I find the iPhone 16 Plus to be particularly interesting in this year’s iPhone lineup. After all, it receives quite a number of new features, including the Action Button, Camera Control, and of course, the brand new Apple A18 chip. That is why I am actually reviewing the iPhone 16 Plus first over the iPhone 16 Pro. After all, it gained more upgrades over the Pro model.
However, while there are plenty of things to love about the iPhone 16 Plus, it still has the same limitations as its predecessor, including the 60Hz display and lack of a telephoto camera. Nonetheless, given all of the upgrades that the phone got, there’s no denying that it is a compelling smartphone. To sweeten the deal, it’s also more affordable in Malaysia now.
What It Is
Display | 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED (2796 x 1290), 60Hz |
Chipset | Apple A18 (6-core CPU; 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores) |
GPU | Apple A18 5-core GPU |
RAM | 8GB |
Storage | 128GB/256GB/512GB, non-expandable |
Camera (rear) | 48MP Fusion f/1.6, sensor-shift OIS 12MP f/2.2 (ultra-wide) |
Camera (front) | 12MP f/1.9, AF |
Battery | 4,674mAh |
Dimensions | 160.9 x 77.8 x 7.8 mm |
Weight | 199g |
OS | iOS 18 |
Connectivity | 5G LTE NFC Bluetooth 5.3 WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6/7 USB-C |
Price | RM4,499 (128GB), RM4,999 (256GB), RM5,999 (512GB) |
Honestly, I was surprised the iPhone 16 Plus gets the new Camera Control, given that it’s usually the Pro models that get new features first. Granted, the non-Pro iPhone probably got Camera Control because of Apple Intelligence, which takes advantage of the new button – yes, it’s a button – for AI-powered features like visual intelligence. It allows users to use the camera to quickly look up on a particular subject.
As usual, the RAM and battery capacities of the iPhone 16 Plus were not detailed by Apple, though third-party sources shed some light on these hardware. Anyway, not only has the RAM been upgraded from 6GB to 8GB, the iPhone 16 Plus also has a slightly larger battery (4,674mAh versus 4,383mAh) than the iPhone 15 Plus.
The price of the iPhone 16 Plus is also worth a mention here. Now starting at RM4,499, the phone sees a notable RM400 price cut across the range. Sure, it is still quite a costly smartphone, but I do think it’s a fair price to pay for a phone of this calibre – let me explain why in the next section.
The Good Stuff
One of the main highlights of the iPhone 16 Plus is the new A18 chip, with a CPU that is said to be 30% faster than the A16 Bionic chip of last year’s iPhone 15 Plus. More notably, the GPU performance sees a sizeable 40% increase too. In short, the A18 is a fast, capable chip.
Naturally, running demanding games like Zenless Zone Zero on the iPhone 16 Plus with maxed out graphics settings at 60fps proved to be a non-issue. Juggling between different apps on the phone feels very fast and snappy too, which is to be expected from an Apple silicon. It’s well-established that the Cupertino’s company makes some of the best chips in the market, and the A18 is a testament to that.
Raw performance aside, there’s also the new Camera Control. A click opens the camera app – making it that much easier to quickly access the camera – and a light press brings up the zoom control. A double light press, on the other hand, allows me to change different camera settings, and if I fully depress the Camera Control, it will snap an image.
It’s great that there is now a physical shutter on the iPhone 16 Plus, but more often than not, I find myself defaulting back to the camera’s on-screen controls. While Camera Control does feel intuitive to use – after some adjustment period – I’m just more accustomed to the on-screen controls. But hey, your mileage may vary.
Personally, I’m more excited about Camera Control once Apple Intelligence is ready for end-users on the iPhone 16 series and iPhone 15 Pro sometime this month. I have a feeling that the whole point of the button is for the aforementioned visual intelligence feature, so in a way, the full capability of Camera Control is not quite realised yet.
Okay, beyond that, what about the camera performance of the iPhone 16 Plus? Well, it’s still as reliable as ever. Both the 48MP primary camera and 12MP ultra-wide lens can take great-looking shots, even though the latter does show its limitations in low light conditions.
But the best new feature of the iPhone 16 Plus’ camera – and other phones in the series – are the new Photographic Styles. It’s quite a bit different than the previous version of the feature, which were only limited to four different styles. With the new Photographic Styles, users have even more control on the final look of their photographs, with the freedom to adjust the tone and colour.
Now, this is absolutely a great tool for people who want a particular “aesthetic” for the pictures they take. Users won’t be limited to Apple’s own colour science anymore either, which could prove to be a boon. In fact, I imagine this level of customisability alone is enough for some folks to upgrade to the iPhone 16 series.
Beyond that, the iPhone 16 Plus continues to be a fantastic phone in other regards. Battery life? It can easily deliver between seven to eight hours of screen on time with my particular usage, which involve a ton of gaming and multitasking with different apps. What about the display? The 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen remains bright and vibrant with the added benefit of going down to merely 1 nit of brightness when needed.
And that is a good segue to the next section of this review.
The Bad Stuff
As much as I enjoy the expansive and punchy OLED display of the iPhone 16 Plus, I’m not thrilled at the fact that the refresh rate is still limited to 60Hz. For a phone that starts at RM4,499, it’s not unreasonable to expect a display with higher refresh rate. To be fair, I know a number of folks that don’t see the difference between a 60Hz or 120Hz screen, so perhaps it’s not such an important feature to have?
But what is an important feature, in my opinion, is the always-on display, which is absent on the iPhone 16 Plus. This – along with a dedicated telephoto camera, but I digress – is still a feature that is exclusive to the Pro iPhones. It’s something that I sorely miss when I switch to this phone from the iPhone 15 Pro; being able to see if I have any unread notifications by just glancing at the screen is incredibly useful, and it’s unfortunate the non-Pro iPhones don’t get the feature.
Is It Worth It?
Despite that, it doesn’t take away the fact that the iPhone 16 Plus is the best non-Pro iPhone yet. It gets quite a number of new features that I am personally surprised made it to the standard iPhones, including the new A18 chip, Camera Control, and of course, Apple Intelligence, even though the latter isn’t coming until later this month.
While the RM4,499 starting price is a steep one, I do think it is justified for a phone that is as refined as the iPhone 16 Plus. It is notably faster than the Android competition thanks to the A18 chip; it has solid camera performance even without a telephoto lens; and most of all, it is now RM400 more affordable in Malaysia across the different storage options – these are great reasons to buy the iPhone 16 Plus, if you ask me.