Well, after driving the iPhone 16 Pro daily for a few weeks, I think the new camera control button for the iPhone 16 series is a great idea. It may not be a new idea, but from the way Apple has implemented the camera control button , it's clear that a lot of thought has gone into making it more useful than just a shutter. I can scroll through different color profiles, zoom lengths, different cameras, and other types of adjustments. I can also adjust how easy it is to press from the Accessibility settings, because it's not actually a button, but a force-sensitive tactical area that mimics the feel of a two-step button like MacBook trackpads. Over the past few weeks, I've been training myself to use the camera control button instead of tapping the screen to take a photo like usual, right? Here are my notes. I'm not completely satisfied with the camera control button yet, and I think it should be a little easier to trigger the shutter, because it still feels a little stiff , and the scrolling action feels a little slow, like it's a little slow to respond when I start moving my finger, It should be a little more responsive.
Now, what could also make it better is making it look like a graduated dial, which starts clicking clicking clicking clicking as I slide my finger across it. It has that, but it doesn't feel like a real disc yet, so they have n't really nailed that particular feel. However, I think the camera control button is a very useful addition to the camera experience for creatives. Now, in terms of camera performance , in my humble opinion, if zoom isn't important to you, the 16 Pro is not a huge upgrade over the 15 Pro, but it is a much bigger upgrade over the 15 Pro and the 14 Pro. Let me explain. We 'll also talk about whether you should upgrade from the 14 Pro or 15 Pro to the 16 Pro. But first, if you want to check out the latest iPhone prices on Amazon, click the links below in the description. And if you found value in this video and want to see more content related to iPhone and AirPods , subscribe and hit the bell to stay updated.
Compared to the 15 Pro, the first noticeable difference you can see from these images is the slightly lower clarity on the 16 Pro. The 15 Pro applies more sharpening across the different cameras , while you'll get a softer image on the 16 Pro, which, in my opinion, looks less gritty and a little more entertaining . With both set to a neutral tone, the 16 Pro seemed to deliver a more contrasting image for the color of the scene. The 16 Pro also has better telephoto zoom. Instead of a 3x telephoto camera, it gets a 5x telephoto one, which also allows it to have up to 25x digital zoom compared to the 15 Pro's 15x. But let's compare them to the same 15 times, which is the maximum that the 15 Pro can reach. We can see that the 16 Pro's shot is sharper, and that's because it's cropped from 5x zoom, not 3x. So, there's a lot of background information you can play with. However, the algorithm is not yet perfect, because in some shots like this one of the bushes, it is actually not able to clean up the image like the 15 Pro.
We'll have to see if future software updates will help improve the algorithm in terms of noise reduction for the 16 Pro. In terms of shooting difference video, the 16 Pro has better stability , but really, you won't see the difference until you use the telephoto lens. With a little more excess crop to play with, the 16 Pro can stabilize video better with the same 9x digital zoom as the 15 Pro.
Of course, the 16 Pro can also zoom up to 15x further, but I'd recommend only using that when you're stationary or if it's on a tripod. Well, I shoot in 4K, 30fps using the front camera. To my left, there's the iPhone 16 Pro. On the right, that's the iPhone 15 Pro. Pay attention to stability, colors and tones. Yes, nice day. Take a look at this sunset. Compared to the 14 Pro, the 16 Pro is a more noticeable upgrade. Images appear more vibrant and contrasty at neutral settings, and the 14 Pro's noise level is highest at 3x zoom and beyond.
The difference is most noticeable when shooting in low-light situations. Also, as with the 15 Pro, the 14 Pro has up to 15x telephoto, while the 16 Pro can do up to 25x. For video shooting, the 14 Pro looks similar to the 16 Pro at 1x and 2x wide angle, but the 14 Pro like the 15 Pro only does up to 9x digital zoom, not as much as the 15x on the 16 Pro. Stabilization becomes noticeably shakier and more jittery at 3x zoom and beyond. So, after spending a few weeks with the 16 Pro, should you upgrade from the 15 Pro? Well, the 16 Pro feels like an incremental upgrade, and not going to lie, with Apple Intelligence still on the way, the 16 Pro doesn't feel like a new experience at all, especially when compared to the 15 Pro. Yes, it has the new, more powerful A18 Pro processor which is better for ray tracing games, it has a camera control button, and a slightly larger screen compared to the 15 Pro, but I don't feel a noticeable difference in user experience versus the 15 Pro.
Now, the only thing that could make me upgrade to the 16 Pro is the camera. Being able to shoot in 4K, slow motion at 120fps as a creative is something I'm interested in and could push me to upgrade to the 16 Pro, because I can get very smooth slow motion in 4K, and get 5x optical zoom with up to 100% digital zoom. To 25x instead of the previous 3x zoom and 15x digital zoom. This also means better stability for videos. But these things alone may not move things around for most people who already have an iPhone 15 Pro. If the choice is against the iPhone 14 Pro, that's a completely different story. Because even if you're not talking about the new camera control or action button, which are really just quality-of-life improvements, the 16 Pro is a much better device for creatives than the 14 Pro. The USB Type-C port itself is already a big upgrade. It charges faster than the Lightning Connector, can share power with another device, and has much faster data transfer.
So you can transfer huge video files or RAW files to your laptop in minutes. This has made a huge difference in my workflow as a creative. Camera performance is also better with less image noise, especially in low-light situations, 25x digital zoom instead of just 9x, better video stabilization, and of course 120 slow-motion frames in 4K. For creators, it will be an even bigger leap. And of course, Apple Intelligence. It's coming to the 16 Pro and 15 Pro models, not the 14 Pro. From what Apple has shown, this will be the most significant change to the entire iOS experience, more so than iOS 18 itself. The reason the 14 Pro doesn't support Apple Intelligence comes down to one thing – processing power. It requires at least an A17 Pro chip with 8GB of RAM, while the 14 Pro has only 6GB. So, if someone with a 14 Pro wants to try Apple Intelligence, they'll have to upgrade to at least the 15 Pro. Or for a more seamless experience with Apple Intelligence, 16 Pro with the new A18 Pro. That's why you should upgrade from the 14 Pro to the 16 Pro. I will be talking about my experience with Apple Intelligence when it launches in my country , so if you don't want to miss this video, subscribe and hit the bell button to stay updated.
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