What a difference a month makes. In early September, after the fall Apple event, I wrote about how I was not going to get a new iPhone. As the weeks passed by I listened to podcasts, and read articles from some of my favorite podcasters. Their experiences got me thinking, why not upgrade? The fact that my iPhone 14’s hardware was missing two new things; an Action Button and Camera Control, were 2 factors that weighed heavily in my decision. That coupled with the fact that I have been wanting for years to try a bigger phone led me to trade in my iPhone 14 for an iPhone 16 Plus. After one week of use, here are some observations.

Action Button and Control Center

I am very familiar with the luxury of having an Action Button affords me via my beloved Apple Watch Ultra. Having an Action Button now on my phone is awesome. I knew immediately what I wanted that button to do for me; provide instant access to a feature I use multiple times during the day, open Control Center. Over the past 2 months I have been curating my Control Center screen and finally have it just where I want it. Here is a pic that shows my highly curated set up.

Overcast (my podcast player of choice)

Mail

A Shortcut I call: Music Hub

A Shortcut titled: Show Quick Note

The flashlight, QR scanner, a Pin for the Sofa app (an app that lets you keep track of what you are reading and listening to; among other things, CPI (security system), Focus mode

A Shortcut that sends a cute message to my life partner and soulmate, Steph.

I learned about the new Shortcut function I am using for my Action Button from Federico Viticci and John Voorhees of MacStories and thought I would give it a try and am very happy with the results.

Camera Control

Back in June, while on an early version of the ios18 beta, I changed my Lock Screen Controls, swapping the Camera and Flashlight for my alarm system and the Messages app. I don’t take a lot of pictures but the prospect of having this dedicated Camera Control makes me think that it will be a whole lot easier to activate and take pictures. One week in to using Camera Control I can say that it is in fact very easy; just hard press Camera Control and the Camera app opens, ready for use. Due to the placement of Camera Control and the size of the 16 Plus, I find that I am activating the Camera more often than I like. I’ll get used to it eventually though. Right now, I’m not using any of the other features that open up via the Camera Control; just one hard press to open the app and another hard press to take the picture. I am experimenting with Photographic Styles based on a video I watched from photographer, Tyler Stalman. I even played around with the Zoom function the other day; something I never would have done had it not been for upgrading my phone. Here’s a pic of a leaf, using Zoom, that I noticed, on the sidewalk, in front of my house…too cool!

Size

As mentioned in the opening of this post, I have never owned a bigger iPhone and wanted to try it out this time around. I immediately noticed how much bigger the Plus is, when I put it in my hand, compared to my old iPhone 14. And of course with an increase in size comes an increase in weight. It is going to take getting used to but that’s what I wanted; I will embrace that learning curve all day long. The extra screen space is also coming in handy for both the writing and reading I do with my iPhone. Case in point, I wrote this section of the blog post on the 16 Plus and it felt great.

Color

Ultramarine. Prior to my trade in, I had heard a lot about this color and was really looking forward to seeing it, in the wild. It lived up to the hype. When the Verizon store worker brought out the phone I knew right away I had made the right choice for me. Vibrant, elegant, and just plain fun to look at is the best way to explain how I feel when I look at it and pick it up. So much so that I’ve decided to go case less. I did put a screen protector on it though. And I also bought a new, fine woven, Apple Wallet; Black, the perfect juxtaposition, in my opinion, to that beautiful Ultramarine.

Apple Intelligence

I saved this section for last because, as it turns out, Apple Intelligence is the least most interesting thing that I have enjoyed about my decision to get the iPhone 16 Plus. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the Writing Tools, it’s just that I like the Action Button, Camera Control, the larger size, and that beautiful, Ultramarine color, more.