The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: A Giant Leap Forward, But Not Without a Few Small Steps Back
Apple’s iPhone 16 series, marketed as "Built for Apple Intelligence," has arrived, promising a significant leap into the world of artificial intelligence. While the marketing heavily emphasizes AI, a crucial detail is immediately apparent: these phones launch without any of these touted AI features out-of-the-box. This review will delve into the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s hardware upgrades and performance, acknowledging the significant advancements while also pointing out this key omission. A full assessment of the "Apple Intelligence" features will have to wait for a future review following a stable iOS 18 update.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Design: Familiar Yet Refined
- Colours: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, and Desert Titanium
- Weighs: 227 grams
- Dimensions: 163×77.6×8.25mm
At first glance, the iPhone 16 Pro Max might appear as a mere enhancement of its predecessor, the 15 Pro Max. However, closer inspection reveals subtle yet significant design differences. While maintaining a familiar aesthetic, the 16 Pro Max boasts several key improvements. Most notably, it introduces the Camera Control button, a dedicated physical button for launching the camera app. This joins the already present Action button, volume buttons, and the power button, resulting in a total of four physical buttons. Further refining the design, the bezels are notably slimmer than the 15 Pro Max, maximizing screen real estate. And, perhaps most importantly, the 16 Pro Max proudly carries the title of having the largest display ever seen on an iPhone.
“After introducing the Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple has added Camera Control to its entire range of iPhone 16 models this year.”
The Camera Control button proves incredibly convenient once you adapt to its presence. Its tactile feedback and immediate access provide a satisfyingly direct camera launch experience reminiscent of traditional point-and-shoot cameras. However, the one-handed operation is challenging, especially for vertical photos or videos; the phone’s size necessitates a two-handed approach for optimal framing. The addition of the Camera Control button is a significant improvement for photography enthusiasts, though it might require some adjustment for users accustomed to software-based camera activation. Apple allows the customizable functionality of the Camera Control button to include launching the Camera app, code scanner, Instagram, Magnifier, or even disable it entirely. With future software updates, third-party app integration is expected.
The increased screen size from 6.7 inches on the 15 Pro Max to 6.9 inches on the 16 Pro Max contributes only minimally to the weight increase—a mere 6 grams (227g vs. 221g). The weight distribution remains balanced, ensuring comfortable one-handed use despite the size, though users with smaller hands might find it slightly cumbersome. The dimensions have increased as well (Height: 163mm, Width: 77.6mm vs. 15 Pro Max height 159.9mm and width 76.7mm), requiring a period of adjustment for users upgrading from the 15 Pro Max.
The titanium finish options (Desert Titanium, Natural Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium) are striking, with the Desert Titanium particularly catching the eye during this review. In contrast to the Pro models, the standard iPhone 16 models offer a more diverse color palette in 2024. The iPhone 16 Pro Max also boasts the thinnest bezels yet on an Apple product, delivering a truly immersive viewing experience.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Display: A Visual Masterpiece
- Screen: Biggest display on an iPhone, yet
- Display: 6.9-inch OLED, 1320×2868 pixels and 460ppi
- Peak brightness: 2000nits
The iPhone 16 Pro Max displays Apple’s largest display to date – a stunning 6.9-inch OLED panel, exceeding even the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. This Super Retina XDR display incorporates the Dynamic Island and ProMotion technology with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, offering fluid and responsive visuals. The peak brightness, similar to the 15 Pro Max, reaches 2000 nits, ensuring excellent outdoor visibility. A noticeable improvement is the minimum brightness, now capable of dropping to 1 nit, perfect for nighttime use without disturbing others.
The display’s quality is superb, exceeding expectations in terms of multimedia consumption, gaming, and social media browsing. The combination of the larger screen and thinner bezels significantly improves the immersive viewing experience. Sunlight legibility is also excellent thanks to the high peak brightness. The rounded corners, a distinctive design element, further enhance the display’s aesthetic appeal.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Performance: A Powerhouse Under the Hood
- Chipset: A18 Pro chip
- Breakdown: Six-core CPU with six-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine, 8GB of RAM
- Storage: 256GB, 512GB and 1TB
Powering the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the A18 Pro chip, a substantial upgrade from the A17 Pro chip of the 15 Pro series. This new chip, combined with 8GB of RAM, handles even the most demanding tasks with effortless grace. Extensive testing, encompassing AAA gaming, streaming, video/photo editing, and AI-related applications, revealed flawless performance without even a hint of lag or stuttering. A noteworthy improvement over its predecessor is its enhanced heat management, resulting in more efficient cooling.
Gaming performance is exceptional, delivering smooth and immersive experiences across various titles, including Call of Duty: Mobile, Asphalt 9: Legends, Alto’s Odyssey, Fieldrunners 2, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Benchmark tests further affirm the significant performance uplift over the previous generation:
| Benchmarks | iPhone 16 Pro Max | iPhone 15 Pro Max |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu | 1587059 | 1345846 |
| GFXBench Car Chase | 59fps | 59fps |
| GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 | 59.7fps | 60fps |
| GFXBench T-Rex | 59.4fps | 59.99fps |
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme | 2788 | 2749 |
| 3DMark Wild Life | 8942 | 8803 |
| Geekbench 6 (Single) | 3203 | 2704 |
| Geekbench 6 (Multi) | 7846 | 6478 |
Connectivity is also strong, with rapid network acquisition even in challenging environments. The device features a USB-C port supporting the USB 3.2 standard, mirroring the 15 series. The haptic feedback and loudspeakers remain top-tier, echoing the high standards set by previous iPhone models.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera: A Photographic Powerhouse
- Cameras: 48MP primary, 48MP ultra-wide and 12MP telephoto
- Videos – Audio Mix is a new feature while recording videos
- Support – 4K 120 fps Dolby Vision
- Selfie – 12MP camera
The iPhone 16 Pro Max delivers a remarkable camera upgrade, particularly with the 48MP ultrawide sensor, a significant jump from the 12MP sensor on previous models. The telephoto camera, however, remains at 12MP for now. Apple continues its commitment to providing professional-grade photography features, catering to content creators and photography enthusiasts.
The Camera Control button significantly enhances the camera experience, streamlining access to various modes and settings. Daylight photography excels, producing images with exquisite details, impressive dynamic range, rich saturation, and natural-looking colors. The 48MP primary sensor is especially impressive in daylight conditions. Apple claims zero shutter lag thanks to the processing speed of the new 48MP Fusion Camera. This increased speed is noticeable when taking photos of moving objects.
The new Photographic Styles offer expanded creative control, making adjustments to tone and colors in real-time, with the added convenience of adjusting styles even after image capture.
Videography features have also been upgraded to allow for 4K video recording at 120fps, offering high-resolution slow-motion capabilities, with the flexibility to adjust playback speed post-capture.
Low-light performance is greatly improved over the 15 Pro Max, producing significantly cleaner and more detailed images, even in challenging lighting conditions. The telephoto camera also delivers excellent zoom capabilities, producing sharp images, especially at 10x and 15x zoom.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Battery: Endurance Champion
- Battery: Claimed bigger battery capacity
- Video playback: Up to 33 hours (advertised)
- Charging: Up to 50% charge in 35 minutes
Apple claims the iPhone 16 Pro Max offers up to 33 hours of video playback, a significant increase over the 29 hours offered by the 15 Pro Max. Independent testing yielded impressive results, achieving 28 hours and 33 minutes of continuous video playback during our HD video loop test. With typical usage, the 16 Pro Max easily surpassed a full day of use, often with substantial battery life remaining.
Heavy usage scenarios, including several hours of gaming, streaming, and photography, produced over 8 hours of screen-on time. Moderate use consistently resulted in nearly two days of battery life, showcasing its remarkable power efficiency. This impressive battery life is likely due to significant battery capacity upgrades.
While battery life is a clear strength, wired charging speed continues to be a shortcoming. Achieving 50% charge in approximately 35 minutes with a 20W adapter is slower than what many competitors offer. A full charge typically requires around 100-120 minutes.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Verdict: A Powerful Contender, But Not Perfect
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is a significant upgrade over its predecessors, offering a larger, more beautiful, and energy-efficient display, unmatched battery performance among iPhones to date, and a stellar camera experience. Potential buyers should consider the iPhone 16 Pro Max as a worthwhile upgrade if they aren’t currently using an iPhone 15 Pro Max and their budgets allow it. Current sales offers makes earlier generation iPhones more attractive.
The absence of advertised Apple Intelligence features at launch is a significant drawback. While these features are promised with future iOS 18 updates, their current absence diminishes the phone’s initial appeal. The slightly slower-than-ideal charging speed is another minor drawback.
The main competition includes the now more affordable iPhone 15 Pro Max and the highly capable Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, both of which offer strong alternatives depending on individual preferences and priorities. For users prioritizing the immediate experience, the current lack of AI features should be a deciding factor, but those willing to wait for the planned software update should be satisfied with most other aspects.
