iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
Apple (video, MacRumors, Hacker News, TidBITS):
Camera Control — a result of thoughtful hardware and software integration — elevates the camera experience on the iPhone 16 lineup. It is packed with innovation, including a tactile switch that powers the click experience, a high-precision force sensor that enables the light press gesture, and a capacitive sensor that allows for touch interactions. Camera Control can quickly launch the camera, take a photo, and start video recording so users don’t miss the moment. A new camera preview helps users frame the shot and adjust other control options — such as zoom, exposure, or depth of field — to compose a stunning photo or video by sliding their finger on the Camera Control. Additionally, developers will be able to bring Camera Control to third-party apps such as Snapchat.
[…]
A18 delivers a huge leap in performance and power efficiency, and is built on second-generation 3-nanometer technology to further accelerate Apple Intelligence. An upgraded 16-core Neural Engine is optimized for large generative models and runs ML models up to 2x faster than the A16 Bionic chip.
The 6-core CPU is 30 percent faster than the A16 Bionic chip and faster than all the competition. It is also more power efficient and can run the same workload with 30 percent less power than A16 Bionic.
Today, Apple announced that Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that combines the power of generative models with personal context to deliver intelligence that is incredibly useful and relevant, will start rolling out next month with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, with more features launching in the coming months.
The “camera control” gives off strong TouchBar and Stage Manager energy. People have wanted a “take picture” button for years. But Apple couldn’t possibly just give us that. So they delayed this absurdly simple request for YEARS so that they could justify it with INNOVATION. This isn’t just a button, it’s covered in some sort of crystal or something and hey look you can rub it too.
Extremely interested to find out how well the tiny camera control surface works with various iPhone cases instead of just making this a physical button.
or you know, gloves, which some of us wear a few months out of the year
Previously:
Update (2024-09-12): Jason Snell:
I got to spend some time with Camera Control, the second button Apple has added to the iPhone in as many years. I should say up front that I’m a huge fan of adding physical buttons to the iPhone, because physical buttons build muscle memory that software interfaces can never quite build in the same way. Taking a picture on the iPhone should become second nature, just as it is with point-and-shoot cameras. The Camera Control button should enable that—and, by the way, it allows the Action Button to officially become a “do whatever you want” button.
The button itself feels really good. It’s a real button—if you push it all the way down, you can feel it depress with a pleasing tactile response. But it’s also a touch- and pressure-sensitive button that lets you “push halfway” to bring up another set of options, for things like zooming in or switching between photographic styles. If you keep your finger on the button and half-push twice in quick succession, you’ll be taken up one level in the hierarchy and can swipe to different commands. Then half-push once to enter whatever controls you want, and you’re back to swiping. It takes a few minutes to get used to the right set of gestures, but it’s a potentially powerful feature—and at its base, it’s still very simple: push to bring up the camera, push to shoot, and push and hold to shoot video.
Apple could have added a hardware camera button at any time in the iPhone’s history. It did not until it wanted to use the camera for things not directly concerning photography and videography. Oh, it has those features too, of course, but it also makes the buttons down the right-hand side of this year’s iPhone line into dedicated Apple Intelligence launchers.
This event just solidified my opinion that the iPhone 15 lineup was one of the greatest iPhone lineups of all time.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, this is hopefully just constructive criticism: today's event could have and should have been half as long as it was.
Something else that has become apparent with these events—Apple spends way too much time demoing things that we’ve already seen.
Update (2024-09-17): Keith Harrison:
Two new sizes as the Pro phones grow in size, and weight, and get even smaller bezels. Here’s what you need to know about the iPhone 16.
Apple has now released new updates on iPhone 16 repairability and appears to have addressed both those issues and a bunch more. Saying it tries to strike a balance between durability and repairability, it focused particularly on the “repairability” aspect with its latest devices.
Update (2024-09-19): Rocio Fabbro (via Hacker News):
“Apple employees can already purchase the iPhone 16 with their employee discount,” TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a post on X Wednesday. “Typically, employees have had to wait several weeks after the release of new iPhone models before being able to buy. This could be another sign that the early demand for the iPhone 16 is below expectations.”
This is false. New iPhones have been a part of EPP immediately since at least 2017.
See also: iPhone 16 reviews from Allison Johnson, John Gruber, and others.
Update (2024-09-23): Juli Clover (via Hacker News):
Apple has shared repair manuals for the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16 Plus, the iPhone 16 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The repair manuals provide technical instructions on replacing genuine Apple parts in the iPhone 16 models, and Apple says the information is intended for “individual technicians” that have the “knowledge, experience, and tools” that are necessary to repair electronic devices.
Update (2024-09-25): John Siracusa:
It boggles my mind that so many reviews of the iPhone 16 series emphasize so strongly that these phones are an “incremental” update.
How many times has Apple added a button to the iPhone, let alone one as complex as the Camera Control? And the non-Pro phones got two new buttons!
Kyle Wiens (Hacker News, MacRumors):
But in our world, it’s a big deal: the iPhone 16 lineup makes three big leaps for repairkind.
[…]
Similarly, when we zap the adhesive, the current oxidizes the negative/anode mating surface and loosens the adhesive from it. The adhesive “filling” between the battery and the frame will then stick to whichever surface that’s connected to the positive terminal.
Previously:
7 Comments RSS · Twitter · Mastodon
Yeah happy with my 15 Pro - not that much to induce envy - the camera button is clever but I don’t think I’d find it much quicker in practice than using on-screen controls to change focal length - I’m looking at the screen whilst composing the picture anyway. Making a capacitive and recessed camera control might initially cause problems for third party case manufacturers so Apple will sell more own-brand cases for a while which I’m sure didn’t come into their thinking at all… perish the thought!
Wow, Apple added a button! For me, it's too little too late.
Still going strong on my iPhone 7. No real desire to upgrade. As soon as Apple retires the current model of iPhone SE, my plan is to grab one and stick with it as long as I possibly can, because I'll be damned if I'll ever use a phone without a home button. I need my tactility! Not to mention my fingers have some kind of strange aura that makes touch screens have the hardest time telling where they're swiping from and to. The number of failures I tend to get swiping up from the bottom to go home or swiping down to get the control center and *not* the notification center would drive me crazy.
Hell, just them changing the control center -- which I use constantly all the time -- from a relatively easy and comfortable gesture (aura of inaccuracy aside) to one that's difficult and easy to get wrong is an instant deal breaker for me. Again, tactility: I need it. There's no way to *feel* when a downward swipe is going to open the notification center or the control center. And consequently I constantly get the wrong one on iPhones lacking a home button.
Fair play to you Bri - you outlasted even me - i upgraded from the iPhone 7 to the 15 Pro last December. I agree that the lack of a tactile button is a miss especially when using Apple Pay but the improvements in cameras over 7 years are pronounced - just having 3 focal lengths plus macro opens up so many possibilities when the iPhone is the only camera you have with you. USB-C and HDR are also nice and the nfc transit chip that works even if the battery dies is another bonus. But i get why you stay with the 7 - it’s great phone and form factor.
@Niall I agree that the amazing cameras on the newer iPhones are a big temptation and one of their most compelling features. But I rarely ever take photos, so it's not a big enough draw for me personally.
When it comes time for me to upgrade my beloved iPhone 13 mini, I think I'll be looking to my carrier for a discounted iPhone 15. Price-wise, the new iPhones clearly are not phones "for the rest of us." There are rumors of an iPhone SE 4 in 2025, so maybe that will be a better fit.
