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Phones · Apple iPhone

Apple iPhone 16

48owners with an opinion
33%of verdicts positive
13/26positive/negative since 2024
0happy after 3+ years

Praised for performance and display; criticized for software.

What owners wrote

Neutral
Thanks! Solid input. —- An anecdote on Apple: I was in Colombia a couple of months ago and I got my phone stolen (iPhone 16). I rushed home to mark it as stolen using the find my feature using my Mac. It went through and I felt incredibly relieved. Then, a couple of minutes after, I receive a bunch of emails from many of my online accounts sending auth codes and making sure it was me changing the password. I then spent several hours in a back and forth trying to get a hold of the situation which thankfully was solved. I just know that my grandma would’ve had a different story to tell… I’ve heard the same story from friends that have had their phones stolen also. So, how secure is Apple? I think it is and feels like it’s transforming to an it used to be. It feels like anything that’s now connected to the internet holds a back door waiting to be discovered sooner or later. So, from what I’m learning, it’s not really about stopping the breaches because it’s hard to say you’re ever going to be free from breaches, but creating a system of data storage that takes potential breaches in mind.
Neutral
No. Dishwasher rinse aid in beverages happened yesterday but I’ve also had makeup remover in condiments and various other fun ones. I have an iPhone 16 so it’s not like the hardware is terribly underpowered either. It may be dependent on regional settings or something but Siri shopping classification has been hilariously terrible for me. If I make a shopping list of 10 items there is always at least one that is wildly misclassified - I leave it on because it makes me laugh. The other thing that has been terrible for me in 26 is they made some sort of change to the pronunciation in “maps” when it gives directions. It seems like they tried to make it clearer or something but it breaks loads of UK street names in hilarious ways. For example, there is a street near me called “Speldhurst road”. You would normally say this “spelled hirst” or similar. Siri? No. Siri says “Spellduster”. There are many like that. It’s kind of ridiculous.
Doesn’t like it
There’s still one mystery for me. I’m now at the iPhone 16. The performance of those chips with 8GB in non throttled environment (Neo..) can run as a fully performant macOS. Yet, as a phone I don’t feel upgraded performance since my SE 1st gen days. Sometimes I get stuttering, basic browsing can get the device pretty warm, sometime camera lags to launch. My usage profile didn’t change much over the years. So I can only assume codebases became more bloated, websites became more heavy on resources. Because, if my device now throttles to what I was happy with years ago assuming the software would behave the same, I’ve expected my usage to give me at least cooler non stuttering performance. But that was never the case.
Doesn’t like it
Then the old Sony Ericssons would be her best option I think. They were the ultimate in to small for my fingers, couldn't stand it. Still the best form factor has the iPhone 4 in my opinion. And here comes the revelation: the iPhone 17 have grown again and the base models all start at 6.3" The pro max is now 6.9" - the iPad mini is 8.3" What a massive burden to carry around and still the iPhone aren't good enough for reading long time - a book for example - like the iPad Mini is. I guess that many "content creators" edit their TikTok stuff when they are on the move and that the iPhone tries to more and more fit for that market. Also larger device sizes allow for larger batteries - good for local AI and again video editing and consuming as well. I Own a iPhone 16 and couldn't handle the pro/max option. Too bulky - and the camera lens has sharp edges combined with a slippy surface. So size is one thing, form another. The max options are crazy large especially if you consider a case for protection. Two things
Doesn’t like it
> imagine EU iPhones being imported into US to use with OpenAI or Claude Cowork That's not the case. it's merely software (exactly like my iPhone 16 lacking the promised AI features claimed at WWDC24). Anyway as I'm now within the EU with phone I bought before moving to the EU, regional features (or restrictions) depends on the logged in account and device regional settings. Except physical considerations (eSIM design, actual radio transceivers). The hardware is the same thank god.
Likes it
I have an iPhone 16 and I don't feel like I'm getting the shaft. It sounds like there's one specific customization thing that'll only work on the pro models? Not an issue. At some point in a few years I'll buy a new phone and it'll be the latest again, and then it won't be.
Likes it
All the photos are real, though it took me *lots* of time to get them somewhat right. The display on T1800 is indeed "challenging". What helped was: - Letting it warm for a while - Putting windows in the right places, because each one generates its own artifacts - Setting background to dark with the white pattern - Fiddling with the contrast knob and matching it with the right viewing angle - Using 2x zoom To be fair, the default photo app of iPhone 16 automatically reduced some of the artifacts. The only post-processing done myself in GIMP was very basic stuff like adjusting white balance, exposure and contrast. Here you can see a few very quick-n-dirty photos I just took for comparison - https://imgur.com/a/6Xz6vc8
Neutral
I'm trying to get out of this. I'm a blind person. No one in tech goes to bed thinking about us, as it were. So, as a non-programmer, vibe coding accessibility fixes was an outlet to the daily million papercuts of using operating systems built by people who cannot understand me. Well, I have barely anything to show for months of this. I made Termux more accessible on Android, made an MUD client for Emacs, fixed up some Emacspeak stuff because it's been abandonned going on 3 years now, and Emacs packages wait for no one, and tried added Grade 2 Braille entry support to BRLTTY. That failed because depression sucks and who would even use this vibe coded junk anyway. The more open nature of Android made it rather easier. How far behind in features TalkBack is compared to VoiceOver, besides AI image description, made it feel like trying to heal a broken arm with pain pills. So I'm trying to tell myself that I can't fix everything, and that it's not my fault if other people, and companies, choose to not consider accessibility. I mean I can't help Google if they choose to not be helped. Ah well, Global Accessibility Awareness Day is this Thursday. Maybe Apple will finally announce LLM image descriptions, and hopefully my iPhone 16 will be good enough for them because I can't afford to upgrade in this economy.
Doesn’t like it
As a mini fan, I don't know when I'll get my next iPhone. I've tried (and returned) the 16 and the Air. I don't want a phone that I can't type on one-handed, and for me that means sticking with the mini. I hate that Apple is no longer providing security updates on iOS18 except to devices that cannot run 26 (like the X). Everyone says that 26 is lousy on all but the newest devices, so I am not going to update. But that means that my new AirPods don't have Find My, and I can't use the new AirTags either. Ticky-tack moves like this tell me that Apple knows adoption is slow, and they're doing everything they can to force people to upgrade OS (or device). For us small-phone lovers, it's a no-win situation.
Neutral
> What Apple does best lies at the combination of hardware, software, physical materials, and human-computer interface design. This was true maybe a decade ago, but not so now (under the watch of Tim Cook). You listed Mac hardware becoming popular in the age of AI as examples of "unexpected wins". Maybe that's true (I don't know if it is) - but Macs were only 8% of Apple's 2025 revenue. Apple has become an iPhone company (50% of revenue) that sells services (26% of revenue). And AI can eat away at both. If Siri sucks so hard that people switch away, that would also reduce Services revenue from lost App Store revenue cuts. If Google bundles Gemini with YouTube and Google Photos storage, people might cancel their iCloud subscriptions. I think the parent comment was making the point that Tim Cook's Apple has missed the boat and it doesn't show signs that it's going to catch the next wave. I have an iPhone 16 and I'm locked in because of all my photos being on my iCloud subscription. But in 2030, if my colleague can use their Pixel phone to record a work meeting, have it diarized, send out minutes, grab relevant info and surface it before the next relevant meeting, and Siri can still only set a timer for 5 minutes, then I might actually switch.
Neutral
I recently upgraded from an iPhone 12 to an iPhone 16 because I couldn't figure out how to free enough storage on the 12. The battery was still more than good enough to go a full day. I don't notice any difference other than now I have a pile of useless lightning cables (good riddance). Honestly kind of a relief as I liked the 12 just fine. Phones kind of seem like a Solved tech these days. About as exciting to upgrade them as upgrading my Brother Laser Printer.
Doesn’t like it
I honestly never noticed memory pressure. I am not a heavy app user. Chat, browsing, and pictures of my kids are the vast majority of my phone usage. Not exactly intensive stuff. The camera button on the 16 seems to have been perfectly engineered to be exactly where I grab my phone. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but in the mean time I have so many blurry photos of desktops and pants to enjoy.
Doesn’t like it
Except it seems to be going in the opposite direction, every phone I've upgraded (various Androids and iPhones) seemed to have more smoothing than the one I'd had before. My iPhone 16 night photos look like borderline generative AI and there's no way to turn that off! I was honestly happier with the technically inferior iPhone 5 camera, the photos at least didn't look fake.
Doesn’t like it
Even if they fix the keyboard, iOS as a whole can't really be fixed. This is a single symptom of a much larger problem. So much is broken, poorly implemented, or so laughably tasteless that it hurts my head to think about how it's positioned and accepted as a "premium" product. I understand that most people notice so little about the design of their surroundings that it's basically impossible for them to understand that this junk is inflicting thousands of tiny psychological cuts daily, but it makes me so very very sad that this is acceptable to so many people. - As mentioned, keyboard input is offensively broken. Whiffed inputs, the entire text selection/cursor manipulation model sucks (not being able to select in the middle of a word is inexcusable unless you have Stockholm syndrome for the bandaids), the cursor manipulation is broken, keyboard gets stuck open or closed, etc. etc. I'm convinced the input design for this phone is a CIA psyop designed to drive you to madness so they can recruit you as a sleeper cell. - Passcode inputs are also broken. Trying to enter your passcode at easily achievable speeds results in dropped inputs. - Above point wouldn't be a big deal if it weren't for fingerprint scanning being given up for Face ID, which is complete dogshit that constantly fails-to-passcode trying and failing to scan my ceiling, or my face when it's against a pillow in the morning. It's also completely worthless when I'm unable to fully point my face at the phone (workin…
Doesn’t like it
> But, man, Apple hardware still rocks. Can't deny that. This makes me extra sad. The HW is very good and very expensive, but the SW is mediocre. I bought an iPhone 16 a few months ago and I swear that is the first and last iPhone I'd purchase. I'd happy sell it at half of the price if someone local wants it. Edit: Since people asked for points, here is a list of things that I believe iOS does not do well: - In Android Chrome, I can set YouTube website to desktop mode, and loop the video. I can also turn off the screen without breaking the play. I can't do this in Safari however I tried. - In Safari, I need to long-press a button to bring up the list of closed tabs. How can anyone figure it out without asking around online? - In Stock app, a few News pieces are automatically brought up and occupy the lower half of the screen when it starts up. This is very annoying as I don't need it and cannot turn it off. - (This is really the level of ridiculous) In Clock, I fucking cannot set an one time alarm for a future date (Repeat = Never means just today), so I had to stupidly set up weekly alerts and change it whenever I need a new one-time. I hope I'm too stupid to find the magic option. - Again, in Clock, if I want to setup alarm for sleep, I have to turn on...sleep. This is OK-ish as I can just setup a weekly alarm and click every weekday. So far, I think Mail and Maps are user friendly. Maps actually show more stuffs than Google Map, which is especially useful for pedestrians.…
Doesn’t like it
I got a 16 (mostly because of the USB-C) and returned it before the 30day return period was over. It was a noticeable downgrade compared to my SE 2022. Currently trying to get a solid postmarketOS setup so I can switch back to Linux before the SE goes out of support. Apple really doesn't offer an upgrade path from this device.
Doesn’t like it
Took the plunge from an SE 2020 to a 16, and it is noticeable how it is hard to hold in one hand. I could see a world were a foldable iphone would mean a narrower device.