Apple today unveiled iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, which introduces Camera Control, a new way to capture memories, and will help users quickly access visual intelligence to learn about objects or places around them faster than ever before.
The powerful camera system features a 48MP Fusion camera with a 2x Telephoto option, giving users two cameras in one, while a new Ultra Wide camera enables macro photography.
Next-generation Photographic Styles help users personalise their images, and spatial photo and video capture allows users to relive life’s precious memories with remarkable depth on Apple Vision Pro.
The new A18 chip delivers a huge leap in performance and efficiency, enabling demanding AAA games, as well as a big boost in battery life.
“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,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing.
“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.”
Built for Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 16 lineup harnesses the power of Apple silicon and Apple-built generative models to understand and create language and images, take action across apps, and draw from personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks. Apple Intelligence maintains the privacy and security of user data with Private Cloud Compute.
This approach provides the ability to flex and scale computational capacity between on-device processing and larger, server-based models that run on dedicated Apple silicon servers.
Apple Intelligence unlocks new ways for users to enhance their writing. With systemwide Writing Tools built into iOS 18, users can rewrite, proofread, and summarise text nearly everywhere they write, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps.
In the Notes and Phone apps, users can also record, transcribe, and summarise audio. When a recording is initiated while on a call in the Phone app, participants are automatically notified, and once the call ends, Apple Intelligence generates a summary to recall key points.
Apple Intelligence helps users prioritise with summarised notifications, along with Priority Messages in Mail, a feature that understands the content of emails and surfaces time-sensitive messages. Across a user’s inbox, summaries convey the most important information of each email instead of previewing the first few lines.
Siri becomes more deeply integrated into the system experience and gets a brand-new design with an elegant glowing light that wraps around the edge of the screen when active. With richer language-understanding capabilities, communicating with Siri is more natural and flexible.
Siri follows along when users stumble over their words, and maintains context from one request to the next. Users can type to Siri at any time, and switch fluidly between text and voice as they accelerate everyday tasks. Siri also now has extensive product knowledge to answer thousands of questions about features on iPhone and other Apple devices.
Additional Apple Intelligence features will roll out later this year and in the months following, including Image Playground, which allows users to create playful images in moments. Emoji will be taken to an entirely new level with the ability to create original Genmoji by simply typing a description, or by selecting a photo of a friend or family member.
Siri will be able to draw on a user’s personal context to deliver intelligence that is tailored to them. It will also gain onscreen awareness to understand and take action with users’ content, as well as take hundreds of new actions in and across Apple and third-party apps.
And while using iOS 18 features like Siri and Writing Tools, users will also be able to easily access ChatGPT from OpenAI.
New Design
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus includes a strong back glass, a water- and dust-resistant design, regular software updates, and the latest-generation Ceramic Shield with an advanced formulation that is 50 percent tougher than the first generation and 2x tougher than glass on any other smartphone.
The internal design of iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus has been reengineered to allow for an even larger battery and to better dissipate heat, while making battery service easier. With the new internal design and advanced power management of iOS 18, the batteries are optimised to offer a big boost in battery life.
Available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch display sizes, the Super Retina XDR display with OLED technology and the Dynamic Island offers an exceptional viewing experience.
The Action button comes to iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, allowing users to easily access a variety of functions with just a press. Users can quickly open the camera, flashlight, or controls; switch between Ring and Silent; recognise music with Shazam; activate Voice Memos, Focus, Translate, and accessibility features like Magnifier; or use Shortcuts for more options.
The Action button can also access in-app functionality, like helping a user unlock and lock their car with FordPass.
Camera Control
Camera Control — a result of thoughtful hardware and software integration — elevates the camera experience on the iPhone 16 lineup. It is packed with innovation, including a tactile switch that powers the click experience, a high-precision force sensor that enables the light press gesture, and a capacitive sensor that allows for touch interactions.
Camera Control can quickly launch the camera, take a photo, and start video recording so users don’t miss the moment. A new camera preview helps users frame the shot and adjust other control options — such as zoom, exposure, or depth of field — to compose a stunning photo or video by sliding their finger on the Camera Control.
Additionally, developers will be able to bring Camera Control to third-party apps such as Snapchat.
Later this year, Camera Control will unlock visual intelligence to help users learn about objects and places faster than ever before. Users can click and hold Camera Control to pull up the hours or ratings for a restaurant they pass, add an event from a flyer to their calendar, quickly identify a dog by breed, and more.
Camera Control will also serve as a gateway into third-party tools with specific domain expertise, like when users want to search on Google to find where they can buy an item, or to benefit from ChatGPT’s problem-solving skills. Users are in control of when third-party tools are used and what information is shared.
New Camera Experiences
The powerful new camera system helps users capture both everyday moments and cherished memories like never before. The 48MP Fusion camera enables a 2x optical-quality Telephoto option, which is like having two cameras in one, so users can get closer to the subject to easily frame a photo.
In addition to wider-angle shots, the new 12MP Ultra Wide camera with autofocus enables macro photography. The Ultra Wide camera also gathers up to 2.6x more light for higher image quality. Additionally, iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus now take spatial photos and videos to help users relive memories with remarkable depth on Apple Vision Pro.
Next-generation Photographic Styles help users express their creativity and customise their photos by locally adjusting colour, highlights, and shadows in real time. Styles also have a deeper understanding of skin undertones, so users can personalise how they appear in photos.
Unlike filters, which often use a one-size-fits-all approach by adding a colour to an entire scene, adjustments are applied to specific colours of a selected style. A wider set of styles offers more creative options for editing a photo’s aesthetic, and styles can be rendered during live preview, applied after a photo is taken, or even reversed later.
Video can now be captured in Spatial Audio for immersive listening with AirPods, Apple Vision Pro, or a surround sound system.
Both iPhone models introduce creative new ways to edit video sound with Audio Mix — allowing users to adjust their sound after capture to focus on the voice of the person on camera, make it sound like the video was recorded inside a professional studio, or position vocal tracks in the front and environmental noises in surround sound.
With wind noise reduction, powerful machine learning (ML) algorithms reduce unwanted noise for better audio quality.
Powered by Apple Intelligence, users can search for specific photos in the Photos app using natural language, and search for specific moments in video clips. Additionally, the new Clean Up tool can identify and remove distracting objects in the background of a photo without altering the subject.
A18
A18 delivers a huge leap in performance and power efficiency, and is built on second-generation 3-nanometer technology to further accelerate Apple Intelligence. An upgraded 16-core Neural Engine is optimised for large generative models and runs ML models up to 2x faster than the A16 Bionic chip.
The 6-core CPU is 30 percent faster than the A16 Bionic chip and faster than all the competition. It is also more power efficient and can run the same workload with 30 percent less power than A16 Bionic.
The 5-core GPU is up to 40 percent faster and 35 percent more efficient than A16 Bionic to power stunning graphics performance for Apple Intelligence, and puts a powerful gaming device in users’ pockets.
Now with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, games on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus more accurately represent the behaviour of light with up to 5x higher frame rates than with software-based ray tracing.
Both models support the AAA games previously only available on iPhone 15 Pro, as well as new titles like Honor of Kings: World with an ultra graphics mode optimised for the iPhone 16 lineup, coming next year. Game Mode in iOS 18 delivers more consistent frame rates while making AirPods, game controllers, and other wireless accessories incredibly responsive.
The efficiency of A18 and the device’s rearchitected internal design deliver up to 30 percent higher sustained performance for gaming while ensuring Apple Intelligence runs efficiently on iPhone.
Expanded Communication and Safety Capabilities
The iPhone 16 lineup features innovative ways to stay connected and provides enhanced safety capabilities for peace of mind. Powered by the same groundbreaking technology as Emergency SOS via satellite, users are able to connect to the nearest satellite to send and receive texts, emoji, and Tapbacks over iMessage and SMS while outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.
Messages via satellite in iOS 18 are end-to-end encrypted. Also new with iOS 18, Emergency SOS Live Video allows users to share a live video feed or photos with participating emergency dispatchers during an emergency call.
Later this fall, Roadside Assistance via satellite — which connects users to a roadside assistance provider if they have car trouble while off the grid — expands beyond the US to the UK.
Pricing and Availability
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in ultramarine, teal, pink, white, and black in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities. iPhone 16 starts at £799 or £33.29 per month, and iPhone 16 Plus starts at £899 or £37.45 per month.
Apple offers great ways to save and upgrade to the latest iPhone. Customers can get £130 to £630 in credit when they trade in iPhone 11 or higher. Customers can take advantage of these offers by visiting the Apple Store online or an Apple Store location.
Customers in more than 58 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Türkiye, the UAE, the UK, and the US, will be able to pre-order iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus beginning at 1pm BST this Friday, September 13, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in Macao, Vietnam, and 19 other countries and regions beginning Friday, September 27.
iOS 18 will be available as a free software update on Monday, September 16.
Apple Intelligence will be available as a free software update. The first set of Apple Intelligence features will be available in beta next month as part of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, with more features rolling out in the months to come. It will be available on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac with M1 and later, with device and Siri language set to US English. Additional languages and platforms are coming over the course of the next year. Later this year, Apple Intelligence will add support for localised English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK In the coming year, Apple Intelligence will expand to more languages, including Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish.
In addition to an iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus Clear Case, available for £49 , a Silicone Case with MagSafe will be available for £49 in black, denim, fuchsia, lake green, plum, star fruit, stone grey, and ultramarine.
Apple cases for the iPhone 16 lineup work seamlessly with Camera Control, featuring a sapphire crystal coupled to a conductive layer that communicates finger movements to the Camera Control. FineWoven Wallet with MagSafe will be available for £59 in black, blackberry, dark green, and deep blue.
