iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: Power vs Creativity

This year, Google’s largest and most powerful flagship, the Pixel 9 Pro XL, takes direct aim at Apple’s newest contender, the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Both phones are packed with cutting-edge features, setting up one of the fiercest rivalries in the smartphone market.

Google got a head start by unveiling the Pixel 9 Pro XL ahead of Apple’s launch, showcasing a host of impressive upgrades. Among the highlights are a 42MP selfie camera, which has excelled in our PhoneArena Camera Score tests, the next-gen Gemini Nano AI assistant, and a refreshed design that bears a subtle resemblance to the iPhone.

Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max introduces exciting advancements of its own. With a new image sensor for the ultrawide camera that promises significant improvements in quality, faster wireless charging, a stunning 6.9-inch display, a new Camera Control button, and the ability to shoot 4K video at 120fps, it’s clear that Apple isn’t holding back.

Price-wise, the Pixel 9 Pro XL starts at $1,099 for 128GB of storage, slightly undercutting the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s $1,199 price tag—though Apple’s offering begins with 256GB of storage.

iOS 18.1 Update: Apple's AI-powered future is taking shape with the release of iOS 18.1. The update introduces initial features like notification summaries, advanced writing tools, and the Photos Clean Up tool. However, the real excitement lies ahead. iOS 18.2, scheduled for December, will bring significant AI advancements. Siri will be integrated with ChatGPT, enabling more natural and informative conversations. Additionally, visual intelligence capabilities will allow users to analyze and understand images, while creative tools like Image Playground, Genmoji, and Image Wand will unleash AI-powered image generation and editing possibilities.

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Apple started using titanium for its Pro iPhone frames, which is also what the iPhone 16 Pro Max's has. In comparison, Google is yet to switch to a different type of material from aluminum. So, at the very least the iPhone should be more resistant to damage, despite Google's claims that the new Pixel 9 Pro XL is twice as durable as before.

Speaking of durability, Apple also introduced the second generation of its Ceramic Shield glass, which the company says is 50% higher toughness compared to the first generation. Whether this is marketing talk or not we can't say, but screens on iPhones have shown better durability compared to the Gorilla Glass 2 on Pixel phones in the last few year.



Size-wise, there isn't too big of a difference between the two, and both phones felt very similar to hold during this comparison. The iPhone measures 163 x 77.6 x 8.25 mm (6.42 x 3.06 x 0.33 in) and the Pixel Pro 9 XL comes in at 162.8 x 76.6 x 8.5 mm (6.41 x 3.02 x 0.33 in). Despite its titanium frame, the iPhone weighs in more at 227g vs the 221g of the Pixel 9 Pro XL, but we didn't really feel the difference.

Google refreshed the Pixel's design this year. Apart from its new camera module, the rest of the Pixel 9 Pro XL looks remarkably similar to Apple's iPhones in terms of shape. Of course, the camera modules make differentiating between the two very easy, and it continues to be a great place to rest your fingers for a better grip.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max has two additional buttons besides the volume and power ones. Of course, you get the customizable Action Button that debuted with the 15 Pro Max last year, but Apple has also added a Camera Control capacitive key that lets you work with the camera in new ways; more on that later.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL comes with a big 6.8-inch display that can reach a peak brightness of 3000 nits, and has a minimum of 2 nits. It also has a resolution of 2992 x 1344 pixels and a 1-120Hz variable refresh rate.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes with a slightly larger 6.9-inch display and extremely thin bezels, a resolution of 2868 x 1320 pixels, and 1-120Hz variable refresh rate. However, it cannot compare in terms of maximum brightness, capping at 2000 nits. That said, it does reach lower brightness of just 1 nit.

Now that Google has reduced the bezels with the Pixel 9 Pro XL and made them uniform, it can finally rival the aesthetics of the iPhone's display, but since Apple has made the iPhone's bezels even thinner there is still a noticeable difference when you switch from one to the other. This is hardly an important, though, as the difference is hardly significant.

Another big thing for the Pixel 9 Pro XL is that it gets an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor embedded in its display, which we definitely noticed during our review of the phone. Of course, the iPhone continues to rock FaceID as its biometric security system, but we are a bit disappointed that Apple did not include TouchID with the new Camera Control key.

Display Measurements:

The display on the Pixel 9 Pro XL might not get as dim on as that on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but it performs better in most other cases. The greatest difference is in the brightness levels, where the iPhone 16 did quite poorly for a flagship phone in 2024, especially one with such a high price tag.

In comparison, we measured twice as high brightness levels on the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and that difference was definitely felt when using the phone when it was sunny outside.

The Pixel also offered much more accurate colors. Apple used to be pretty good when it came to color accurate screens, but it seems this has changed in the last few years, and the 16 Pro Max we have here at the office is one of the worse cases.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes with Apple's A18 Pro chipset (3nm), which comes with a 15% faster CPU and 20% GPU compared to its predecessor. It also has a new 16-core neural engine that's faster and more efficient, meant to power Apple Intelligence. Additionally, Apple says it has improved the thermal design for 20% improvement in heat management and better performance.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL's Tensor G4 seemed to be somewhat slow at performing AI functions during our time with the phone, although that might improve with software updates. The Google Assistant on the Pixel 9 series is slowly but surely being replaced by Gemini, which is now multimodal and can understand information not only from text, but also from images, speech, and audio.

AI implementation on the Pixel 9 Pro XL blends fun and practicality better than most other phones right now. Features like the new "Add Me" one where you can create a single group photo from two separate ones is one more very creative way that Google has used AI on its phones.

Google also provides Google Lens on the Pixel 9 Pro XL (and other phones via the Google app), which lets users point at anything and get relevant information. Apple will also be adding a similar feature called Visual Intelligence, which will basically have the same functionality, but will be activated via the new Camera Control button.

Speaking of Apple's AI, the iPhone 16 Pro Max finally received the first batch of Apple Intelligence features on October 28 with iOS 18.1. This first wave includes the new look for Siri and its ability to hold more natural conversations, writing and summary tools, improvements to the Photos app, voice transcription for the Notes and Phone apps, and more.

As for connectivity, Apple has added support for Wi-Fi 7, which offers faster speeds and lower latency, especially in crowded networks. There is also a new Snapdragon X75 5G  modem that improves signal strength and power efficiency.

In terms of software support, Apple matches Google's 7 years of Android updates and security patches.

Google has never really placed a flagship-level chip inside its Pixel phones since it started using Tensor silicon, and the difference in performance is most stark here. The new A18 Pro chip from Apple is an absolute powerhouse, with nearly double the performance to that of the Tensor G4 in every benchmark test.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL has the same camera system at the back that came with last year's Pixel 8 Pro. What's new is the selfie camera, which is now a 42MP and much more light sensitive than before. As you will see from our samples, this improves the image quality drastically, making it visibly better than the 12MP selfie camera on the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes with a brand new 48MP sensor for the ultrawide camera, matching the resolution of the Pixel 9 Pro XL's ultra wide snapper. Sadly, contrary to what we were hoping to see, Apple has not made the new 48MP ultra wide camera default to 24MP shots like the main camera. Since it defaults to 12MP like the Pixel, you will notice very similar image quality in the samples.

When it comes to the telephoto cameras, however, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is clearly the better performer, thanks to its higher resolution and better image processing when it comes to zoomed in shots.

As for video recording, the iPhone 16 Pro Max now comes with support for 4K 120FPS video. What's more, users can utilize this mode when recording in the Dolby Vision, ProRes, and LOG formats. You can even adjust the frame rate after the video has been recorded. This is arguably the biggest selling factor for the new Pro Max.

Another camera-related addition with the 16 Pro Max is the new capacitive Camera Control button. This new button is pressure sensitive, so you can half-press to focus, for example, and then press more firmly to take the shot. It also works with third-party applications and offers several other functions via swiping your finger on it, like changing the Photographic Style or aperture during Portrait Mode.

Speaking of Photographic Styles, Apple has added more of them this year, some of which are very stylistic. Users can also adjust how the filter is applied to the image via a single control pad.

When it comes to AI camera features Apple is lagging behind quite a bit though. There is only one from all iPhone 16 AI features that's related to the camera experience, dubbed the Clean Up tool, and it works exactly like Google's Magic Eraser.

Google already introduced quite a bit of camera AI functionality with last year's models, but the company has expanded on that solid foundation. Arguably the most noteworthy new AI camera-related feature on the Pixel 9 Pro XL is the add Add Me feature that we already discussed earlier.

What's more, while it cannot shoot at 4K 120FPS, the Pixel 9 Pro XL can use Google's Video Boost feature to upscale 4K footage to 8K resolution, although we would argue that the iPhone's higher frame rate video in 4K resolution is the more useful feature.

Apple has improved the four microphones and claims the new ones offer "studio quality" recording. These new mics also allow for the new Audio Mix feature during video recording, which you can use to simulate different sound profiles in your video: Studio, Cinematic, and In-Frame. The new mics are also what allows for better noise reduction, especially noise generated by wind.

Check out more about this in our articles about the iPhone 16 camera and Pixel 9 camera.

PhoneArena Camera Score:

The iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro XL performed very similarly in our Camera Score testing. The key difference is that the iPhone is slightly better in video recording while the Pixel in taking photos, which is nothing new when comparing these models.

Main Camera

In this example the iPhone seems to offer more realistic colors with its main camera compared to the Pixel. Also, it has managed to capture a sharper photo with more detail in the shadows.



In this instance where there is very little light, the tables turn in favor of the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which has produced a brighter image and therefore a more clear one. It is, however, slightly more smudged out in some areas, so the Pixel appears to have more aggressive noise reduction.

Zoom Quality

The 5X telephoto cameras on the 16 Pro Max and 9 Pro XL have the starkest difference in terms of image quality from all. The Pixel's higher-resolution sensor might be what's giving it an edge here, as its telephoto image is visibly sharper compared to that from the iPhone.

This is also the only case where we prefer the colors from the Pixel.

Ultra-wide Camera

The main difference in the ultra wide cameras between these two phones is their color reproduction. The Pixel 9 Pro XL has added a weird green tint to the sky and has not represented the sunset colors very well. In contrast, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has shown much more true-to-life colors of the sand and sunset.

The iPhone is also ever so slightly sharper in this case, but it is barely noticeable.

Selfies

The selfie camera of the Pixel 9 Pro XL has produced a visibly sharper image, so it is the better phone to consider if you value clear selfies. It has also brightened the face more, without overdoing it, whereas the iPhone has kept the lighting more natural.

The iPhone has also, again, produced more realistic hues and has better color graduation, which is the transition from one color to another, as in the sky here.

More Camera Samples

Video Quality

Stay tuned for our comparison of video samples from both phones very soon!

Battery life has historically been pretty awesome on the iPhone Pro Max and larger Pixel models. But Apple said it improved the battery life with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and boy did that turn out to be true during our tests.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is officially in 8th place on our list of phones with the best battery life. The Pixel 9 Pro XL is not even in our top 20.

The Pixel has a large 5060 mAh battery that's quite larger than the 4685mAh one on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but it is well known that battery life is affected by much more than just battery size.

As for charging, neither the iPhone nor the Pixel have ever featured incredibly fast charging speeds, with representatives from both models usually aiming for a 50% charge in about 30 minutes of charging. However, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is stated to be able to charge from 1-70% in 30 minutes, while apple claims a 50% charge for the same amount of time.

The one thing Apple had going for its iPhones since the introduction of the iPhone 12 series was MagSafe, and that is still the case. But now it also offers 25W of wireless charging, which is a little higher than the 23W on the Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Sadly, wired charging has not changed on either of these two phones, so we are looking at the same 25W on the iPhone 16 Pro Max and 37W on the Pixel 9 Pro XL.

A peculiar detail we noticed during our charging tests, however, was that the iPhone 16 Pro Max spikes to around 38W of wired charging speeds if it is being charged during benchmark testing or a gaming session. Apple most likely does this to assure charging speeds don't not change as the phone draws power from the battery to support demanding tasks.

PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:

The Pixel 9 Pro XL might have a significantly larger battery, but it still manages to charge quicker with around a 10-minute difference. That said, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max charges more slowly, it has much better power efficiency and therefore a charge of 50% will last you longer than on the Pixel.

Overall we are looking at somewhat similar iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Pixel 9 Pro XL specs, besides the chipsets, which will differ quite a bit from each other in terms of processing power.

The most notable specs here are the differences in wired charging, telephoto cameras, and the chipsets. Of course, specs can tell us very little, especially when it comes to the camera performance, so keep that in mind.

It appears this year is an important one for camera upgrades, both for the iPhone and the Pixel high-end models. But we are a bit disappointed to see that the iPhone does not default to 24MP shots with its new ultra-wide camera.

The main area where its camera system shines over the Pixel's is the color reproduction. In most other cases, however, the two perform similarly. The Pixel 9 Pro XL does seem to have the upper hand in zoom quality, and it prefers to capture more blurry but brighter night photos.

Besides the cameras, the most notable differentiating factor and ultimately the reason why you choose one instead of the other, is the way AI gets utilized and the user experience. Of course, that is unless you are walled in Apple's ecosystem, as that is a major transition stopper.

But Apple seems to be struggling to keep up with the wave of AI innovation, while Android is becoming more and more powerful via Google's extensive experience in this segment. Not to mention that the Pixel 9 Pro XL looks and feels a lot like an iPhone now, so a transition might not feel as weird to consumers as it used to be.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a lot of promise when it comes to its camera system, but for most else there appears to be little that can beat the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Well, except in raw chip performance, of course, which might prove crucial for future updates and software advancements.

We truly believe most users would be happy with their purchase no matter which of these two phones they go for. It is typically a good sign when the choice boils down to personal preference, and that is exactly what seems to be the case here.

We can't help but point out the irony here. While the iPhone 16 Pro Max is well-positioned for the future purely in terms of hardware, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is already one foot into the future thanks to its creative implementation of software.