Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Travel
  3. News

Should you upgrade to the iPhone 16 to take better travel photos?

The Apple iPhone 16 camera has amazing technology

By
iPhone 16 colors
Apple

Part of the fun of travel is capturing moments. Whether a mountain sunset or a group experience, photos let you share good times and fondly look back. Today’s iPhones make it easy, with an intuitive interface, sharp definition, and useful tools. 

But each year, when a new iPhone debuts, there’s the question of whether to upgrade. Is the new model that much better?

Recommended Videos

This week, Apple introduced the iPhone 16, which includes several innovative camera features. Do they make upgrading worth it? Let’s find out.

The Apple iPhone 16 camera: Seamless use, enhanced resolution

Apple iPhone 16
Apple

The iPhone 16 camera has many features that enhance close-ups, provide useful info, and make snapping photos easier. Among those are Camera Control, a 48MP Fusion camera with a 2X telephoto option, an Ultra Wide camera, and Photographic styles. Each takes your travel photos to another level and lets you express your creative style.

Camera Control combines hardware and software to enhance the photographic process. Included are a tactile switch that’s central to the click experience, a capacitive sensor for touch interactions, and a precision force sensor allowing a light press gesture. Camera Control can also launch the camera, and begin video recording or take a picture to capture every second. The feature also has a preview that allows adjustments like zoom, framing, depth of field, and exposure. 

Camera Control will add visual intelligence in the coming months, providing detailed facts about places and things. Examples include dog breeds and restaurant hours. 

Whether you’re shooting a wide-open landscape or a close-up of a plant, the iPhone 16’s 48MP Fusion camera enhances both. The 2x Telephoto option is like having dual cameras, allowing better photo framing and closeups. The 12MP Ultra Wide camera with autofocus captures every color and texture for super-detailed up-close images. 

After taking the shot, you can get creative with Photographic Styles and fine-tune shadows, color, and highlights. Styles adjusts specific colors, unlike filters, which wash color over an entire photo. That lets you tailor your photos and make them magical, enhancing your travel memories.

If you’re shooting video, you can record it with Spatial Audio for mesmerizing audio on AirPods, a surround sound system, or Apple Vision Pro. You take that even further using AudioMix, which lets you adjust audio to focus on the user or make it sound as if shot inside a studio. You can also add environmental noises or add audio tracks.

Lastly, Apple Intelligence lets you use real language to search through your photo library or video clips. A Clean Up feature removes distracting objects.

Travel photography: Is the iPhone 16 worth the upgrade?

Frog shot using iPhone 16
Macro photo by iPhone 16 Apple

You’re in Costa Rica. After a morning surf and gallo pinto breakfast, you embark for the forest. Once there, you see tree fogs, macaws, monkeys, and more. You want to capture every detail, every nuance of the experience. In that case, the new iPhone 16 is worth it. Its camera improvements add function and creativity, helping you take your travel pictures further.

However, if you’re on a budget and have an iPhone 14 or similar, there’s no pressing need to make the switch. Newer iPhones are still capable of stunning photos. Instead of relying on technology, you can pay attention to principles like light and composition, all while saving funds for your next trip.

Mark Reif
Mark Reif
Mark Reif is a storyteller focused on the intersection of outdoor culture, travel, and design. From the peaks of Banff to the… Read Full Bio
Topics
Travel
Six Senses Rome is a peaceful retreat in a beautifully chaotic city
the lobby at Six Senses Rome

Rome is one of the most visited cities in Europe, and by all accounts, it gets crowded. But considering that it’s one of the world’s most important epicenters for history, culture, food and architecture, we can forgive the crowds. After all, complaining about tourism when you’re a tourist is not the way. But booking yourself a peaceful respite to start and end each day most certainly is.

I chose Six Senses Rome as my home base during a recent four-day trip to the city. The property opened in 2023 in the restored 15th-century Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini. The historic building sets the tone before you even check in, with restored 600-year-old columns in the main entrance, pale travertine floors, a light-dappled lobby overflowing with greenery, and a massive marble staircase that’s almost comically regal. And its neighbor is the gorgeous San Marcello al Corso Church—so you can start your sightseeing by literally going next door. 

Read more
Travel
5 Tips If You’re Traveling With Cigars: I Learned No. 2 the Hard Way
Wood, Hardwood, Accessories

Traveling with cigars can be challenging if you’re not prepared. The lack of preparation can lead to your favorite cigars getting smashed from inadequate storage, or they can peel because they weren’t kept at the proper temperature, among other issues. Sometimes you do all the right things, and still come away shaking your head.

I’ve been smoking cigars for two decades now, and it’s not beneath me to admit that I’ve made plenty of cigar travel mistakes in that span, and as recently as two weeks ago. You live, you learn, and hope you don’t waste a stogie on the next trip. My most recent cigar travel mistake is what inspired me to share these tips. Sure, there are plenty of articles out there offering similar advice. But this list comes from a cigar smoker and writer who has visited six countries and about a dozen states in the last year alone. And in that time, mistakes were made, and lessons were learned.

Read more
Travel
The art of adventure packing: packing light but effective
Clothing, Coat, Jacket

If you are like me, you grew up with stories of adventure. Whether you were fans of fictional adventure like Indiana Jones and Alan Quartermain, or you loved the true-life accounts of Ernest Shackleton and David Livingstone, there is a deep pull to venture into the unknown. The desire to abandon the Mon-Fri 9-5 in search of something deeper. You could spend your time thinking about hopping a boat and sailing the seven seas like the pirates of old. You could look up at the elusive peak of a mountain and believe it begs to be summited. You could stare into the depths of a jungle and wonder what treasures it hides beneath its canopy. No matter what kind of adventurer you are, you need to be prepared for whatever the world throws at you. I have climbed Salkantay Peak and explored the jungles of Peru. I have scanned the plains of Africa in search of a giant cat (the prospect of which was much more comforting than the actual sighting and wondering if I was far enough away). And I have disappeared into the secluded areas of Svalbard. One thing that remained constant was the need for the right pack.

Here is what I learned when packing for my adventures.

Read more