Apple iPhone 16 Pro review

Design, build quality, handling

Apple's iPhone 16 Pro looks almost identical to the 15 Pro. What's really new then? Well, for starters, it is bigger. Then it comes with a 2x tougher third-gen Ceramic Shield atop its new larger and bezel-less screen. And finally, there is a new Camera Control key, which, depending on how you look at it, maybe either magical or just a gimmick.

Obviously, there aren't so many novelties when it comes to design, and that is to be expected. The iPhone 15 Pro was sort of the pinnacle for this batch of recent iPhones with its titanium frame. And now we are witnessing incremental improvements only.

For example, Apple has now used a new titanium grade 5 for the frame. We already mentioned the third-gen Ceramic shield glass at the front, too. And let's finish with the Corning-made rear glass panel, which to this day remains of unknown revision.

But do not get this wrong - the iPhone 16 Pro is one of the toughest, most premium and arguably most striking phones on the market nowadays.

It has the traditional flat Apple design, and everything except the screen has a smooth matte finish. The phone is IP68-rated for dust and water resistance with claimed durability way beyond the standard's requirements - down to 6m underwater (vs. the required 1.5m) for half an hour.

The iPhone 16 Pro is still available in Natural, Black, and White Titanium colors, as well as a Desert Titanium colorway that replaces the Blue one.

The new 6.3-inch LTPO OLED screen with the pill-shaped cutout is impressive - it has super thin bezels, everything looks sharp, contrast is great, there's brightness to spare and it offers an excellent HDR implementation.

There is a thin outlet for the earpiece above the screen - it is a hybrid feature that also doubles as a speaker. Naturally, there is another full-blown speaker at the bottom.

Speaking about the frame, the left side has the Action Key, which is a neat feature that can be configured to do literally everything via Siri Shortcuts.

The new Camera Control is on the right. It is a three-in-one key with an actual physical click as part of its operation - this is one of the ways you can capture photos or videos. Then there are the force-tap sensors, which allow you to switch between cameras, and capacitive sensors for swiping through zoom and other settings.

The back of the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a single piece of glass, with a matte finish except for the Apple logo and the camera housing. The square island contains three premium cameras, the LiDAR scanner, the LED flash and a microphone.

Apple has upgraded the iPhone 16 Pro with studio-grade microphones, something you cannot see, but should be able to hear.

The iPhone 16 Pro measures 149.6 x 71.5 x 8.3 mm, meaning it is 3mm taller and 1mm wider than the iPhone 15 Pro. It weighs 199 grams, a prominent increase over the 187g iPhone 15 Pro.

We did not feel the increased footprint of the iPhone 16 Pro, but we surely welcome the added screen estate. We enjoyed the larger display, and we think this is the most important update when it comes to usability. The phone is still compact, easy to use and operate even with one hand.

The iPhone 16 Pro has enough grip for its users to keep it case-free, though it is far from perfect. What is perfect, though, is its design with its impressive build, durability and lovely assembly. The phone does feel like an expensive fashion accessory in your hand.