With three iPhones - 11, Pro and Max - released simultaneously for the first time, Apple is gearing up to close all price and features entry points an upgrader could desire in one fell swoop.
Needless to say, while the XR was the most sold iPhone for the year or so since its introduction, we are more interested in what the XS and Max heirs that bear the "Pro" moniker now, have to offer when compared to their predecessors.
The big deal is the big camera upgrade, of course, carrying with it the only real design change, but there are plenty of subtle differences for the better that are worth exploring in depth for those who want to know if the 2019 iPhones are worth upgrading to if you have bought the OLED models of 2018. Check them out.
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max vs XS Max design and displays
Faster? Yes. Better? Yes. Bigger? No.
Remember the outcry when the first CAD-based image renders of the upcoming 2019 iPhone family hit the tape? What, a square camera area on the back, how's that for an abomination? That's how our comment section and poll respondents reacted on the design matter and we can't help but wonder why Apple chose this design.
The top corner positioning may leave more space for a battery underneath, but the Mate 20 Pro carried a huge 4100 mAh battery already, and still managed to keep a square camera area symmetrical. One thing that comes to our minds is that the "tock" design of the 2019 iPhones is known to largely remain the same as a rule.
It may not have been feasible for Apple's bottom line to rework the internals further in an "s" year just for the sake of aesthetics, so it simply expanded the camera bump needed to accommodate the extra wide-angles lens. The camera kit had to go somewhere new, but heading down the vertical axis would have required quite the reshuffling of the inner components, so a rude but eye-catching elevation may have been preferable for the design department.
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That, and the fact that Jony Ive is no longer there to stop them. We kid, yet once you look at this significant bump, you can't help but think "jeez, this phone is a camera monster," and perhaps that's exactly what Apple is banking on - its customers are rarely spec freaks that obsess over every megapixel and zoom level but they do respond to visual cues. Long story short, the camera area expansion is the only thing that visually separates the iPhone XS/Max from the 11 Pro duo.
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max vs XS Max specs, memory and battery
As for the specs differences, it's a whole lot of more - more speed, more battery, more waterproofing. The biggest change is, needless to say, the move from Apple A12 Bionic to the new A13 chipset, made with TSMC's most advanced second generation 7nm process. It adds 30% more transistors in the 11 Pro and Max, aiding the phones' machine learning and computational photography prowess significantly while only slightly boosting the performance in synthetic benchmarks as you can see in the comparison below.
A12 (left) vs A13 benchmark
Unfortunately, the new iPhones aren't starting from 128GB memory as rumored, and 64GB goes nowhere these days, but they do have much larger batteries for the record battery life on the 11 Pro Max. An all-around upgrade, save for the oldie design that's been around for two years now, introduced with the iPhone X, and we'll have to bear it one more, at least at the front. Here are all the differences in a breezy table layout.
Fast (18W) charger in the box Wireless charging support
Fast (18W) charger in the box Wireless charging support
Water resistance
up to 2m for 30 minutes
up to 2m for 30 minutes
up to 4m for 30 minutes
up to 4m for 30 minutes
Colors
Gold, Space Gray, Silver
Gold, Space Gray, Silver
Gold, Space Gray, Silver, Midnight Green
Gold, Space Gray, Silver, Midnight Green
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max vs iPhone XS Max camera specs and features
Compared to the iPhone XS and XS Max, the new iPhone 11 Pro and its larger sibling is getting an ultra wide-angle lens addition to supplement the main sensor and the telephoto camera. All three sensors are 12MP which undoubtedly helps Apple's quest to form one excellent photo from three great sensor/lens combos by using new machine-learning and computational photography algorithms made possible by the blazing A13.
The unsurpassed raw processing power also allows Apple to offer real-time video crops, changing of backgrounds and adding effects on the new 11 Pro and Max. All three cameras on the Pro and Max collect light information in their respective sensors simultaneously but in different ways that Apple merges in real time so each of the cameras fills up for the other two in areas where they can't go.
The result? Better night shots, quality zoom and portraits, or wide-angle shots that don't have the typical distorted perspective around the edges. We can't wait to pit Apple's new photography powerhouses against the Pixel 4's computational photography, as this time around Google also includes telephoto lens for better zoom and portrait shots.
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max vs XS Max prices
Move on, people, nothing new to see here!
Seriously, if you have been waiting for Apple to start off its 2019 flagships from anything short of a grand, you've been sorely mistaken, as the iPhone 11 Pro blasts off at $999. The souped-up Pro Max hits up to $1449 when you get the 512GB version, but Apple's cutting the XR by a Benjamin and a half, so if you are in the market for something less than, you can save some. What do you think about this year's iPhone upgrade?
64GB
128GB
256GB
512GB
Apple iPhone 11/XR
$699/$599
$749/$649
$849/n/a
n/a
5.8" Apple iPhone 11 Pro
$999
n/a
$1149
$1349
6.5" Apple iPhone 11 Pro (Max)
$1099
n/a
$1249
$1449
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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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