Specs Appeal: What is the difference between iPhone 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, 16, and 16 Plus?

Apple's 2024 iPhone lineup continues the tradition of four models of different sizes and price tags. This year, buyers have to choose between the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the iPhone 16 Pro, the iPhone 16 Plus, and the iPhone 16. Here is how each model compares to its siblings.

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Although this year's lineup shares more new features, the regular iPhone 16 differs from its Pro variant in the same four categories: materials, displays, cameras, and processors.

The entry-level iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are still made of aluminum, while the more premium titanium is only available in Pro models. However, to make up for that, you get to choose from much more eye-catching colors, while the iPhone 16 Pro still comes in quite muted colors.

What is not different are buttons and controls. The iPhone 16 now has the same Action Button (so long, Mute Switch) and the Camera Control. The latter is a special button with a touch-sensitive surface that lets you control various camera settings.

Despite similar looks, the displays in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro have night and day differences. Apple still thinks it is okay to sell a $799+ smartphone with a 60Hz display, so the iPhone 16 Pro is your only option if you cannot stand low-refresh rate screens. Also, the baseline iPhone does not support the always-on display feature. On the bright side, all four iPhones have a maximum brightness of 2000 nits and a minimum brightness of just 1 nit. Finally, the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max have slightly larger displays (0.2-inch increase).

This year's iPhone Pro models have fewer differences in their cameras than before. All four models have a primary 48MP Fusion camera with new focus and depth controls. However, the Pro iPhone has a higher-resolution ultra-wide camera—48MP versus 12MP. It can also record Dolby Vision, Log, and ProRes video at up to 4K 120 fps. Finally, both iPhone 16 Pro models feature four "studio-quality" microphones for better audio recording.

Finally, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are powered by the A18 Pro chip, while the iPhone 16 and Plus have the slightly cut-down A18 chip with five GPU cores instead of six. Both processors, however, are paired with 8GB of RAM, so there are no differences in terms of memory.

Here are the key differences between the iPhone 16 Pro, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the iPhone 16, and the iPhone 16 Plus:

Chassis material difference: titanium in Pro and aluminum in entry-level models.
A slightly better processor with more powerful graphics.
Faster and bigger screens with adaptive refresh rate and always-on display support.
Better cameras with a dedicated telephoto camera, a higher-res ultra-wide camera, and a LiDAR sensor.
1TB storage option.
USB-C 3.0 instead of the slower USB-C 2.0.
Longer battery life.

	iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max		iPhone 16 / 16 Plus
Display	6,3" 2622x1206 2000 nits peak brightness 1 nit min brightness Dynamic Island Always-on-Display 1-120Hz	6.9" 2868x1320 2000 nits peak brightness 1 nit min brightness Dynamic Island Always-on-Display 1-120Hz	6.1" 2556x1179 2000 nits peak brightness 1 nit min brightness Dynamic Island 60Hz	6.7" 2796x1290 2000 nits peak brightness 1 nit min brightness Dynamic Island 60Hz
Case	Titanium 199g (7.03oz) Action Button Camera Control	Titanium 227g (7.99oz) Action Button Camera Control	Aluminum 170g (6oz) Action Button Camera Control	Aluminum 199g (7.03oz) Action Button Camera Control
CPU	6-core A18 Pro 6-core GPU 16-core Neural Engine		6-core A18 5-core GPU 16-core Neural Engine
RAM	8GB
Storage	128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB	256GB 512GB 1TB	128GB 256GB 512GB
Cameras	48MP Fusion + 48MP ultra-wide + 12MP telephoto f/1.78 + f/2.2 + f/2.8 apertrue 0.5x / 1x / 5x optical zoom Second-gen sensor-shift OIS Adaptive True Tone Flash Photonic Engine Deep Fusion Smart HDR 5 Photographic Styles Macro Photography		48MP Fusion + 12MP ultra-wide f/1.6 + f/2.2 aperture 4x optical zoom range (2x in and out) Sensor-shift OIS Adaptive True Tone Flash Photonic Engine Deep Fusion Photographic Styles Smart HDR 5 Macro Photography
Video	4K Dolby Vision at up to 60 fps Cinematic mode for videos with shallow depth of field 4K HDR 30 fps ProRes video up to 4K at 120 fps with external recording Slow-mo video at up to 4K 120 fps Slow-mo video at up to 1080p 240 fps Log video recording Academy Color Encoding System Spatial Video recording Wind noise reduction Macro video recording Action Mode		4K Dolby Vision at up to 60 fps Cinematic mode with shallow depth of field at 4K HDR 30 fps Slow-mo video at up to 1080p 240 fps Action Mode Sensor-shift OIS Spatial Video recording Wind noise reduction Macro video recording
Front Camera	12MP f/1.9 aperture Photonic Engine Smart HDR 5 Photographic Styles Cinematic mode up to 4K HDR 30 fps HDR video with Dolby Vision 4K 60 fps
Data	GSM/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA+ 5G (sub-6 GHz and mmWave) Wi-Fi 7 UWB chip Bluetooth 5.3 Emergency SOS via Satellite Crash Detection Thread networking technology
SIM	No physical SIM Dual eSIM support
Battery	TBD mAh 27h video playback	TBD mAh 33h video playback	TBD mAh 22h video playback	TBD mAh 27h video playback
Ports	USB-C (10Gb/s), MagSafe and Qi2 Up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter 25W wireless charging with a 30W adapter		USB-C (480Mb/s), MagSafe, and Qi2 Up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter 25W wireless charging with a 30W adapter
Colors	Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Ttanium, Desert Titanium		Black, Pink, Teal, Ultramarine
Price	$999+	$1199+	$799+	$899+