Bucket Tech: iPhone 16 Pro

Monday saw Apple's global unveiling of their iPhone 16 range, and while many were pretty excited to see and hear their favourites from the brand tell them all about this new device, for most in the tech world it was pretty meh. Like many brands Apple has designed their latest device around AI, which means Artificial Intelligence but to those who worship the fruit brand, it's known as "Apple Intelligence", as cheesy as they made it sound, I quite like it, maybe its the Dad Joke side in me that's finally starting to show. Anyway, Siri has been upgraded with AI and can do a whole more than just beat box and answer your stupid questions, as mentioned in my previous post about their AI, it basically is your personal assistant that has access to all your phones features and apps, but with security and privacy at its utmost priority. With such a power tool, that hasn't been seen before on a new Apple device, there isn't much they needed to do to the iPhone 16 to make standard from the rest but to their credit they did make some changes to warrant the high price tag. While the standard iPhone 16 and 16 Plus see's a lot more tech that was usually reserved for the Pro models, its the Pro models we're really interested and that is what we will be chatting about in this post. 

The Pro devices see's an upgrade in chipset, moving away from the A17 and coming with the new A18 Pro CPU that was built for Apple Intelligence. the A18 Pro is a 6-core chipset with 2 cores at 3890 MHz and 4 cores at 2200 Mhz, this is their fastest CPU to date and claimed to be the fastest CPU in any smartphone currently on the market. The design is pretty much the same as the previous made up of a titanium unibody and coming in bespoke finishes like Black, White, Natural and new Desert Titanium. The display has grown by 0.6" on both the Pro and Pro Max, giving it a minimal body and one of the best screen-to-body ratios to date. Batteries on the Pro and Pro Max model have been upgraded significantly with the Pro Max claiming up to 33 hours of video watching time. The iPhone 16 Pro Series MagSafe Charging capabilities remain the same as the previous model with 15W and 25W respectively. 

Moving onto the cameras, the 16 Pro retains the 48MP Wide lens, the 12MP Ultra Wide lens but now the 12MP Telephoto lens allows for 5x optical Zoom. On the Pro Max, the Ultra Wide 40MP lens and the 12MP Telephoto lens are retained. Macro photography has been enhanced thanks to the new lens technology and Apple Intelligence allowing you to capture more detail on those close up shots. The standout feature is the dedicated camera button which is a lot more than just a camera trigger, it allows you to swap to lenses, zoom in and adjust to get the perfect shot.  With AI, you're now able to do more edits to your pictures with one touch, either after capture or in real time with the phone allowing you to swipe through filters before taking the shot. AI also helps to clean up the picture for any unwanted objects or people that might have gotten captured. The Pro Max now offers 4K video recording in slow motion 120fps w/Dolby Vision giving the user to ability to record breathtaking cinematic videos from the palm of their hand. Video editing has taken a leap as well, with audio mix giving the user to isolate in videos, allowing it to concentrate on one subject and the to the next. Speaking of audio, the voice recording app now allows you to add layers to it. So if you record a tune, it gives you an option to sing over it, pretty neat. 

Now, while it's cool to read about the new iPhone 16 range, many will be seeing the US release dates and thinking we still have another month or more to wait for it to get to SA but that is where you're wrong. For the first time ever, the USA and SA release dates will be the same! But wait, it gets better, iStore is debuting its innovative Contract Price Freeze — a game-changing offer that helps South Africans beat inflation. For the first time, iPhone users can upgrade to the latest iPhone 16 range while keeping their monthly contract price the same as their existing plan. In a time when rising costs have made upgrading to the latest technology increasingly expensive, iStore is offering a financial lifeline. Trade in your iPhone and freeze your current contract price, or even pay less than what you have for the last two to three years. Those not on contract need not worry as iStore is offering up to R22,000 on trade-ins of your old iPhone. This cash back can be used to purchase a new iPhone 16 model or you can just get the cash and do what you want with it. iStore is also offering free iCare Plus valued at R1999 for their launch deals so overall, looks like a pretty sweet deal if you looking to upgrade. No pricing of the iPhone 16 range has been released as yet by the iStore