Apple iPhone XS vs iPhone 16
49
out of 100
VS
80
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.8-inch Apple iPhone XS (with Apple A12 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2018, against the Apple iPhone 16, which is powered by Apple A18 and came out 6 years and 1 month after. 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
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XS
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16
- 2.6x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1985K versus 756K)
- Delivers 167% higher peak brightness (1692 against 634 nits)
- Shows 85% longer battery life (29:45 vs 16:06 hours)
- Comes with 903 mAh larger battery capacity: 3561 vs 2658 mAh
- Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A18
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- The phone is 6 years and 1 month newer
- Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 15W)
- Thinner bezels – 5.3% more screen real estate
Review
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.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 5.8 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1125 x 2436 pixels | 1179 x 2556 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 458 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 625 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Touch sampling rate | 120 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 81.1% | 86.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.8% | 99.7% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Response time | 4.4 ms | 3 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
iPhone 16
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
iPhone XS
5.8″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 12.8 in2
~10% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 143.6 mm (5.65 inches) | 147.6 mm (5.81 inches) |
| Width | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) | 71.6 mm (2.82 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 177 g (6.24 oz) | 170 g (6 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Silver, Gold, Gray | White, Black, Blue, Green, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.8/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A12 Bionic | Apple A18 |
| Max clock | 2490 MHz | 4040 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest - 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex |
- 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Neural Engine | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Apple A12 Bionic GPU | 5 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 1125 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~576 GFLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | - | 28010 |
| Single-core score | 1306 | 3431 |
| Multi-core score | 2770 | 8638 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 229658 | 621688 |
| GPU | - | 592569 |
| Memory | 141831 | 184239 |
| UX | 384994 | 587104 |
| Total score | 756483 | 1985600 |
| Samples | [5 tests] | [16 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 75% |
| Graphics test | - | 12 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1579 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 26 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 31 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 26 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 20 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 6781 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 61% | - |
| Graphics test | 8 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 1446 | - |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone XS
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-31 (Дима) | AnTuTu 11 | 644981 |
| 📘 2026-06-27 -> USAball386 | Geekbench 6 GPU | 7868 |
| 📘 2026-06-27 -> USAball386 | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1306 / 2770 |
| 📘 2026-05-12 -> Giahuy | AnTuTu 11 | 756483 |
| 📘 2026-02-05 (tomoclaude) | AnTuTu 11 | 655571 |
Apple iPhone 16
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-30 (Dddd) | AnTuTu 11 | 1905485 |
| 📘 2026-07-15 (vovachips) | AnTuTu 11 | 1842572 |
| 📘 2026-07-03 (iTzRageeh) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 3531 / 9122 |
| 📘 2026-07-03 (iTzRageeh) | AnTuTu 11 | 2045650 |
| 📘 2026-06-04 (Sepehr Naraghipour) | AnTuTu 11 | 2018367 |
Memory
| RAM size | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.7) | iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) |
| OS size | 11.8 GB | 16 GB |
| OS updates | - | 7 years |
| Security updates | - | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 2658 mAh | 3561 mAh |
| Max charge power | 15 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi (10 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 60 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 2:40 hr | 1:42 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 05:44 hr | 13:44 hr |
| Watching video | 09:44 hr | 18:09 hr |
| Gaming | 03:54 hr | 05:56 hr |
| Standby | 84 hr | 130 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#52nd place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Digital |
| Flash | Quad 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° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Apple iSight X | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Focal length | 52 mm | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | - | 12 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Pixel size | - | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 80 |
| Preview | - | 84 |
| Zoom | - | 116 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 7 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3088 x 2316 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 32 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| 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 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE |
| USB type | No | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | - | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 16 | - |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2018 | September 2024 |
| Release date | September 2018 | September 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1000 | $799 |
| Successor | - Apple iPhone 17 Pro | - Apple iPhone 17 |
| SAR (head) | 0.99 W/kg | 1.24 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 0.99 W/kg | 1.41 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | - | Not included |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16:
- The US model is eSIM-only, while the international version offers both a physical SIM slot and eSIM support.
*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 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 25