The iPhone 16 Plus is the first Plus-sized iPhone I’ve ever bought. It’s also the first non-Pro iPhone I’ve owned since Apple introduced the iPhone X, which effectively spawned the Pro series. I’d usually look at Pro iPhones before even considering a non-Pro model. The iPhone 14 Pro actually made things clear to me: I could easily “downgrade” to non-Pro devices.
After nearly two months of using it, the iPhone 16 Plus is also the first iPhone I have returned. I’m now back to the purple iPhone 14 Pro, the 2022 flagship phone that served me for precisely two years before I switched to the oversized iPhone 16. I do miss the iPhone 16 Plus, but I have reasons for wanting to get rid of it, which I’ll explain below.
The iPhone 16 Plus is too big
I’ll start things off by pointing out the two big iPhone 16 Plus features I loved all along. The 6.7-inch screen is a welcome upgrade over the iPhone 14 Pro’s 6.1-inch display. I’ve wanted a larger screen, and now I hate looking at the smaller one.
But there’s no denying the iPhone 16 Plus’s footprint is noticeable. It takes up too much space inside my pockets, and it’s not as easy to use one-handed as the 6.1-inch iPhone.
Put a case on it, and the iPhone 16 Plus becomes even larger. This is an even bigger problem when running while carrying the phone. Anyone who keeps the iPhone inside the pockets of their running pants must know what I’m talking about. And no, I’m not leaving the phone behind; that will never happen.
I’m not using the Camera Control as much as I thought I would
I would have kept the iPhone 16 Plus for longer if I had a use for some of its signature features: the Camera Control button and Apple Intelligence.
I was a big fan of the Camera Control button before Apple announced it. That’s because I want a faster way to turn on the camera so I can take photos from anywhere I’d be on the phone, whether it’s the lock screen or using an app.
That’s the promise of Camera Control. It gets even better than that, as the button lets you customize various aspects of the photos you take without touching the screen.
In practice, I hardly used the button. The case I bought for the iPhone 16 Plus didn’t help either, as it featured a subpar cutout for the Camera Control. It cut into my fingers most of the time, making it even more difficult to customize photos because I could hardly swipe on that button.
The real problem is that I am a left-handed iPhone user. Add the iPhone 16 Plus size, and the Camera Control is too difficult to reach and use. Forget about taking fast pics with one hand.
I don’t have access to Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence might have started rolling out in the US and other markets, but it’s unavailable in the European Union. Apple’s AI is another key iPhone 16 feature I wanted. I’m already a big fan of products like ChatGPT, and I like Apple’s vision for AI.
However, Apple won’t launch Apple Intelligence in the EU until next spring. By then Apple Intelligence will have received several updates, so I’ll get a richer experience when I first try it. Still, not being able to use this key iPhone 16 feature is a massive letdown.
Remember that Apple Intelligence only works on six iPhone models, including the four iPhone 16 versions and last year’s iPhone 15 Pros. Apple also used Apple Intelligence as the big selling point for the iPhone 16 series, despite not being available on launch day.
Visual Intelligence
This brings me to Visual Intelligence, an AI feature unique to the iPhone 16 phones. This feature is also unavailable to me, but then again, it’s unavailable worldwide unless you’re on an iOS 18.2 developer beta.
Visual Intelligence is Apple’s equivalent to Google Lens. It might also become a Circle to Search alternative. The idea is simple: Point your iPhone to something, press and hold the Camera Control, and get answers about what the AI sees.
My iPhone 16 Plus could do none of that.
The iPhone Air
Considering all that, my iPhone 16 Plus worked and behaved just like my two-year-old iPhone 14 Pro. It just had a larger screen. I told you recently about the changes I made to the iPhone 14 Pro that made the transition to a non-Pro device so smooth. It all boils down to turning off ProMotions and animations on the iPhone 14 Pro. I turned off motion effects in iOS years ago that is.
Therefore, the iPhone 16 Plus did feel like a larger iPhone 14 Pro.
In light of that, returning the iPhone 16 Plus was a no-brainer. Full disclosure here: it was a planned no-brainer.
I returned the iPhone 16 Plus because I had a longer return window that I took advantage of. This allowed me to try the handset and see if I could adjust to it. But say that Apple Intelligence was available, and I made a better effort to use Camera Control, the iPhone 16 Plus size would still be a problem. I’d need some sort of magic to ignore it.
These experiences also made my needs clear. I want the iPhone 17 Air, a phone with a larger display than the 6.1-inch models but a much thinner profile. That’s why the iPhone 14 Pro isn’t going away anytime soon. I will try other iPhone 16 flavors, but this longtime iPhone user’s endgame is next year’s ultra-thin.
