The iPhone 16 is undeniably great hardware – but you should still probably skip it

Every year, iPhone enthusiasts eagerly await Apple's latest release. But this year, as Apple introduces the iPhone 16, the excitement feels underwhelming. A few months ago, I wrote about why you shouldn't buy the iPhone 16 for Apple Intelligence, and now that the launch is here, I stand by my initial assessment.

Also: Everything Apple announced at its 'Glowtime' event

Despite promises of AI advancements, the iPhone 16 seems more like a stepping stone than a game-changer. Even in my household, the decision to upgrade has divided us — while I'm upgrading for work because I cover the technology, my wife has made it clear: she's skipping this one.

Great hardware, but a transitional Apple Intelligence product

Let's not diminish the product for what it is: the iPhone 16 is undeniably great hardware.

But unless you're using a really old phone — like my colleague David Gewirtz's iPhone 12, which is four generations behind — you should strongly consider skipping this generation. Why? Because Apple Intelligence, while promising, is still in its infancy.

Here's a breakdown of the iPhone 16 lineup:

In addition to newer, larger, and brighter OLED screens across the board, the biggest improvements to the iPhone 16 are to its cameras. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus now offer 2X optical zoom via a cropped section of the 48-MP main camera's sensor.

On the Pro models, you'll find a 5X optical zoom lens, and the new 48-MP "Fusion Camera" reads data twice as fast, which reduces motion blur and improves the quality of action shots. The Pro models also support 4K slow-motion video recording at 120 frames per second, making slo-mo footage crisper than ever before.

Also: 4 best iPhone 16 features that make Apple's standard model worth the upgrade

But are these improvements enough to justify an upgrade? Probably not if you already own an iPhone 14 or 15.

Developer involvement and AI maturity

While the hardware is impressive, the AI features — centered around Apple Intelligence — leave something to be desired, especially for those expecting a more mature experience.

Apple Intelligence is tied to Apple's own 3-billion-parameter foundation model. This is a relatively small large language model compared to what's available in the cloud. While Apple has indicated it may allow other LLMs to run on-device in the future, you're currently limited to Apple's system. And while Apple has announced ChatGPT support for Siri, that runs in the cloud, not on-device.

Also: Every iPhone model that will be updated to Apple's iOS 18 (and which ones won't)

Apple has given developers access to its AI APIs, but we're still in the early stages of what Apple Intelligence can do. Most of the exciting features – like Genmoji and App Intents — won't be available until iOS 18.2. Even iOS 18.1, which unlocks some of the AI functions, won't arrive until at least October.

Don't like Apple's apps? No Apple Intelligence for you.

The biggest problem — other than the fact that you need new iPhone hardware to exploit it — is that Apple Intelligence is deeply tied to Apple's own apps, limiting its usefulness for users who rely on third-party apps like Gmail, Google Docs, or Microsoft 365.

Apple hasn't given developers the ability to integrate their own AI models on the device, so unless third-party apps adopt Apple's APIs, you won't benefit from Apple Intelligence's features if you're not entirely locked into Apple's ecosystem. Google and Microsoft, which both have robust cloud-based AI solutions — Gemma 2 for Google's Gemini and GPT-4 for Microsoft's Copilot — are unlikely to switch to Apple's APIs anytime soon.

Cloud-based AI writing tools: No need for new hardware

While Apple emphasizes its on-device AI processing, many AI tools people already use today are cloud-based, meaning they don't need the latest hardware. As mentioned earlier, an important distinction about cloud-based gen AI writing tools is that they have much more robust LLMs backing them up, to the tune of hundreds of billions of parameters, compared with the 3B parameter model in Apple Intelligence.

Also: iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro: Is it worth an upgrade?

Google's AI writing tools are currently available on iOS and Android through Gmail. While the company has not committed to it publicly, this functionality within "Gemini Apps" will likely be expanded to the mobile versions of Docs and other Google Workspace apps shortly.

Grammarly, another cloud-based tool based on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI platform, offers proofreading and editing across over 500,000 apps, including Gmail, Slack, Microsoft Office, and Google Docs. On iOS, it works as an installable keyboard; on Mac, it's available as a desktop plugin for Safari, Chrome, and Edge.

Microsoft's SwiftKey iOS keyboard also brings Copilot AI-powered text generation and rewriting to the platform, making these tools accessible across all iPhone models — not just the iPhone 16.

Smart erase and privacy: Apple vs. Google

I'm also not crazy about the updated Apple Intelligence-enhanced Photos app in iOS 18. It's been difficult to adjust to, and the Clean Up tool — Apple's smart erase feature — while intriguing, hasn't been the game changer I expected. The tool leaves artifacts in many of the photos I've tried it with on my iPhone 15 Pro Max, which detracts from the experience.

Also: The 7 best iOS 18 features that will make updating your iPhone worthwhile

Google's Magic Eraser, available in Google Photos for iOS, performs similarly without requiring on-device AI processing. That said, Apple's on-device AI processing offers a privacy advantage — your data stays on the device and doesn't require additional bandwidth. This is particularly useful if you rely on 5G data instead of Wi-Fi.

Should you upgrade?

If you're using an iPhone 12 or older, the iPhone 16 could be worth upgrading to for the hardware alone. But if you've got an iPhone 14 or 15, I'd strongly recommend holding out for the iPhone 17. That's when Apple Intelligence will likely be mature enough to make a real impact.

Also: iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: Should you upgrade to the latest model?

Current rumors suggest the iPhone 17 Pro will have even more RAM — an estimated 12GB — compared to the 16 Pro's 8GB. This is a strong indicator of just how resource-intensive the fully realized Apple Intelligence will be. If the iPhone 16's RAM has already increased by 17%, the jump to 12GB for the iPhone 17 Pro shows that Apple expects AI tasks to require significantly more memory as they evolve.

Unless you desperately need a new phone, don't rush into buying the iPhone 16. The iPhone 17 will likely bring the real leap forward in AI integration, making the iPhone 16 a transitional product at best.