Apple iPhone 16 vs. iPhone 15

The iPhone 16 series is out now. It is only natural to ask yourself how much the new Apple iPhone 16 is better than the previous iPhone 15. And most importantly – is it worth upgrading?

Table of Contents:

For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor's assessment in the following video or in the text further down below.

To sum things up, the iPhone 16 arrives with a new chip with the promise of AI capabilities down the line, an improved screen glass, expanded camera capabilities, and faster wireless charging. There is also the added Action key and the new Camera control. But all this fits on a specs page - let's see how different the two devices are in real-world use.

Size comparison

The iPhone 16 has an identical footprint to the iPhone 15, which is hardly surprising. Both phones measure 147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8 mm. The iPhone 16 is 1g lighter than the iPhone 15 at 170g.

Apple
iPhone 16
170 g
147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8 mm
(5.81 x 2.82 x 0.31 in)
Apple
iPhone 15
171 g
147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8 mm
(5.81 x 2.82 x 0.31 in)

For one, the new iPhone 16 should have improved durability according to Apple. It features a new generation of Ceramic Shield front, which is supposed to be 50% tougher than the previous one on the iPhone 15.

There are also two new buttons on the iPhone 16 which are missing on the iPone 15 - the Action key used to be an exclusive to iPhone Pros and there is also the new Camera Control here.

Display comparison

Apple
iPhone 16
6.1"
Super Retina XDR OLED
1179x2556
pixels
460
ppi
Apple
iPhone 15
6.1"
Super Retina XDR OLED
1179x2556
pixels
461
ppi

The iPhone 16 has the same display as on the iPhone 15 – a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED with excellent HDR capabilities and high resolution, but a standard refresh rate of 60Hz. Both panels are advertised as capable of 1,000 nits of typical and up to 2,000 nits of maximum brightness.

Well, as per our display measurements, there is a minor difference of 50 nits between the two panels. For all intents and purposes, the two screens are equally bright.

Battery life

The iPhone 16 has a 3,500 mAh battery. Specifically, it is rated at exactly 3,561 mAh. The battery is slightly bigger than last year's iPhone 15. It's a small increase, but we'll take it.

The more significant change, however, comes from the improved efficiency of the new Apple A18 chipset and probably some under-the-hood improvements in iOS 18.

As a result, the new iPhone 16 scored a great Active Use Score - a noticeable improvement over the iPhone 15. The iPhone 16 offers 7 hours more of call time, about 4 more hours of web browsing, and 1.5 hours extra of video streaming.