Apple iPhone 16 and 16 Plus review: reliable camera, Action Button, more RAM, and A18 chip, but standard refresh rate screen and Camera Control is a mixed bag
It's a good year for Apple's basic iPhone, even if its AI is MIA. … Over the past few years, Apple's standard iPhone looked a little neglected.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple's base models had already gained mainstream features in the iPhone 15 generation's Dynamic Island and performance update, but related coverage still framed the non-Pro line as missing display upgrades available higher up the range.
Apple's iPhone 16 announcement positioned the A18 chip, Action button, and Camera Control as a more substantial base-model refresh. This review tests whether those additions close the practical gap; it finds meaningful upgrades, but not a uniformly compelling new interface or display proposition.
First-order effects
- The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus give buyers of Apple's standard tier more RAM, an A18 chip, an Action Button, and a reliable camera, strengthening the case for the base models without moving to a Pro device.
- The unchanged standard-refresh display and mixed Camera Control experience leave two visible caveats: one retained hardware limitation and one new control whose usefulness is not yet settled.
Second-order effects
- The remaining refresh-rate gap preserves a clear premium distinction for Apple's higher-end phones, echoing the high-refresh display highlighted on the iPhone 13 Pro.
- Camera Control shifts part of the upgrade judgment from specification sheets to interaction quality; Apple will need its new physical control to prove more consistently useful than its launch reception suggests.
Third-order effects
- If Apple continues moving formerly premium controls and silicon into base iPhones while holding back select display features, product segmentation will rely increasingly on a narrower set of experiential differences rather than broad capability gaps.
- The review also shows that AI positioning cannot by itself carry a hardware refresh when those features are absent at launch; near-term differentiation remains tied to chips, cameras, and interface execution.
The trend: Apple is refreshing the standard iPhone by bringing more advanced components and controls down-market while retaining selected premium hardware distinctions.