The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have too many buttons

It’s not often that hardware changes in smartphones strikes me as a negative but Apple may have gone one step too far with the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. At an event that also unveiled the Apple AirPods 4 and the Apple Watch Series 10, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max were revealed to be getting yet another physical button around their edges – this time, a dedicated camera shutter button.

Considering that the Action button can already be programmed as both a shortcut to open the camera and a shutter button, this new addition feels like it could end up a superfluous tack-on. Of course, we’re yet to test the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, so it may be able to justify its existence by the time the full review drops.

As for what else is different with this generation, here are the specs for each phone:

Apple iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max: Specifications

Apple iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max: Design, key features and first impressions

So we see a couple of big changes there, some expected and some surprises (not counting the fact that they’d already been leaked in the lead-up to tonight’s event). Both phones have bigger displays than last year, further differentiating them from their non-Pro counterparts. The iPhone 16 Pro now has a 6.3in display, up from last year’s 6.1in, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s display has swelled from 6.7in to a hefty 6.9in. They’re still Super XDR OLED panels, however, with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz.

The Pro Max hitting a gargantuan 6.9in makes it the largest iPhone to date and, fittingly, Apple was also keen to highlight that the Pro Max delivers the best battery life ever seen on an iPhone. Take that with a pinch of salt for now, of course – we’ll see how well it and the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery do when it comes to our testing.

Same as last year, the Pro models get a slightly more powerful chipset than the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, in the A18 Pro. Backing this up is 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage space on the iPhone 16 Pro, and the same choices minus the entry-level 128GB variant for the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

This A18 Pro chipset has an upgraded 16-core NPU that is apparently capable of handling 35 TOPS (trillions of operations per second), which should serve it well when it comes time to add the Apple Intelligence AI features to its arsenal. These are currently in early Beta stages in US English language but are due for testing in UK English this December, before rolling out to more of the world next year. We’ll be testing them in due course, so we’ll have to see if Apple can make its own AI suite stand out against the established competition.

While the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have tighter, redesigned camera modules this time around, the Pro handsets stick with three lenses sitting in a triangle formation, all wrapped up in a rounded square housing. Set in there is once again a 48MP (f/1.6) main lens and a 12MP (f/2.8) 5x telephoto camera but the ultrawide lens is upgraded to 48MP, with the same f/2.2 aperture as last year.

But of course, the cameras themselves aren’t the only part of the photography suite to talk about this year. The new Capture button sits on the right edge, below the power button, meaning that your finger will naturally sit over it when holding the phone in landscape mode. Simulating a DSLR’s shutter button, halfway pressing the Capture button will engage the autofocus and fully pressing will take the picture. Additionally, you can swipe left and right along it to zoom in and out.

The last noteworthy upgrade also concerns the camera but this time, it’s the video suite that’s getting new toys to play with. Both the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max can now shoot 4K footage at 120fps, and you’ll even be able to record ProRes and LOG footage directly to an external SSD. Throw in some new framing tools that pull directly from the film director’s handbook and it’s clear that Apple is trying to further establish itself as the go-to tool for amateur filmmakers.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max: Early verdict

I’m not convinced that the Capture button is a meaningful addition to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, especially considering that Apple’s handsets are already more laden with external buttons than most flagship smartphones. It feels like it could have replaced the Action button or been some kind of addition to it. As I said above, however, this is pre-testing judgements, so we may yet come around on the new button.

Otherwise, we’ve got all the expected improvements, including a new processor, tweaked cameras and slightly larger batteries, as well as a minor curveball in the super-sized displays. The AI features that are due in the coming months sound like they’ll offer suitably similar experiences to the competition and the improvements to the video suite, while niche, are certainly impressive. We’ll be getting our hands on review samples soon enough so check back in to see our final verdict on Apple’s latest batch of smartphones.