The iPhone 16 Pro Max was announced with the rest of the iPhone 16 family on September 9, 2024, and it is the most advanced iPhone to come out this year.
The flagship features a larger display with the thinnest bezels ever on an iPhone and a titanium design with an Action Button. Apple also introduced a new Camera Control Button, which allows users to quickly take photos or videos.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max uses Apple’s new 3nm A18 Pro chip. It includes a significantly upgraded Neural Engine designed with Apple Intelligence in mind. Improvements in efficiency and processing are also here, hinting at better raw performance and longer battery life.
A big 4,676mah battery is inside the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, the largest ever fitted on an iPhone. We are also getting faster 40W USB Type-C charging speeds and 25W MagSafe.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max camera has a 48MP Fusion sensor, as well as a new 48MP ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture. The phone has the same 5X telephoto tetraprism camera as the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which hasn't been updated yet. There are new Photographic styles on deck, as well as enhanced video recording.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max arrives with iOS 18 out of the box. Announced at WWDC'24, the upcoming software update will shake things up with important upgrades to customization, some core iOS apps like Photos and Messages.
iOS 18.1 (now out) delivered the first wave of Apple Intelligence features, including Writing Tools, notification summaries, and so on. The upcoming iOS 18.2, including ChatGPT integration on the low level, Image Playground, and Genmoji, will be out in December 2024. Finally, the vastly reworked and more powerful Siri is expected in 2025.
The available colors include Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, and Desert Titanium.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max was officially announced on September 9, 2024, at Apple’s "It’s Glowtime" event.
A couple of days after the official iPhone 16 Pro Max announcement, Apple will kick off the pre-orders for its upcoming phones. This will take place on Friday, September 13, 2024. As usual, ten days after the phone's announcement and a week after the pre-orders have kicked off, the iPhone 16 Pro Max will officially hit the shelves on September 20, 2024.
iPhone 16 Pro Max price
iPhone model
128GB of storage
256GB of storage
512GB of storage
1TB of storage
iPhone 16 Pro Max
-
$1,199
$1,399-$1,499
$1,599-$1,699
iPhone 15 Pro Max
-
$1,199
$1,399
$1,599
iPhone 14 Pro Max
$1,099
$1,199
$1,399
$1,599
There is no price hike for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The device costs just as much as the iPhone 15 Pro Max did at launch, but various iPhone 16 pre-order deals might make it slightly more appealing. The iPhone 16 Pro Max flagship starts at $1,199 for the entry-level 256GB model.
Apple: Cupertino's iPhone Upgrade program lets you get a new iPhone every year, along with AppleCare+ coverage. You can trade in your existing iPhone and get a new one after making 12 payments to Apple. Prices currently start at $39.50/mo for a 128GB iPhone 16, $44.91 for a 128GB iPhone 16 Plus, $49.91 for an iPhone 16 Pro, and $58.25 for a 256GB iPhone 16 Pro Max. You can sign up online, through the Apple Store app, or through any Apple Store.
Verizon: The new iPhone 16 lineup gets some sweet pre-order deals from Verizon. If you add a new line, enroll in an eligible unlimited plan, and exchange your previous phone, you may be eligible for a complimentary iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, or iPhone 16 Pro. As for the top-of-the-line iPhone 16 Pro Max, it can be yours for as low as $5.55.
T-Mobile: The Magenta carrier also allows you to buy an iPhone 16 and trade in an eligible phone. If you’re on T-Mobile’s Go5G Next plan, you can get up to $1,000 or $500 off, depending on your trade-in. On the Go5G Plus plan, you can get up to $800 or $400 off. You’ll get part of the discount right away and the rest as monthly credits for 2 years.
AT&T: The carrier is offering up to $1,000 in bill credits over the next 36 months on the new lineup, as long as you opt for an eligible unlimited plan and trade in an eligible device. You could get an iPhone 16 or 16 Pro for free, and an iPhone 16 Pro Max or 16 Plus for as low as $5.56 or $2.78 a month, respectively.
iPhone 16 Pro Max camera
The iPhone 16 Pro Max boasts a 48MP Fusion camera, a 48MP Ultra Wide camera, and a 5x Telephoto camera. | Image credit – Apple
Main: 48MP, 24mm, f/1.78
Ultra-wide: 48MP, 13mm, f/2.4
Telephoto: 12MP, 120mm (5X optical zoom), f/2.8
The iPhone 16 Pro Max camera comes with a 48MP Fusion sensor but now also features a new 48MP ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture, a big leap from the 12MP ultra-wide cameras on previous iPhones. For telephoto shots, the phone sports the same 5X telephoto tetraprism camera from the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which hasn't scored any upgrades.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max adopts a new ultra-wide camera, similarly to the iPhone 16 camera. After years of using a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, Apple finally transitions to a 48MP ultra-wide camera with a 0.7um pixel size and a sensor size of 1/2.6", a serious upgrade over the 12MP ultra-wide with 1.0um pixels and a 1/3.6" sensor that Apple has previously used, which will help with low-light image quality.
Like the rest of the range, the iPhone 16 Pro Max can also capture Spatial Video for the Apple Vision Pro headset.
We are also getting 4K at 120 fps video recording in Dolby Vision, making the new Pro models deliver the highest resolution and frame rate combination ever seen on an iPhone.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max features the thinnest bezels on an iPhone so far, without adding too much heft to the overall dimensions of the device. This has allowed Apple to super-size the display to 6.9 inches across, up from 6.7-inch on previous iPhones.
But that is not all: one of the new design features that debuted on last year's iPhone lineup was the customizable Action Button, which allows users to choose between a handful of options and features to quickly enable or disable. This hardware feature is back on the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The phone itself features a titanium frame once more, though the new one is more vibrant in contrast with last year's mostly muted iPhones in terms of color. You can choose from the following iPhone 16 colors:
Black Titanium
White Titanium
Natural Titanium
Desert Titanium
iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera Control Button
With the new Camera Control Button you can simply slide your finger to adjust camera functions like exposure or depth of field. | Image credit – Apple
A novelty on the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the addition of a new capacitive Camera Control Button. This new button is located on the right side of the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro, just a bit below the power button. As you might guess from its name, this handy addition acts as a multifunctional shutter button, making it super easy to focus and capture photos or videos.
You can even zoom in and out by swiping the Camera Control button left or right, or adjust the zoom, exposure, or depth of field with a single press and swipe. Later this year, Apple will bring two-stage focus, which allows you to lock the exposure and focus and reframe your photo.
iPhone 16 Pro Max display
The iPhone 16 Pro Max has the largest display on an iPhone ever. | Image credit – Apple
A very significant change with the iPhone 16 Pro Max is its larger 6.9-inch display, a significant improvement over the 6.7-inch display that we've enjoyed ever since the iPhone 12 Pro Max days. Apple achieves this display real estate increase by further minimizing the bezels.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max uses a smooth OLED display with ProMotion that can go up to 120Hz. OLED screens have exceptional contrast, superb viewing angles, and lovely, deep colors.
Just like all other iPhone 16 models, the iPhone 16 Pro Max arrives with the Dynamic Island punch-hole.
iPhone 16 Pro Max storage
iPhone 16 Pro Max storage versions:
256 GB
512 GB
1 TB
Last year, Apple ditched the 128GB entry-level storage version on its largest iPhone, so the device featured 256GB in its base version. On the other end of the spectrum, the device was still available with up to a terabyte of on-board storage. That's the storage selection on the iPhone 16 Pro Max as well.
iPhone 16 Pro Max battery
What about the iPhone 16 Pro Max battery? Apple claims that the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the most durable iPhone in terms of battery life, partly due to a battery size increase and partly thanks to the boosted efficiency of the Apple A18 Pro chipset. At the moment, we don't have the specific battery size of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but we have the battery life estimates versus the previous models:
iPhone 16 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro battery life in hours
iPhone 16 Plus vs iPhone 15 Plus battery life in hours
iPhone 16 vs iPhone 15 battery life in hours
Video Playback 27 / 23
Video Playback 27 / 26
Video Playback 22 / 20
Video Playback (Streamed) 22 / 20
Video Playback (Streamed) 24 / 20
Video Playback (Streamed) 18 / 16
Audio Playback 85 / 75
Audio Playback 100 / 100
Audio Playback 80 / 80
Charging Speed Upgrades
The iPhone 16 Pro Max didn't receive a wired charging speed upgrade. Yet, it kind of did: in certain scenarios when you're charging the phone and using a power-intensive app, the phone will draw more power in order to compensate for the increased draw. We saw hikes up to 38W in our tests, though normally the device will charge at around 25W.
However, it got a nifty wireless charging speed improvement in the form of much faster 25W MagSafe charging; the phone is also Qi2-certified.
Is there a charger in the box? The iPhone 16 Pro Max won't come with a charger in the box. Apple stopped including chargers with the iPhone 12 generation and instead moved onto slim shipping boxes.
iPhone 16 Pro Max features and software
Apple Intelligence is coming later this fall. | Image credit – Apple
The iPhone 16 Pro Max arrives with iOS 18 (our iOS 18 review available here), but the interesting Apple Intelligence suite of features will arrive in a staggered manner. This means that you don't get everything as a whole package from the get-go; instead, Apple will be releasing a few Apple Intelligence features with each minor iOS 18.x software update in the coming months.
The vastly expanded iPhone 16 AI capabilities are undoubtedly the biggest new feature coming with iOS 18. Here, AI stands for two things: not only "artificial intelligence", but "Apple Intelligence" as well. Apple Intelligence partners with OpenAI’s ChatGPT to enhance AI, with a possible collaboration with Google’s Gemini. All iPhone 16 models will support Apple Intelligence.
The essential Messages app now supports RCS, which finally allows proper text messaging exchange between iOS and Android devices. The app now has advanced formatting options (strike-through, underline), allows you to schedule sending text messages, and more.
Writing tools will be available in any text-based app, enabling rewriting, proofreading, and style changes. The Photos app adds a Clean Up tool for removing unwanted objects, plus generative emoji and images on supported devices (iPhone 15 Pro/Max and newer).
The iPhone 16 Pro Max will be supported for at least five years, but certainly more. iPhones usually get supported for seven to eight years before being dropped from the support list.
Powered by the Apple A18 Pro chip: iPhone 16 Pro Max hardware and specs
The iPhone 16 Pro Maxarrives with the 3nm Apple A18 Pro chip, which is built on TSMC's second-gen N3E manufacturing process. It features a hexacore GPU, whereas the regular Apple A18 chip that powers the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus comes with a pentacore GPU.
Aside from that, all A18 chips feature dual 4.05GHz performance cores and quad efficiency cores.
Apple also put an improved Neural Engine inside the iPhone 16 Pro Max to supercharge the artificial intelligence of the phone. The 16-core Neural Engine unit will be a serious upgrade in both machine learning and artificial intelligence processing.
iPhone 16 Pro Max reviews and comparisons
iPhone 16 Pro Max review: bigger screen, bigger opportunities––We take a deep dive into Apple's latest top flagship phone. It delivers excellent battery life, notable additions to the camera, and superb performance. Read our full review to learn more.
Now that the iPhone 16 Pro Max has been unveiled, let’s take a look at how it stacks up against other flagship phones and its siblings in the iPhone lineup.
You should buy the iPhone 16 Pro Max if you've held up on upgrading to a newer iPhone in the past few years and are using a device that's nearing the end of its life. These include the iPhone 8 series, iPhone Xs series, and to some extent the iPhone 11 series.
Upgrading from any of those to the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro Max will be more than a major improvement in terms of overall features and general value. Of course, if you're using an older regular iPhone, then the next top Apple flagship might entice you.
You should not upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro Max if…
You've recently upgraded to or purchased a fairly recent iPhone, especially of the Pro Max flavor. Those with iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 14 Pro Max, and even iPhone 13 Pro Max might not be swayed to upgrade to the 2024 iteration of the flagship.
Those devices will be more than capable and adequate for years to come, so if you're willing to maximize the value of your existing device, you should stick with your existing device for another year or so.
Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.
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