Can't Wait for the iPhone 17? Here's Which iPhone You Should Get Right Now

Every year, fans and Apple enthusiasts eagerly await the caller iPhones. This year, it volition beryllium the iPhone 17 that breaks cover, apt successful September. But what if you request a caller iPhone close now, successful the mediate of the company's merchandise cycle? Let's find retired which iPhone exemplary suits you best.

Best Specifications: iPhone 16 Pro oregon iPhone 16 Pro Max

Since their merchandise successful September 2024, the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max stay the best, astir feature-loaded iPhones that wealth tin buy.

From a premium titanium exterior framework to a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate screen, the cutting-edge A18 Pro chip, a triple-camera setup that provides 5x optical zoom, and batteries that past an full time of dense usage, the Pro models person the champion hardware connected an iPhone to date.

Of the 2 phones, the iPhone 16 Pro is the smaller, compact handset that easy fits successful smaller hands and pockets portion offering each the top-tier specifications. It is besides the cheapest of the Pro iPhones. Conversely, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the top-of-the-line flagship, featuring a larger screen, a bigger battery, and a higher terms tag.

With the iPhone 16 Pro, you get a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR ProMotion display with a Dynamic Island, the A18 Pro spot with a six-core CPU and a six-core GPU, a 48MP + 48MP + 12MP camera configuration (same arsenic that connected the Pro Max), a USB 3 (10 Gbps) port, and a artillery that provides up to 27 hours of video playback.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max, with its larger and heavier chassis (28 grams), features a 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR ProMotion screen. I person held the handset successful person, and it feels similar a mini-tablet, to beryllium honest, arsenic opposed to the tiny iPhone 16 I usage daily.

The bigger chassis makes country for a artillery that provides up to 33 hours of video playback. No substance which telephone you choose, you inactive get fast wired charging (with a 20W adapter oregon higher), 25W MagSafe wireless charging (with a 30W adapter oregon higher), and enactment for Qi2 wireless charging (up to 15W) accessories.

With the champion specifications, the Pro iPhones besides supply the champion bundle experience. Apple's latest handsets vessel with iOS 18, which supports each AI smarts disposable arsenic portion of Apple Intelligence. These see features specified arsenic Writing Tools, Image Playground, and Siri with ChatGPT integration, among others.

The baseline iPhone 16 Pro comes with 128GB of retention for $999, which volition capable up wrong a fewer months of regular usage; you'll yet request to find ways to escaped up retention connected your iPhone. On the different hand, the baseline iPhone 16 Pro Max comes with 256GB of retention for $1,199, which is $200 much than the Pro.

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  Apple iPhone 16 Pro

  A mentation of Apple's newest iPhone with a larger surface featuring a camera button, a programmable enactment button, and artificial quality features.

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  Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

  The iPhone 16 Pro Max is simply a artillery powerhouse. It offers unparalleled longevity among iPhones and outperforms astir of its competitors.

Whether it's the baseline variant oregon the Pro Max, iPhones connection an fantabulous audio acquisition with stereo speakers. However, the surface benignant and features are important successful determining the wide multimedia experience.

If you privation the implicit champion show connected an iPhone, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the mode to go.

It features a gigantic 6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED screen that produces vibrant colors, supports a adaptable refresh complaint of 1-120Hz, has a pixel density of 460 ppi, and reaches a highest brightness of 2000 nits.

The OLED sheet besides offers an fantabulous contrast ratio, providing a precocious dynamic scope with enactment for HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats. You besides get features similar always-on screen, True Tone, and third-generation Ceramic Shield protection.

However, getting the champion show hardware connected an iPhone costs $1,199. If you're good with that, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the mode to go. If not, Apple has different enactment successful store for you. It's not arsenic fancy, but it surely has a large capable screen for your OTT sessions.

I'm talking astir the iPhone 16 Plus, which features a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display. Despite featuring an OLED panel, the phone doesn't enactment a higher refresh rate (it's locked astatine 60Hz).

Nonetheless, it tin inactive execute a peak brightness of 2000 nits and comes with HDR and Dolby Vision certifications for handling precocious dynamic scope content.

Best iPhone for Photography and Videography: iPhone 16 Pro oregon Pro Max

Previously, the iPhone 15 Pro Max held the rubric of the champion iPhone for photography, arsenic the iPhone 15 Pro lacked a 5x optical zoom camera. However, that's not the lawsuit with the iPhone 16 series.

The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max stock the aforesaid camera setup, which is the champion connected an iPhone. The handsets person a 48MP (f/1.78, 24mm) superior camera, a 48MP (f/2.2, 13mm) ultrawide camera with 120-degree tract of presumption (an upgrade implicit the iPhone 15 Pro models), and a 12MP (f/2.8, 120mm) sensor with a 5x optical zoom lens.

The superior camera allows you to seizure photos astatine 1x, 1.2x, 1.5x, and 2x (at 12MP), making the iPhone 16 Pro models large for mundane shooting, portraits, and a assortment of subjects with antithetic focal lengths. The ultrawide sensor lets you seizure elaborate landscapes (at 0.5x) and macro shots.

Then there's the telephoto camera (5x), which lets you zoom successful connected distant objects. It's useful for photographing cityscapes, wildlife, sports events, concerts, and more.

Regarding videos, the superior sensor tin grounds 4K Dolby Vision footage astatine 120 fps, 4K ProRes video astatine 120 fps (with outer storage), 4K Cinematic videos astatine 30 fps, and ultra-stabilized videos successful 2.8K Action Mode astatine 60 fps.

In addition, you tin grounds Spatial Videos astatine 1080p successful 30 fps, with sensor-shift stabilization, 4 studio-quality microphones, upwind sound reduction, and the Audio Mix feature.

The iPhone 16 lineup besides offers a caller Camera Control button, which provides speedy entree to the Camera app, including camera-related settings specified arsenic exposure, depth, zoom, and photography styles. It besides locks AE/AF and captures a representation with a azygous click.

Check retired much differences betwixt the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max here.

These iPhones Offer the Longest Battery Life

Even though each the models successful the iPhone 16 lineup connection excellent artillery life, 2 basal retired arsenic lasting longer than the others, including immoderate competitors from different brands: the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Plus.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max offers the champion artillery beingness of immoderate iPhone. Apple claims that the handset tin supply up to 33/29 hours of offline/streamed video playback, the highest successful the iPhone 16 lineup. In fact, the telephone outlasts the Galaxy S25 Ultra successful PhoneArena's artillery beingness benchmark test.

Coming successful 2nd is the iPhone 16 Plus, which offers up to 27/24 hours of offline/streamed video playback. Though the telephone is precise antithetic from the iPhone 16 Pro Max, it inactive does an fantabulous occupation of keeping artillery anxiousness astatine bay.

While these are the champion iPhones for prolonged hours of streaming videos, scrolling connected societal media, oregon playing video games, there's different exemplary that deserves a notation successful this section, and that's the iPhone 16e.

The iPhone 16e features "the astir power-efficient exemplary ever connected an iPhone," which results successful offline/streamed video playback of up to 26/21 hours, respectively. The handset's claimed numbers are higher than those of the baseline iPhone 16.

Best Value iPhone: iPhone 16

Initially, I planned to see the iPhone 15 here. However, aft reviewing the spec sheets respective times, I've decided to ditch the 2023 baseline iPhone successful favour of the vanilla iPhone 16.

The iPhone 16 offers a overmuch much almighty and businesslike A18 spot that provides capable performance headroom for the years to come. Thanks to its earthy processing power, the spot unlocks each the latest Apple Intelligence features.

Despite having a akin camera setup to its predecessor, the iPhone 16 includes an ultra-wide camera with autofocus, enabling macro photography. The latest-generation Photographic Styles supply granular power implicit the tones and colors successful a picture.

The iPhone 16 provides up to 22 hours of offline video playback, 2 hours much than the iPhone 15. It besides supports faster MagSafe charging up to 25W (with a 30W oregon higher adapter) compared to 15W connected the iPhone 15. In my opinion, the iPhone 16 is worthy the $799 Apple asks for it ($100 much than the baseline iPhone 15).

Best Budget iPhone: iPhone 16e oregon iPhone 15

This year, determination are 2 candidates for the champion fund iPhone.

If you privation a almighty chipset, each the caller Apple Intelligence features, and exceptional artillery life, spell with the iPhone 16e.

The spiritual successor to the iPhone SE bid offers each the indispensable features, including an OLED display, a 48MP superior camera that supports 4K Dolby Vision recording, 26 hours of offline video playback, Qi wireless charging, Emergency SOS via satellite, and Crash Detection.

The entry-level iPhone 16e, with 128GB of storage, costs $599, making it the astir affordable exemplary successful the existent lineup. But whether it's the close exemplary for you depends connected however severely you privation those Apple Intelligence features.

If you don't attraction astir the AI smarts and similar a brighter surface with Dynamic Island, a dual-camera setup, and MagSafe wireless charging, the $699 iPhone 15 could beryllium the close option.

The iPhone 15 besides features an precocious Portrait mode, which allows you to use a inheritance blur to the representation aft capturing it. Another diagnostic that tips the standard successful favour of past year's iPhone is Precision Finding via the Find My network.

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If you're besides readying to get an iPad, cheque retired our elaborate comparison betwixt the iPad 11th Gen and the Galaxy Tab S10 FE. Looking for an iPad with much processing power? The M3 iPad Air and the M4 iPad Pro are fantabulous devices successful their respective segments.

New to Apple? Learn much astir the outgo of mounting up a functional Apple ecosystem successful 2025.