The iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to continue my annual upgrade pattern

I have not always I upgrade my iPhone every year. This process started with the iPhone X but has continued since then, and it's generally been the camera features that have cost me my money.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn’t seem to be like that quite has one killer feature for me, but it looks like Apple only needs two new features to boost a sale…

It's not always about a single killer feature

It's rare that a single killer feature has enticed me into an iPhone upgrade. With the X, the new form factor was obviously a no-brainer, and with the iPhone 11 Pro, it was the wide-angle lens. But more often, it's a series of camera improvements that have earned Apple my money.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max offered me an irresistible combination of a larger sensor, night mode portraits and ProRAW shots.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max came with an amazing array of camera features in the form of Night Mode on the telephoto lens, larger apertures for even better low-light photos, Apple ProRes, and Cinematic Mode videos.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max offers significantly improved night photography, a 48MP sensor and improved video performance.

The action button was almost a killer feature for me on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with the ability to instantly record video being the main attraction. The 5x telephoto lens is great for portraits, although I'd actually prefer the old 3x lens most of the time.

The record button approaches the KF status

I said recently that for me the closest thing to a killer feature yet is the dedicated record button.

What The information This appears to describe a half-press function that was standard on SLRs before DSLRs. Half-pressing the shutter button locks exposure and focus, and fully pressing it takes the photo.

This simple function makes a gigantic Difference in the ease and speed with which you can properly expose and focus a shot. On an iPhone it makes an even bigger difference because to do this we have to tap the part of the screen that contains the subject and then sometimes drag the exposure up or down. This is very awkward when trying to maintain the frame.

Since then, we've heard that while the button will feature a capacitive swipe function for zooming (and possibly manually adjusting exposure as well), the actual push button will be mechanical, which makes me even more excited.

Add one of two additional features and Apple's sales job is complete…

Improved ultra-wide angle camera

While the wide-angle camera convinced me to upgrade to the iPhone 11, and it's great for landscape and city shots in daylight, it struggles noticeably in lower light. Indoor use is especially disappointing (and that's something I appreciate with some spectacular buildings when traveling).

This year we expect a major upgrade of the UW camera to 48 MP. I am hope this will also come with a wider aperture – the current one is f/2.2 versus f/1.78 on the main camera. If so, this could bring the quality up to the level of the main camera, which is something I would like to see.

New sensor for the main camera

The rumor is a long time ago, but the main camera May will be getting a new sensor technology this year that could be a big deal for low-light photography. Ming-Chi Kuo pointed out a new stacked sensor from Sony last year that splits the photodiodes and pixel transistors into different layers.

If that's true, it would be possible to make the photodiodes larger, which would provide some of the benefits of a physically larger sensor at the same size, namely better performance in low light and greater dynamic range in high-contrast lighting.

This is an area where Apple has made steady progress, but a stacked sensor would be a really big step forward.

Lesser features

We also expect a number of smaller camera improvements:

• 4K video recording at 120 frames per second
• Support for ProRes 4K video recording when connected to external storage
• Support for 4K recording when using QuickTake
• Support for JPEG-XL format for capturing lossy and lossless photos
• Pause and resume video recording in the Camera app
• A feature to remove wind noise from videos

Again, none of them has significant person do not appeal to me, but in turn contribute to an overall package of improvements.

So, yes, the best investment is that I upgrade

We'll obviously have to wait until the keynote to find out which of the rumored new features turn out to be true and if Apple has any more surprises up its sleeve, but the record button plus either a wider aperture UW lens or a stacked sensor for the main camera would definitely do the trick.

And you? Are you planning to upgrade and what is the main reason for you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Photo by Surasak_ch on Unsplash