Apple iPhone 16 Plus vs iPhone 15 Plus

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.7-inch Apple iPhone 16 Plus (with Apple A18) that was released on September 9, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 15 Plus, which is powered by Apple A16 Bionic and came out 1 year before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16 Plus
  • Shows 16% longer battery life (34:32 vs 29:51 hours)
  • 28% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1949K versus 1527K)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Delivers 12% higher peak brightness (1839 against 1645 nits)
  • Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
  • Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 20W)
  • The phone is 1 year newer
  • 24% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3256 and 2631 points

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 15 Plus crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
8 / 128 GB
VS
6 / 128 GB
70.8
(Good)
Value Index
71.6
(Good)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.7 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1290 x 2796 pixels 1290 x 2796 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 460 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 2000 nits 2000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1600 nits 1600 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen-to-body ratio 88% 88%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.8% 99.5%
PWM 256 Hz 60 Hz
Response time 4 ms 3 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
1839 nits
1645 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 160.9 mm (6.33 inches) 160.9 mm (6.33 inches)
Width 77.8 mm (3.06 inches) 77.8 mm (3.06 inches)
Thickness 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) 7.8 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 199 g (7.02 oz) 201 g (7.09 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Blue, Green, Pink Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Yellow
Fingerprint scanner No No
Repairability Average (2.78/5) Average (2.94/5)
Drop resistance Good (C) · 90 drops Good (C) · 90 drops
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPhone 16 Plus and Apple iPhone 15 Plus
SoC
Chipset Apple A18 Apple A16 Bionic
Max clock 4040 MHz 3460 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 3 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Neural Engine Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics 5 core Apple GPU 5 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 640 640
GPU clock 1490 MHz 1398 MHz
FLOPS ~1907 GFLOPS ~1789.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPhone 16 Plus and Apple iPhone 15 Plus
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 28158 -
Single-core score 3256 2631
Multi-core score 8096 6602
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
1949745
1527281
CPU 585993 445436
GPU 563695 404027
Memory 218294 206014
UX 581763 471804
Total score 1949745 1527281
Samples [5 tests] Less than 3
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 76% -
Graphics test 12 FPS -
Graphics score 1582 -
3DMark Solar Bay
Graphics test 26 FPS -
Section 1 31 FPS -
Section 2 26 FPS -
Section 3 20 FPS -
Graphics score 6750 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability - 72%
Graphics test - 20 FPS
Graphics score - 3340
Sources: 3DMark [5]

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPhone 16 Plus
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-18 (Aj)AnTuTu 111949745
📘 2026-04-23 (Ninety6Beast)AnTuTu 111995425
📘 2026-03-03 (Ninety6Beast)AnTuTu 111918031
📘 2026-02-20 (monolog)AnTuTu 112007786
📘 2026-02-14 (Mathachai)AnTuTu 111822701
Apple iPhone 15 Plus
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-04-12 (Runnima)AnTuTu 111527281
📘 2024-01-29 (Anshul Agrawal)Geekbench 6 CPU2631 / 6602

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Memory clock - 3200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) iOS 17 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5)
OS size 18 GB 18 GB
OS updates 7 years 7 years
Security updates 7 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 4674 mAh 4383 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 20 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes Yes
Bypass charging No No
Fast charging Yes (55% in 30 min) Yes (53% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:39 hr 1:34 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 15:57 hr 13:13 hr
Watching video 21:26 hr 20:21 hr
Gaming 07:34 hr 07:01 hr
Standby 148 hr 122 hr
General battery life
34:32 hr
29:51 hr

Main camera

Matrix 48 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8064 x 6048 8064 x 6048
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 48 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.6 f/1.6
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX904
Sensor size 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.4
Focal length 13 mm 13 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX633
Sensor size - 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 1.4 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh - 80
Preview - 84
Zoom - 114
Samples - Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 Plus from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/1.9 f/1.9
Focal length 23 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX714 Sony IMX714
Sensor size 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) Yes Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Type of SIM card Nano eSIM
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 18
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
80.1 dB
90.6 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2024 September 2023
Release date September 2024 September 2023
Launch price (MSRP) $899 $899
Successor - - Apple iPhone 16 Plus
SAR (head) 1.24 W/kg 0.98 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.33 W/kg 0.98 W/kg
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger Not included Not included
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16 Plus:
    - In the USA, the smartphone only supports eSIM, while the international model has 1 physical slot + eSIM. In China, a model with only two physical SIM cards is available.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 16 Plus is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
264 (51.6%)
248 (48.4%)
Total votes: 512

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