The iPhone 16 event is over, and now we’ve got plenty of thoughts to share after playing with all of Apple’s new hardware. In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn chat about the entire iPhone 16 and Pro lineup, and Senior Reporter Billy Steele joins to chat about his experience with the AirPods 4 and Apple Watch Series 10. It turns out, the Apple Watch stole the show from the iPhone.
Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!
“Which iPhone should I buy?” It’s a question you might have heard many times over the years. Much of the time, the answer is simple: Get the best iPhone you can afford. If you’re happy with your current iPhone, meanwhile, don’t feel like you have to make a change at all. But if you’re ready to upgrade, allow us to help. We’ve reviewed just about every iPhone ever released, so we’ve picked through all nine models in Apple’s current smartphone lineup and highlighted the ones that should satisfy most people below.
Before we dive in, note that we’ve based our guide on the MSRPs of new, unlocked iPhones on Apple.com. If you can find a heavy discount from another trusted retailer or a good deal on a refurbished model, that could always change the value equation. With that disclaimer out of the way, here are the best iPhones you can buy as of early 2025.
The iPhone 16 Pro is the iPhone we’d recommend to most people. Yes, its starting price of $999 might be steep, but a smartphone is a long-term investment. If the question is “which iPhone is most likely to keep you happy for the next three to five years,” we think the iPhone 16 Pro’s advantages over the standard iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are still meaningful enough to be worth the extra $100-200 — even if the gap isn’t as wide as it’s been in years past.
For one, the iPhone 16 Pro’s blasted titanium frame feels higher-quality than the aluminum one on the base iPhone 16. It’s a bit heavier than the standard 16 and last year’s iPhone 15 Pro, but it’s far from an anchor, and its slightly curved edges are pleasing to hold.
It runs on the slightly faster A18 Pro chip, which doesn’t make a huge difference with everyday tasks but is more future-proof all the same, particularly if you have any interest in gaming or content creation. And while every iPhone 16 has a USB-C charging port, the Pro models support faster data transfer speeds (provided you have the right cable).
The most prominent upgrade is the display. While the OLED panels on the iPhone 16 Pro and standard iPhone 16 are equally sharp and bright, the former’s is more spacious at 6.3 inches (instead of 6.1 inches), despite the phone itself only being 0.08 inches taller and 0.02 inches thicker. This is mainly due to the Pro’s thinner bezels, which grant you more room for streaming videos and reading web pages in a device that isn’t significantly more cumbersome to hold.
On top of that, the Pro’s screen has an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz, which can make scrolling web pages, gaming and streaming video noticeably smoother. Some will tell you that the average person doesn’t need this, and it’s true that not everything plays at 120Hz. But using a smartphone is nothing if not interacting with a small screen, and once you’ve seen a faster refresh rate in action, it is difficult to give up.
It’s a frustrating situation: You can get a budget Android phone with a 120Hz display for around $300, yet Apple continues to use “ProMotion” as a way to upsell people from devices that already cost hundreds more. Nevertheless, our job is to tell you what’s best — and the Pro’s display is simply more current. It’s also always-on, unlike the screens on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, so you can view your notifications at a glance without having to physically touch the device.
Another step up is the camera system. The iPhone 16 Pro has a trio of rear cameras: a 48-megapixel main camera, a 48MP ultrawide shooter and a 12MP telephoto camera.
That last one is the biggie, as the regular iPhone 16 lacks a dedicated telephoto lens entirely. Beyond that, the Pro’s main camera has a larger sensor, so it’s a bit better in low-light environments, plus it supports portrait mode at night. You can take sharper macro shots for close-ups, and there are other enthusiast features like the ability to shoot ProRAW or record 4K Dolby Vision and ProRes video up to 120 frames per second.
If none of this jargon means anything to you, know the regular iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are still great point-and-shoot cameras. Those devices can now take macro photos as well; they have the same upgraded Photographic Styles feature that can help touch up shots you may find overprocessed; and they share the new Camera Control button for quickly (if sometimes awkwardly) accessing the camera app, adjusting settings and snapping pics.