Before starting, I want you to know that this is not a review, but just an article sharing my personal iPhone 16 Pro experience. Because I may not have the same profession as many people here, and I may not have the same usage habits and interests as you guys. So if there are any differences, I hope you will respect them and share them with me. If there are similarities, I hope this experience is useful to you!

What's different if I use 16 Pro?

It is always necessary to provide context for the reader, so that the reader can better understand why he or she has such experiences. I am a freelance IELTS teacher, and I have a special interest in photography.

Before upgrading to iPhone 16 pro, I was using iPhone 13 Pro as my main device. I had the opportunity to experience the 14 Pro and 15 Pro, but really, both of these devices are not very satisfactory to me, because for someone who likes to take photos, these two devices do not bring me much difference.

I had intended to use 15 Pro Max but the device was still too big. So 16 Pro is the best choice to upgrade.

Appearance, grip feeling

Changing from the old iPhone, this is the first difference I feel. The iPhone 16 Pro feels better in hand than the iPhone 13 Pro. Pushing the screen size up to 0.3" makes the iPhone 16 Pro 3mm taller than the 13 Pro and 0.6mm thicker.

Along with 4 grams heavier, I originally thought these numbers were "insignificant", but considering this is a device that is held and used every day, such small changes have a big impact, and users can feel it.

The edges of the 16 Pro are more curved, not as sharp as the 13 Pro, plus the weight of the device is more evenly distributed, helping my pinky finger feel less pain when holding the device for a long time.

In the article sharing about the iPhone 13 Pro after 2 years, I said this device is still heavy and makes my hand numb if used with one hand for a long time. And with iPhone 16 Pro, this feeling is no longer there.

However, both iPhones are still very slippery when used bare. It's best to still put leather on the back or use a case 😁

Screen

iPhone 16 Pro has increased screen size to 6.3" compared to 6.1" of iPhone 15/14/13 Pro. Advertisement

This is the second time Apple has done so, after the first increase from 5.8" (iPhone 11 Pro) to 6.1" (iPhone 12 Pro).

In terms of quality, it is undeniable that this is still a top-notch screen in the phone world. But when placed next to the 13 Pro, I don't see much difference. And upgrades such as HDR brightness increased by 400 nits (33%), maximum brightness 2000 nits or minimum 1 nit. Unfortunately, I have not been in many situations where these differences have the opportunity to show off.

In terms of size, the 16 Pro has a slightly thinner screen border, making the device more neat and modern when placed next to your old device. But this benefit is only truly meaningful when we remove the case, otherwise we don't pay attention to it anymore.

Camera

I like taking photos of everyday life, landscapes, and people around my life, so this is what I'm most excited about when upgrading to this camera. Compared to the iPhone 13 Pro, the 16 Pro has 3 biggest differences that impact your experience.

5x lens

I take advantage of the 3x lens on the 13 Pro a lot. Mostly because there are many scenes I want to photograph but are far away. If you use a wide angle lens, the image will not be compact, but if you crop it, the image will be broken. Advertisement

It's true that a 3x lens will be suitable for most situations, especially portraits. But the 16 Pro already has 2x, even though it's only digital zoom, I'm still satisfied.

As for quality, the 5x tube is really good! This is the sunset view of my parents' house using iPhone 13 Pro

I always feel it's not enough, but with the 16 Pro, I'm somewhat satisfied. The reach of the lens is far enough without sacrificing image quality.

The night shooting ability of this 5x lens is also quite better than the 3x on the 13 Pro, enough for you to recognize which photo below is from which iPhone.

But this lens is not without its drawbacks. I feel like it's a little harder to focus than the 3x lens on the 13 Pro when taking photos to blur the background. Specifically, the focus distance of this 5x cam is narrower, you need to move the phone a little cleverly to focus on the right point.

Change the focal length of the wide-angle lens

The main lens of the iPhone 16 Pro allows users to choose between 3 focal lengths: 24mm, 28mm and 35mm. I simply understand that Apple has taken advantage of the 48MP resolution of the wide lens to be able to digitally zoom up to 1.2x and 1.5x to resemble 28mm and 35mm lenses. However, they already have too much experience with the 2x zoom lens on the 14 Pro, so the image quality from all 3 virtual focal lengths makes me satisfied. Compared to when I used the 13 Pro, I often changed the aperture with... my foot :D

48MP Ultra Wide Lens

This is one of the second important reasons for me not to use 15 Pro Max. I often use a 0.5X ultra-wide lens to take photos that cover many subjects and a lot of information. Therefore, upgrading from 12MP to 48MP is necessary to make the photo sharper. At this point, 16 Pro did well.

However, the ability I was most looking forward to - macro photography - was not as good as I expected. I had a lot of difficulty with focusing from this lens. Not sure if the problem is with me or with the new iPhone...

Camera control

Ah, here it is, the button that Apple "differently" calls Control. The Camera control button (right) looks no different than the antenna section on the 13 Pro :D

Ever since the iPhone 16 series was released, I have doubted the practicality of this button.

I didn't buy the 16 Pro because of it, but if I have it, I will try it. After a period of experience, I find the most valuable feature is to start the camera more confidently.

Why “confident” and not “faster”?

Because I have a habit of wanting to take a quick photo of something, when I reach into my pocket to pull out my phone, I will touch my thumb to the screen and swipe left to start the camera.

At first I thought pressing the camera control twice would be faster, but it turns out it's almost the same. The only difference is that the physical button feels a bit more solid.

The potential of this camera control button is big enough to mention here. In a perfect perspective, pressing twice will let you know the information about what you're pointing the lens at. However, it's just potential because I need to wait for Vietnamese for Siri, and most importantly to see if I change my usage habits with it.

Performance, battery life

With normal tasks like surfing social networks and watching YouTube, I really haven't noticed much of a difference between the A18 Pro and A15 chips. I also don't play games, so the A18 Pro only really differs for me through temperature when I use a certain app for a long time, and through Apple Intelligence.

16 Pro is still as smooth and cool as iPhone 13 Pro with iOS 15,16 :D The battery life is really impressive for someone like me who is using a 13 Pro with 84% battery left 😆

iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence

Although iOS 18 allows users to change a lot about the interface of iOS, I myself am not very excited about these features. Like the paradox of choice, when there are more customizations, I find it more annoying. Apple talks about iOS 18 and iPhone 16 Pro series as software and hardware platforms “built from the ground up” for Apple Intelligence. Although I haven't noticed much difference with Apple Intelligence on this device, I also need to admit that I need more time to change my usage habits.

AI I used

As someone who uses AI daily for work, the vision Apple creates of a complete Apple Intelligence is amazing! However, currently I only find Clean Up and Siri useful. I take a lot of photos, so Clean Up helps me erase objects quite conveniently, reducing the need for external apps.

And Siri is smarter enough to understand what you want in more complex situations, especially now that it has integrated ChatGPT.

And…that's all the AI ​​I'm using on the iPhone.

AI I haven't used yet

I limit my use of writing tools because I teach Writing, I understand that misusing AI to "write for you" will limit my writing potential. However, from the perspective of those who often use English at work but are not fluent and do not have time to re-study it properly, I believe this is an extremely effective tool! I also don't use AI to summarize and quickly respond to emails for two reasons. Firstly, my email is in both English and Vietnamese, Apple's AI cannot summarize it well. Second, I want to read work emails carefully. I like to be meticulous and careful, so I don't want someone to summarize and answer for me.

For me, the best way to interact with AI on a smartphone is through chat. Because with a phone, no matter how big it is like the 16 Pro Max, I firmly believe that features like Writing tools, Image Playground, Image Wand, Smart Script, or AI for Safari will bring a better experience on a wide screen like an iPad or Macbook.

And even though I can chat with Siri, its potential is still limited because most of the data on my device, from messages, notes to documents and learning materials I compose, is in Vietnamese.

Potential, or just “promise”?

So, is Apple Intelligence, or the iPhone 16 series in general, and the 16 Pro in particular, trustworthy and worth buying? Regarding hardware, it is clear that 16 Pro continues to satisfy a demanding customer like me

As for software, or AI, I still have faith in Apple.

Believe because they have always been a good software company, because they are the top technology company in the world, with enough reputation and honor. And the potential of Apple Intelligence is a big enough gamble for me to trust and wait another year for Siri to finish learning Vietnamese :D

Until then, I hope you won't wonder why I'm adding another iPhone 16 Pro experience :D

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#iphone16