The iPhone 16 Pro succeeds 2023's iPhone 15 Pro, introducing over 45 new features and improvements to Apple's high-end smartphones. With many users adopting two-year upgrade cycles, plenty of iPhone 14 Pro owners will be looking to upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro, so this guide outlines some of the major differences you should be aware of between the two generations.
In 2022, Apple unveiled the iPhone 14 Pro as the successor to the popular iPhone 13 Pro, introducing an always-on display, the Dynamic Island, a 48-megapixel camera, the A16 Bionic chip, longer battery life, and more. Two years later, the iPhone 16 Pro offers a noticeable upgrade, with the accumulative improvements of two generations stacking up. To get a sense of the entirety of the upgrades, see our other two buyer's guides that set out every difference offered when making the jump from the iPhone 14 Pro to the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro to the iPhone 16 Pro:
- iPhone 14 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer's Guide: 40 Upgrades Compared
- iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro Buyer's Guide: 45+ Upgrades Compared
Overall, the iPhone 16 Pro is a fairly significant upgrade over the iPhone 14 Pro, introducing meaningful quality-of-life features like the USB-C port, Action button, and Camera Control that change the methods of interaction with the device. The new lightweight titanium design with contoured edges and larger screens with slimmer borders result in a noticeably different aesthetic and feel in the hand.
The iPhone 16 Pro also brings advancements to photography and videography, adding support for 24-megapixel high-resolution photos, Smart HDR 5, revamped Photographic Styles, and next-generation portraits – practical features that most users can take advantage of. There are substantial hardware improvements with the addition of a 48-megapixel ultra wide camera and a tetraprism telephoto camera, offering up to 5x optical zoom. Features like 48-megapixel HEIF capture, external and log recording, Academy Color Encoding System, and fast data transfer via USB 3 are also major upgrades for professionals.
The iPhone 14 Pro does not support Apple Intelligence, Apple's upcoming suite of AI tools. With the A18 Pro chip, the iPhone 16 Pro has full support for Apple Intelligence, including Apple's new Visual Lookup feature, which is exclusive to the iPhone 16 lineup. It is also worth noting that the iPhone 16 Pro offers considerably longer battery life, Roadside Assistance via satellite, faster charging, new color options, Wi-Fi 7 support, the second-generation ultra wideband chip, and more.
Due to the scale and breadth of these improvements, many iPhone 14 Pro users can justify upgrading to the iPhone 16 Pro, especially if they value the new design, USB-C port, Action button, and camera improvements. However, some users may still be able to stick with their device for another year to hold off for an even more substantial upgrade in the future.
