iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro

Apple announced both phones on 9 September 2024. Pre-orders opened on 13 September and both reached stores on 20 September, iPhone 16 at $799 and iPhone 16 Pro at $999. Neither was a current iPhone by 19 September 2026, when the compact Pro was iPhone 18 Pro, so you’ll be buying used or discounted, and the launch gap of two hundred dollars may not be the gap you see now.

The cheaper phone isn’t simply less phone. Both have Camera Control and the Action button, both reach 2,000 nits outdoors, and Apple rates iPhone 16 higher for Qi2 charging. What the Pro adds is a third camera, a faster screen and a faster port.

The numbers

Spec	iPhone 16	iPhone 16 Pro
US launch	$799, 128GB	$999, 128GB
Body	Aluminum, 170 g, 7.80 mm	Titanium, 199 g, 8.25 mm
Display	6.1-inch, 2556 × 1179	6.3-inch, 2622 × 1206
ProMotion and Always-On	No	Up to 120 Hz, Always-On
Outdoor brightness	2000 nits	2000 nits
Chip	A18, 5-core GPU	A18 Pro, 6-core GPU
Storage	128GB, 256GB, 512GB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Telephoto	2x from the Fusion main camera	12MP 5x tetraprism at 120 mm
Ultrawide	12MP	48MP
Battery	22 hours video, 18 streamed, 80 audio	27 hours video, 22 streamed, 85 audio
Qi2	Up to 25W	Up to 15W
USB-C	USB 2, up to 480 Mb/s	USB 3, up to 10 Gb/s
LiDAR	Not listed	Yes
Positioning	GPS through BeiDou	Dual-frequency, including NavIC

The Pro’s real extra is the 5x camera

iPhone 16 has two rear cameras. The 48-megapixel Fusion main camera, at 26 millimeters and f/1.6, also gives you a 12-megapixel 2x telephoto at 52 millimeters and the same f/1.6, cropped from the same sensor rather than a third module. The ultrawide is 12 megapixels at 13 millimeters, f/2.2 and 120 degrees. That makes a 4x optical range with digital zoom to 10x.

iPhone 16 Pro adds the camera that most of the extra money pays for: a separate 12-megapixel 5x telephoto at 120 millimeters and f/2.8, a tetraprism with sensor-shift stabilization. Its main camera is 48 megapixels at 24 millimeters and f/1.78, with a 12-megapixel 2x crop at 48 millimeters, and its ultrawide jumps to 48 megapixels at 13 millimeters. The optical range grows from 4x to 10x and digital zoom reaches 25x. It also has LiDAR.

Video splits the same way. iPhone 16 records 4K Dolby Vision at up to 60 frames per second, Cinematic mode in 4K at 30, and Action mode. iPhone 16 Pro adds 4K at 100 and 120 on the Fusion camera, ProRes and Log. The front cameras are the same class, 12-megapixel TrueDepth at f/1.9 with autofocus, and both phones have Camera Control for exposure, depth, zoom, switching cameras, styles and tone; on the Pro you can also choose which Fusion lens it opens with.

A bigger, smoother screen, but not a brighter one

iPhone 16’s screen is 6.1 inches, or 6.12 inches as a plain rectangle, at 2556 × 1179 and 460 pixels per inch, with Dynamic Island under Ceramic Shield. Brightness is 1,000 nits typical, 1,600 for HDR and 2,000 outdoors, down to 1 nit. Apple lists no ProMotion and no Always-On for it.

iPhone 16 Pro’s screen is 6.3 inches, or 6.27 as a rectangle, at 2622 × 1206 and the same 460 pixels per inch. ProMotion runs up to 120 hertz and Always-On is included. Its brightness figures match iPhone 16’s exactly, the 2,000-nit outdoor peak included, so you’re paying for smoother motion and a larger panel, not a brighter one.

Aluminum at 170 grams, titanium at 199

iPhone 16 is aluminum with a color-infused glass back, 147.6 × 71.6 × 7.80 millimeters and 170 grams, in Black, White, Pink, Teal and Ultramarine. iPhone 16 Pro is titanium, 149.6 × 71.5 × 8.25 millimeters and 199 grams, in Black, White, Natural and Desert. Twenty-nine grams is enough to notice in a pocket, and the non-Pro is the lighter one. Both are IP68, rated to 6 meters for 30 minutes.

The chips differ by one GPU core. iPhone 16’s A18 has a 6-core CPU, a 5-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine; iPhone 16 Pro’s A18 Pro has the same CPU and Neural Engine counts with a 6-core GPU. Both start at 128GB, but iPhone 16 stops at 512GB while the Pro goes to 1TB.

Battery and charging: the Qi2 surprise

Apple rates iPhone 16 Pro for up to 27 hours of video, 22 hours streamed and 85 hours of audio, against 22, 18 and 80 on iPhone 16. Apple doesn’t publish battery capacity, a typical-use figure or RAM for either phone, so playback time is the only comparison you get, and it favors the Pro.

Wired charging is the same: about 50 percent in 30 minutes on a 20-watt adapter or higher, over USB-C, with the adapter sold separately. MagSafe runs up to 25W on both with a 30-watt adapter or higher. The surprise is Qi2: Apple rates iPhone 16 at up to 25W and iPhone 16 Pro at up to 15W, so on a Qi2 pad that isn’t a MagSafe charger, the cheaper phone has the higher ceiling. Only the Pro also lists plain Qi, at up to 7.5W.

Ports, radios and SIM

Both use USB-C, but iPhone 16 runs at USB 2 speed, up to 480 Mb/s, while iPhone 16 Pro runs USB 3 at up to 10 Gb/s with a USB 3 cable. Both have Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, a second-generation ultra-wideband chip, Thread and Apple Pay. iPhone 16’s GPS covers GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou; the Pro’s is precision dual-frequency and includes NavIC.

Both have Emergency SOS, Messages, Find My and Roadside Assistance via satellite, plus Crash Detection, with the two-year free satellite period that applied to iPhone 14 and later. US models of both are eSIM-only with no physical SIM, though Apple shows a SIM tray on iPhone 16 models bought outside the US, so check the model if you travel with a SIM card. Neither box includes an adapter: you get the phone and a 1-meter USB-C cable.

Apple hasn’t put a number of years on updates for either phone. Its iPhone 16 specs give no iOS version, and the Pro’s still describe Apple Intelligence in iOS 18 terms, so check Apple’s current compatibility list for the iOS you’d get.

What they cost

iPhone 16 launched at $799 and iPhone 16 Pro at $999, both with 128GB of storage, and only the Pro offers 1TB. Today both are older models, so compare used or discounted prices at the same storage, and check before you buy.