I have spent the last year rounding up rumors about the iPhone 16, and today everything was finally revealed at Apple’s Glowtime event. Most of the rumors we’ve covered have turned out to be true. The iPhone 16 does indeed have a stacked camera system on the back, as well as the iPhone 15 Pro’s action button. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro have a camera control button that lets you flip the device over and pretend it’s a point-and-shoot camera. And yes, the iPhone 16 Pro comes in bronze. It’s not brown, as initially reported, and we’re all excited about it. Apple calls it “Desert Titan,” and in fact, I could imagine someone in Palm Springs wearing that suntan shade.

I tried the iPhone 16 Pro in this new color and the iPhone 16 in its new colors, namely teal and pink. The most significant change in this generation is the camera control button, which I mentioned earlier. Considering that we are already talking about the iPhone 17 not having any buttons, this is a strange addition. The “Taptic” button is a bit confusing to use at first.

iPhone 16 and the camera record button

It was difficult to get your hands on the desert titanium iPhone 16 Pro. The was a popular color on the demo floor at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park, probably because it just looked expensive. Desert Titanium looks like gold from a distance, and that’s because of the gold-colored edging around the case. The actual back of the phone is more of the kind of golden beige you’d wear somewhere like Death Valley or the Sahara. I didn’t think the color brown could be so groundbreaking, but there you have it. Apple made history. There’s also black titanium, natural titanium, and white titanium if that’s not your style.

In all honesty, Apple’s take on the Pro is that it’s so professional at what it does that it’s always well-dressed for the job, hence the muted backs that I’ve heard complaints about in threads and elsewhere as people compared them to the colorful palette of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. However, The color on the back doesn’t have to be flashy when a company is selling a phone that starts at $1,000 and promises Hollywood-quality video recording capabilities.

Speaking of which, the new color combinations of the iPhone 16 are actually eye-catching. They are vibrant both up close and from a distance. I also like the new stacked camera array. It looks much more cohesive than the previous one with only two lenses. The action button and camera record button are there and are the same color as the rest of the iPhone 16. This year, it includes black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine (blue).

Apple is trying to convey the message that its smartphones The Cameras to beat, hence the camera record button. I got to demo it briefly, although Apple staff did the typing for me. The camera record button’s tactile nature means it detects when you press it lightly or fully. It can also sense your finger sliding left to right to scroll through menu options or zoom. It works exactly as you’d imagine, and in that split second, it felt just as sensitive as the W/T did back in the Handycam days.

Bigger is better

Another trend I noticed during the Glowtime event is that Apple’s device range is getting bigger and bigger, even though people yearn for smaller phones. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are 6.3 and 6.9 inches respectively, a few points larger than before. However, since these are professional phones, they should larger to give you more room to edit, pan, move, and scroll while working on your project. I still prefer the smaller iPhone 16 Pro over the Pro Max. And this year, you don’t have to compromise on optical zoom when choosing between the Pro and Pro Max. This time, both devices have 5x optical zoom.

Apple Intelligence is coming

I know you want to see more of Apple Intelligence in action. Me too, but we’re still waiting for it to roll out. I’ve seen more sophisticated editing features between the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models. But I haven’t seen generative text, ChatGPT magic, or anything like that. That’s on the way next month.

When we get the iPhone 16 review units, we’re particularly curious to see if the thermal performance Apple achieved inside the phone translates to the outside. A few people around me in the audience were muttering that their iPhone 15 Pros were too warm to touch after a while. I’m also curious to see the spatial video the iPhone 16 can capture, and if there’s a way to bring that content outside of the Vision Pro environment so it’s not just limited to Apple’s lineup.

If you want to be among the first to have a camera record button, you can pre-order the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro later this week, with the official launch on September 20.