouble. Apple iPhone revenue is magnitudes higher than what it was 10 years ago. There is always regional bias, depending on the pricing and other factors. But over all iPhone pro max and Pro are biggest revenue generators.

I don't think iPhones are selling in larger numbers than 10 years ago. There is a reason that Apple stopped reporting sales numbers arounc the 2016-2017 period and switched to only reporting revenues. MacRumours tracks the data from the quarterly reports - you can see the latest data below (and at this link)

~10 years ago was the iPhone 6 supercycle. If we look at the blue peak around the "Q1 15" period you can see the revenue is $75bn (total revenue) minus ~$25bn (non-iPhone revenues) = $50bn. The trough between the iPhone 6 & 6S showed a revenue of $50bn (total revenue) minus ~$15bn (non-iPhone revenues) = $35bn.

You pointed out the iPhone 13 being a recent highlight - that is the third peak from the right. The peak revenue is $125bn (total revenues) minus $50bn (non-iPhone revenues) = $75bn. The trough period following this peak is ~$85bn (total revenue) minus ~$40bn = $45bn.

Therefore you can see that over the last ~10 years the iPhone revenues have increased 50% from $50bn to $75bn (peak) and 30% from $35bn to $45bn (trough) - clearly not the "orders of magnitude" you claim.

The US SIM free starting prices were $649 (iPhone 6) and $749 (iPhone 6 Plus). The iPhone 13 equivalent range starting prices were $799 (non-pro), $999 (Pro) and $1,099 (Pro Max) showing that the increasing revenues are down to increasing the ASP via increase the basic price and pushing people up the pricing ladder.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I don't think iPhones are selling in larger numbers than 10 years ago. There is a reason that Apple stopped reporting sales numbers arounc the 2016-2017 period and switched to only reporting revenues. MacRumours tracks the data from the quarterly reports - you can see the latest data below (and at this link)

~10 years ago was the iPhone 6 supercycle. If we look at the blue peak around the "Q1 15" period you can see the revenue is $75bn (total revenue) minus ~$25bn (non-iPhone revenues) = $50bn. The trough between the iPhone 6 & 6S showed a revenue of $50bn (total revenue) minus ~$15bn (non-iPhone revenues) = $35bn.

You pointed out the iPhone 13 being a recent highlight - that is the third peak from the right. The peak revenue is $125bn (total revenues) minus $50bn (non-iPhone revenues) = $75bn. The trough period following this peak is ~$85bn (total revenue) minus ~$40bn = $45bn.

Therefore you can see that over the last ~10 years the iPhone revenues have increased 50% from $50bn to $75bn (peak) and 30% from $35bn to $45bn (trough) - clearly not the "orders of magnitude" you claim.

The US SIM free starting prices were $649 (iPhone 6) and $749 (iPhone 6 Plus). The iPhone 13 equivalent range starting prices were $799 (non-pro), $999 (Pro) and $1,099 (Pro Max) showing that the increasing revenues are down to increasing the ASP via increase the basic price and pushing people up the pricing ladder.

Not sure where you got the chart, but the numbers you quoted sure don’t match iPhone revenue numbers reported per quarter by Apple. Apple iPhone revenue in Q1 2014, Compare it to Apple Revenue in Q1 2022-2024 is a Very simple math. Apple stopped reporting sales number because none of the other vendors were reporting and too many analysts were interpolating sales of other vendors with real numbers from Apple. It’s Hilarious to think Apple sells less phones than 10 years ago, when supply chain numbers are exponentially higher.
The bigger picture here is smart phone market wasn’t as saturated in 2013-2014, as it is today. So with more folks using smart phones, it’s clear a newer model as a proportion will have lesser overall share.

 

[ubinko]

I love it too! I wish I had the guts to take it out of the case more. The color's hard to capture in photos because it’s almost iridescent... it definitely pops!

...ok putting it back in the case now. 😅🤓😇

I went to the Apple store today and compared all models next to each other. It confirmed my suspicions - I much prefer the iPhone 16 compared to the 16 Pro. This is not a matter of money. I prefer the size and weight. I prefer the way it feels in the hand. The screen feels vibrant. The phone is snappy. I'm really not bothered about the pro features.

As for the colours - I was expecting white to be my favourite. In actual fact, I think it was my least favourite. I liked Teal the most, followed by black. Black is nice - it looks sleek and the screen blends into the frame seamlessly. It will suit almost any case, but it feels a little boring as I've had black iPhones for my last few. Teal feels fresh and looks really cool.

 

[kp98077]

I went to the Apple store today and compared all models next to each other. It confirmed my suspicions - I much prefer the iPhone 16 compared to the 16 Pro. This is not a matter of money. I prefer the size and weight. I prefer the way it feels in the hand. The screen feels vibrant. The phone is snappy. I'm really not bothered about the pro features.

As for the colours - I was expecting white to be my favourite. In actual fact, I think it was my least favourite. I liked Teal the most, followed by black. Black is nice - it looks sleek and the screen blends into the frame seamlessly. It will suit almost any case, but it feels a little boring as I've had black iPhones for my last few. Teal feels fresh and looks really cool.

I picked up a 16 feels same size as 16 pro not sure why? It’s seriously not missing any features other than AO

 

[cuzo]

I was going to make a similar post. Seems all the love has gone to the pro models.

I went from 14 Pro the base 16 and couldn’t be happier (I’m still trying to sell the Pro…there’s a thread in marketplace for it).

in the 2 years I had the 14 Pro I was never fully comfortable with its heft. coming from the 12 and 13 minis before that, it was a literal brick and never got any lighter. it weighed down my pockets and felt i was fighting gravity whenever i picked it up.

the regular 16 feels so good to hold. my hand doesnt get fatigued anymore, and there have already been times in the last week where i forgot it was in my pocket.

not to mention, the Pros are just overkill for most people now. i don't need all the A/V features. i take pics of my kids, dog and things to show the guy at home depot that i need a part for. i'm not filming 120K music videos for the Weekend. instead they’ve become status symbols for the most status-symbol of brands.

so for me, the trade offs going from a Pro to non-Pro have been well worth it and I appreciate Apple making a base model that doesn’t feel watered down.

awarding winning posting...

Feel the same way but I'll say in general most these overpowered phones are boring and honestly the internet is boring, only so much content to stare at the screen for before it gets stale even sports get boring after a while.

So to be honest a light, pockable phone that can call, text and do the basics well is more than enough for most people.

I listen to a podcast, a little music, use maps, text, and that's all I really need.

I have a S24 ultra but it's pretty hefty (223 grams)

I would love a plus just for the lighter weight and just call it a day, face ID is all I need.