Apple has revealed the iPhone 16 range, including the premium iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The question is, what’s the difference between the two?
While some differences are quite obvious, like the iPhone 16 Pro sporting a smaller, more compact screen than its larger sibling, others – like a difference in battery life – aren’t quite as easy to spot.
There’s also the fact that the two phones share more similarities than previous generations of Pro iPhone, meaning that, for the first time in a couple of years, the two models are on par in areas like camera performance.
While we’re yet to go hands-on with the new iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, here’s how the two premium smartphones compare on paper ahead of our full, in-depth comparison coming your way very soon.
If you’re curious, we also compare the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra separately.
Pricing and availability
Apple has confirmed that the iPhone 16 range will match the iPhone 15 range in terms of pricing.
That means that the iPhone 16 Pro starts at £999/$999, with pre-orders available now ahead of release on 20 September.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the other hand, starts at a slightly higher £1,199/$1,199, with pre-orders also available now ahead of release on 20 September.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a larger screen
Both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have had a boost in the screen department this year, but as the name suggests, the iPhone 16 Pro Max still has the larger screen of the two.
More specifically, the iPhone 16 Pro sports a new 6.3-inch 120Hz OLED screen, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max sports a 6.9-inch 120Hz OLED screen. This may make the phones sound absolutely massive, especially the Pro Max, but it’s worth noting that it’s partly down to much slimmer bezels on this year’s Pro range.
Sure, they’re still slightly bigger than their predecessors, but not by that much.
The iPhone 16 Pro has a new 5x periscope lens
The iPhone 15 Pro Max was treated to a camera upgrade in the form of a new 5x periscope lens, allowing for higher levels of zoom – all the way up to 15x if you include digital zoom – but the same couldn’t be said for the iPhone 15 Pro, which was left with the regular 3x telescope of the previous generation.
That has been rectified this year, however, with the iPhone 16 Pro now sporting the same 12MP 5x periscope zoom as the iPhone 16 Pro Max, along with the same 48MP main camera and upgraded 48MP ultrawide.
That essentially means that the camera performance should be identical, regardless of which Pro-level iPhone you opt for, though that’s something we’ll have to confirm once we’ve gone hands-on.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max will likely have better battery life
Apple doesn’t like to discuss battery specifics at its launches, often providing context on how long a phone’s battery might last. However, with the 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max boasting extra space within its chassis compared to the iPhone 16 Pro, the former has more space for a bigger battery.
That has been the case with practically every combination of Pro and Pro Max, and we don’t expect anything different here.
This all essentially boils down to one fact; the bigger iPhone 16 Pro Max has a larger battery, meaning it can last longer between charges. However, that could also mean it charges slightly slower than the iPhone 16 Pro – we’ll have to wait and see for ourselves.
Both iPhones sport the same Action and Capture buttons
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max were treated to new functionality in the form of the Action button, essentially providing a way for iPhone users to activate a range of functions using a single button press. It was a Pro exclusive last year, before rolling out to the entire iPhone 16 range this year.
That’s not all though; Apple has introduced the new Camera Controls button on the entire iPhone 16 collection. Unlike the Action button, this new button isn’t customisable, instead used for capturing photos and videos on your device.
In addition to a light press to focus and a full press to capture content, you can swipe on the capture button to zoom in or out without touching the screen, as well as access other tools and shooting modes, and it acts as a shortcut to the Camera app throughout iOS too.
Both offer Apple A18 Pro performance
Regardless of the Pro-level iPhone you opt for, you’ll be getting the same high-end performance courtesy of Apple’s new A18 Pro chipset.
Apple claims that the new chipset boasts a 15% boost to CPU performance, a 20% boost in the GPU department and a faster 16-core neural engine compared to last year’s A17 Pro chipset, which was a Pro iPhone exclusive.
We’ve not benchmarked it just yet, but given that the A17 Pro performed at a higher level than the current Android flagship chipset of choice, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, it’s safe to assume we’ll see even bigger margins with the A18 Pro chipset – until the rumoured Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is announced in the next few months, anyway.
Early Verdict
It seems that, even in comparison to recent iPhone releases, there’s very little between the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
As always, the iPhone 16 Pro offers a more compact experience with its 6.3-inch screen compared to the Pro Max’s 6.9-inch screen, while battery life will likely be better on the larger model with its bigger battery, but aside from that, it looks like you’re going to be getting the same high-end iPhone experience.
It’ll likely just boil down to what size iPhone you’d feel more comfortable using, but we’ll save our final thoughts for once we’ve gone hands-on with both Pro iPhones.
