It’s crazy to think that we’re already only about six months away from the launch of the iPhone 16. After six months with the iPhone 15 Pro, I’ve started thinking about whether or not I’ll be planning to upgrade when the next one comes out in September.
While I’m sure Apple will have some incremental updates for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, there’s nothing in the rumor mill so far that makes me think that I’ll have any need to upgrade from my incredibly awesome and almost-perfect iPhone 15 Pro.
What’s even coming with the iPhone 16 Pro?
There seems to be a decent amount that we know about what’s to come with the iPhone 16 Pro. According to the most recent rumors, the screen size of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are expected to get a little bigger, growing from 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches to 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches. The bezels of the new phones are expected to once again get even smaller.
The iPhone 16 Pro’s OLED display is expected to be a little brighter, and Apple might also opt for a vertically aligned camera module this time around, a move to help them shoot spatial video to be watched on the Vision Pro headset. How many people will actually use this feature has yet to be seen since the Vision Pro costs $3,499.
The biggest physical change to the iPhone 16 Pro might come in the form of a new capture button on the side of the phone. While it’s still unknown what this will be used for, many rumors suggest that Apple wants to add a shutter button to the side of the phone to make it easier to take photos or videos. The button will likely be programmable to choose each user’s desired capture behavior.
The iPhone 16 Pro models are also expected to get the usual camera upgrades, improved battery life, the A18 Pro chip, and upgraded 5G and Wi-Fi chips — the usual fare in any new iPhone model.
None of that would warrant an upgrade for me
Despite all of those potential changes, there isn’t anything here that gives me a reason to upgrade to the new model, and that’s not a bad thing. I’m not complaining that the iPhone 16 Pro is going to be a disappointing phone at all. What I am saying is that the iPhone 15 Pro is such a great phone that I don’t think there’s a need for me to get something else.
As someone who came to the iPhone 14 Pro from the iPhone 13 mini, the one thing I hated about it (besides getting used to the size again) was the weight, and a lot of that comes from the fact that the Pro models have been using stainless steel frames. The iPhone 15 Pro fixed that exact problem since Apple changed its materials to use titanium over stainless steel.
I’ve also begrudgingly enjoyed my iPhone 15 Pro over the iPhone 13 mini due to all of the additional features like the camera system, the Pro Motion display with that 120Hz refresh rate, the extra screen size, as well as the Emergency SOS via satellite and Car Crash Detection safety features. With titanium, all of those extra features don’t come with all of that extra weight.
Basically, Apple is going to have to do something incredibly amazing that we aren’t aware of yet in order to get me to upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro. I might actually drop off the iPhone Upgrade Program this year and go back to the dark ages of actually owning my phone. We’ll see where I land in six months, but the iPhone 15 Pro is looking pretty great right now.
