Anyone buying the new iCamera 16 Pro? Is Apple so focused on the camera features it’s forgetting about the rest of the phone?
I’m pretty much decided I’ll replace my 14 Pro Max with the 16 Pro Max.
A lot of the features I want are in the 15 Pro Max like the 5x zoom, USB C, and the action button.
I will also now get the new Camera button, a larger screen and battery.
The new Black “colour” appeals to me the most of the available colours, I do wish they had a really nice blue though.
The largest downside though it that there will be no Apple option for a leather case, I don’t want a Silicon case and at this point, Apple is the only manufacturer I trust to get the case right with the new buttons.
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I’m getting one, but I get the new one every year. By the time I work in trade in values and tax receipts for my business, it saves me money to do so.
I’m not that excited about the camera button (we’ll see if it’s actually faster in day to day life), but I am excited about the battery improvements, the 5x telephoto lens, and the 48mp ultra wide.
I think Apple is addressing most of my desires for a better phone with their annual OS release cycle.
The major, perhaps only, reason to get the Pro over the non-Pro is the camera. That’s why they auto-focus on the camera.
If you are just interested in the Phone, I don’t think that’s changed since the iPhone 12 introduced 5G.
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I see what you did there, and I appreciate you.
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In debate, I have the 15 Pro Max. In the past I used to upgrade yearly, (I would hand down the previous phone to older family, parents, in-laws, etc who wouldn’t normally upgrade). However, I wasn’t impressed the last few years and went from either the 11/12 to the 15. Debating about the 16 Pro Max, mainly my reasons would really be so that my family has up to date phones, etc. As others have mentioned, Apple only spoke about its Intelligence feature and the Camera…which reminds of the “S” year or “tock” or whatever algorithm they use now for ‘minor’ updates.
TLDR: Unless you pay fully for your phone outright, you are habitually stuck in a ‘hardware subscription’ with Apple 
That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought about it that way.
From what I’ve read, the camera is the main reason a great percentage of iPhone users upgrade their phones. I upgraded from an iPhone 6S to an iPhone 11 just to get a better camera. And since I’m still pleased with that camera I’ve had no reason to upgrade my phone. Even it’s battery is still at 93%.
It appears Apple is concentrating on the feature that gets people to upgrade their “perfectly good iPhones” 
I had the feeling they didn’t pay much attention to the 5x lens. Is that because it was there already in the 15 pro Max?
I would think so, it’s not new, they just squoze it into the non Max model
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Still trying to figure out what to do. My wife and I have 14 Pro iPhones; our son has a 13 Pro. We’re financed through Verizon, so we have another 12 months until the phones are paid off. I’m not entirely thrilled with the idea of another 36 month contract. I could pay the phones off (about $1200!!!) and get into Apple’s annual upgrade program, but I’m not sure that makes financial sense.
None of us need new iPhones. I can’t say that any of us are serious photo hobbyists, so the new cameras are not compelling. Apple Intelligence could be interesting, but I don’t know that it’s a good enough reason to justify the upgrade. Action button and the touch-capacitive camera button don’t do much for me.
So, I’ll keep kicking this around in my brain for a while. At least I have a few days to think about it if I want to get in on the first day. 
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That’s alright for me as I do not use my iPhone as a phone very much. A lot of (most of) my friends and professional contacts are Deaf so text messages are the norm between us — they do not have iPhones otherwise we would be using Facetime (we use Zoom or Teams for signed conversations). Ultimately my iPhone usage is more like my old Palm 550c on steriods as a PDA.
A modern smartphone is three devices in one:
- A phone
- A small touchscreen computer for running apps and a browser
- A camera
Compared to my old Xs Max, from a user standpoint the phone on my 15 Pro Max is the same. The small touchscreen computer is noticeably faster but otherwise the same. But the camera has far superior low-light performance, a wide-angle lens, and a 250% increase in maximum optical zoom. And it always takes much better photos.
So where do things go from here?
It’s not at all obvious how the phone functionality can be meaningfully improved beyond its current state.
The pocket computer can get even faster and handle more complex processing to support more powerful apps and capabilities like AI. The touchscreens can…fold?
But the ways the camera can and will be further improved are obvious: capture even more light and detail, and build in even higher optical zoom and wider angle lenses.
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If I didn’t need a new iPhone, and I don’t, I would use the money for something I do need. It’s not like Apple Intelligence is likely to be working as promised until close to the time for the iPhone 17 to be released. Or even then.
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Regarding the “subscription” aspect: this year, out of curiosity, I checked AS the trade-in value of my iPhone 15 Pro Max, and, according to the local spanish version of Apple Store, the value is 765€, more or less half the price of this year’s iPhone 16 Pro Max. So the “subscription” to an iPhone Pro Max is slightly less than 60€/month. Given the added value I would get for a new model, from a financial perspective it’s difficult to justify the idea of a yearly “subscription”.
This is what I’m realizing. The iPhone Upgrade Program is a great thing for people who need to have the new phone each year for journalistic purposes, but I’m not so sure it’s a Program for the Rest of Us. Of course, Verizon’s “subscription” isn’t much more consumer-friendly. To turn in my current phones, I would have to pay off 50% of the remaining balance, so for three phones that’s about $580, plus I would have to move to a more expensive monthly cell plan–and enter into a new three-year contract. I can’t say whether Verizon’s competitors are any better.
It seems to me the “move up to a more expensive plan” wasn’t in effect two years ago when I got the 14 Pros, nor did I have to pay off any portion of the remaining balance. It feels like Verizon has made it more expensive to upgrade every other year.
Unless I have some major realization, I think we’re going to sit tight on the 14 Pro and 13 Pro my son has and wait until next year. He will be disappointed, but hopefully this is a good teaching opportunity for him on finances.