iPhone 16 Pro Max Did you return your 16 series iPhone?

[Return Zero]

15P to 16P here. I love it.

The screen size bump makes it a little easier on the eyes without really making a huge difference in portability (I for one cannot tolerate the huge size of the Max/Plus devices).

I mainly upgrade every year for the camera. The new styles, 4K120 HDR video, shutter speed, 5X lens, and 48MP UW are all VERY welcome additions. Camera control is nice for launching and quick trigger, but I may end up disabling the swiping gestures... not sure yet. Definitely not a home run there, but nice to know at worst I can just disable it. I have not messed with the audio features but that seems like it could be handy in certain situations too.

The most underrated features? Cellular speed and thermals. My cell speeds have legitimately quadrupled in basically every area I've tested. That's a massive improvement. Thermally, this thing is an absolute champ compared to the 15P. I can game or restore backups or download lots of apps or shoot photos in the sun without any hot frame spots or huge screen dimming. It gets warm, yeah, but doesn't overheat nearly as quickly.

I have not tried but am very much looking forward to 25W MagSafe charging. I just hope it hits accessories sooner than later, but I'll definitely be picking up a new puck for my car soon.

 

[Detonation]

When I returned it in the store they didn’t open the box to verify, they just returned it and issued me a refund. Do they open it in the back then?

I returned an unopened phone last year and they opened it on the spot before issuing the refund. Perhaps its a store by store basis, but with just the stickers now instead of shrink wrap, I can imagine its not as difficult to fake reseal an opened box with a different phone in there.

 

[diegotheplantboy]

Is the 16 Plus the same size and weight as the 15 Plus? If so, that's the one to get.

Not sure off the top of my head but it is the same size as the 14 pm

 

[ArchEtech]

I didn't return my 16 Pro Max. Improvement over the 14pro I've had for 2 years. Like the 15 pro, is is very light for its size with the Ti frame. Screen looks better than the 15 with the bezels. Zero difference in weight between the 15 pro Max and the 16 Pro Max. Apple store person had the 15 pro max to hold at the same time. No one can convince me they can feel 12-20 grams of weight increase.

If the 17 removes the dynamic island, I will buy that one next year. My prediction is, it will not.

 

[Ctrlos]

The only thing I want from android is the ability to play some more advanced emulators on my phone but other than that, there’s no feature I really want really. I don’t need to runn2 apps at the same time on my phone or things like that. Also, as long as I have a Mac, an iPad and a watch, I’d be stupid to switch And it’s not because I’m « trapped » it’s just that when you have many apple products, the whole experience is so much better.

Thats it. Theres plenty of people in the same boat who'd say the same about a Pixel, Galaxy Watch and Chromebook say. We are at a point now where there isn't one set of devices that is better than another. Microsoft's Phone Link lets you drag and drop data from your phone to Windows for example and Apple's iCloud suite for Windows is really good.

 

[ArchEtech]

Is the 16 Plus the same size and weight as the 15 Plus? If so, that's the one to get.

No

Category	iPhone 16	iPhone 16 Plus
Dimensions	71.6 x 147.6 x 7.8mm	77.8 x 160.9 x 7.8mm
Weight	170g	199g
Battery capacity	Up to 22 hours of video playback	Up to 27 hours of

16 Pro Max

Dimensions:	6.42 x 3.05 x 0.33 inches (163.0 x 77.6 x 8.25 mm) , thickness with camera 0.48 inches (12.25 mm)
Weight:	8.01 oz (227.0 g)

 

[ArchEtech]

I agree with a few here, I think the 16 Pros run colder.

 

[stealthytolkien]

The screen unresponsive-ness on the iPhone 16 PM is just ruining the whole experience. I’ve had 3 iPhones so far and none of them had this issue. All had a glass guard on since day 1. Admittedly I am running 18.1 beta 5, but the keyboard continues to be way too “sticky” on several occasions.

It is annoying enough to make me think of switching back to iPhone 15 Pro Max or just waiting it out until iOS 18.1 stabilizes a bit.

 

[timeconsumer]

I returned an unopened phone last year and they opened it on the spot before issuing the refund. Perhaps its a store by store basis, but with just the stickers now instead of shrink wrap, I can imagine its not as difficult to fake reseal an opened box with a different phone in there.

Thank you. I wasn't aware of that but it makes sense. I know in the past that MacRumors has posted that Apple has a way to turn on phones when they're still in the box so I assumed they’d be able to use that as a way to confirm the phone was in the box without opening it. Also I assumed that same device would be able to determine if the phone was powered on or used by the customer.

Here's What Apple Retail's New Machine to Update iPhones in the Box Looks Like

Apple retail stores are now receiving information about the company's new system for wirelessly updating iPhone software prior to sale, iGen...

www.macrumors.com

 

[ArchEtech]

The screen unresponsive-ness on the iPhone 16 PM is just ruining the whole experience. I’ve had 3 iPhones so far and none of them had this issue. All had a glass guard on since day 1. Admittedly I am running 18.1 beta 5, but the keyboard continues to be way too “sticky” on several occasions.

It is annoying enough to make me think of switching back to iPhone 15 Pro Max or just waiting it out until iOS 18.1 stabilizes a bit.

I've noticed something but not sure exactly what. I also don't know if its happening vs. people making me believe its happening...

Text typing does seem less accurate and laggy. Sometimes maybe I hit an 'X' to close a window and it seems to not register. Thats not to say that never happened on any previous iOS because it has.

 

[kp98077]

15P to 16P here. I love it.

The screen size bump makes it a little easier on the eyes without really making a huge difference in portability (I for one cannot tolerate the huge size of the Max/Plus devices).

I mainly upgrade every year for the camera. The new styles, 4K120 HDR video, shutter speed, 5X lens, and 48MP UW are all VERY welcome additions. Camera control is nice for launching and quick trigger, but I may end up disabling the swiping gestures... not sure yet. Definitely not a home run there, but nice to know at worst I can just disable it. I have not messed with the audio features but that seems like it could be handy in certain situations too.

The most underrated features? Cellular speed and thermals. My cell speeds have legitimately quadrupled in basically every area I've tested. That's a massive improvement. Thermally, this thing is an absolute champ compared to the 15P. I can game or restore backups or download lots of apps or shoot photos in the sun without any hot frame spots or huge screen dimming. It gets warm, yeah, but doesn't overheat nearly as quickly.

I have not tried but am very much looking forward to 25W MagSafe charging. I just hope it hits accessories sooner than later, but I'll definitely be picking up a new puck for my car soon.

thats how i feel but i feel yet again the pro get stiffed a little bit? I think the size incrase is really nice making it not so mall.. and powerful!

 

[Detonation]

Thank you. I wasn't aware of that but it makes sense. I know in the past that MacRumors has posted that Apple has a way to turn on phones when they're still in the box so I assumed they’d be able to use that as a way to confirm the phone was in the box without opening it. Also I assumed that same device would be able to determine if the phone was powered on or used by the customer.

Here's What Apple Retail's New Machine to Update iPhones in the Box Looks Like

Apple retail stores are now receiving information about the company's new system for wirelessly updating iPhone software prior to sale, iGen...

www.macrumors.com

That very well may be the case now - my return was of a 15 Pro last fall and it looks like they rolled this tool out this summer. Pretty cool actually.

 

[KhunJay]

I cancelled my order when IP 15 Pro came out...due to all the overheating issues being brought up.

Won't be cancelling 16Pro when I do order it. It is high time!

 

[NotApplicable]

I returned my 16 PM

… to exchange it for another color

 

[eoblaed]

I don't understand the question.

 

[whitby]

I don't understand the question.

It is a very strange question indeed but appears to be trying to illicit whether there were many people who took delivery of a new iPhone 16 and then decided to return and understand why. It is interesting and the reasons are quite varied and make interesting reading, mostly. Or maybe you were being obtuse and I missed the joke... Which ever it was, I think the observation is a perfectly understandable one.

 

[eoblaed]

I don't understand the question.

It is a very strange question indeed but appears to be trying to illicit whether there were many people who took delivery of a new iPhone 16 and then decided to return and understand why. It is interesting and the reasons are quite varied and make interesting reading, mostly. Or maybe you were being obtuse and I missed the joke... Which ever it was, I think the observation is a perfectly understandable one.

I was attempting to be humorously contrary by implying the thought of returning a new phone is so foreign to me that the question "Did you return your iPhone 16?" is literally incomprehensible. 👽

 

[whitby]

I was attempting to be humorously contrary by implying the thought of returning a new phone is so foreign to me that the question "Did you return your iPhone 16?" is literally incomprehensible. 👽

Completely understand. Suspected as much. 😂

 

[Snayton]

I’m going to return my 16 pro max because of the touch responsive issue. I’m also having that issue with taking videos at 4k 24 and 30fps using the macro mode. It freezes on me every time I try to use it. I can’t believe nobody else hasn’t mentioned that here.

 

[techiegirl]

I’m going to return my 16 pro max because of the touch responsive issue. I’m also having that issue with taking videos at 4k 24 and 30fps using the macro mode. It freezes on me every time I try to use it. I can’t believe nobody else hasn’t mentioned that here.

I don’t have that problem or any other touch response issues with my 16 pro max.

 

[Snayton]

I don’t have that problem or any other touch response issues with my 16 pro max.

Turn your macro mode and try to take a video in 4k 24 or 30fps when you try to focus on something it will freeze and crash.

 

[ArchEtech]

What happens when the touch responsiveness issue is simply an iOS 18 problem that gets fixed in an update?

 

[Armeniandave]

I returned my 16 Pro. Coming from a 15 Pro and the changes were
not noticeable. The final draw was the camera button. I found it very
underwhelming and a bit of a gimmick. It also is going to make cases
harder to find since I really disliked the big cutout on most of them.
With no incentive for old T-Mobile plans, it really came down to the
fact it wasn't worth it with no incentives.

 

[barondebxl]

I did not return mine BUT I did go from a 14 pro max to a 16 plus.

I couldn’t resist the colors and feel.

My biggest thing that was holding me back was the frame rate of the display, I just couldn’t get over that factor for quite a while. I was actually upset psychologically that Apple had this much control over my choice, and the fact that they didn’t have the adaptive display on the regulars at this point is just annoying.

Nevertheless I caved because I really didn’t like the pro’s design and how it got slightly bigger for my hand that was already struggling.

I’m pretty happy with my 16 but definitely notice the frame drops, but if I could do it before the high refresh rate was a thing I think I’ll adjust in time.

I’m debating doing the exact same thing. The most exciting new thing about the iPhones this year are the colors of the regular model. I’ve set my 14 pro max at 60 fps to see if I can deal with it lol

 

[DDustiNN]

I'm not sure I can notice 12g of weight, 3mm taller and 0.9mm wider. That's about the weight of two quarters, less extra height than the thickness of two quarters stacked on top of each other, and less width than the thickness of two pennies stacked on top of each other.

You don’t need to get so defensive. It is almost 10% heavier. When you’re holding it one-handed and it’s resting on your pinky for an extended period of time, after being used to a certain weight for a year, yes it is still noticeable.