Review of the iPhone 15 Pro Max

It's reasonable to argue that Apple has been cautious with the iPhone in recent years. The last audacious step Apple took with its flagship iPhone was to do away with the Touch ID button on the iPhone X in 2017, switching to Face ID for biometric identification and offering an all-screen design. Even if the specifications have increased, it seems more difficult to justify switching to the newest iPhone.

Nevertheless, it seems that this year's iPhone 15 Pro Max release date has altered that. Together with the anticipated performance enhancements for the camera, display, and the potent new A17 Pro CPU, Apple has also abandoned its own lightning connector in favor of USB-C. The iPhone can now record ProRes video straight to external storage and use phone and laptop docks for the first time thanks to this simple modification.

In our iPhone 15 Pro Max review, let's examine all that Apple's newest and best has to offer in more detail.

The cost and accessibility

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is available in four different colors—Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium—directly from Apple and other service partners. The costs and available storage choices are as follows:

• 256GB – $1,199 / £1,199
• 512GB – $1,399 / £1,399
• 1TB – $1,599 / £1,599

To determine whether you can get an iPhone 15 at a reasonable price, you may also refer to our guide on the best iPhone 15 deals.

Details

Features

The action button, which can be customized to activate the camera, flashlight, focus, magnifier, accessibility, shortcuts, translate, voice memo, or silent mode, takes the place of the often overlooked quiet switch on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It's fantastic to have a specific button to activate the camera instead of the home screen shortcut, since I've had the iPhone long enough to know that it can be a little tricky at times.

The customized button is fundamentally a better use of space than the one-trick quiet switch, but using it with the shortcuts app is likely to open up a lot more possibilities for the feature. We're prepared to wager that if you're an iPhone user without a watch, you use your phone in quiet mode anyway, rendering this move unnecessary.

With the addition of a GPU update, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has also evolved from a respectable mobile gaming device to a serious contender for some of the top portable gaming consoles. Developers are still making special efforts to create low-end versions of their "proper" games in 2023. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will support AAA titles including Resident Evil 4 Remake, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and Resident Evil Village, according to Apple's presentation.

With the ability to run AAA games on the iPhone, Apple now has the hardware necessary to become a major participant in the console gaming market. While AAA titles have previously been added to Apple products—such as Resident Evil Village on MacOS and Divinity: Original Sin 2 on the iPad—this is the first time the iPhone has received the similar treatment. Microsoft and Sony have both attempted to provide cloud gaming to mobile devices, however with the iPhone's recent technological advancements, playing modern games no longer requires the cloud.

The ability for gamers to team up across several devices in Fortnite appeared innovative at the time, even before the Apple v. Epic case. Similar degrees of cross-play compatibility have been reached by other games, such as Genshin Impact and Minecraft, and with the capability of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, this might be extended to many more titles.

Since the iPhone 15 Pro Max is capable of running the RE Engine, Street Fighter 6 may make its way to the iPhone with cross-play support. Theoretically, you could dock the iPhone 15 Pro Max to provide a hardwired internet connection, show it on a monitor, and attach an arcade stick to the hub for an entirely competitive experience thanks to the new USB-C connector. Naturally, the iPhone 15 Pro Max's potential is the foundation of this concept. It remains to be seen how the gaming industry will react to the iPhone's capabilities, but things are looking up in the short term.

The iPhone 15 Pro variants are the first iPhones to enable USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds because of the advent of USB-C. This means that you can view and record ProRes film straight into external storage devices since both the Pro and Pro Max support 10 Gbps data transfer rates. Nevertheless, Apple only includes a regular USB 2 connector in the package, so you will need to purchase an additional cable in order to reach these speeds.

MagSafe charging is compatible with iPhone models 12 and later, and this year's StandBy function in iOS 17 makes MagSafe even more alluring. With StandBy, which is exclusive to iPhones with always-on displays (iPhone 14 and later), you can dock your smartphone horizontally and use it in a number of practical modes while it charges. Your smartphone will identify which room it is in and automatically switch to the preferred mode if you have many MagSafe chargers scattered around your house. If you charge your iPhone overnight in your bedroom, for instance, you can use it as a bedside clock to see the time and your alarms, but on your workstation, you may want to gaze at a digital picture frame.

Photography

Having come from an iPhone 13 Pro Max, I can attest that the tiny but noticeable variations in the cameras are worth noting. Apple wants to offer consumers greater control with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a bug where it alternates between the primary and macro lenses while you're setting up a photo. Thankfully, you can now manually choose between the device's several lenses, which makes it simple to get the exact shot you need.

With the iPhone 7 Plus, Apple unveiled portrait mode, which uses depth maps from several camera lenses to generate a customizable bokeh effect behind your subject. At first, I dismissed this function because it seemed cheesy and phony, but Apple has now made improvements that allow portrait images to stand up to those taken with DSLR cameras.

The problem with portrait photography was that the user needed to get quite near to the subject, make sure the subject had enough light, and shoot in portrait mode. The last thing you want to do with point-and-shoot photography is fumble with settings and lose out on a great shot. All of these restrictions are lifted by the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which in its standard camera mode automatically records depth information while taking pictures of people, dogs, or cats. This implies that you don't need to manually switch between modes in order to turn a regular shot into a portrait.

The telephoto lens, which caps out at 3x on the iPhone Pro and increases to 5x on the Pro Max, is the primary difference between the two models. This enables you to capture images from a greater distance with more clarity without utilizing digital zoom to enhance the image. Although it's not quite as good as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra's 100x zoom lens, the iPhone 14 still has a nice little boost.

The iPhone's video camera was already among the finest on the market, and USB-C has improved it much more. As previously said, the lightning transfer rates were humiliating for a gadget of this kind. The iPhone could easily record 4K60 films, but transferring them to a computer via a cable connection would take hours. Fortunately, the iPhone 15 Pro Max's USB-C connector significantly increases transmission rate, making it ideal for producing high-quality films. You may also take straight video capture without undergoing any transfer at all by plugging in a USB-C SSD disk.

You might argue that there wasn't much of a camera update between the iPhone 13 Pro and 14 Pro given the amount of AI processing used these days. Even if the changes aren't that great, it's evident that things have gotten better with the 15 Pro Max. The 48-megapixel primary camera's bigger sensor captures greater information in images, although you may have to enlarge them to really see the improvements. With the option to record ProRes Log footage for professional usage, films seem better than ever and images are generally true to life without appearing too saturated.

Design

Since Apple decided to concentrate on making minor adjustments to the device's front, including reducing the bezels and narrowing the notch to create the dynamic island, the iPhone hasn't seen a significant overhaul in years. The Pro versions' stainless steel frames will be phased out in 2023 and replaced with lighter titanium bodies. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is somewhat more pleasant to grip because to its curved edges and lighter weight of 221g as opposed to its 240g predecessor.

But concerns about Apple's general quality control have increased noticeably this year. Although I haven't seen any problems with my iPhone, several consumers have said that their devices came scratched on the body and camera lenses right out of the package.

Large channels such as JerryRigEverything have also undertaken early durability testing and found that the Pro Max model's glass is more prone to breaking. There isn't anything to be concerned about if you typically use a screen protector and case. It's important to keep in mind, however, that the Pro Max is more brittle this year if you like to flaunt your iPhone nude.

Display

The display, which has an OLED 120Hz screen that enables always-on capability and the dynamic island, is the same as it was on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Even though I've had Android phones with always-on screens, I still can't get used to my iPhone's feature. This function is somewhat obsolete due to the Apple Watch, which may be the reason for it, although it is useful when using the StandBy feature that we previously discussed.Apple intended to utilize the dynamic island as a means of introducing the Face ID sensor into regular products. Apple has embraced the sensor rather than concealing it, utilizing it to monitor activity and provide notifications. I seldom give it any thought outside of the real-time activities that show how many minutes are remaining on a local food delivery. Like the notch on earlier versions, the dynamic island disappears into the background quite fast.All things considered, the display fulfills every need one might have for a smartphone. It runs buttery smooth, has amazing HDR content, and is color-accurate owing to the 120Hz display. It's the perfect size for everything from online surfing to watching the newest episodes—the 6.7" display has it all.

Lightning

This product, in typical Apple form, prioritizes aesthetics above functionality, emphasizing the weight and feel of the iPhone instead of dramatically expanding the battery's capacity. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a little bigger battery than the model from the previous year—4,422 mAh as opposed to 4,323 mAh—but daily use isn't much affected by this. My smartphone typically has around 60% battery left at the end of the week and 35% left at the weekend. After nearly two years of regular usage, this is little less than what I was seeing with my iPhone 13 Pro Max.Although Apple has made a concerted effort to create the lightest and thinnest phone possible, it seems that they are satisfied with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Although it could have simply doubled the capacity of the battery by making the device thicker, Apple is unwilling to make this tradeoff in order to make the phone seem less cumbersome thanks to its titanium frame.

Achievement

We regretfully lack a copy of Resident Evil Village to test on our smartphone, but we do have Genshin Impact, one of the most power-hungry games on any phone. Because it performs a superb job of evaluating hardware constraints, Hoyoverse's anime game is a standard benchmark for both iOS and Android smartphones.Because of the excellent work the GPU update on the iPhone 15 Pro Max has done in resolving these issues, you don't have to worry about the game's frame rate dropping to 30 frames per second abruptly owing to throttling and heating difficulties. The 15 Pro Max is without a doubt the most powerful gaming phone available right now, and with more AAA titles hitting the App Store, the future is bright.The issue of some third-party applications causing the iPhone 15 Pro models to overheat has been resolved by Apple, and they have assured users that future iOS 17 upgrades will fix this problem. Playing mobile games like Hearthstone hasn't caused me any problems, but one evening while reading Reddit, I did notice my iPhone heating up on the left side.Although the number of persons exhibiting these peculiarities is unknown, my experience suggests that there shouldn't be any reason for concern. Apple has reassured customers that even in situations when your iPhone is operating hotter than normal, there is no significant safety concern since the problem is not a hardware malfunction but rather a software defect.

Judgement

Premium design, top-tier hardware, and industry-standard software come to mind when you hear the term "Pro." Although some of these features were available on earlier iPhone Pro models, there has always been a catch that prevents you from using all of the features the gadget has to offer.The 15 Pro Max seems like the first smartphone to really live up to its name, which is a first since Apple gave the iPhone the 'Pro' brand. The iPhone seems more adaptable than ever thanks to USB-C, and the Pro Max variant this year feels like a major advancement in terms of increased functionality and simplicity of use. We're also embarking on an exciting new chapter that has the potential to redefine the landscape of mobile gaming, beginning with this device.

Replacements

Are you unsure whether you should get the iPhone 15 Pro Max? Not everyone needs a fancy USB-C and a GPU update, so here are some more smartphones you may choose from.

iPhone 14 Pro Max from Apple

An outdated iPhone model is your sole viable option if you've made investments in the Apple ecosystem instead of the brand-new device. Depending on how you use your phone, you may not find the need for a new charging port at all. In that case, the iPhone 14 Pro Max will serve you well for at least the next three years; in fact, it made our list of the top gaming iPhones .Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the Android version of the iPhone 15 Pro Max; it features a screen that is comparable in size, amazing cameras, and performance that is above average when compared to other phones available. If you want to immerse yourself in a new environment, Samsung even produces its own watch. For further information, see our Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review.That concludes our evaluation of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. If you do decide to buy this little gem, be sure to go through our selection of the top iPhone 15 Pro Max covers. To assist you in outfitting your tech, we've also compiled a broad list of the best iPhone cases, the best power banks, and the best Mint Mobile plans.