Despite the limited upgrades featured in the iPhone 16, some are decent enough to urge an upgrade from older models.
The iPhone 16 Series is now official and available in the Philippines, but is upgrading worth every penny? What exactly changed this time around?
1. Next-Gen Chipset
All iPhone 16 models received a brand-new chipset, unlike what happened to the base models of the last series. The latest A18, powering the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, comes with 6 CPU cores, 5 GPU cores, and 16 NPU cores, where the latter has been upgraded to enable full on-device functionality of AI features, courtesy of Apple Intelligence.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max get the A18 Pro version, which has 6 CPU cores, 6 GPU cores, and 16 NPU cores. These two have an extra graphics core for higher gaming and camera performance. Apple also introduced something new to combat the side effects of peak performance.
Although the devices aren’t here yet, the on-paper improvements of A18 chipset over A16 Bionic are as follows:
- 2x faster on machine learning
- 17% more system bandwidth
- 30% faster CPU
- 30% more power efficient CPU
- 40% faster GPU
- 35% more power efficient GPU
The A18 Pro, on the other hand, is 15% faster and uses 20% less power than the A17 Pro. Its graphics is 20% better than that of A17 Pro and can do ray tracing twice as fast.
If you’ve liked the original plan of the iPhone 15 Series for mobile games, upgrading to the iPhone 16 Series is the better choice.
2. Evolved Camera
The cameras between the iPhone 16 Series and its predecessor aren’t significantly different, especially if you’re not into pro-level photography. But if you’re moving from iPhone 14 and older, you may want to reconsider the upgrade.
The two big things on the iPhone 16 lineup is the Fusion camera and the evolved 4K video recording. The Fusion camera is a 2-in-1 integration where the main camera can also perform telephoto shots. The Pro models have a dedicated 12 MP telephoto for the 5x shots.
Speaking of Pro models, these units can record videos up to 4K at 120 FPS, the first on any iPhone. That FPS works on normal recording but works like magic on slow motion. This is likely more applicable for pro-level videography.
3. New Thermal Manager
A more powerful chipset and evolved camera are expected to generate heat and possibly overheat the iPhone 16 models, particularly the Pro line. So, Apple finally introduced a passive cooling system to mitigate such an issue.
An aluminum substructure has been installed and it’s augmented with back glass optimizations to increase heat dissipation. Right now, it’s estimated to be capable of sustaining peak performance of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max by 20% better, compared to predecessors.
We’ll see if this new implementation can finally let users game for long periods without getting worried about frying their iPhone 16 Pro models.
4. Better Battery
Apple didn’t reveal the exact battery capacity of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 Series. However, the tech giant showed the estimated durations for particular tasks:
| Video Playback | Video Streaming | Audio Playback | |
| iPhone 15 | 20 hours | 16 hours | 80 hours |
| iPhone 16 | 22 hours | 18 hours | 80 hours |
| iPhone 15 Plus | 26 hours | 20 hours | 100 hours |
| iPhone 16 Plus | 27 hours | 24 hours | 100 hours |
| iPhone 15 Pro | 23 hours | 20 hours | 75 hours |
| iPhone 16 Pro | 27 hours | 22 hours | 85 hours |
| iPhone 15 Pro Max | 29 hours | 25 hours | 95 hours |
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | 33 hours | 29 hours | 105 hours |
About charging, the iPhone 16 Series can charge 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter or higher. It also supports 25 W wireless charging using MagSafe, 15 W using Qi2, and 7.5 W using Qi.
5. Pricing
Of course, the most important aspect is the amount you need to shell out to get the upgrades. The price of the iPhone 15 Series has depreciated already and you may be attracted by that.
But if you’re going for the Pro line, think twice because it’s prone to overheating due to the lack of an effective cooling system. Going for the iPhone 15 base models is fine.
See the price comparison of the two series during their initial launch.
| Base Storage | Max Storage | |
| iPhone 15 | PHP 56,990 (128GB) | PHP 75,990 (512GB) |
| iPhone 16 | PHP 54,990 (128GB) | PHP 73,990 (512GB) |
| iPhone 15 Plus | PHP 63,990 (128GB) | PHP 82,990 (512GB) |
| iPhone 16 Plus | PHP 62,990 (128GB) | PHP 81,990 (512GB) |
| iPhone 15 Pro | PHP 70,990 (128GB) | PHP 101,990 (1TB) |
| iPhone 16 Pro | PHP 69,990 (128GB) | PHP 100,990 (1TB) |
| iPhone 15 Pro Max | PHP 84,990 (256GB) | PHP 108,990 (1TB) |
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | PHP 84,990 (256GB) | PHP 108,990 (1TB) |
Only the iPhone 16 Pro Max has the same price as its predecessor while the others have a 1K lower price tag. If you’re using an iPhone already, especially an iPhone 15, you can cut the price further with a trade-in. You need to wait for Apple PH to announce that though.
Will you move to the iPhone 16 Series this year?
