iPhones, in my opinion, aren’t really designed to be upgraded every year. Obviously, Apple is happy to have die-hard, wealthier fans (and my friend Lewis) spend money every time a new model is announced, but the rate of spec changes and new features only lends itself to a notable improvement in the user experience. if you wait two or three generations between upgrades.
So when I upgraded from the iPhone 15 Plus to the 16 Plus last month, I wasn’t expecting huge changes. And for the most part, I was right.
As I explained in my thoughts on the upgrade article, the design is slightly nicer but basically the same; the Action button hasn’t made much difference so far; Camera Control doesn’t really feel like an upgrade; and the additional processing power is not noticeable in real-world use. As for Apple Intelligence, it’s finally here, but it’s missing some features and still needs a long time before it can become a serious competitor to Gemini and other AI rivals.
But there is one really important improvement that I noticed, and it concerns the camera. Not camera control or visual intelligence – the camera itself.
Things that have remained the same
Now, most of the time, and in most shooting contexts and conditions, your photos will look the same. This makes sense since the main lens remains 48MP and f/1.6. (The ultra-wide lens has been increased from f/2.4 to f/2.2, so we might expect slightly better performance, but it’s still 12 MP.)
As you can see in this photo, the color reproduction and vibrancy are basically identical on both devices.
Here’s a photo of a less colorful object so you can focus on the clarity and level of detail.
What about more difficult filming conditions? Again, we should expect both devices to handle complex or difficult lighting with about the same aplomb since they both feature Smart HDR 5. The 16 Plus has a faster processor, which could in theory mean that more computing power is applied to this process, but I saw no difference when photographing trees silhouetted against the sun:
And what about the front camera? Is it different? Not really. In both cases, we are working with a 12MP, f/1.9 lens.
Macro perspective
This is where photography has changed dramatically: macro performance is way ahead.
Get closer and the iPhone 16 Plus switches to macro photography mode (you can tell this has been enabled because a small flower icon appears in the bottom corner), bringing the subject into focus. It’s incredibly impressive.
It’s good for nature photography. It’s also very handy if you paint small models and take photos of them for social media.
Honestly, it’s rare to get such different and satisfying test photos when comparing two phones. And seeing this in a single generation is almost unheard of.
So there you go. Upgrading from the iPhone 15 (or in my case 15 Plus) to the iPhone 16 (or 16 Plus) is essentially an experience defined by many small tweaks and minor iterative improvements. But the new macro mode has a huge impact on close-up photography, and if that’s a priority for you, it’s a purchase worth making.
And if you’re interested in iPhonography, you might be interested in our guide to the best iPhone cameras.
