Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: Save your money!
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Intro
Apple's latest iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn't score that many upgrades in comparison with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but all the new features are just enough to have it easily crowned as the most advanced iPhone out there currently, as usual. Scoring some pro upgrades aimed at professionals, the gap between the regular iPhones and their Pro brethren has never been smaller.
There's a faster new chip, a new ultra-wide camera, a larger display with the thinnest bezels we've seen on an iPhone, and a whole new Camera Control button that will please the shutterbugs. Add in a larger battery and greatly improved video-recording capabilities, and you get a pretty solid round of upgrades that are coming to the one iPhone Apple really wants to sell you!
Overall, we think that the iPhone 16 Pro Max is an excellent iPhone, logically the best one released by Apple so far. However, the older iPhone 15 Pro Max doesn't automatically get outdated with the arrival of the new device. It's still a mighty fine device, and actually still holds up extremely well to the newer jumbo-sized iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Both iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro Max have now got iOS 18.2, with many new Apple Intelligence features available. The latest update brought Image Playground and Genmoji, as well as ChatGPT integration for Siri, Visual Intelligence for the iPhone 16 Pro Max's Capture button, and categories for Apple Mail.
iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max differences:
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | iPhone 15 Pro Max |
|---|---|
| Titanium design, the largest iPhone ever | Titanium design, slightly more compact |
| Second-gen 3nm Apple A18 Pro chip, delivering better performance | The first-gen 3nm Apple A17 Pro, still with excellent performance |
| New 48MP ultra-wide camera with larger sensor | 12MP ultra-wide camera |
| 1.2mm bezels | 1.55mm bezels |
| Slightly taller and wider than the iPhone 15 Pro Max | Mostly similar to previous iPhone Pro Max models in terms of size |
| Larger 6.9-inch display with the thinnest bezels on an iPhone so far | 6.7-inch display with thin bezels |
| 1-nit minimum brightness | Higher minimum brightness |
| Latest-gen Ceramic Shield | Older Ceramic Shield front |
| Faster A18 Pro chip, still 3nm | Apple A17 Pro chip, 3nm as well |
| Apple Intelligence support with iOS 18.1 | Apple Intelligence support with iOS 18.1 as well |
| Faster Wi-Fi 7, Snapdragon X75 5G data throughput speeds | Wi-Fi 6E, Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 5G (slightly lower potential data speeds) |
| New Camera Control button that acts as a shutter button/zoom button | No Camera Control button |
| Visual Intelligence with Camera Control | No Visual Intelligence |
| Spatial videos and photos | Spatial videos |
| Better battery life (Up to 33hrs of video playback) | Slightly worse battery life (Up to 29hrs of video playback) |
| Very fast 25W MagSafe, Qi2/Qi support | Regular 15W MagSafe, Qi support |
Table of Contents:
Read more:
- Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: New features, price, specs, and release date
- iPhone 16 Pro Max review: bigger screen, bigger opportunities
- iPhone 15 Pro Max review: scope the difference
- iPhone 16 vs iPhone 15 Review
- OnePlus 13 vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: David vs Goliath
Design and Size
Important changes
A slightly bigger size on the new 16 Pro Max model (Image by PhoneArena)
The iPhone 16 Pro Max inherits the same design language as the iPhone 15 Pro Max, employing the same titanium frame with a completely flat screen. There's an improved new Ceramic Shield at the front, which is twice as tough as the regular Ceramic Shield up front, apparently.
The major differences between the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 15 Pro Max are size-related. The new model's screen grows to 6.9 inches across, a significant bump over the iPhone 15 Pro Max's 6.7-inch display. Apple has achieved this important display increase by simultaneously making the device bigger and slimming down the bezels as well.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max measures 163mm in height and 77.6mm in width, versus 159.9mm and 76.7mm for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, respectively. A small, but notable change, all things considered.
Reasonably thick (Image by PhoneArena)
The iPhone 15 Pro Max debuted with an Action Button instead of a mute switch and a USB Type-C port at the bottom, so those two features will be carrying over to the newer model as well. However, the iPhone 16 Pro Max keeps things fresh by scoring a new Camera Control button, which delivers a whole new way of interacting with your iPhone's camera.
It's a fully capacitive button that resides on the right side of the device, below the power button. It allows users to quickly open the camera, start recording a video or take a photo, adjust the exposure, focal depth, or switch between the Photographic Styles.
The Camera Control button doesn't take an awful lot to get used to, you can get fully accustomed to it in a couple of minutes. One thing that doesn't really sit right is its not very ergonomic position. At least in my large palms, the Camera Control button happens to be a bit difficult to reach in both portrait and landscape orientation, which isn't helping with its use case.
You may happen to like it, I just don't feel comfortable using it.
iPhone 16 Pro Max vs 15 Pro Max Color Differences
We have four color options on both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the 15 Pro Max, but three of the four shades are slightly different, and the fourth model is a new color.
Black is a darker shade on the 16 Pro Max (on the left here and below)
The natural gray color is also brighter
White is brighter and not as warm as before
The fourth color is desert vs blue on the 15 Pro Max
- Also read: iPhone 16 colors
Display Differences
Incredibly slim borders around the screen on the 16 Pro Max (Image by PhoneArena)
As mentioned, the iPhone 16 Pro Max comes along with a significantly larger display, measuring at 6.9 inches across. Apple has achieved that by employing a larger frame as well as thinner bezels. A 6.9-inch display will make the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the iPhone with the largest screen ever.
Aside from the size bump, we don't really get any other major changes. The Liquid Retina XDR display with an OLED panel delivering superb colors, contrast, and good peak brightness (2,000 nits) is still here and is largely the same. The minimum brightness has been improved to a mere 1 nit, though.
The screen supports 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, which will be the fourth consecutive iPhone generation equipped with this tech; it makes scrolling through the interface and on-screen content way smoother.
How does the new phone's screen fare against the older one?
Well, we measured slightly lower peak brightness by a little, as well as the promises of a lower minimum brightness also stand. The display of the iPhone 16 Pro Max is warmer than the one on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but the rest of the color accuracy properties are mostly the same, so if you've seen an iPhone 15 Pro Max in person, then the iPhone 16 Pro Max's screen won't be much different.
You may ask why our measurements show slightly over 1,000 nits for either iPhone, whereas Apple promises 2,000 nits. We measure a 100% APL (fully lit display showcasing a pure white image), whereas most manufacturers measure the brightness over a small portion of the screen, which enables the diodes of the OLED display to draw more power.
Both iPhones rely on Face ID for authentication and phone unlocking.
Performance and Software
The age of 3nm and Apple Intelligence is upon us
Apple A18 Pro chip built on second-gen 3nm process (Image by PhoneArena)
The iPhone 16 Pro Max features the 3nm Apple A18 Pro chip, a tiny but important step over the 3nm Apple A17 Pro inside the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The new chip features dual performance and quad efficiency cores, as well as a greatly improved hexacore GPU and a new neural engine unit for enhanced on-device Apple Intelligence processing.
More importantly, Apple has improved the inner design of the phone, delivering more efficient thermal management, which should improve the efficiency and minimize the risk of overheating during intense tasks.
As with every annual Apple chipset upgrade, we get a palpable bump in both the single- and multi-core Geekbench 6 tests. The same applies to our graphics-heavy 3DMark Extreme, which clock in a slight bump in performance in favor of the newer model, as is normal.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max also supports Wi-Fi 7, which theoretically delivers 4X the data throughput speeds of the Wi-Fi 6E on board the iPhone 15 Pro Max. There is a new 5G modem in the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X75 5G, which will consume 20% less energy.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes with iOS 18 out of the box.
Customization in iOS 18 is enhanced with freely movable icons, a multi-paged Control Center, and more flexible dark mode options. Accessibility features are expanded with innovations like Vocal Shortcuts, Eye Tracking, and Music Haptics, which cater to a broader range of users. Some core apps, like Photos, have scored controversial overhauls, which haven't really been welcomed by most users.
iOS 18.1 and Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence is a robust AI framework that improves Siri's capabilities and integrates various AI-driven features into iOS. Most AI processing occurs on the device, but complex tasks can be handled using Apple's Silicon-powered cloud servers.
Apple Intelligence is a staggered release, with the first wave of new AI features coming with iOS 18.1. The latter is now out, so all these features are available for both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 15 Pro Max at this moment.
With iOS 18.1, we got access to Writing Tools, a redesigned Siri, Smart Reply in Messages, a visual revamp for Photos, new Focus mode, notification summaries, record phone calls, and also other improvements to Safari, like distraction removal, and so on.
iOS 18.2
iOS 18.2 is currently available in the developer beta channel and comes with the second wave of Apple Intelligence features. It is expected to get released to the public this December. The new features include:
- Image Playground - lets you create custom images based on text description. Read more about Image Playground right here;
- Genmoji - allows you to you create unique emoji based on a text prompt, optionally using the portrait of any person indexed in your Photos library or a stock yellow-face emoji. Read more about Genmoji here;
- ChatGPT integration in Siri - Apple's smart assistant can now tap into ChatGPT's powers when you ask it to, giving you the full array of AI capabilities of the most popular AI chatbot out there (you can also log with your own account information);
- Additional Writing Tools options - "Compose" and "Describe your change" have been added to Writing Tools;
- Visual Intelligence for iPhone 16 users - By pressing the new Camera Control button, iPhone 16 users can now snap a picture and search the web for information about what's captured;
- Image Wand - This new feature lets you turn your rudimentary sketches into complete graphics;
- Redesigned Mail app - The stock Mail app now has categories, intelligently sorting your mail and keeping it well organized.
iOS 18.3
iOS 18.3 will possibly arrive as a developer beta a few days after iOS 18.2 gets officially released. We are expecting this one to feature the vastly improved Siri, which will support App Intents and will be capable of executing multi-step actions in your apps.
For example, you will be able to tell the assistant to go through your photo library, find all pictures of a blue balloon and send them to a specific contact without requiring any action from you. Sounds pretty rad!
Also read: iPhone 16 AI features
Camera
New ultra-wide incoming and Camera Control
How much has the camera quality changed? (Image by PhoneArena)
Last year, the iPhone 15 Pro Max delivered a host of important camera features, chief among which is the new 120mm telephoto lens that delivers a 5.0x optical zoom to the iPhone camera. A year ago, the main camera of the iPhone Pro Max got upgraded to 48MP.
Well, this year, Apple improves the camera setup by employing a new 48MP ultra-wide camera. We expect greater detail capture, as well as better image quality in low-light conditions, as the camera will be able to combine four sensor pixels into one for increased image sensitivity.
More importantly, however, we get vastly enhanced video-recording features. Chief among these is the 4K@120fps video-recording option, which unlocks a whole new layer of creative control on the iPhone, allowing for creative slo-mo and cinematic scene capture. All of this is available straight on the device, in the Photos app, so you won't have to export your clips to a more capable device.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max also introduces new Photographic Styles, which are more customizable than the first generation of the native color-grading filters for the iPhone camera, introduced back on the iPhone 13 series. These act as advanced filters of sorts, allowing to tinker with the vibrancy and tone of your photos.
Overall, the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro Max are neck-in-neck. As per the PhoneArena Camera Score test, the older iPhone 15 Pro Max actually emerges victorious. The reason for that is mainly due to the more consistent video quality of the older phone. In terms of regular photos, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a slight advantage in the ultra-wide and selfie tests, while the regular camera and the zoom score.
Some other new features that have arrived on the iPhone 16 Pro Max are the studio-quality four-mic array, which reportedly delivers excellent audio quality and has native wind noise reduction, as well as an Audio Mix feature, which lets you select an audio mix when you're recording video.
PhoneArena Camera Score:
- Also read: iPhone 16 camera: All the upgrades
Main Camera
We struggle to find any notable difference between the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Detail, colors, exposure, and overall dynamics look pretty similar in our test samples. This means that if you aren't concerned with all the new Photographic Styles, by default the iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn't deliver significantly better image quality than its predecessor. That's great news for iPhone 15 Pro Max users.
At lower light, the same is true once again. We get pretty similar dynamics and detail, with decent information captured both in the lighter and darker areas of the scene.
Zoom Quality
At 5X zoom, which is native for both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, both phones exhibit similar amounts of sharpness. There's some oversharpening, yes, but it's mostly bearable and doesn't take away from the mostly natural-looking detail. Colors are similar on both, slightly warmer on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but with the arrival of enhanced Photographic Styles, do we need to talk about color any longer? After all, you can change everything with the flick of a button, literally.
The same applies to the longer 10X photo sample. Decent sharpness, clean detail, minimal amounts of oversharpening.
Ultra-wide Camera
The new 48MP ultra-wide delivers slightly more detailed images, with slightly better dynamics, just look at how more detailed the leaves of the trees are. The colors look slightly more vivid as well. All in all, while good, the new ultra-wide camera doesn't deliver anything groundbreaking over the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
At night, the iPhone 16 Pro Max takes slightly warmer photos when many incandescent lights are involved in the mix.
In regular low-light conditions, we actually like how the iPhone 15 Pro Max performs: it delivers moodier photos with richer color and dynamics that are more suitable for a low-light photo. The iPhone 16 Pro Max appears as it's trying to turn the dusk into day, which isn't cool.
Selfies
The front-facing camera didn't score any major updates with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, so it's totally unsurprising that the selfies look mostly the same. Good detail, great colors, great selfies overall!
More Camera Samples
Battery Life and Charging
An even larger battery and hopefully great battery life!
- Also read: iPhone 16 Battery and charging
USB Type-C is now a mainstay (Image by PhoneArena)
There's a large 4,685mAh battery inside the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the largest one ever fitted on an iPhone. We can't complain: we love when companies overlook their innate desire to come up with super-thin devices and instead focus on better battery life.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max comes with a 4,422mAh battery, slightly smaller in comparison. Along with the less efficient chip in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, this doesn't really spell good things for the iPhone 15 Pro Max battery life.
And that's precisely the case.
As per our custom battery tests, the iPhone 16 Pro Max outperforms its predecessor by a fair margin. In the PhoneArena custom web browsing test, which emulates a regular web browsing workflow, the iPhone 16 Pro Max reaches a solid result of 22 hours and 39 minutes, beating the iPhone 15 Pro Max by a couple of hours.
The same applies to our results in both our custom video and 3D gaming tests, both conducted at 60Hz and with the displays set at 200 nits. The iPhone 16 Pro Max beats is predecessor in both tests. Take a look at our test results right below.
PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:
In terms of wired charging speeds, the situation is more convoluted. Officially, Apple says its iPhones charge at up to 20W. That's mostly bogus, as we've measured charging speeds around 26W during regular charging, and around 39W when heavily using the device during charging. This mostly falls in line with the rumors that Apple has outfitted its Pro models with 45W wired charging.
Does this matter, however? Well, it still takes an hour and 42 minutes to fully charge the iPhone 16 Pro Max, so probably not. A short 30-minute charge get you 57% of battery life, though, which is better than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max features dramatically faster MagSafe wireless charging: 25W. That's a serious bump over the 15W that the MagSafe wireless charging inside the iPhone 15 Pro Max supports. The new phone also supports the new Qi2 standard.
Specs Comparison
The iPhone 16 Pro Max versus iPhone 15 Pro Max specs are available here, and we've summarized the essentials for you below.
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | iPhone 15 Pro Max | |
|---|---|---|
| Size, weight | 163 x 77.5 x 8.25mm, 227gr | 159.9 x 76.7 x 8.25mm, 221gr |
| Screen | 6.9" OLED 120Hz ProMotion 2,000 nits of brightness | 6.7" OLED 120Hz ProMotion 2,000 nits of brightness |
| Processor | A18 Pro 3nm | A17 Pro 3nm |
| RAM, Storage | 8GB/256GB 8GB/512GB 8GB/1TB LPDDR5 | 8GB/256GB 8GB/512GB 8GB/1TB LPDDR5 |
| Cameras | 48MP main 48MP ultra 12MP 5X telephoto 12MP front | 48MP main 12MP ultra 12MP 5X zoom 12MP front |
| Battery | 4,685mAh | 4,422mAh |
| Charging | USB-C 25W wired 25W MagSafe/Qi2 | USB-C 25W wired 15W MagSafe |
- You can also use PhoneArena's comparison tool to compare iPhones
Summary
By Jove, do not upgrade (Image by PhoneArena)
Well, it's mostly certain that it's unwise to upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
It's a phone that definitely delivers some improvements to performance and battery life, but the image quality is mostly the same, the display size increase isn't that game-changing, and Apple Intelligence is mostly a mirage still. Finally, the lauded new Camera Control button happens to be a not-so-ergonomic addition that feels weird to use.
Of course, if you're a dedicated fan and upgrade every year, we can't stop you from getting the latest and greatest iPhone to date.
But think hard if it's worth getting if the differences aren't that grand.
- Also read: iPhone 16: pre-order deals
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