The iPhone 16 Pro brings a number of upgrades to the table, with the new and improved camera experience being the highlight. Not only does the premium phone get a new 48MP ultra-wide camera now, there’s also the addition of Camera Control, which can control various camera settings while also doubling as a shutter button.

But at the moment, the iPhone 16 Pro is launched without its shiny new feature: Apple Intelligence. This, in turn, puts more focus on the camera capabilities of the new phone. In my brief time testing it against the iPhone 15 Pro, there are actually some tangible improvements here.

First, let’s unbox the iPhone 16 Pro. Just like how it is with the iPhone 15 Pro, the USB-C to USB-C cable is now braided, and it feels just as substantial and durable. Of course, as the iPhone for the Malaysian market still has a SIM tray, the SIM-eject tool is also included in the box.

Besides that, there are also the usual paper documentations, but one thing is missing here: the Apple sticker. That’s right, no more Apple sticker is bundled with the iPhone 16 Pro, for better or worse. Personally, I don’t really have any real use for the sticker, so I don’t think this is a big loss.

Now, let’s talk about camera performance. Compared to last year’s iPhone 15 Pro, the triple camera system of the iPhone 16 Pro sees a notable upgrade with an upgraded 48MP primary sensor, a new 48MP ultra-wide shooter, and a farther-reaching 12MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. This is the same camera hardware as the iPhone 16 Pro Max, so there’s no more difference in camera hardware between the two Pro iPhones.

Anyway, how does the iPhone 16 Pro perform against its predecessor? Well, judge for yourself with the comparison shots below. Not only can the 16 Pro capture more accurate colours, detail preservation is improved too, especially when it comes to the ultra-wide and telephoto cameras. Rest assured, I’ll be sure to put the camera through its paces in the full review.

What about Camera Control? It’s…okay. I can easily trigger a light press on the button to control the zoom level of the camera, and a double light press allows me to change to different camera settings. Depressing the Camera Control fully, on the other hand, snaps an image. Sometime later this year, a two-stage shutter will be introduced, allowing users to do a light press to lock focus and exposure.

While I do appreciate the presence of a physical shutter on the iPhone 16 Pro, it does take some getting used to. I’m not saying Camera Control is not intuitive to use; rather, I’m just more accustomed to relying on the camera’s on-screen controls. After all, old habits die hard.

Beyond camera performance, the iPhone 16 Pro also comes with a slightly larger display now. More specifically, it features a 6.3-inch – upsized from 6.1-inch – 2622 x 1206 Super Retina XDR OLED display with ProMotion technology to achieve 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. Despite the larger display, the overall dimensions of the phone didn’t increase by much, thanks to the smaller screen bezels. To put things into perspective, the iPhone 16 Pro is only 3mm taller and 0.9mm wider than the iPhone 15 Pro.

And then there’s the processing power of the iPhone 16 Pro. Powered by the new Apple A18 Pro chip, the Cupertino company says the silicon offers 15% faster performance over the A17 Pro, which was already a very capable chip. I briefly ran some demanding games like Zenless Zone Zero on the iPhone 16 Pro, and naturally, it can run them without issues at maxed out graphics settings.

Now, let’s talk prices, which is particularly interesting for the Malaysian market. Starting at RM4,999 for the base 128GB model, the iPhone 16 Pro is actually RM500 more affordable than its predecessor at launch – curious, isn’t it? Of course, this can be attributed to the strengthening Malaysian Ringgit as the retail prices of the new iPhone see no change in the US.

If you want more storage, there’s the 256GB variant for RM5,499; the prices go up to RM6,499 and RM7,499 for the 512GB and 1TB models respectively. It goes without saying the iPhone 16 Pro is not an affordable smartphone, but in retrospect, other high-end premium phones in Malaysia are also priced in the same region.

As it is, I do think the iPhone 16 Pro is the most refined Pro iPhone yet despite the fact that Apple Intelligence is not quite ready yet. The AI-powered feature will only be offered in beta form sometime in October next month, which would make the 16 Pro that much more compelling, However, it’s worth noting that the other iPhone 16 phones and iPhone 15 Pro will also get the new feature.

With that in mind, if you’re on an iPhone older than the iPhone 15 Pro – and without even taking into account Apple Intelligence – I do think the iPhone 16 Pro is worth upgrading to. But if you’re limited by budget, the base iPhone 16 phones are also excellent alternatives. I will be taking a look at the iPhone 16 Plus soon, so stay tuned for that.