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You’ve heard it all on the Internet, “it looks the same as my iPhone 11”, in fact you might be one of those that said just that. And it’s true. Apple has kept mostly the same design since the iPhone 11. With the only real changes being the flat sides and ditching the notch for a dynamic island. But that’s not a bad thing. Have you ever heard the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? That’s essentially what Apple is doing here.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense for companies to do a complete redesign of their phone every year, or even every few years. Seeing as most people are keeping their phones for many years now, that’s just wasted R&D money. Not to mention the fact that this is part of Apple’s brand – the same goes for Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy.
Despite the iPhone 15 Pro Max looking the same, there are quite a few upgrades this year. From the Titanium rails, to the new camera system with 5X telephoto, to USB-C and even the Action Button. But is that enough for you to shell out $1,199 for the new iPhone 15 Pro Max? Let’s find out in our iPhone 15 Pro Max review.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Hardware & Design
Apple has always used great materials with it’s iPhones. From Aluminum rails and glass backs to the upgrade to Stainless Steel with the iPhone 12 Pro and now the Titanium upgrade on the iPhone 15 Pro series. It definitely feels more premium than a lot of other Android smartphones, except maybe a Galaxy S23 Ultra. But don’t think that Apple was the first to use Titanium. Those that might remember, Essential used Titanium on its PH-1 back in the day (2017). But it is a material that is rarely used on phones, because it is so tough to work with.
In some teardowns, we have seen that the Titanium in the iPhone 15 Pro Max is actually not all that much. JerryRigEverything tore it down and found that there’s about one millimeter of Titanium around the phone, which equates to about $30 worth of Titanium.
Now the real question is, how does the Titanium feel in the hand? Honestly, quite good. This is coming from someone that has been dailying an iPhone Pro model since the 12 Pro in 2020. And the sharp sides of the stainless steel were not comfortable at all, and showed plenty of fingerprints. Titanium is a lot smoother, and those sharp sides are also gone. But the fingerprints are still there. Now it’s not quite as bad as everyone on the internet is making it out to be. Yes, you can see fingerprints, but it’s really only when you’re looking for them. And if that bothers you, put a case on it. Which you probably should do with a $1,199 phone anyways.
With the move to Titanium, Apple also shaved off some weight from the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It’s only about 8% lighter, but it ends up feeling a lot lighter, due to the moment of inertia. Which makes it feel lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro (it’s not, but it does feel like it). Which is pretty impressive, given that the iPhone 14 Pro is a much smaller phone.
Don’t get me wrong, this is still a big phone. But Apple has done a lot here to make this more comfortable to use without a case. Which is so good, because some of us don’t want to use cases – even though we should.
The Action Button
One of the changes to the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s design this year is the Action Button. Apple has removed the Mute Switch from the Pro models. And replaced it with a new button on the side. Which is surprisingly, very customizable.
By default, it still acts as a Mute button, but in the settings there are a bunch of other options you can use it for. This includes toggling a Focus mode, opening the Camera (and going to a specific camera mode), toggling on the Flashlight, starting a Voice Memo, opening the Magnifier, choosing an Accessibility Feature, and finally, you can use a Shortcut from the Shortcuts app. Some have used the Shortcut to do things like remote start their Tesla, or play a Fart sound. While others have created a menu when you tap the Action Button. So you are able to have it do multiple things. As for me, I’m boring and have it set to opening the camera.
Since I have it opening the camera, it can also act as a shutter button. Sort of mimicking what Sony phones have been doing for years. And I really love this feature. It’s something small, and not something I’d switch phones to have, but it is great to have.
Some of you might be worried that you hit the button by mistake and open the camera, or whatever you have it set to. Don’t. You have to press and hold it for a few seconds for it to actually open whatever you have it set to. This is to reduce any sort of accidental presses. Which is really good to have.
The only downside to the Action Button is that it is so high up on the side, that’s hard to use sometimes. But that also helps to reduce those accidental touches.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max Review: Display
Apple has always had one of the best displays on the market. Which is interesting since they use Samsung (and sometimes BOE or LG) displays. But Apple is really specific about the displays they buy, and also really good at calibrating them. Here, we have an OLED display, with the Dynamic Island included. It’s a stunning display on this iPhone 15 Pro Max, which makes watching video a real treat. However, when watching an 18:9 video, the Dynamic Island does cut into the video a tiny bit. And the rounded corners start to cut in. Honestly, it’s not a big deal, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t a reviewer.
Another thing that this display has going for it, that makes it seem like a big upgrade, is the bezels. The bezels are significantly smaller this year. Coming in at around 1mm thick. This is even more noticeable on the bigger iPhone 15 Pro Max, because of that 6.7-inch display. But it does look amazing here.
Because of those smaller bezels, Apple decided to instead of making the screen larger, to shrink the Pro Max’s size altogether. Which is an interesting choice – though rumor has it that the iPhone 16 Pro models will go up in display size to 6.3- and 6.9-inch respectively.
Apple claims that the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s display is able to reach a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. Now, I don’t have a way to test that, especially since you’ll only see that outdoors in direct sunlight. But I can say, using the iPhone 15 Pro Max outdoors in direct sunlight, it looks great. This is the same peak brightness as the iPhone 14 Pro, however. So not really an upgrade here, but still great to see. Since we do tend to use our phones outdoors from time to time.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max Review: Performance
For a long time, Apple has been known as the king of mobile silicon, but this year, that crown might be heading to San Diego for Qualcomm. The new A17 Pro chipset in the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the first 3nm chipset to be put into a phone. Now Qualcomm and MediaTek are also working on 3nm chipsets – MediaTek actually announced one, without a name. But the difference between the A17 Pro and the A16 Bionic (from iPhone 14 Pro) is not as big as many thought. With the move to 3nm.
This could be due to diminishing returns now, but the A17 Pro is not as power efficient as the A15 Bionic was in the iPhone 13 series. Which is why the iPhone 14 Pro series had such bad battery life for the past year, and it looks to be the same here with the iPhone 15 Pro Max (but more on that in a minute).
A17 Pro is fast enough for everyday consumers
If you’re wondering whether the A17 Pro is slow, it’s not. It feels just as fast as the A16 Bionic, if not a bit faster. Apple claims about a 10% speed increase, which sounds about right. Some apps are loading much faster on my iPhone 15 Pro Max versus my iPhone 14 Pro. But we did expect more from a 3nm chipset.
What Apple is really touting with the A17 Pro is that you can play console games on your iPhone now. Like Resident Evil Village. Now that game doesn’t come out until October 30, so it’s hard to test that and see how well it plays on the iPhone 15 Pro Max in this review, since we don’t have it. We’ll be sure to update this review once it comes out and we’ve played it a bit.
But other gaming, is perfectly fine. Playing things like League of Legends: Wild Rift, and Candy Crush Saga, the iPhone 15 Pro Max performs as you’d expect. That’s with great graphics, and plenty of speed. It does tend to get a little warm, but this was also the case with older iPhones, so that’s not much to be concerned about. But some are seeing heating issues on their models.
iPhone 15 Pro Max is hot stuff
Pretty much since the iPhone 15 Pro Max was made available on September 22, we started seeing users complaining about the phone being very hot and overheating. Now, in my experience, I did notice it getting pretty hot on the first day. But keep in mind, it was transferring my data, syncing with iCloud and stuff, so that is quite normal. After the first day, it’s been pretty cool, really only showing any sort of heat when wireless charging, gaming or using the camera for a long period of time. You know the normal stuff.
But some users on X have reported that the iPhone 15 Pro/Max has been overheating for them while charging, using the camera and doing other things. While others reported it getting hot when recording ProRes video in LOG and then color-grading it on the phone. Sure that’s something that Apple is promoting with the iPhone 15 Pro series, but it would still get hot from doing that anyways.
It also seems to be that this is happening to Canadian and European variants. Not happening as much with the US models. The obvious difference there is the physical SIM card try not being on the US models, but I highly doubt that is the case. We do know that those models in Canada and Europe (and some in Asia) are being made in India, versus the others being made in China. So that could be a cause, but it is most likely the overpowered A17 Pro chipset, and the fact that Titanium doesn’t help with heat dissipation.
Bottom line is, if you are experiencing overheating, contact Apple. Your iPhone is still under warranty, so Apple does have to fix it. The best bet is to head to an Apple Store.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max Review: Battery life & charging
Coming off of the iPhone 14 Pro models, which had pretty bad battery life for their entire lifetime, and that caused the battery health to drop rather quickly. Many of us expected that the 15 series would sport better battery life. Many were even expecting much larger batteries. But none of that happened. Batteries on the Pro models are a little bit bigger, but not much. And the rated battery life from Apple is largely the same as last year.
Now, for me, it is hard to compare my iPhone 15 Pro Max to the iPhone 14 Pro battery life, since they are two different sized phones and the Pro Max has always had much better battery life. So here’s the numbers I’ve been getting.
I’ve been getting about 8 hours of screen on time most days. With around 20% or so remaining. But it’s important to note that every day, the battery has gotten better and better. However, it’s still behind that of my iPhone 13 Pro Max from two years ago, that was a legit two-day phone.
Charging is still slow
Many of us thought that with the move to USB-C, that Apple would increase the charging speed on the iPhone 15 series. Yeah, that didn’t happen. Apple is still marketing it as 20W, though independent testing found that it can charge at up to 27W. This won’t happen for long and only when the battery level is very low.
But let’s face it, for iPhone users, 20W is fine. Remember, iPhones have smaller batteries than Android phones. So charging at 20W on say an iPhone 15 Pro Max is still likely faster than charging at 45W on a Galaxy S23 Ultra. Additionally, iPhone users tend to keep their phones for four, five, six or more years. So keeping that battery health in tip-top shape is huge for Apple. Instead of putting out 100W charging that will likely destroy the battery in two-three years.
I will say, being able to carry one cable around to charge my Pixel Fold, iPhone 15 Pro Max and my laptop, is definitely great. Though, I do tend to use MagSafe most of the time with my iPhone. Because it’s just so good, and the thump you get when the magnets line up, are great.
That said, wireless charging also did not get any faster. MagSafe still does about 15W, and if it’s not MagSafe certified, it’ll be closer to 10W. Not fast, but this does help with the heat. However, if your phone can last you the full day, and you’re only charging at night, the speed is perfectly fine. You can also get a MagSafe Battery Pack to use with your iPhone, which I use mostly on travel days. And that’s by far my favorite feature of the iPhone these days.
So the bottom line here is that charging is still pretty slow, and battery life is good, but not the best. That crown still sits with Samsung on the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max Review: Software
iOS 17 is here on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and really any other iPhone that’s Xs or newer. Which is quite impressive, considering the iPhone Xs came out in 2018. That means at least five years of software updates. Something that most Android OEMs aren’t able to provide. Which means that when you buy the iPhone 15, you can rest assured that you’ll continue getting updates for many years.
There’s actually quite a bit new in iOS 17 this year, even though it seemed like a down year. You can check out our Best iOS 17 features for more on that. In this part of the review, we’re going to stick to a few of the more impressive features for the iPhone 15.
The first one that we really like is StandBy Mode. This is really nice to have, and it basically allows you to plug in your phone and turn it 90-degrees, making it a smart display of sorts. This works best on a MagSafe dock, since it’ll be easier to put it in landscape. But you can also just plug in via USB-C and do the same thing. StandBy Mode basically uses the Widgets that Apple introduced into iOS a few years ago, but now they are bigger. So you get two widgets, one on either side of the phone. And on something like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it’s quite large.
My setup for Standby Mode is actually to have the clock on one side and the weather on the other. But you can also add other widgets like a Photo Frame, the calendar and so much more. Making it great to have docked while you’re working or next to your bed.
Another popular feature in iOS 17 is Contact Posters. Which basically allows you to control how you appear on someone else’s phone when you call them. This is a surprising amount of customization here from Apple. You can choose from a photo, a memoji and memoji pose, or just have a colored background. You can also choose the name that appears too. Which is really cool actually.
iOS 17 does fix quite a large number of bugs that were on iOS 16 and took over a year to fix. So it’s more of a bug-fixing update, with a few quality of life features being added in here. But overall, it’s pretty good. And on the A17 Pro, iOS 17 does run really well.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max Review: Camera
Apple generally puts its best and newest cameras into the Pro Max model, partly because it’s the largest so it has the space, but also because of the price. And that’s the case this year. Apple added a new tetra-prism camera, which is a 12-megapixel telephoto lens that can do 5x optical zoom, and up to 25x digital zoom. The other cameras here include a 48-megapixel main sensor, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide. There’s also the LiDAR sensor included for better autofocus.
Despite having just three cameras on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple is touting that there are 7 focal lengths and saying “it’s like having 7 lenses”. Basically, what Apple is doing is different focal lengths on these cameras. Particularly on the main sensor, since Apple is able to punch in on that 48-megapixel sensor. Apple is letting you shoot at 24mm, 28mm and 35mm. And surprisingly, Apple is letting you select one as the default, in the settings.
On my iPhone 15 Pro Max, I’ve actually set 35mm as the default for all of my photos. It works out to about 1.5x zoom, but the photos look really great at this focal length. A big reason why many videographers and YouTubers use 35mm lenses, is because you get a natural bokeh effect around your subject. And that is the case here on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Below, you’ll see a number of images I took at 35mm, none of these have been edited, nor taken in portrait mode.
Then there’s the ultrawide, which I honestly hope is the next camera to get upgraded. Especially since Apple is using this for macro shots. And there’s a clear difference between it and shooting at 35mm for a lot of objects. At 12-megapixels, you do need a good bit of light for taking some nice macro shots. But for ultrawide shots of landscapes and stuff, it works. It’s nothing really good, but it works.
5x telephoto is surprisingly useful
I’ve always been one of those that thought that a good long telephoto lens wasn’t needed on a smartphone. But, I’ve changed my tune over the past year or so. On the Pixel Fold, I use the 5x telephoto quite often, same with the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 10x telephoto. And so far, that’s been the case with Apple’s 5x telephoto here.
The 5x zoom is quite good here, and in some instances, it produces a sharper image and more true-to-life colors, versus the competition. I don’t 100% prefer the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s telephoto images, but more times than not, I do.
Apple does allow you to do digital zoom up to 25x, which I honestly will never use. A lot like the 100x zoom on Samsung phones, it’s pretty useless. The pictures come out looking pretty watercolored, and not sharp at all. Not to mention that you need to hold perfectly still for the photo to not be blurry. Because the more you zoom in, the more every movement matters.
Portrait Mode on or off, it doesn’t matter
This is one of those features that Android phones have had for many years. But it’s finally here on the iPhone and it’s great. Basically, if you take a photo of a human, dog or cat, Apple is able to separate it from the background so you can change the focus and the bokeh effect after the fact. This means you don’t have to go “oh crap, I forgot to switch to portrait mode” after the fact and take another photo. You can also change the focus to be the background, foreground or really anywhere.
Like I mentioned, this has been available on Android for quite some time. In fact, I remember using it on the Honor 8, which launched way back in 2016. But I have not seen it work this well on anything but a Pixel, recently. So big props to Apple here.
The photos below were taken in normal 35mm or 1.5x (that’s what I’ve set as the default for myself), and then changed the bokeh affect afterwards. Almost better than using regular Portrait Mode. And this works on both pets and humans. See a few examples below.
Overall, the cameras on the iPhone 15 Pro Max are really good. And honestly, it has me super excited for the new Pixel 8 series that Google is announcing very soon.
Should you buy the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max?
If you’re already on the iPhone, or thinking about ditching Android, then the iPhone 15 Pro Max is a really good option. While the outside appears to be mostly the same as the last couple of years. There are some pretty massive changes that you don’t see right away, as we’ve mentioned in this review. Sure it’s pricey, but you can likely find a really good deal on it at retailers and carriers. Or finance it yourself, and even use the iPhone Upgrade Program, which will let you upgrade every year.
You should buy the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max if:
You have an iPhone 13 or older.
You want to try out the very best that Apple has to offer.
You want a big screen and big battery life.
You should not buy the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max if:
You’re an Android user and have no desire to switch.
You don’t like big phones.
You don’t want to spend $1,200 on a phone!