Summary
- The iPhone 16 Pro screen appears wildly better and brighter with ProMotion technology.
- Apple’s transition to USB-C is a shock, requiring new accessories and adaptors.
- The action button on the iPhone 16 Pro offers new functions, but some miss the physical switch.
My trusty iPhone 12 Pro just celebrated its fifth birthday — that’s 35 in iPhone years. Fine, Apple has never discussed age translations for its devices, but I like to imagine my 12 Pro as a millennial who just found their first gray hair.
As much as I’d like to picture my iPhone 12 Pro in that still-young stage of life, I fear that a more accurate portrayal would be that of a 60-year-old who got a premature hip replacement, and whose eyesight started going five years ago. All that at 60 years old? Rough, I know. Tell that to the poor 12 Pro sitting on my desk — its health declined much faster than everyone thought it should.
At long last, I decided it was time for an early retirement for my 2020 phone last week. I was able to snag a pretty shocking deal through Verizon and got around $830 off of the brand-new iPhone 16 Pro (how could I say no). Since it’s been four generations since I last upgraded, I knew there were plenty of differences in store — on both the software and hardware side of things. Yes, Camera Control was on that list, but it barely caught my attention.
1 The screen looks wildly better
And brighter
While both the 12 Pro and 16 Pro have Super Retina XDR display, the very first thing I noticed about the latter was the ProMotion technology. I’ve used other people’s phones with the tech, but usually just to add my contact to their device. I hadn’t played around with it by scrolling on my own Instagram, for example, and it made all the difference there and on my morning Substack read.
ProMotion first appeared on the iPhone 13 Pro Max . It dynamically adjusts the refresh rate of your screen to match the content on it (between 10hz and 120Hz). It’s what makes scrolling noticeably smoother, as well as more responsive. Upon further research, I found that it also conserves battery life by toning down refresh rates where it can.
If I ever brought my iPhone 12 Pro outside, I could barely make out what was on the screen at full brightness — sunny or overcast, it didn’t matter. Specs-wise, it checks out: the iPhone 12 Pro has 800 nits for max brightness (typical) or 1,200 nits for peak brightness (HDR) while the iPhone 16 Pro has:
- 1,000 nits max brightness (typical)
- 1,600 nits peak brightness (HDR)
- 2,000 nits peak brightness (outdoor)
All of this to say, if I only upgraded for the screen experience, it would be well worth it. But wait, there’s more.
2 USB-C shock
Goodbye, sweet Lightning
I let out an audible sigh when I finally transferred all my data over to my new 16 Pro, crawled into bed that night, and fumbled in the dark to connect my Apple EarPods (lightning) to do my evening meditation. It took me a full (embarrassing) minute to remember that Apple had made the transition over to USB-C back with the iPhone 15. Unfortunate, indeed — that is until Amazon’s quick shipping brought a shiny new pair to me the next day.
However, I’m still stuck using my MacBook Pro as a charging station, as the new phone only came with a cord and no block. Sure, Apple — of course it’s all in the name of environmental impact. I’m glad the new $15 block is arriving two weeks from now. Major champagne problems, I know, but why must you make me resort to yet another retail giant, Apple?
I tried to force myself to trust the process and come to enjoy Apple’s new default, but I caved and turned off the setting with just a couple of taps. I’m embarrassed to tell the amount of relief it brought me.
In addition to my EarPods, I’m a loyal user of a particular set of discontinued Bose wired headphones, so I had to purchase an additional USB-C to 3.5mm dongle. A total of $25 and another week of wait time later, and I’ll be good to go. I wish Apple had the courtesy to make the transition a little easier after it forced us so «shockingly» into the Lightning ports way back when. Maybe not for the 16 lineup, but at least for the iPhone 15 series, right?
I must concede, though, that plugging in the USB-C cord is a much more satisfying click. Point to you there, Apple.
3 The action button
Why won't you go back and forth?
I was immediately excited about this one. Here at Pocket-lint, we’ve covered all the new quirks to be found on iPhones, and the chatter about the usefulness of the action button cannot be understated. I settled on the flashlight function, and though I’m consciously trying to use it all the time, my muscle memory hasn’t quite caught on. I still keep trying to toggle the darn thing back and forth to silence my notifications.
In theory, it’s a great idea. Maybe I need to choose something else to use it for, like Recognize Music or Voice Memo. Then again, I could always come back to what I know and use it for Do Not Disturb or Silent Mode. It just doesn’t feel the same as moving it physically back and forth — I know explicitly if it’s on or off that way, rather than clicking this new button back three or four times to make sure.
As a strict hardware bone to pick, I keep mistaking the action button for one of the volume buttons. Since the switch didn’t feel the same as the volume buttons, I never got them mixed up before. Somewhat inconvenient, in my book.
4 Floating island
Where did my map go?
In the middle of writing this article, I had to go pick up my grandmother from the train station across town. As a relatively new inhabitant of this city and less than hopeless when it comes to directions, I threw the Amtrak address in my Apple Maps and hit the road. At a stoplight, I exited out to switch my Spotify playlist, and when I went to click back into Maps using the blue pulsing icon in the top left corner, I was met with the digital clock instead.
Thank goodness I was at a red light, because I was thrown for a quick loop. Where was my beloved shortcut? That’s when I actually used my brain and noticed the light blue arrow that had taken up residence on the new floating island at the top of my screen. I had only noticed music there before, and I did observe that it had been bumped to its own mini island to the right. Alas, I was back in the Map with several seconds to spare before the light turned green, and I was hopelessly lost on the streets I drive every day.
5 Always-on display
Fun until you're anticipating a text
The biggest shock in my transition from the iPhone 12 Pro to the 16 Pro wasn’t one I was expecting, and luckily, it was something I could change right away. As soon as I migrated my data over, I noticed that my display never really turned off. My first thought was, «Oh fun! I can use this as a nice little display beside my computer at work.» A day later, I had quite literally the most unproductive day of my life.
Any device I’ve ever owned lit up when a notification arrived. The screen went from off to on, and that was what caught your attention when it was lying flat on a surface. I found, very quickly, that I did not like the dim to bright at all. I kept gaslighting myself — dozens of times — that a notification was there, only for there to be nothing to read at all.
Woe is me, of course. I tried to force myself to trust the process and come to enjoy Apple’s new default, but I caved and turned off the setting with just a couple of taps. I’m embarrassed to tell the amount of relief it brought me.
