iPhone 16: Price, cameras, Apple Intelligence features and everything you need to know

The iPhone 16 is finally here: Apple unveiled its new base model along with the iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max at its last Apple event on September 9.

To get a first look at the new phones, check out our hands-on reviews of the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

All four devices are likely to be among the best iPhones ever, offering new buttons, redesigned cameras, and Apple Intelligence features that could also make them the best AI phones of 2024 (as Tim Cook noted on stage, they are the “first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence”).

Below we've rounded up everything you need to know about the iPhone 16, from price and release date to new hardware and software.

iPhone 16: important information

The iPhone 16 Delivery begins on September 20
Starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399
It inherits the action button from the iPhone 15 Pro
… and gets a new dedicated button for camera control
With the camera control you can Learn about your surroundings instantly
The iPhone 16 uses the new A18 chipset
It comes with up to 512 GB storage
… and a reported 8 GB RAM for Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence Features The introduction begins in October
The iPhone 16 The cameras are aligned vertically to enable spatial video recordings
Shipping is carried out with iOS18
The iPhone 16 comes in Ultramarine, teal, pink, white and black
The iPhone 16 charges with up to 45Wwhich is much faster than the iPhone 15

iPhone 16: Price, release date and pre-orders

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

From $799 / £799 / AU$1,399
Pre-orders are available from September 13th, shipping begins on September 20th

The iPhone 16 was announced on Monday, September 9, at Apple's It's Glowtime event. Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 begin on Friday, September 9, and the phone will hit stores on Friday, September 20. To see the first deals, check out our dedicated iPhone 16 deals page.

The iPhone 16 starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 for the model with 128GB storage, with that price rising to $899 / £899 / AU$1,599 for the model with 256GB storage and $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,949. for the model with 512 GB storage.

For reference, these are the same prices we saw for the iPhone 15 at launch in the US and UK. In Australia, the iPhone 16 is actually AU$100 cheaper than the iPhone 15. You can find full iPhone 16 prices below.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

iPhone 16 prices
storage	US price	UK Price	AU Price
128GB	$799	799 €	1,399 €
256GB	$899	899 €	1,599 €
512GB	$1,099	1,099 €	1,949 €

iPhone 16 specifications

iPhone16

(Image credit: Apple)

Below we have described the most important technical data of the iPhone 16 in detail.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

	iPhone16
Dimensions:	147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8mm
Weight:	Pork ham approx. 170g
Advertisement:	6.1 inch OLED
Resolution:	2556 x 1179 pixels
Refresh rate:	60Hz
Chipset:	A18
Rear view cameras:	48 MP main lens (26 mm, ƒ/1.6), 12 MP ultra-wide angle (13 mm, ƒ/2.2)
Front camera:	12 megapixels (ƒ/1.9)
Storage:	128GB, 256GB, 512GB

iPhone 16 Colors

iPhone 16 series

The iPhone 16 in black, white, pink, teal and ultramarine (Image credit: Apple)

The confirmed colors of the iPhone 16 are ultramarine, teal, pink, white and black.

For reference, the iPhone 15 was launched in yellow, blue, pink, green and black, so Apple has replaced three shades with new colors this year.

iPhone 16: New features

Datasheet of the most important iPhone 16 specifications

(Image credit: Apple)

New action button
New camera control button
New A18 chipset
Gets Apple Intelligence features in October
Vertical cameras for spatial video recordings

Aside from the vertically aligned camera lenses on the back (rearranged for spatial video recording) and the additions of the iPhone 15 Pro's multipurpose action button and a brand new camera control button, the standard iPhone 16 looks a lot like the standard iPhone 15.

Of course, these three physical upgrades are not insignificant—they're all certainly welcome, especially the new camera control feature, which we'll discuss in more detail below—but on their own they're not a good enough reason to upgrade. The really exciting improvements for the iPhone 16 are under the hood.

First of all, Apple's latest standard model is powered by the new A18 chipset, which represents a two-step jump over the A16 Bionic chipset in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. This is a big deal, as Apple almost always uses the previous generation's top-end chipsets in its new standard models; instead, the iPhone 16 gets an exclusive chipset this year (alongside the iPhone 16 Plus, that is).

However, an early benchmark suggests that the A18 chipset may not offer quite as much of a performance boost as hoped.

However, it will better protect your privacy because, as we learned, it provides a way to prevent malicious apps from disabling the camera and microphone indicators.

Apple iPhone 16

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

We can also expect the iPhone 16 to come with 8GB of RAM, compared to the iPhone 15's 6GB of RAM. Why? Well, Apple hasn't revealed the RAM capacity of the new phone, but we do know that at least 8GB of RAM is required to support the Apple Intelligence features that we know the iPhone 16 has (though not until October, when Apple Intelligence will be rolled out in beta).

Some of the most exciting Apple Intelligence features coming in the future include a ChatGPT-powered Siri, text summarization, writing assistance, and generative image editing. These tools will put the iPhone 16 on par with rival devices like the Google Pixel 9 and Samsung Galaxy S24 – in other words, Apple is no longer behind in the AI race.

Apple hasn't revealed the size of the iPhone 16's battery yet, but we do know that the new phone will offer “significantly longer battery life.” Considering the iPhone 15 is rated for 20 hours of video playback, that's a promising claim.

The iPhone 16 also supports MagSafe wireless charging at up to 25W, which is almost double the previous 15W limit, and wired charging at 45W, which is over 50% faster than the iPhone 15 lineup. Great job, Apple.

Apple iPhone 16

The new camera controls on the iPhone 16 (Image credit: Apple)

But back to the camera control button, which is the big new physical upgrade on all iPhone 16 models. This physical but also capacitive button is located on the right side of the phone below the power button and doubles as the shutter button.

A press of the camera control button immediately launches the camera app, another press takes a photo, while a long press starts a video. But that's not all: Similar to a Touch Bar, the camera control button also supports various gesture controls, so you can zoom and adjust exposure, among other things, with just your finger.

Apple iPhone 16 camera controls

The camera control button on the iPhone 16 (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

As mentioned, alongside this new camera control button, there is also the iPhone 16's old multi-purpose action button, so the combination of the two features could arguably make the new phone (or at least the iPhone 16 Pro) one of the best camera phones on the market.

My analysis

Axel is TechRadar's Phones Editor and has been writing and testing the best mobile devices (including iPhones) for several years. Based in the UK, he covers news and features for the phones section of the site and regularly edits TechRadar's phone reviews and buying guides. Axel's name can be found in over 1,500 TechRadar articles.

So should you upgrade to the iPhone 16? We're currently testing Apple's latest base model, but we can already make an initial judgement based on the key information we already have about the new phone.

The bottom line is that the iPhone 16 is for those who want access to Apple's intelligence features without paying the extra price that the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max (or even last year's iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max) charge.

Design-wise, this phone is very similar to the iPhone 15. It's the same size, has similar cameras and the same screen, and while Apple is promising “big” improvements in battery life for the iPhone 16, the iPhone 15's battery is already more than decent. Sure, the addition of a camera control button and an action button is welcome this year, but neither feature is likely to be groundbreaking for casual buyers – especially since the iPhone 16 is still burdened with its predecessor's 60Hz refresh rate.

Apple iPhone 16 main camera module

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Instead, the iPhone 16 is all about software. Or, more specifically, Apple Intelligence. Yes, the new phone's A18 chipset and presumed 8GB RAM capacity will certainly bring overall performance improvements over the iPhone 15, but the latter handset is already a supremely fast phone. However, the iPhone 15 won't be able to access the Apple Intelligence features that Apple touts as The main selling point for its latest handsets. Frankly, it feels a little harsh that Apple has let iPhone 15 owners down like this – the otherwise excellent phone is only a year old, after all.

So if you don't want to be left behind in the AI race, the iPhone 16 might be worth buying. However, if you don't care so much about virtual assistance and are waiting for some more significant iPhone design upgrades, Apple's latest standard model isn't a must-buy. Stay tuned to TechRadar for our full review of the iPhone 16, which we'll be publishing in the coming weeks.

iPhone 16: Price, cameras, Apple Intelligence features and everything you need to know

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