After a month of testing, I’ve become enamored with the iPhone 16 Pro. The phone is an elevated experience in many small ways, like how Apple managed to expand the display to 6.3 inches in the same-size frame as last year’s iPhone 15 Pro. Or how it gets a 5x telephoto zoom lens too, which isn’t restricted to just the Pro Max this year. But one feature blew me away — and no, it isn’t Apple Intelligence.
It’s the superior battery life that truly makes the iPhone 16 Pro feel like a standout phone. It turns out that not having to recharge your phone frequently feels like luxury. And since we don’t know how much Apple Intelligence will drain the battery, lasting later in the day could change from an impressive nice-to-have into necessity.
The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max have more battery life than last year’s iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. And even though Apple didn’t elaborate on how much larger the batteries were, in my initial review I noted multiple instances where the iPhone 16 Pro got through a long day on a single charge. My initial impressions were validated when I got to run CNET’s arsenal of battery tests, which both the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max aced.
Even without its marque feature, Apple Intelligence, the iPhone 16 Pro is outstanding. Beyond the battery life, there’s a lot to like from the A18 Pro chip’s blazing fast performance to small details like thinner screen bezels and all the goodies iOS 18 brings — it feels ridiculous to praise the ability to move apps anywhere on the home screen. But there are still some iPhone 16 Pro features that feel incomplete. Apple Intelligence is absent out of the box but will launch in part next week. The new Camera Control button isn’t great for dialing in photos, and it’s still missing features like visual intelligence, which is expected to arrive in December.
But all the ways the iPhone 16 Pro shines are far brighter than any frustrations I have with software releases and updates. If you’re on an iPhone 12 Pro or older, you should definitely consider upgrading to the iPhone 16 Pro or 16 Pro Max.
