- A new report claims iPhone 16 wins popularity
- IPhone 16 Pro seems to lose sales
- All this makes sense because of the iPhone 16’s big new features
The iPhone 16 is one of the best iPhones you can buy, and it seems that the data may agree, with this model apparently selling in phenomenal numbers. It is, according to a report published by CIRP (via 9to5Mac), at least, and it paints an interesting picture of Apple’s phone lineup, where the iPhone 16 Pro in particular seems to be missing out on.
The iPhone 16 seems to have been the biggest winner among Apple’s phone offers, which amounts to approx. 20% of sales from March 2025. Contrast it to March last year when the iPhone 15 counted for approx. 14% of Apple’s iPhone sales.
Conversely, the CIRP report claims that “the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max together accounted for 38% of the iPhone sales in the quarter down from the 45% part of the similar placed iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max a year ago.” Much of this change appears to be down to the iPhone 16 Pro, which accounted for 17% of sales this year – down from 22% in Q1 2024.
It suggests that consumers choose the more affordable iPhone 16, rather than step up to the more expensive iPhone 16 Pro. At the end of the day it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Increasingly attractive
I love my iPhone 16 Pro and I found it was a massive step up from the iPhone 12 Pro I had before. Its combination of 120Hz display and excellent photographic capabilities means it offers me something that the regular iPhone 16 cannot match.
But at the same time, I can see why people want to skip the Pro model and choose a more affordable alternative. The iPhone 16 came up with some significant upgrades over its iPhone 15 predecessor, including improved camera control, a better A18 chip, an action button and more. None of these features were available for this iPhone level before.
Apple is likely to give the iPhone 16 a significant upgrade to help differentiate it from the iPhone 16E, which became the company’s ‘budget’ opportunity when it was launched in February 2025. Otherwise, there may not have been much to help separate the two models.
In the end, we need to take these numbers with a pinch of salt as they are not official sales numbers. But they certainly make sense, and I’m not surprised to see Apple fans snapping the increasingly attractive iPhone 16.
