It is likely to be one of many highest promoting iPhones round, and positively probably the most reasonably priced, however relating to options, the non-pro iPhone in current occasions has at all times appeared a bit like Harry Potter within the muggle world. He might need been a wizard, however when it got here to life within the ‘regular’ world, Harry Potter needed to put up with sporting hand-me-downs from his (overbearing and impolite) cousin Dudley Dursley, whereas dwelling in a cabinet under the staircase of their home.
On the ‘new’ iPhone this 12 months, with love the outdated Professional!
And this appeared set to proceed, as Apple was unveiling the brand new iPhone 16 at its Glowtime occasion. The model showcased how now the iPhone 16 can even include the Motion button, which was earlier unique to the Professional fashions. This rubbed me up the mistaken means, not due to a “how may a Professional-less iPhone include a Professional-exclusive characteristic?” feeling, however usually because it appeared we had been principally seeing Apple including one other hand-me-down characteristic to its new non-Professional iPhone that it begged/borrowed/ stole from earlier 12 months’s iPhone Professional mannequin.
At this level, new non Professional iPhones are principally made up of hand-me-down options that had been as soon as ✨unique✨ to older Professional iPhones #ActionButton #AppleEvent2024
— Akriti Rana (@rana122895) September 9, 2024
I had good cause for pondering on these strains. Of late, Apple appears to have handled the suffix much less iPhone as a second grade citizen of the smartphone society that solely deserves to get no matter leftover options the mighty Professional variant is bored of and is able to share, particularly in the previous couple of years. Be it processors or cameras or different options, Apple was making a behavior of bringing them to the Professional telephones first earlier than sharing it with their Professional-less variant, usually subsequent 12 months.
Take the final three 12 months’s non-Professional iPhones. The iPhone 13, iPhone 14 and iPhone 15, not solely got here with little to no design distinctions, however the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 had been slapped with processors that got here on Professional iPhones the 12 months earlier than their launch, with minor enhancements. Equally, the iPhone 15 received the Dynamic Island a 12 months after it was overestimated on the iPhone 14 Professional sequence. And no matter new options Apple launched, they had been restricted to Professional fashions within the 12 months of their launch. Equally, the 48 megapixel digicam that was a spotlight of the iPhone 15, was really much like the one which had first appeared on the iPhone 14 Professional sequence. The plain iPhone was turning into a correct hand-me-down Harry – a wizard out there, however not thought-about worthy of something new in its circle of relatives.
Now not the bro of final 12 months’s Professional!
This time, nevertheless, Apple proved me mistaken. Because the occasion unfolded, the iPhone 16 emerged with maybe probably the most vital upgrades within the iPhone vary, and was one of many stars on the occasion.
Apple might need taken some design “inspiration” for the twin digicam arrange from the iPhone X for the iPhone 16, however the brand new iPhone nonetheless comes with a design that’s distinct sufficient to assist it stand out amongst its predecessors. It is a massive win, particularly contemplating that the identical can’t be stated concerning the Professional model of the machine – sure they arrive in numerous sizes now, however nonetheless have largely the identical aesthetics.
Much more vital was the addition of the brand new A18 Bionic chip, establishing that the iPhone 16 belongs to the brand new iPhone line-up and isn’t caught in 2023. Sure, the iPhone 16 Professional comes with a Professional model of the identical chip however a minimum of the iPhone 16 will not be caught with a barely tweaked older chipset that we skilled final 12 months. Equally, the much-hyped Digicam Management button got here to the iPhone 16 in addition to the Execs and so did Apple Intelligence and quicker MagSafe charging. All of this mixed with some actually vibrant color choices, Motion button, improved cameras and basically the identical beginning price ticket as final 12 months. All of which ensured that the iPhone 16 stood tall as a brand new iPhone in its personal proper and never simply an reasonably priced various with options from final 12 months’s Execs.
Not a Professional, however positively a bro
This doesn’t imply the iPhone 16 is best and even nearly as good because the iPhone 16 Professional when it comes to options or efficiency. In fact, it isn’t. And it isn’t meant to be, as a result of it’s focused at a special viewers. The iPhone 16 Professional stays a Professional, a tool designed for high-end customers and content material creators. It comes with a bigger, higher, always-on show with larger refresh price, a Professional model of the A18 processor, has higher cameras with the power to document 4K video at 120fps, and USB 3 which is way quicker as in comparison with USB 2 on the Professional-less iPhones, and a number of different options. It might be naive to imagine that the plain iPhone would get the identical options of its Professional siblings. In any case, the iPhone Professional known as a ‘Professional’ for a cause and its a lot larger price ticket delivers extra options to its customers.
That stated, it solely appears truthful that each one iPhones launched on the identical occasion ought to share the identical fundamental options and foundations – in spite of everything, the Professional and non-Professional iPhone usually had related processors earlier than the iPhone 14 and 14 Professional sequence. Even Google has of late been offering the identical or related processor on all its Pixels (even on the extra reasonably priced ‘a’ variant). Telephones that belong to the identical household ought to ideally share the identical foundations and be linked by extra than simply nomenclature.
This 12 months, Apple has made the iPhone 16 seem to be a brand new cellphone with out compromising on all that added goodness the additional bucks are presupposed to convey with the Professional model. The iPhone 16 is not the iPhone with a 12 months outdated chip and a two 12 months outdated design at a comparatively reasonably priced value, however shares quite a lot of the Professional’s options and really newer than the Execs, due to that design. Most vital of all, Actually, the iPhone 16 is nearer to the iPhone 16 Professional than it’s to the iPhone 15 and 15 Professional, which is the way it ought to at all times be.
Hand-me-Down Harry simply turned a wizard once more.
