Rating: 4.0 — Excellent
MSRP: $899
The Bottom Line
Apple’s iPhone 16 Plus delivers the same blistering A18 performance and Apple Intelligence support as the smaller iPhone 16, but stretches that power across a 6.7-inch display and a class-leading battery. If you crave the Pro Max’s screen real estate and marathon stamina yet balk at four-figure prices, the 16 Plus is the sweet spot.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 6.7-inch OLED is bright and color-accurate | 60 Hz refresh rate feels dated |
| Best battery life of any non-Pro iPhone | No optical telephoto lens |
| A18 chip is class-leading for CPU tasks | USB-C port limited to USB 2 speeds |
| Action button and new Camera Control key | eSIM-only in the U.S. |
| Ready for on-device Apple Intelligence |
Apple iPhone 16 Plus Specifications
| Feature | iPhone 16 Plus |
|---|---|
| Operating System | iOS 18 (iOS 19 promised) |
| CPU / GPU | Apple A18 – 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage | 128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB |
| Display | 6.7-in Super Retina XDR OLED, 2,796 × 1,290 px (460 ppi), 60 Hz, 2,000 nits peak |
| Dimensions | 6.33 × 3.06 × 0.31 in; 7.03 oz |
| Battery | 4,674 mAh (rated for 27 hrs video, 100 hrs audio) |
| Rear Cameras | 48 MP f/1.6 main (24/48 MP output, 2× crop-zoom) + 12 MP f/2.2 ultrawide (120°) |
| Front Camera | 12 MP f/1.9 TrueDepth |
| Connectivity | 5G Sub-6 + mmWave, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, Thread, NFC, USB-C |
| Ruggedness | IP68 (6 m for 30 min) |
| Colors | Black, White, Pink, Teal, Ultramarine |
| Notable Hardware | Action button, Camera Control key, Dynamic Island |
Design: Familiar Frame, Smart New Buttons
At first glance the iPhone 16 Plus mirrors last year’s 15 Plus: color-infused glass back, matte aluminum rails, Ceramic Shield up front. Look closer and two Pro-inspired controls pop out. The Action button (where the mute switch used to live) toggles silent mode by default but can launch shortcuts or quick-record a voice memo. Lower on the right edge, the new Camera Control key behaves like a DSLR shutter: tap to open the camera, press halfway to lock focus/exposure, click to shoot, press-and-hold for video. It’s the kind of tactile tweak photographers will love and newcomers will learn in minutes.
Apple also realigned the dual lenses vertically, a move that enables spatial photos and video for those with a Vision Pro headset. The housing sits nearly flush and looks cleaner than the diagonal setup of recent generations.
Display: Big, Bright—Still 60 Hz
The 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED remains a sharp and punchy panel, now capable of hitting a searing 2,000 nits outdoors. Color accuracy is excellent, and Apple’s True Tone continues to adjust white balance gracefully. What hasn’t changed is the 60 Hz refresh rate—fine for casual use, but scroll a 120 Hz Android flagship and you’ll feel the difference. If you need ProMotion, you still need a Pro model.
A neat bonus: brightness can dip to just 1 nit for late-night reading without dazzling your partner.
Performance & Apple Intelligence
Built on a refined 3 nm process, the A18’s six-core CPU offers double-digit gains over last year’s A17, while the five-core GPU is tuned for hardware-accelerated ray tracing. Benchmarks back it up:
| Test | iPhone 16 Plus | iPhone 15 Plus | Galaxy S24 | Pixel 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 (single / multi) | 3,091 / 7,129 | 2,598 / 6,549 | 2,260 / 6,893 | 1,946 / 4,453 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme | 3,881 pts (23.2 fps) | 2,985 pts | 4,228 pts | 3,400 pts |
Real-world use is snappy: apps open instantly, high-end games like Resident Evil 4 run smoothly, and there’s plenty of headroom for new Apple Intelligence features. On-device Genmoji, writing tools, and context-aware Siri requests all run locally, falling back on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute only when extra muscle is required.
Battery Life: Marathon Runner
A bigger chassis means a bigger cell—4,674 mAh, the highest capacity in any non-Pro iPhone. In our streaming video test (Wi-Fi, max brightness), the 16 Plus lasted 21 hours 51 minutes, outpacing the 15 Plus by over two and a half hours and edging past the Pro Max. It also handily beats similarly priced Android rivals, many of which pack smaller batteries or less efficient silicon.
Charging remains 25 W wired, 15 W MagSafe (Qi2), and 7.5 W Qi. With Apple’s 30 W brick, expect 50 % in roughly 32 minutes and a full tank in about 72 minutes.
Connectivity: Future-Proof Radios
Every major U.S. 5G band is supported, including C-band and mmWave. The upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 pays dividends on compatible routers, with real-world transfers topping 700 Mbps at short range. Thread turns the phone into a low-power smart-home hub, while Bluetooth 5.3 ensures stable links to lossless-ready AirPods. As before, the U.S. model is eSIM-only; international variants still ship with a nano-SIM tray.
The USB-C port handles DisplayPort video out and fast charging but is limited to USB 2 data rates. That’s fine for backups over Wi-Fi, less so for filmmakers moving ProRAW images.
Cameras: Two Lenses, Plenty of Tricks
Apple sticks to the successful formula: a 48 MP main sensor paired with a 12 MP ultrawide. The new sensor captures native 48 MP HEIF or ProRAW, but most shots are binned to 24 MP for better low-light performance and manageable file sizes.
- Main camera: Photos show balanced exposure, low noise, and slightly warm white balance. The 2× crop zoom is sharp enough for sharing and small prints.
- Ultrawide: Crisp in good light, with less edge softness than last year. Macro mode now leverages this lens for subjects down to 2 cm.
- Video: Up to 4K60 with Dolby Vision HDR, Action Mode stabilization, and new spatial video capture. Footage is stable, detailed, and free of rolling-shutter wobble.
Portrait mode benefits from subject separation tweaks, and the Photonic Engine pipeline now exposes darker skin tones more accurately. If you want 5× optical zoom or ProRes Log, you’ll still need a Pro.
Software: iOS 18 Today, iOS 19 Tomorrow
Out of the box, iOS 18 adds fully customizable Home-screen layouts, new Control Center pages, and lock-screen shortcut swaps. Apple promises at least five major OS releases, so iOS 19 (arriving this fall) and likely iOS 23 should be on the menu. iOS 18.1 will unlock the first batch of Apple Intelligence features; more arrive through the year.
Verdict: The Big-Screen Value Play
The iPhone 16 Plus nails the fundamentals: blazing speed, day-and-a-half battery life, and cameras that outperform many triple-lens phones. Its only real compromises are the 60 Hz panel and the absence of a dedicated telephoto lens. If those don’t bother you, the 16 Plus is the most affordable way to enjoy an oversized iPhone in 2025—and a smarter buy than many Android flagships at the same price. Buy it for the endurance, stay for Apple Intelligence, and save the extra $200 you would have spent on a Pro Max for a pair of AirPods or a MagSafe battery pack.
