The iPhone 16 Pro is expected to succeed 2023’s iPhone 15 Pro, introducing more than 25 new features and improvements to Apple’s premium smartphones. With many users moving to three-year upgrade cycles, many iPhone 13 Pro owners will be looking to upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro later this year. So this guide details all the major differences you need to know between the two generations, based on rumors. .
The iPhone 13 Pro debuted in 2021, introducing a brighter display with ProMotion technology for refresh rates up to 120Hz, the A15 Bionic chip, a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, macro photography and photographic styles, a cinematic mode for recording videos with shallow depth of field, ProRes video recording, a 1TB storage option, and up to five hours of additional battery life. Three years later, the iPhone 16 Pro is expected to feature over 60 upgrades. All the changes the iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to feature compared to their 2021 predecessors are listed below, using information from reliable sources we’ve previously covered. We will update this article as more rumors emerge in the coming months.
Design
The design of the iPhone 16 Pro is expected to be a relatively significant evolution from the iPhone 13 Pro, iterating on the titanium frame and gently rounded edges introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro models last year.
| iPhone 13 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro |
|---|---|
| Surgical grade stainless steel chassis with square edges | Aerospace-grade titanium chassis with contoured edges |
| Ring/Silent | Action button |
| Thermal design with copper heatsink and black foil battery case | New thermal design with graphene heatsink and metal battery case |
| More repairable design | |
| Lightning port | USB-C port |
| Alpine Green, Silver, Gold, Graphite and Sierra Blue color options | Color options Titanium Black, Titanium White, Titanium Desert and Titanium Gray |
Dimensions
To accommodate larger screens, both iPhone 16 Pro models would increase in height and width. In addition to last year’s depth increase, the devices are expected to be considerably larger, but with a notable reduction in weight thanks to the adoption of a titanium frame.
| iPhone 13 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro |
|---|---|
| Depth 7.85mm | 8.25mm depth (0.4mm thicker) |
| iPhone 13 Pro: 146.7 mm height iPhone 13 Pro Max: 160.8 mm height |
iPhone 16 Pro: 149.6 mm height iPhone 16 Pro Max: 163.0 mm height |
| iPhone 13 Pro: 71.5 mm width iPhone 13 Pro Max: 78.1 mm width |
iPhone 16 Pro: 71.45 mm width iPhone 16 Pro Max: 77.58 mm width |
| iPhone 13 Pro: weight 204g iPhone 13 Pro Max: weight 238g |
iPhone 16 Pro: weight 194g iPhone 16 Pro Max: weight 225g |
Displays
Both iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to feature larger screens than their predecessors, making the iPhone 16 Pro Max the largest iPhone ever. Improvements would also be made to the underlying OLED technology, on top of last year’s thinner bezels, resulting in a noticeable overall upgrade to the display.
| iPhone 13 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro |
|---|---|
| 6.1 or 6.7 inch screen | 6.3 or 6.9 inch screen |
| TrueDepth “Notch” Camera Network | Dynamic Island |
| Permanent display | |
| Thinner bezels around the screen | |
| Up to 1,000 nits of typical peak brightness Maximum HDR brightness up to 1200 nits |
Up to 1,200 nits of typical SDR brightness Maximum HDR brightness up to 1,600 nits |
| More efficient OLED display with brighter micro-lens technology |
Performance
The iPhone 16 Pro models are rumored to bring notable improvements in processing power, including a 3nm Apple silicon chip and 33% more memory.
| iPhone 13 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro |
|---|---|
| A15 Bionic chip (TSMC’s 5nm “N5P” process) | A18 Pro chip (TSMC’s “N3E” enhanced 3nm process) |
| 16-core neural engine | Improved Neural Engine with “significantly” more cores to support Apple Intelligence |
| Dedicated AV1 decoder | |
| 6 GB of memory | 8 GB of memory |
Connectivity
Connectivity is also expected to get a significant upgrade on the iPhone 16 Pro, boosting the device’s 5G, Wi-Fi, Thread and Ultra Wideband specifications.
| iPhone 13 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro |
|---|---|
| Snapdragon X60 5G Modem | Snapdragon X75 5G Modem |
| Wi‑Fi 6 connectivity | Wi‑Fi 7 connectivity |
| Thread networking technology | |
| First generation Ultra Wideband chip | Second generation Ultra Wideband chip (connects 3x farther) |
| Precision search for Find My Friends |
Cameras
The iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to receive a series of substantial camera improvements, such as a larger main camera sensor, a 48-megapixel sensor on the ultra-wide camera, and a dedicated hardware button for photography and videography on the side of the device. .
| iPhone 13 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro |
|---|---|
| “Capture button” to trigger photography and videography features | |
| 12 megapixel main camera | 48-megapixel main camera |
| Photonic engine for better low-light performance | |
| 1/1.65 inch main camera sensor | iPhone 16 Pro: Main camera sensor 1/1.28 inch iPhone 16 ProMax: Main camera sensor 1/1.14 inch (12% larger) |
| Sony IMX-703 main camera sensor | iPhone 16 Pro: Sony IMX-803 main camera sensor iPhone 16 Pro Max: Sony IMX-903 main camera sensor with stacked design for better performance, 14-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for high-quality image data conversion and digital gain control (DCG) for better dynamic range and better noise control |
| 7P main camera lens | 8P main camera lens |
| Telephoto camera with optical sensor-shift image stabilization | Telephoto camera with larger sensor, folded tetraprism design, optical image stabilization and autofocus 3D sensor shift module |
| Maximum focal length of 77mm | iPhone 16 Pro: Maximum focal length of 120mm iPhone 16 Pro Max: “Super” telephoto lens with focal length greater than 300 mm |
| 4P Telephoto Camera Lens | 5P Telephoto Camera Lens |
| 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera | 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera |
| 5P Ultra Wide Camera Lens | 6P Ultra Wide Camera Lens |
| Anti-reflective coating on camera lenses | |
| Optical zoom 0.5x, 1x, 2x and 3x | Optical zoom 0.5x, 1x, 2x and 5x |
| 13mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm and 120mm focal length selector | |
| 12 megapixel super high resolution photos | Super high resolution photos of 24 and 48 megapixels |
| Smart HDR 3 | Smart HDR 5 |
| Portrait mode with focus and depth control | Next-generation portraits with focus and depth control |
| Night mode and night mode portraits | Improved Night Mode and Night Mode Portraits |
| Instantly shoot and transfer 48-megapixel ProRAW images to Mac via USB 3 | |
| Record video directly to an external drive | |
| ProRes video recording up to 4K at 30 fps | ProRes video recording up to 4K at 60fps with external recording |
| Video recording of the diary | |
| Academy Color Coding System | |
| Record spatial video for Apple Vision Pro | |
| Action mode for improved video stabilization |
Batteries and charging
The iPhone 16 Pro models could benefit from major improvements in battery and charging technology, with larger, denser batteries and faster charging capabilities.
| iPhone 13 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro |
|---|---|
| Setting to prevent charging above 80% | |
| Battery manufacturing date, first use, and cycle count information in Settings | |
| Single layer battery technology | Stacked battery technology for increased energy density and extended life |
| iPhone 13 Pro: 3095 mAh battery iPhone 13 Pro Max: 4,352 mAh battery |
iPhone 16 Pro:3,355 mAh battery iPhone 16 Pro Max: 4,676 mAh battery |
| Wired charging up to 20W | Wired charging up to 40W |
| 15W charging via MagSafe | 20W charging via MagSafe |
Other features and changes
The iPhone 16 Pro models will also offer support for Apple Intelligence, Apple’s new suite of personal AI features, later this year, as well as satellite connectivity, crash detection and more storage.
| iPhone 13 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro |
|---|---|
| Apple Intelligence | |
| Emergency SOS via satellite | |
| Microphone | Improved microphone with improved signal-to-noise ratio and water resistance, designed to support new AI features |
| Accident detection | |
| Improved audio quality during phone calls | |
| Lightning connector with USB 2 transfer speeds (up to 480 Mbps) | USB 3 transfer speeds (up to 10 Gbps, 20x faster) |
| DisplayPort support for up to 4K HDR video output | |
| Up to 1TB of storage | Up to 2TB of storage |
Release date
The iPhone 16 lineup is expected to launch in the fall. Apple typically holds an event every September to unveil new iPhone models, with the launch following just over a week later. For more information on the iPhone 16 Pro models, check out our full roundup.
Will it be worth upgrading?
The iPhone 15 Pro was a pretty significant upgrade over the iPhone 13 Pro, introducing a huge range of important features, including a titanium chassis, much thinner bezels, Action, and a USB-C port. The iPhone 16 Pro will build on these upgrades, offering larger screens, the Capture button, improved cameras, and support for Apple Intelligence. With over 60 upgrades likely to be in store, many iPhone 13 Pro users will find upgrading to an iPhone 16 Pro model worthwhile.