iPhone 15 Pro Max review
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the first new iPhone I’ve picked up in a long time that made me say “whoa.” And that’s thanks to a new titanium design that makes this big 6.7-inch flagship wonderfully light. Apple also managed to trim the bezels while making the phone shorter and narrower, resulting in a big-screen beast that doesn’t feel that big.
There’s a lot of other welcome upgrades to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, including a handy Action button that lets you perform all sorts of shortcuts. You also get the world’s first 3nm processor in the A17 Pro, which delivers console-like graphics. And there’s finally a bigger 5x telephoto zoom to get closer to your subjects — which starts to close the gap with Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Not everything about the iPhone 15 Pro Max is whoa-inducing. At $1,199, the device has a $100 higher starting price than the last model. And while it’s nice to see a USB-C port — and an end to Lightning — the charging is still relatively slow. So is the iPhone 15 Pro Max the best phone yet? I’ll go over all the pros and cons in this in-depth iPhone 15 Pro Max review.
If you're on the fence, check out our iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro comparison.
iPhone 15 Pro Max review updates
February 28: See our iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra camera shootout to see which camera phone is the king.
February 22: Apple says that the iPhone 15 series battery lifespan is double the original claim, so you should expect 80% capacity even after 1,000 charging cycles.
October 25: The iOS 17.1 update included several bug fixes and new features, including AirDrop and StandBy enhancements.
iPhone 15 Pro Max Review: Specs
iPhone 15 Pro Max release date and price
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a release date of September 22. The starting price for the iPhone 15 Pro Max is $1,199, which is $100 more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, making it the most expensive iPhone ever. Fortunately, that price includes 256GB of storage, which is double the standard amount in last year’s flagship.
You can also upgrade to 512GB for $1,399 and 1TB for $1,599. If you’re looking for the lowest price, our iPhone 15 deals page has the latest info on iPhone 15 Pro Max discounts.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Design
The iPhone 15 Pro Max ditches the stainless steel sides of past Pros for a titanium design, and it’s a big deal. Why? Because the space-age grade 5 titanium Apple uses is stronger yet lighter. Yes, it’s the same titanium used on the Mars Rover.
The Natural Titanium color has grown on me, thanks to its sci-fi vibe. The Blue Titanium is nice as well; you also can pick up the phone in Silver Titanium and Black Titanium.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max weighs 7.8 ounces, compared to 8.5 ounces for the iPhone 14 Pro Max. I really notice the difference when I have the phone in my hand and in my pocket.
The new Pro Max is also more compact, measuring 6.29 x 3.02 x 0.32 inches vs 6.33 x 3.05 x 0.31 inches for its predecessor. So while the new iPhone is a tad thicker, it’s easier to use with one hand. It’s the first big-screen iPhone that doesn’t feel like one.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max feels better too because of its contoured design. The edges are rounded and less sharp than the last Pro Max, so they dig into your hands less.
The bottom edge houses the new USB-C port, which is way overdue but still welcome because you can charge your iPhone, iPad and MacBook with the same cable.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Action button
The Action button, which replaces the ringer switch, is one of the best and also most frustrating things about the iPhone 15 Pro Max. But let me start with the good news.
The button still silences calls with a long press if you have the Silent Mode setting assigned. But in the settings app you can configure the Action button to launch all sorts of things, including the camera, voice recorder, flashlight, translate and more. And you can even pick specific actions from within an app, like launching right into a selfie with the Camera app.
If you want even more options, the Action button works in sync with the Shortcuts app, so you can assign it launch any app you want with a long press, or create shortcuts to do things like message a specific contact — which is nice to have when I want to let the family know I’m on the way home or running late.
My problem with the Action button is that it supports only one function at a time. So if you want it to launch the camera you can’t use it to also mute calls. My advice to Apple would be to let people perform app shortcuts with a double press and keep the long press for silent mode.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: USB-C
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has USB-C charging, and it’s about time. Apple has finally retired the Lightning port after over a decade — which Apple is clearly being forced to do against its will due to EU regulations. But I do appreciate not having to carry around an extra cable just to charge my iPhone, since so many of my daily devices use USB-C.
With this port you can also charge your other Apple gadgets, including the newly updated AirPods Pro with USB-C charging case.
If you want to transfer photos and videos quickly to your Mac or external drive, the iPhone 15 Pro Max supports USB 3 for 10Gbps speeds. That’s not exactly state of the art — several other phones have the newer 3.2 standard.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Display
There’s actually not that much new with the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s display, with the exception of thinner bezels around the 6.7-inch OLED panel. Apple says you still get 1,600 nits of peak brightness and 2,000 nits outdoors.
The ProMotion display continues to offer 120Hz refresh rates, so you get smooth scrolling and animations. And with the always-on display, you can still check notifications, the time and more without having to unlock your iPhone.
I also continue to appreciate the Dynamic Island. It’s easy to get real-time updates at the top of the display, such as the status of my Uber ride, my United flight status or easy access to my Spotify playlist.
In our test results, the Pro Max hit a max of 1,550 nits when playing HDR content, which is about the same as the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The Galaxy S23 Ultra was a slightly dimmer 1,444 nits on the same test.
Color reproduction remains strong on this panel, which I noticed when watching the trailer for Aquaman 2. The underwater world’s colors looked vibrant and the details on Jason Momoa’s gleaming costume sharp.
In our testing the iPhone 15 Pro Max reproduced 119.4 % of the sRGB color gamut and 84.5% of the more demanding DCI-P3 color space. The Galaxy S23 Ultra hit a lower 111.2% / 78.8 % in Natural mode but a higher 193% / 136.7% in Vivid mode.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s display offers more accurate colors, as it earned a Delta-E score of 0.14 (where zero is perfect). The S23 Ultra notched 0.3.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Cameras
The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s biggest camera upgrade has it playing zoom catch up with the competition, but it arguably surpasses all the best camera phones in overall quality. There’s a larger main sensor for the 48MP camera, which now shoots 24MP photos by default but the Pro Max also lets you choose from 48MP HEIF (to save space) or ProRAW for more creative control).
The main camera also gives you three shooting options: 24mm, 28mm and 25mm, and you can pick which one by tapping the 1x button to toggle between them. In addition, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s camera is smart enough to sense depth info, so you don’t have to engage portrait mode to take a portrait of a person or pet. You can also change the focus point of your shot after the fact.
Let’s start with the zoom. A new tetraprism lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max achieves a 5x optical zoom, which is a big jump up from the 3x on the previous model and the regular iPhone 15 Pro. You also get a max of 25x digital zoom, up from 15x on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
In our side-by-side testing with the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the iPhone 15 Pro Max delivered a sharper and warmer picture at 5x. But at 25x digital zoom, the iPhone’s shot has more noise and less definition than Samsung’s.
It was a similar story with this photo of an FDNY boat. At 5x, the iPhone 15 Pro Max offers the crispest details both in the boat and in the surrounding water.
But at 25x zoom, the iPhone falls behind both the Pixel 7 Pro and especially the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Check out the 'Never Forget' text on the Marine FDNY sign.
What impresses me the most is the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s night mode performance, as you’ll see in these comparison shots. First up, we took this photo of some Halloween decorations indoors. The 15 Pro Max delivers the most definition in the skull and the text on the book spines below. And the TV lacks a proper black in the iPhone shot, while there’s a cloudier cast in the Pixel and Samsung pics.
In this photo next to a pool, the iPhone 15 Pro Max delivers a sharper and more vibrant looking volleyball, and the concrete looks brighter, too.
So what about portraits. I give the edge to the Pixel 7 Pro in this photo taken in Little Island park with the New York City skyline in the background. My face and blue shirt pop more.
However, the iPhone 15 Pro Max wins with this selfie portrait versus the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Samsung’s phone smoothed over my fact too much, while you can really make out my eyes and individual strands of hair in the iPhone’s pic. This could be due to Apple’s improved Smart HDR tech for better dynamic range.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max takes a deliciously colorful photo of this fruit tart. I give the nod to the Pixel 7 Pro because the Blueberries have a bit more detail, but the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s shot is too oversaturated.
In this extreme macro close-up of a white poppy flower the iPhone 15 Pro Max beats the Pixel 7 Pro in the very center of the stigma, although the petals look good on the Pixel pic.
Last but not least, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s ultrawide camera gets a modest upgrade with a new anti-reflective coating. It does a great job handling the sun coming in from the left side of the frame with a nice gradation of color in the blue sky, and both the wooden posts in the foreground and the building on the right look sharper. The warmer color profile might not be for everyone, though.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Video
The iPhone 15 Pro Max packs a number of video upgrades. Cinematic mode now supports digital zoom up to 3x. And pros will appreciate the ability to export ProRes footage via USB-C at up to 4K and 60 frames per second.
Based on my testing, the iPhone 15 Pro Max offers breathtaking video quality, and the 5x zoom lets you get closer to the action than ever before. Check out this 4K clip of a yacht on the Hudson River. As I zoom in you can make out the reflection of the rippling water on the back window as the reeds sway in the foreground.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max also captured crisp footage of a giant St. Bernard in Madison Square Park surrounded by other pups. Even with a mix of sun and shadows the video looks clear with even exposure.
In this clip of a fountain, the result is movie-quality with the iPhone 15 Pro Max capturing several birds flying off without any blur, as well a woman’s dress flowing against the breeze. And as I zoom in, the sound of the band off to the left gives way to the trickling water. This is pretty impressive.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Performance
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has the potential to be the best gaming phone ever, and that’s thanks to the new A17 Pro chip. Yes, Apple’s latest silicon offers 10% faster CPU speed and twice as fast machine learning performance but the all-new 6-core GPU is the biggest deal.
You can literally play console-quality games, complete with ray-tracing technology for the most realistic lighting effects on a phone. Check out the gameplay in Diablo Immortal, which is fluid with stunning graphics and life-like reflections.
The Resident Evil Village demo I tried was equally as scary and immersive as the title on my Xbox Series X, though the touch controls were tough to get used to.
On Geekbench, which measures overall performance, the iPhone 15 Pro Max notched a single-core score of 2,783 and a multi-core score of 6,945. That’s a substantial leap from the 1,396/4,882 showing on the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, and it’s also well above the iPhone 14 Pro Max (1,882/5,333).
The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s graphics scores were even more impressive, as it hit 92.2 frames per second in 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited with an overall score of 15,399. That’s about 25% faster than the iPhone 14 Pro Max and also beat the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 87 fps and 14,611.
We also time how long it takes to transcode a 4K video to 1080p in the Adobe Premiere Rush app. The iPhone 15 Pro Max needed just 24.5 seconds to finish, compared to 30 seconds for the iPhone 14 Pro Max and 39 seconds for the Samsung.
For more see our roundup iPhone 15 Pro benchmarks with more comparisons versus the top phones.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Battery life and charging
The iPhone 15 Pro Max somehow eclipses the epic battery life from the iPhone 14 Pro Max. In our battery testing, which involves continuous web surfing over 5G, the new Pro lasted a whopping 14 hours and 2 minutes. The previous model endured for 13 hours and 39 minutes.
This runtime is also about an hour longer than the Galaxy S23 Ultra (13:09 in 60Hz mode, 12:22 in Adaptive mode). So the iPhone 15 Pro Max easily makes our best phone battery life list and is near the very top.
Unfortunately, the iPhone 15 Pro Max still offers the same 20W charging speeds. Apple says you should get to 50% in 30 minutes, but we got only 41%. Other Android phones offer faster charging. For example, the Galaxy S23 Ultra got to 57% in the same amount of time with its 45W charger.
For more see our iPhone 15 battery life comparison of all four models versus previous iPhones and competing flagships.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: iOS 17
So what about software? iOS 17 brings a number of enhancements to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and here’s some of my favorites.
For one, I like that you can leverage the always-on display for StandBy Mode, which turns your iPhone into an alarm clock and pseudo smart display, complete with rotating photos. I also like NameDrop for quickly sharing your contact info with other people via a simple tap, provided they also have iOS 17.
Another perk is Live Voicemail. This feature automatically transcribes incoming voicemails for you in real time so you can decide whether it’s worth picking up. For more, see our iOS 17 review and our list of the top iOS 17 features.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra
If you're deciding between the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Galaxy S24 Ultra, Apple's flagship has a number of advantages. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is $100 cheaper and delivered better camera quality in side-by-side tests.
However, the Galaxy S23 Ultra offers longer battery life, faster charging and a much more powerful zoom. For a more detailed breakdown see our iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra face-off.
Verdict
The iPhone 15 Pro Max actually isn’t just an iterative upgrade for a change. You get a stronger and lighter design from titanium that makes a big difference in everyday use, as well as a smart replacement for the ringer switch in the Action button.
Based on my camera testing, the iPhone 15 Pro Max arguably offers the best photo quality around — especially in low light — and the bigger 5x zoom is a great upgrade I’ve been waiting for. Even if the digital zoom could be a bit sharper.
Add in the powerful A17 Pro chip for next-gen gaming, USB-C port and super-long battery life and you have the best iPhone money can buy. Yes, the iPhone 15 Pro is good, but I’d rather have the longer endurance, bigger screen and longer zoom.
