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yes, that’s right, the long-awaited new iphone review is here!

this year, we also got the four new models of the iphone 16 series as soon as possible and experienced them for a while.

if nothing unexpected happens, this article should be published just when the iphone 16 series is officially launched.

therefore, this year's review will be different from previous years. tony will focus more on purchasing recommendations. if you happen to want to buy a new iphone this year, then this article will be very helpful to you.

as usual, before starting the feature film, let me first summarize this time's iphone 16 series:

i found that cook's knife skills were very clear this year;it is to further widen the differentiation in positioning between the standard version and the pro version.

especially in terms of imaging, the pro version is equipped with extremely professional configurations such as 4k120 frames dolby vision and 4 microphones, while features such as high refresh rate promotion, usb 3.0, and proraw are still exclusive to the pro.

just as cook emphasized in many interviews, it is enough for ordinary people to buy the standard version, unless you have professional needs or sufficient budget, then consider the pro version.

in the past, i would say that this is just a marketing strategy of this old guy, but the situation is different this year. i think the standard version of iphone 16 is indeed better than last year’s iphone 15, and more recommended than this year’s pro version.

let’s talk about it in more detail.

if i were to describe the iphone 16 standard edition in one sentence, i would use:backstab the past and fight for the future。

let’s first talk about how to backstab the predecessor.

if you have observed the iterative upgrades of the standard version of the iphone in recent years, you will find that it may be the generation with the biggest upgrade since the iphone 12.

there are two main reasons why i made this judgment:appearance and core configuration。

the appearance is easy to understand. we all know that each generation of iphone basically has minor changes if possible. whenever there are major changes, it means that apple intends to give you more toothpaste - so that others can tell that you are using a new iphone.

in the past, when iphone 12 was upgraded to iphone 13, the bangs were shortened and the rear dual cameras were changed to a diagonal layout;

but when it comes to iphone 14, only a few new colors are given to you, and the rest remain basically unchanged;

the biggest feature of the iphone 15 generation is that the notch screen has become a hole-punch exclamation mark. why not a c-port? because the c-port is harder to see at a glance, okay...

however, when it comes to the iphone 16 generation, its details have obviously changed a lot.in addition to the camera module changing from the previous rectangular diagonal layout to a vertical dual-camera, a new camera pressure-sensitive button and an action button that were not available in the previous generation have also been added. 。

when you hold it in your hand, others can tell at a glance that you are using a new iphone.

in sharp contrast, it is really hard to tell the difference between this generation of iphone 16 pro - if you have watched lin wuwu’s latest video, then you will know that he used iphone 15 pro instead of 16 pro for fun, and the audience didn’t notice.

if the upgrade of appearance just slightly scratches the itch of standard version users,the upgrade of the core configuration is the pain point that made those who changed to iphone 15 during the 618 shopping festival break their thighs.。

i was almost used to the fact that the processor of the standard version of the iphone was one generation behind the pro version (dog head), but this year's standard version of the iphone 16 is equipped with the a18 of the same generation as the pro version.

it feels both strange and familiar.

i remember the last time the standard version and the pro version used the same generation of chips was in the iphone 12 series. in the blink of an eye, 4 years have passed, and my youth is finally back.

regarding a18, i think it will be the key for apple to restore the reputation of the standard version.

when i watched the press conference, i thought cook would make drastic changes to the a18 like a leather-clad swordsman. but after i tested it myself, i found that the difference between the a18 and a18 pro is not that big, and it is not the kind of knife that cuts into the aorta.

why?

look at this.

a18 and a18 pro both are 2+4 hexa-core cpu architectures, and both are made with tsmc's second-generation 3nm process. the biggest difference is that the a18GPU one less core than the a18 pro.

let’s go straight to the data.

in terms of cpu, compared with a18 pro, the single-core performance of a18 lags behind by about 3.5%, and the multi-core performance lags behind by about 3.9%. the gap is really very small. it is very likely that the cpu of a18 pro has only slightly higher main frequency than a18.

at the same time, i also brought the previous generation a17 pro for comparison. the single-core performance of a18 increased by 14.8% and the multi-core performance increased by 14.4%.

our colleagues who bought iphone 15 pro during 618 said they were not worried at all (bushi

in terms of gpu, the a18 has one less core, so its running score lags behind the a18 pro by about 14.6%.

although the running score difference is not small, in the actual graphics rendering scenario, the gap between a18 and a18 pro is not very obvious.

take the test results of 3d mark wild life extreme for example, their average frame rates differ by only a few frames, and the scores differ by only about 300 points.

the same is true in the actual game testing phase. after 30 minutes of running the star cha sea center map, the average frame rate of the iphone 16 is 57.6, and the average frame rate of the iphone 16 pro is 57.8. the difference of a few frames is almost negligible.

not only that, after a round of running pictures, the highest temperature on the back of the iphone 16 was 48.3°c, which was not much higher than that of the iphone 16 pro. this shows that although the heat dissipation of this generation is not much, it still has some effect.

if the fruit could be stacked freely to dissipate heat, the effect would definitely be more explosive, but unfortunately it is not allowed. . .

in addition to the a18, the iphone 16's 8gb of memory is also a critical blow to owners of previous generations.

you know, over the years, the memory of the standard version has never been on par with the pro version. for example, the memory of the iphone 15 is only 6gb.

the benefits of increased memory are obvious. in addition to making it less likely that the background will be filled up as soon as you open the camera, it also allows for the use of end-side ai.

according to previous statements by apple executives, 8gb of memory is a dividing line between whether or not one can benefit from apple ai.

geekbay's interview with johny srouji

following this topic, let’s also talk about another point i mentioned earlier: fighting for the future.

although the chinese version of apple ai is still in the planning stage, it is only a matter of time before it is implemented.

because looking at the attitude shown by apple at the press conference, the future iphone will definitely focus on the ai ​​experience. so at this time point in 2024, i definitely do not recommend you to buy any iphone product that does not have ai.

so the iphone 16 with 8gb of memory means that it will not be outdated for a long time in the future, and should be able to last until you change your phone in 3-4 years.

another point for the future is that this time apple has enabled the iphone 16 to support the ability to shoot spatial videos.

i think the signal of this action is very clear. in the future, apple is likely to launch a lower-priced vision pro youth edition to meet the needs of iphone standard version users whose budget and needs are not so high.

some friends may think that vision pro is useless, but in fact, i found that many people on the internet think that this thing can be used as a high-end electronic photo album.

perhaps, being able to preserve a 3d memory is very precious to some people.

ahem~ we have gone off topic, let’s briefly summarize the standard version of iphone 16 here.

overall, the gap between this generation of iphone 16 standard version and pro is much smaller than before, without increasing in price.

for example, in terms of performance, there is no generation gap like the previous generation. and the action button and camera pressure-sensitive buttons, which were probably not available before, are now available.

and this time the iphone 16 also has the upgraded lens anti-reflective coating (only the main camera in the standard version has it).

in addition, the battery of the iphone 16 has been upgraded from 3349mah of the previous generation to 3567mah (13.839wh), and the battery life has also been slightly upgraded.

of course, the 60hz screen and usb 2.0 are still the uncomfortable shortcomings of the iphone 16. if you care about these two things, it is recommended that you look at the android flagships in the distance. . .

as for whether the camera pressure-sensitive buttons and anti-reflective coating are useful, we will discuss them in the next iphone 16 pro chapter.

regarding iphone 16 pro, i have seen rumors online before: iphone 16 pro has fast charging.45W ！

actually, my first reaction when i saw this news was:what guoguo didn't say must not exist.。

however, when i took a look at the outer packaging, i was surprised to see that all four models, including the standard version and the pro version, were marked with a maximum input power of 45w (15v, 3a).

so i took out my ancestral power z and tested it thoroughly.

the results are as you can see. whether it is the standard version or the pro, it only takes a moment (2 to 3 seconds?) to reach a peak power of more than 30w. this shows that what guoguo didn’t say doesn’t exist.

the blue curve represents power

the charging power doesn’t seem to have changed much, but has the charging speed become faster?

the answer is yes, but only a little.

by comparing with the previous generation models, we found thatunder the same conditions, the iphone 16 / 16 pro can charge about 6.8wh in 20 minutes.(estimated)the iphone 15 charges 6.5wh of electricity. 。

well... i can't say that this improvement is non-existent, but i can only say that it is better than nothing.

the orange curve represents the power

although charging is just a minor issue, the battery has indeed become larger this time - the iphone 16 pro has increased from 3275mah of the previous generation to 3594mah (13.942wh), and the iphone 16 pro max has increased from 4422mah of the previous generation to 4640mah (17.955wh).

the battery life has indeed improved.

in terms of appearance, this year's pro version has a larger screen and narrower bezels. the iphone 16 pro has increased from 6.1 inches to 6.3 inches, and the iphone 16 pro max has increased from 6.7 inches to 6.9 inches. the screen bezels have been narrowed from the previous 1.55mm to 1.15mm.

i have to say, the visual effect of this large screen with narrow bezels is just great.

left: iphone 16 pro; right: iphone 15 pro

however, the larger screen also brought some problems to my experience. for example, after the screen was elongated, the top status bar, which was already difficult to reach, became even more difficult to reach.

it's a challenge for my thumb!

in terms of recognition, the appearance of this generation of iphone 16 pro is indeed as we mentioned earlier. it is difficult to create a clear gap with the previous generation. when the two machines are put together, it really feels like there is no way to tell which is the newer one.

guess which one is the iphone 16 pro?

as for the processor, we have already talked about it together with a18 before, so we will not expand on it here. next, let’s focus on imaging.

first of all, is this camera pressure-sensitive button easy to use?my conclusion is that it doesn't work.。

after using it for a few days, i found that what i used most was to open the camera and take quick photos. as for operations like sliding to adjust parameters, i used them less often because i found that touch operation is more convenient to use.

friends who have played with cameras should know that the reason why cameras need so many physical buttons is that the touch screens of many cameras are not easy to use, and some even have no touch screen function; the other reason is that the camera buttons/knobs give direct feedback and have a sense of scale, which helps people quickly complete parameter adjustment and shooting.

but this pressure-sensitive button on the iphone 16 makes me pay more attention to its operation.

so after a while of exploration, i think the greater function of this button is: on the one hand,free the action button from the camera launcher, so that it can complete other more complex operations.

on the other hand,for some people who need it, it can be set as an amplifier——we have dealt with many visually impaired people before, and found that the amplifier on the mobile phone is indeed a necessity for them.

in addition to the pressure-sensitive buttons, i think the iphone 16 pro isfurther extend the longboard。

we all know that the iphone’s video shooting capabilities are unmatched among mobile phones. this time, apple has also added 4k120 frames dolby vision and a four-microphone array.

i asked our company's camera teachers, and they all thought that 4k120 frames is a good feature. it is not only helpful for them to shoot some slow-motion materials with their mobile phones, but the higher image quality and frame rate also give them more room for post-editing.

however, i need to remind you that this function only supports the main camera, and the maximum focal length is only 2x, so how to make good use of this lens depends on your imagination.

then the ultra-wide-angle lens has also been upgraded to the same sony imx 903 sensor as the main camera, with 48 million pixels, a 1/1.14-inch large bottom and a double-layer transistor design.

this time, the image quality of the main camera and the ultra-wide-angle camera are truly on par, and there is also an additional macro shooting function. you can also refer to the sample photos below for the specific effects.

swipe left

if the upgrades to the main camera and ultra-wide-angle are what i like to see, then the upgrade to the telephoto makes me a little conflicted.

this generation of iphone 16 pro also has a 5x optical periscope lens, so it can also shoot concerts. but i feel it’s a pity that it lacks the very useful middle focal length of 3x (equivalent to 77mm) - those who are using iphone 15 pro should know the value of this 3x lens.

iphone 16 pro 5x zoom sample

in addition to the above, there is one more thing i really want to share with you:anti-reflective lens coating。

this time, all three lenses of the iphone 16 pro have this coating, while the standard version only has the main camera.

regarding its function, i saw some bloggers online saying that it can reduce ghosting, but this statement is actually wrong.

because we found after testing thatanti-reflective coating can effectively reduce glare, not ghosting。

you see, in the sample photos taken by iphone 15 pro, the halo is very strong. in comparison, the halo of iphone 16 pro is relatively less obvious, and the purity of the entire picture is greatly improved, but like iphone 15 pro, there is also a ghosting phenomenon.

in fact, glare and ghosting are two different concepts. you can understand it this way: glare is the halo produced when strong light enters the lens, and ghosting is because when light is refracted inside the lens, it makes it impossible for light to pass through the lens 100%, so a ghost-like light spot will be generated at the relative position of the light source.

in the short term, there is no particularly good solution to the ghosting problem of the iphone. you may have heard the reason. for protection reasons, apple uses a very thick sapphire glass for the iphone lens, which makes it more difficult for light to pass through the glass, thus amplifying the ghosting phenomenon to a certain extent.

well, when it comes to the iphone, the lens's drop resistance and ghosting are currently a matter of having to choose between one's cake and one's paw.

ok, let’s talk about our purchasing recommendations.

for users who have iphone 13 and earlier models, tony would recommend changing to the standard version of iphone 16 this time. the reason is simple. this time the a18 and 8gb of memory make its performance satisfy you to become an iphone "nail house" for the next 3-4 years.

for those who want to switch from android to ios, tony also recommends buying the standard version of iphone 16, because there is a price difference of 2,000 yuan between the standard version and the pro version, and you may not be able to buy what you want even if you add the extra money, so it is recommended to save the money and buy some pork ribs.

of course, the premise is that you don't care about 60hz and usb 2.0 at all.

as for the iphone 16 pro and 16 pro max, users who have an iphone 15 pro / 15 pro max do not need to rush to change. for users of iphone 14 pro / 14 pro max and earlier, tony would recommend buying a new phone, because these older models still use the lightning interface, and in terms of performance and imaging, there is a certain generation gap with this year's iphone 16 pro / 16 pro max.

in addition, tony also recommends that people who have professional needs or want to learn how to shoot videos choose the pro version, because their upgrade focus is still on imaging, and ordinary people do not need such professional functions in their daily lives.

in a word, the iphone 16 pro may not have much cost-effectiveness as a mobile phone, but as a photographic equipment that can be taken out anytime and anywhere, the cost-effectiveness rises sharply. after all, any slightly better camera is not cheap now.

finally, a sincere suggestion.don’t rush to buy it if you want to, wait for next year’s 618 this is the personal experience of three colleagues in our office who bought iphone 15 pro during the 618 shopping festival this year.