Want an iPhone 16 review? Just ask Joannabot

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. It happens every year: Summer fades, kids shuffle back to school and I review the latest iPhones. But not this year.

This year, I handed the job to AI. At least…part of the job. Meet Joannabot, a generative-AI buddy who never tires of answering your iPhone 16 questions—especially whether it’s worth an upgrade.

With the help of engineer Brian Whitton and others, we fed it a decade of iPhone review excerpts, Apple’s iPhone specs and my notes from a week of testing the full iPhone 16 lineup. Why a bot? Well, with iPhones, it’s starting to feel very “Groundhog Day"—similar, year after year. Plus, you might be looking for something my review didn’t address.

Joannabot is more open-ended. And since Apple is now all about AI, why not embrace it? I’m excited for you to chat with Joannabot. Just remember this is an experiment.

We told it to stay focused on iPhones, but like all generative-AI assistants, it can get things wrong, or make things up. If you want the real me, feel free to scroll down and peruse my iPhone 16 test notes for yourself. Humans are still essential to the art of iPhone reviewing.

For instance, bots can’t take pictures, let alone the perfect shot of a 3-year-old face-planting into a cake. Nor can they experience the pure joy of two-day battery life. Here’s what my testing revealed: Overall thoughts: The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are the best iPhones you can buy right now.

But the more affordable iPhone 16 and 16 Plus—what I call the Regulars—are more appealing than in years past. They now come with perks like the Action Button, Camera Control and Dynamic Island. Plus, they offer better color options than the Pro.