Why did I return it and downgrade to 14 Pro?

iPhone 16 Plus, the first Plus-size iPhone iPhone I ever bought it. It’s also the first non-Pro iPhone I’ve owned since. Apple It introduced the iPhone X, which effectively spawned the Pro series. I would usually look at Pro iPhones before considering a non-Pro model. The iPhone 14 Pro actually made everything clear for me: I can easily “downgrade” to non-Pro devices.

After using it for about two months, the iPhone 16 Plus was also the first iPhone I returned. Now I’m back to the purple iPhone 14 Pro, the flagship phone of 2022 that served me for a full two years before moving on to the larger-sized iPhone 16. I miss the iPhone 16 Plus, but I have reasons to want to get rid of it. I will explain below.

iPhone 16 Plus is too big

I’ll start by pointing out two big iPhone 16 Plus features that I loved from the start. The 6.7-inch screen is a welcome upgrade over the iPhone 14 Pro’s 6.1-inch screen. I wanted a bigger screen and now I hate looking at the smaller one.

However, it cannot be denied that the footprint of the iPhone 16 Plus is remarkable. It takes up too much space in my pockets and is not as easy to use with one hand as the 6.1-inch iPhone.

iPhone 16 Plus gets even bigger when you put a case on it. This is an even bigger problem when running while carrying the phone. Anyone who has kept an iPhone in their jogging pants pocket should know what I’m talking about. And no, I’m not leaving the phone behind; This will never happen.

I don’t use Camera Control as much as I thought I would

I would have kept the iPhone 16 Plus longer if I had used some of the iPhone 16 Plus’ signature features: the Camera Control button and Apple Intelligence.

I was a big fan of the Camera Control button before Apple announced it. This is because I want a faster way to open the camera so I can take photos from wherever I am on the phone, whether it’s from the lock screen or from an app.

That’s the promise of Camera Control. It gets even better than that, as the button allows you to customize various aspects of the photos you take without touching the screen.

In practice I almost never used the button. The case I bought for iPhone 16 Plus It didn’t help either that it had a below-average cutoff for Camera Control. It cut my fingers most of the time and made it even harder for me to customize photos because I could barely slide that button.

The main problem is that I am a left-handed iPhone user. To add iPhone 16 Plus sizeand Camera Control is very difficult to reach and use. Forget taking quick photos with one hand.

I don’t have access to Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence may be rolling out in the US and other markets, but it’s not available in the European Union. Apple’s AI is another key feature I want in the iPhone 16. I’m already a big fan of products like ChatGPT, and I love Apple’s vision for AI.

However, Apple won’t launch Apple Intelligence in the EU until next spring. Apple Intelligence will have received many updates by then, so I’ll have a richer experience the first time I try it. Still, not being able to use this important feature of the iPhone 16 is a big disappointment.

Note that Apple Intelligence only works on six iPhone models, including four iPhone 16 versions and last year’s iPhone 15 Pros. Apple also used Apple Intelligence as a big selling point for the iPhone 16 series, even though it wasn’t available on launch day.

Visual Intelligence

This brings me to Visual Intelligence, an AI feature unique to iPhone 16 phones. I don’t have this feature either, but unless you’re on iOS 18.2 developer beta, it’s not available worldwide.

Visual Intelligence is Apple’s equivalent of Google Lens. It could also be a Search Circle alternative. The idea is simple: point your iPhone at something, hold down Camera Control, and get answers about what the AI ​​sees.

My iPhone 16 Plus couldn’t do any of this.

iphone air

All things considered, my iPhone 16 Plus ran and behaved just like my two-year-old iPhone 14 Pro. It just had a bigger screen. I told you recently Changes I made on iPhone 14 Pro This made the transition to a non-Pro device very seamless. It’s all about turning off ProMotions and animations on the iPhone 14 Pro. So I turned off motion effects in iOS years ago.

That’s why the iPhone 16 Plus felt like a larger iPhone 14 Pro.

In light of this, returning the iPhone 16 Plus was a no-brainer. Full disclosure here: it was a planned, no-brainer thing.

I returned the iPhone 16 Plus because I benefited from a longer return window. This allowed me to try out the handset and see if I could adapt to it. But say Apple Intelligence was available and I made a better effort to use Camera Control, the size of the iPhone 16 Plus would still be an issue. I need some kind of spell to ignore this.

These experiences also clarified my needs. I want iPhone 17 AirIt is a phone with a larger screen but a much thinner profile than the 6.1-inch models. That’s why the iPhone 14 Pro won’t disappear anytime soon. I’ll try other iPhone 16 variants, but this long-time iPhone user’s end game will be next year’s ultra-thin.