Apple introduced the iPhone 16 Plus alongside the iPhone 16 in September 2024, positioning it as the larger-screen alternative to the standard iPhone 16.
The iPhone 16 Plus combines a large 6.7-inch OLED display, Apple's A18 chip, a dual-camera system and a comparatively large battery in a 199-gram aluminium body. It also introduces the Action button and Camera Control to the non-Pro iPhone range. Its display delivers excellent contrast, colour and outdoor brightness, while the A18 provides substantial performance headroom for everyday use, gaming and Apple Intelligence features. The main compromises are the 60Hz refresh rate and the absence of a dedicated telephoto camera. For users who want a large iPhone with strong battery life and flagship-level performance without paying for the Pro Max, the 16 Plus remains a capable option.
The iPhone 16 Plus retains Apple's familiar flat-sided design but introduces several useful changes. Its aluminium frame is paired with a colour-infused glass back and Ceramic Shield front, giving the phone a premium appearance without the additional weight associated with Apple's Pro models. The phone measures 160.9 × 77.8 × 7.8mm and weighs 199 grams. (Apple)
The 199-gram weight is relatively reasonable for a 6.7-inch smartphone. It is still a large handset, however, and users with smaller hands may find one-handed operation difficult. The width is more noticeable than the thickness, particularly when reaching across the screen.
Apple also changed the rear camera arrangement from the previous diagonal layout to a vertically aligned design. This gives the iPhone 16 Plus a visual distinction from older models while supporting spatial photo and video capture.
The Action button replaces the traditional mute switch. It can be configured for functions such as Silent Mode, Focus, Camera, Flashlight, Voice Memo and other shortcuts. The Camera Control button is another significant addition, providing a dedicated physical control for launching the camera and adjusting supported camera functions.
The phone has an IP68 rating, with Apple specifying resistance to immersion in up to 6 metres of water for up to 30 minutes under controlled laboratory conditions. Water resistance can diminish with normal wear, so it should not be treated as permanent waterproofing.
The iPhone 16 Plus uses a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with a resolution of 2796 × 1290 pixels and a pixel density of 460 ppi. It supports HDR, True Tone, P3 wide colour and a 2,000,000:1 typical contrast ratio.
The OLED panel produces deep blacks and strong contrast, making it particularly suitable for films, photographs and HDR video. Text also appears sharp because of the high pixel density.
Brightness is another strength. Apple specifies up to 1,000 nits typical brightness, 1,600 nits peak brightness for HDR content and up to 2,000 nits outdoors. This gives the display good visibility in bright environments.
The Dynamic Island remains at the top of the display and provides access to ongoing activities and system information.
However, there is one important limitation: the display operates at 60Hz. This is noticeably less fluid than the 90Hz or 120Hz panels commonly found on competing Android phones, particularly when scrolling through long webpages or social-media feeds.
For image quality, colour reproduction and HDR viewing, the display is excellent. For motion smoothness, it is less competitive.
The iPhone 16 Plus is powered by Apple's A18 chip, featuring a six-core CPU with two performance cores and four efficiency cores, a five-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine.
In practical use, this provides considerably more performance than most users require for everyday tasks. Applications open quickly, multitasking is responsive and demanding games can take advantage of the A18's graphics capability.
The performance advantage is particularly relevant for long-term ownership. A powerful processor gives the phone greater headroom as applications become more demanding, while Apple's tight integration between hardware and iOS helps maintain consistent performance.
Gaming is also one of its strengths. The A18 is capable of running demanding console-quality games, and Apple specifically highlighted support for AAA gaming when the phone was introduced.
For normal activities such as browsing, photography, messaging, video streaming and productivity, performance is effectively not a limitation.
The iPhone 16 Plus also supports Apple Intelligence, subject to supported software, language and regional availability.
The rear camera system consists of a 48MP Fusion Main camera and a 12MP Ultra Wide camera. The main camera has a 26mm-equivalent focal length, an ƒ/1.6 aperture and sensor-shift optical image stabilisation. The Ultra Wide camera provides a 120-degree field of view.
The 48MP main camera is the more important of the two. It can capture 24MP images as standard and supports 48MP high-resolution photography when appropriate. It also provides a 2x optical-quality option by using the central portion of the high-resolution sensor.
This gives the phone greater flexibility than a conventional dual-camera system might suggest. For everyday photography, the main camera should handle daylight scenes, people, buildings and general travel photography very well.
The Ultra Wide camera is useful when photographing landscapes, architecture, groups or subjects where the main camera cannot capture enough of the scene. It also enables macro photography on supported shooting modes.
The 12MP TrueDepth front camera has an ƒ/1.9 aperture and autofocus with Focus Pixels. It supports 4K Dolby Vision recording at up to 60fps, along with Cinematic mode and other computational photography features.
Video recording is a particularly strong area. The phone can record 4K Dolby Vision video at 24, 25, 30 or 60fps, while slow-motion recording reaches 1080p at 120fps.
The main limitation is the lack of a dedicated optical telephoto camera. Users who frequently photograph distant subjects will get more flexibility from an iPhone Pro model.
Battery endurance is one of the strongest reasons to choose the Plus model over the standard iPhone 16.
Apple rates the iPhone 16 Plus for up to 27 hours of video playback, up to 24 hours of streamed video playback and up to 100 hours of audio playback. These are laboratory figures rather than guarantees of real-world screen-on time, but they demonstrate the advantage of the larger model.
For typical mixed usage involving messaging, browsing, photography, video streaming and occasional gaming, the large battery gives the phone substantial endurance.
Charging is supported through USB-C. Apple specifies up to 50% charge in around 30 minutes using a 20W or higher power adapter with a USB-C charging cable. MagSafe charging can reach up to 25W with a compatible adapter and charger, while Qi2 wireless charging is also supported up to 25W.
The main drawback is that Apple does not provide a power adapter in the box.
The iPhone 16 Plus launched with iOS 18 and is designed around Apple's long-term software ecosystem. iOS provides a consistent interface, strong integration with other Apple devices and a large application ecosystem.
Apple Intelligence is supported by the A18 hardware and forms an important part of the phone's software capabilities. Apple has also positioned privacy as a major part of its approach to these features.
The software experience is particularly attractive for users already using products such as Mac, iPad, Apple Watch or AirPods. Features such as AirDrop, iCloud, Handoff and continuity between Apple devices can reduce friction when moving between products.
Long-term software support is another important advantage, although the exact number of future iOS versions is not guaranteed.
The iPhone 16 Plus has several features that make it more than a simple screen-size upgrade over older standard iPhones.
The Action button provides a configurable physical shortcut, while Camera Control gives the camera system a dedicated hardware control.
The phone also supports Face ID, Apple Intelligence, Dynamic Island, MagSafe, Qi2, NFC, Ultra Wideband, Crash Detection and satellite-based safety features in supported regions.
For everyday users, the most useful additions are likely to be Camera Control, the Action button, improved camera processing, USB-C and the larger battery.
The iPhone 16 Plus supports 5G, Gigabit LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, Ultra Wideband and Thread networking technology. It uses USB-C for wired connectivity.
USB-C is particularly useful for users who already have compatible cables and accessories. However, the USB-C port is limited to USB 2 transfer speeds of up to 480Mbps, so it does not provide the high-speed wired data transfer available on the Pro models.
For wireless connectivity, Wi-Fi 7 provides a modern standard with strong future relevance, assuming the user's router and network support it.
The iPhone 16 Plus has built-in stereo speakers and supports Spatial Audio. It also supports formats including AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Atmos. Audio quality is well suited to video streaming, music, podcasts and gaming. The stereo configuration provides better spatial presentation than a single bottom-firing speaker.
There is no 3.5mm headphone jack, so wired headphones require USB-C connectivity or an appropriate adapter.
The iPhone 16 Plus is straightforward to use once the user is familiar with iOS. Apple's interface is consistent, and the hardware buttons are easy to identify.
The Action button adds customisation without making the basic interface more complicated. Camera Control can also make photography quicker by providing a dedicated physical control.
The larger 6.7-inch display makes reading, watching videos, editing photographs and using productivity applications comfortable. The trade-off is physical size: users accustomed to smaller smartphones may find the Plus difficult to operate with one hand.
For someone moving from another iPhone, the transition is particularly simple. Android users can also migrate their data using Apple's Move to iOS process.
The iPhone 16 Plus occupies an interesting position in Apple's range. It offers the large display and battery associated with Apple's bigger iPhones while avoiding the considerably higher cost of the Pro Max.
the phone becomes more compelling, particularly for buyers who prioritise battery life and screen size.
However, value depends heavily on pricing. Newer iPhone models can offer more advanced hardware, while competing Android phones may provide higher refresh-rate displays and additional camera hardware at similar or lower prices.
The iPhone 16 Plus therefore makes the most sense when its large OLED display, long battery life, A18 performance and iOS ecosystem are more important than having the newest hardware.
The iPhone 16 Plus is particularly suitable for:
Consider another model if:
| Category | Rating | Editorial Justification |
|---|---|---|
| Design | 4.5/5 | Premium aluminium construction, practical controls and a refined large-screen design make it highly usable, although its size limits one-handed handling. |
| Build Quality | 4.6/5 | Strong materials, Ceramic Shield protection and IP68 resistance provide a durable overall construction. |
| Display | 4.1/5 | The OLED panel offers excellent image quality and brightness, but the 60Hz refresh rate is behind many similarly priced smartphones. |
| Performance | 4.7/5 | The A18 chip provides excellent everyday performance, gaming capability and long-term processing headroom. |
| Camera | 4.3/5 | The main and Ultra Wide cameras deliver very good results, but the absence of a dedicated telephoto camera limits versatility. |
| Battery | 4.6/5 | The large battery gives the Plus model excellent endurance and makes it particularly attractive for heavy users. |
| Software | 4.6/5 | iOS offers a polished experience, strong ecosystem integration and long-term software support, with Apple Intelligence adding further capability. |
| Audio | 4.4/5 | Stereo speakers provide clear and immersive sound for everyday media consumption. |
| Features | 4.5/5 | Camera Control, Action button, MagSafe, Apple Intelligence and safety features make the feature set comprehensive. |
| Connectivity | 4.5/5 | 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3 and USB-C provide modern connectivity, although USB 2 speeds restrict wired transfers. |
| Ease of Use | 4.5/5 | iOS remains intuitive and consistent, although the large physical dimensions can make one-handed use awkward. |
| Value for Money | 4.1/5 | Strong performance and battery life make it attractive when discounted, but the 60Hz display and missing Pro-level hardware weaken its value at higher prices. |
| Overall ConsumerArena Rating | 4.4/5 | Very good overall, with excellent performance and battery life, but meaningful compromises in display refresh rate, camera versatility and charging prevent a higher score. |