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Marques Brownlee - iPhone 16/Pro Impressions: The Great Separation!

Thumbnail of the video “Marques Brownlee - iPhone 16/Pro Impressions: The Great Separation!”
Community upload. AI output has not been independently verified.
Author: Marques Brownlee
Categories: Technology History
Tags: technology, history
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 08:09 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: For most people, the base iPhone 16 is the better buy over the iPhone 16 Pro, since the Pro gains are incremental and the most significant new feature, Apple Intelligence, arrives later via software updates rather than at launch. The video covers the new iPhones, Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Ultra 2 in satin black, new AirPods 4 and AirPods Max, and the new Camera Control button.

Key Points

  • The iPhone 16 gets a new A18 chip with roughly 20 to 30% performance gains, a two times faster Neural Engine, 8 GB of RAM, and new colors including ultramarine, teal, pink, black, and white.
  • The base iPhone 16 keeps a 60 Hz display, which the reviewer calls disappointing for an $800 flagship in 2024.
  • The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max add 48-megapixel main and ultrawide cameras, a 5x telephoto now on the smaller Pro (matching the Pro Max), 4K 120 fps slow motion, and slightly faster 25 W wireless charging (50% in 30 minutes with the new MagSafe charger).
  • Apple Intelligence will not be present at launch on iOS 18.0; features such as Genmoji, Image Playground, and Writing Tools arrive in later updates like iOS 18.1.
  • The Apple Watch Series 10 is 10% thinner and lighter with a larger wide-angle OLED display, and the new AirPods 4 come in a $129 version and a $179 version with active noise cancellation.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: No step-by-step setup or usage instructions are given. Actionable guidance is limited to buying advice: choose the base iPhone 16 over the Pro for most people, and do not buy a phone based on promised future software updates. Viewers who want the Camera Control button to work in the camera app should expect a software update later this year to enable the two-stage shutter press.
  • Camera Control is a pressure-sensitive, capacitive button that opens the Camera app from the lock screen; a press takes a photo, a long press records video, and a half-strength double tap opens camera options that are adjusted by sliding a finger along the button. Third-party apps such as Snapchat and Instagram can use it too.
  • Apple did not state battery figures during its presentation; the only number the reviewer found is on Apple's compare page, which lists 20 hours of video playback for the iPhone 15 and 22 hours for the iPhone 16.
  • The Series 10 sleep apnea detection uses only the gyroscope and is pending FDA and other regulatory approval before launch.
  • AirPods Max received five new colors and a USB-C port, but still lack an on/off button, keep the H1 chip, and keep the same $549 price, which the reviewer calls a non-upgrade.

Bottom Line

The iPhone 16 lineup is an incremental hardware update whose headline features, especially Apple Intelligence, depend on software that is not available at launch, so the hardware alone may not justify the purchase.