The iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,099 and has numerous small upgrades, making it a worthy, if not groundbreaking, upgrade. A device with a larger display can accommodate more and offer a larger area for dealing with content; its power is used longer; the Camera Control facility is better; enhanced radio translation makes wireless communication more rapid.
The 16 Pro Max’s fantastic video recording features make it one of the best smartphones and should attract creators of all sorts. Apple Intelligence will not become available until later this year, but the 16 Pro Max should permanently handle those functions better than any iPhone.
If you want a phone for creating content, the 16 Pro Max has absolutely everything you need, although, for most people, the standard iPhone 16 (starting at $799) gets most of the way for less cash and remains our favorite as an Editors’ Choice.
Design: Minimal Upgrades
Among the four iPhone 16 versions, the largest flagship is the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is obvious both in terms of size and functionality. From a design point of view, it is not very dissimilar to last year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max and, in general, is quite similar to the iPhone 16, 16 Plus ($899+), and the iPhone 16 Pro ($999+).
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are a little the same.
Left to right: iPhone 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max (Photo by Eric Zeman)
The 16 Pro Max is the largest iPhone and heaviest, measuring 6.42 x 3.06 x 0.32 inches and weighing 7.99 oz. Its two major rivals, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, measuring 6.4 by 3.0 by 0.3 inches and weighing 7.8 ounces, priced at $1,099, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, 6.4 by 3.1 by 0.3 inches, 8.18 ounces, priced at $1,299, are very close in size, weight, and price.
The iPhone 16 Pro is the same as the Pro Max, but it is easier to fit into a pocket. It measures 5.89 inches high by 2.81 inches wide by 0.32 inches thick and weighs 7.03 ounces.
The 16 Pro Max has a titanium frame, and the front and rear are made of the company’s Ceramic Shield. Apple has said its glass is twice as strong as any other, but we can’t confirm that. The back panel is one of the finest surfaces your hand ever touches, and it has just the kind of matte finish I prefer; the frame is also made with matte titanium.
The phone’s IP68 rating is standard for flagships regarding durability and dust—and water-resistant nature. It is durable to dust and dirt and can withstand being immersed in water for 30 minutes in approximately 5 feet of water. Nonetheless, we still suggest that you use a protective case for a device that retails for this amount.
The 16 Pro Max comes in four color options: You can choose from Black Titanium, Desert Titanium, Natural Titanium, or White Titanium. We reviewed the Natural Titanium model based on intuitive analysis and Pilcher’s
The right edge has a power button and a brand new Camera Control key to launch the camera for a snapshot or video and work with several other functions. As has been the case for a few years now, the 16 Pro Max does not contain a SIM card like previous models due to Apple’s reliance on the US eSIM. The sculpted edge of the phone on the bottom includes a high-speed USB-C port rating of up to 10Gbps, a microphone, and a downward-firing speaker.
Display: The Big Apple
Apple has extended it up to 6.9 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro Max and from 6.1 to 6.3 inches for the 16 Pro. Everything but the size and the number of pixels is identical in the two screens. The Pro Max boasts a 6.9-inch Pro Max plus, a resolution of 2,868 by 1,320 pixels at a density of 460 PPI; it is the biggest screen in an iPhone ever.
In the meantime, the 6.3-inch 16 Pro has an aspect ratio of 2,622 by 1, 206 pixels and a density of 460ppi. To achieve the larger screens, Apple made the frames surrounding the screen much thinner than the iPhone 5, converging them into just a black stripe. Some early adopters had issues with the touch area with the change from bezel to screen, but we did not see that problem with our test unit.
The Face ID is implemented with the help of the TrueDepth camera and is located at the top of the Dynamic Island. It remains one of the most popular biometric security technologies for consumer devices.
Its Pro models come with a screen with a variable refresh rate, which the company has named ProMotion. The frequency control range is variable from 1Hz for energy-saving mode to 120Hz for improved responsiveness of the display.
The screen can be put into an always-on mode, in which case you have a wallpaper of several widgets that are constantly visible. Notification light is useful to gather information at a glance without turning the device on.
Typical brightness is 1000 nits, HDR brightness is 1600 nits, and the peak brightness is 2000 nits. The brightness, with a contrast ratio of 2 million to 1 and the use of a submicron fingerprint-resistant oleophobic layer, gives a great display irrespective of the location, indoor or outdoor.
There were no issues, whether it concerned watching the screen during the day or at night. For apps such as Netflix, HDR content looks excellent.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL has a 6.8-inch OLED screen like the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Its resolution is 2992 by 1344 pixels, and the adaptive refresh rate is 1Hz to 120Hz. The Pixel 9 Pro XL also has 3000 nits of peak brightness.
Performance: Quick, But Warm
The whole iPhone 16 range receives upgrades to theApple silicon inside. The iPhone 16 Pro Max and 16 Pro are built with the A18 Pro chipset, while the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus come with the A18 chipset. As you might expect, there is a small up lift in performance for the A18 Pro as compared to normal A18.
The A18 Pro has a performance processing core of 2, an efficiency processing core of 4, a graphics processing core of 6, and a neural processing core or NPU of 16. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is available with 256GB storage for $1099, 512GB for $1399, and 1TB for $1599. RAM is distributed among all four iPhones, with 8GB being a commonality among all four. Hear this: Some Android phones have as much as 12GB or even 16GB of RAM.
Battery: A New Champion
Our battery tests suggest that Apple’s Pro Max model boasts the longest battery life each year, at least in the last two years. As a result, the 16 Pro Max can easily dethrone the 15 Pro Max.
As per MacRumors, the iPhone 16 Pro Max features an encapsulated battery, 4,685mAh, which is nearly 6% more used than the 15 Pro Max. On average, Android flagships’ competitors normally have a battery capacity of approximately 5,000mAh.
Apple also adds that the 16 Pro Max can listen to local audio files, including MP3s, for up to 105 hours and play online video files and locally stored video files for up to 29 hours and 33 hours, respectively.
That being said, in our rundown test where we stream HD video over Wi-Fi at max screen brightness, the 16 Pro Max can go up to 22 hours and 5 mins. That is 2% more battery life when compared to the 15 Pro Max, which had a battery life of 20 hours and 15 minutes.
The S24 Ultra used 14 hours and 10 minutes, whereas the Pixel 9 Pro XL was used for 12 hours and 25 minutes. The 16 Pro Max comes with everything you need for all-day, if not lifetime, power on your pocket.
Regarding powering that huge battery of the 16 Pro Max, it supports MagSafe wireless charging at 25W (30W power brick included), Qi2 at up to 15W, and Qi at 7.5W. Apple claims that this phone comes with 45 watts of wired charging, a feature current iPhones do not offer with at least 30 watts. As for the charger, there is none in the box, but Apple provides a nice, woven USB-C cable in each iPhone package.
I tested the phone using Apple’s new MagSafe charger. It took 90 minutes for the phone to be fully charged, which is way behind the 60 minutes that last year’s Pro Max took. A full charge via a 45W wired connection took 65 minutes, 20 minutes less than the 15 Pro Max. These tangible and welcome changes bring the iPhone 16 Pro Max to the charging speed of the S24 Ultra and Pixel 9 Pro.
Connectivity: Powerful Radios
All four iPhone 16 models come equipped with an almost identical radio package. Together, they support sub-6GHz (including C-band) and mmWave 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and Thread. The only big difference is that the Pro models have dual-band GPS, while the non-Pro models have single-band GPS. This only primarily affects precision at short ranges, especially in areas with thick undergrowth and heavily built-up areas.
Apple has not discussed the modem in the 16 Pro Max, but all signs point to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X75, a big jump from the X70 modem in the iPhone 15. After using the iPhone 16 Pro Max and testing it on Verizon’s network in New York City and New Jersey, I discovered the device’s high performance.
Last year, we recorded a download speed of 400Mbps from the 15 Pro Max at the same location where the 16 Pro Max was exposed to a powerful Verizon Ultra Wideband signal with the download speed going up to 885Mbps. uploading speed also improved, which now stands at 199Mbps. These speeds are acceptable,
especially for an urban area with many more people. A Pixel 9 Pro XL did not fare any better and reached an overall download speed of 674Mbps and an upload speed of 131Mbps when tested at the same location. Describing one-bar, standard 5G total throughput, the iPhone managed 63 Mbps down and 42 Mbps up in areas with a weak signal.
The 16 Pro also gets a great Wi-Fi boost, with Wi-Fi 6E switching to Wi-Fi 7. Most may not see a performance boost until they have Wi-Fi 7 equipment at home, but the new spec means the iPhone 16 Pro Max will be a shade more future-proof than older models.
When tested near a Verizon Fios router with 1Gbps service, we saw a peak download speed of 798Mbps – only around 56Mpbs slower than the Pixel 9 Pro XL with a score of 774Mbps. Networking was again fast and achieved 451Mbps uploads, just slightly below the 9 Pro XL’s 465 Mbps.
The iPhone also performed well at the range where the Wi-Fi network was tested, reaching the download rate of 28.2 Mbps before reducing to 21.5 Mbps found in 9 Pro XL.
Apple leaves the Bluetooth radio at version 5.3 for the third year instead of implementing the latest spec 5.4. The iPhone’s codecs support consists of Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate – Advanced
Audio Coding (AMR–AAC), MP3, Apple Lossless, and Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC). The speakers are okay for a phone, particularly if you’re okay with stereo speakers. You get about 86dB of output [above/below our reference volume level of 80dB(A)], but the bass in our test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” was a bit thin.
Voice calls on the iPhone 16 Pro Max are just as good.
The discussions I had were very clear. The device delivers potent volume (7 octaves) no matter the situation and eliminates background noise using the Voice Isolation option, ensuring your voice is spotlighted.
Camera: The Best iPhone for Video
The most prominent key change affecting the entire line of iPhone 16 is the Camera Control button. Sitting at the lower part of the right edge of the interface, the Camera Control button handles a range of camera-related operations. The fourth one, a rapid press, opens the camera.
A second quick press captures a picture. An action accumulated till the moment of holding the button pressed for a long time starts the video camera. Because Camera Control is immediately under the right thumb, it makes sense to open the camera and start taking pictures (if you are right-handed).
The button is also placed roughly where the shutter button is on many standalone cameras if the phone is held in the standard portrait orientation. If you press the button, the function will take a shot and capture the following frame. It lacks the fine focus lock as implemented by half pressing the shutter button but avid users will be supported in a later update due this year.
The secondary functions of the Camera Control are, in a way, more interesting by their novelty. First, unlike the traditional glass rear shell, it is a touch-sensitive surface hidden beneath the sapphire crystal. Light opens up an additional menu containing higher functions such as exposure, depth of field, zoom, cameras, styles, and tone.
This irritates me as I flick between these controls. It is unpredictable to know what presses, screen swipes, and rolling finger motions are required to get them to switch from one to another. I found it tricky to switch to one accidentally, but once on one, swiping the Camera Control left or right effortlessly adjusts as intended: the brightness or the zoom level.
For those of you who are happy to point and shoot, these additional options will likely be cumbersome interface elements that can be safely overlooked. If you prefer to do some settings before taking a shot, though, these provide many choices to get the shot right. Thus, they easily find what is necessary, but some basic knowledge is required to benefit from them most effectively.
From a hardware point of view, the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max models offer identical camera configurations. All have a primary sensor of 48 megapixels, an aperture of f/1.78, and an optical stabilization system.
Apple has appropriately named this module a Fusion Camera, which combines 48MP regular photos with 12MP Quad-Bayer shots grouped into four for 24MP images. Apple says these pictures contain details of this 48MP shot with the light sensitivity of the binned 12MP shot. This camera can also zoom digitally at 2x telephoto, where it captures the central 12MP of the sensor. A lot is going on here.
The ultra-wide camera has been improved by changing its sensor to 48MP. Current models have a 120-degree field of view at f/2.2 aperture and can capture either full 48MP or cropped 12MP pictures. The main set of photographic tools is represented by a 12-megapixel 5x optical telephoto module accessible to both iPhone
16 Pro models. Earlier, the Pro was cut down to only 3x optical telephoto. Apart from 5x optical zoom, the 16 Pro Max telephoto supports up to 25x hybrid zoom by combining optical and digital. With an aperture of f/1.9, the TrueDepth’s selfie camera is a 12MP light.
The 16 Pro and Pro Max can shoot in raw, HEIF, or jpeg, which are versatile file formats.
There is much talk about iPhone 16’s cameras. That is all concerning Apple’s approach to dynamic range. Apple frequently boosts the lows and lowers the highs to (what Apple feels is) get the image balanced. What some users dislike about this look is that it does things like reducing the gloom of a deep shadow.
Apple is also putting some effort into getting the color of the product right. Sometimes, it produces images with what can be described as more than natural color temperature. There are Google and Samsung versions of this type of computational photography.
We noticed that Google is generally closer to the truth regarding colors than Samsung, which can oversaturate colors completely. Both are as much to blame for destroying dynamic range as Apple is.
Software: Apple Intelligence Isn’t Here Yet
The iPhone 16 Pro Max has the latest operating system, iOS 18. It will get at least five years of security and feature updates from Apple, meaning over time, you’ll (almost) always have a newer version of the OS available to you. The biggest addition in iOS 18 is the much-increased freedom to choose how you would like your experience to be.
On iOS 18, you can change settings such as resizing and even recoloring the home icons, setting up the Control Center quick controls, swapping the Lock Screen shortcuts, and more. The new update also brings a brand new Photos app, new support for RCS chat with Android, a better calculator app, and more. However, iOS 18 is not a big leap forward at all.
Many new features coming to iOS 18 are not available at the moment. They’re part of Apple Intelligence, which Apple has spent the last few months advertising. These won’t start coming in for the new devices until iOS 18.1, which I hope will be out in October. Furthermore, 18. x updates with further features are expected in the course of the year.
Then, Apple Intelligence will start with iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max on every iPhone 16 model produced. These devices have the power to execute the machine learning jobs that make up Apple Intelligence. Some of the first tools permitted to work in Writing Tools will be useful for Text summarizing, proofreading, and rewriting.
The Notes and Phone applications will allow users to record, take a transcript, and summarize. Apple Intelligence will also operate in a way that enables it to sort notifications or provide summaries on them. Siri should become much mightier, with a new glowing appearance and the capacity to understand and incite more spontaneous questions when asked out loud.
In the future, Apple Intelligence will consist of Image Playground and Genmojis, which allow users to type or say something and receive new photos and emojis correspondingly. These features are available to test in the iOS 18.1 Public Beta; however, they were not tested for this, so they are not part of this review.
By contrast, both Google and Samsung unveiled new AI-related features of their flagship phones this year and included them in the devices’ majority when they were released to the market.
