Three years deep on this, I think I’m ready to call it a tradition. Here are a few notes on my year with iPhone 16 Pro.
I do fear that three years into this it’s going to become a little bit derivative, but I must push on, in case it isn’t.
Design
There are a few subtle design changes this year with the 16 Pro and as a subtle man I appreciate them. For one the camera bump is now concentric with the outer corner of the device, huzzah! (Concentric just means the corners are pleasing to look at and provide a sense of inner peace which is typically unattainable, I think). There is also a slight curve from the front glass as it tips into the titanium rail, which makes for a slightly nicer swipe up experience when unlocking and returning home. I went for the Desert Titanium finish this year which I must say I’ve quite enjoyed, Natural Titanium is probably slightly more my speed, but its been fun to branch out and try something a little different and goldy. I’m also pleased we’ve had another year with the brushed rails, I was never much into the shiny one that spanned from X through 14, so I’ve been enjoying spending less time polishing off finger prints.
Crumb-gate
On the topic of design, I’d be remiss not to bring up my single pet peeve with the current Pro design. I’m going to give it its own section heading until it’s fixed. The speaker cut out just won’t do. I appreciate that it needs to be thin, to fit into the top bezel, but surely there is some way to still include some mesh as a cover. I don’t see anyone else talking about this, but my speaker grill is a magnet for all sorts of crumbs and dust monsters. It’s not uncommon when I put on a video or piece of music, for a puff of dust to shoot out of the speaker like fireworks, except I certainly am not in the mood for celebrating. Due to the thinness, it’s very awkward to clean so I’ve more or less given up, leaving the dust to taunt me as notifications come in from the top of the screen.
Camera Control
Oh camera control. You tried so hard, but you really could have been a button and we would have loved you just the same. In fact, I do love Camera Control, but apart from futzing around with the UI on day one, I’ve exclusively used it for launching the camera quickly as I pull the phone out of my pocket. My quick draw is unparalleled, call me Lucky Luke (please don’t, I’ll probably forget I wrote this and have no idea what you’re talking about). I know it’s not in Apple’s nature to do things by half, but this is probably one of the few instances where that might have made more sense, its so useful as a camera launcher that it really didn’t need to do anything else. There isn’t anything you can access faster via the Camera Control than the rest of the onscreen controls in the camera app. The UI for it does look nice though, so props there.
Camera
The cameras continue to work and work very well, I don’t and will never have much to say here other than it’s amazing to have such a fantastic camera in my pocket. It’s wild how much of our lives we’re able to record now to watch back later, and in excellent quality. I love it.
Wrap Up
Just a quick one this year. As the design of the iPhone matures (matures? Has matured at this point I guess) there aren’t too many notes to call out specifically, but it’s nice to document the little things I’ve noticed so I can look back on them each year. I really am a fan of the 16. It has great hand feel. So long golden boy.