iPhone 14 Pro Max review – Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max review
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The iPhone 14 Pro Max isn’t just the maximum powerful phone around. It’s a joy to apply, thanks to the clever new Dynamic Island for showing notifications and live activities. Apple’s biggest Pro model also provides first-rate cameras together with a brand new 48MP main shooter a usually-on display, compelling Action mode for video, and fantastic battery existence. It’s luxurious, however, it’s also the great telephone cash can
Pros
- +Superb 48MP camera
- +Very smart Dynamic Island
- +Superb battery life
- +Always-on display
- +Impressive Action mode for video
Cons
- –Lack of a SIM Card slot will annoy some
- It–Still just 20W charging
- –A bit thicker and heavier
Today’s first-class iPhone 14 Pro Max deals
The iPhone 14 Pro Max has the improvements I become awaiting for and one I failed to recognize I needed. Yeah, the usually-on show is well past due, however, the largest improvement is virtually Dynamic Island, delivering indicators and live activities like your music, flip-through-turn directions, timers, and Face ID animations.
It’s clever and I admit it’s just fun to apply.
I additionally was given a kick out of the use of the camera’s new Action mode for shooting video. Other smartphones have comparable feature, but the aggregate of the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s video is great, and its exquisite constant photos feels a bit like magic. Also magical is the convenience with which you can switch between multiple smartphone numbers using this flagship’s eSIM capability, although some will lament the utter loss of a bodily SIM card tray.
Once once more Apple has made the fastest smartphone round with its A16 Bionic chip, but it’s not truly about benchmarks. Instead, it’s approximately what this chip allows, from the constantly-on show to the effective 48MP digital camera and what it is able to do. Add in extra-long battery life and you’ve got the nice iPhone you can purchase in addition to the first-rate telephone you may buy length.
More iPhone 14 reviews
If you need a smaller cellphone test out our iPhone 14 Pro evaluation, and additionally see our iPhone 14 assessment in case you need the maximum lower-priced new iPhone.
iPhone 14 Pro Max | |
| Screen size | 6.7-inches |
| Refresh rate | 1-120Hz |
| CPU | Apple A16 Bionic |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Cameras | 48MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 12MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom |
| Dust/Water resistance | IP68 |
| Colors | Purple, gold, silver and space black |
| Rated battery life | 13 hours 39 minutes (web surfing) |
| Size | 6.33 x 3.05 x 0.31 inches |
| Weight | 8.47 ounces |
iPhone 14 Pro Max overview: Release date and charge
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is on sale now and has a launch date of September sixteen. The beginning fee is $1,099 / £1,199 / AU$1,899, making it one of the maximum high-priced flagship phones around.
The beginning storage remains 128GB, which frankly does not experience very Pro. But you can upgrade to 256GB for $1,199 (£1,309/AU$2,099). Going to 512GB charges $1,399 (£1,529/AU$2,419) and 1TB will run you $1,599 (£1,749/AU$2,769).
For more, see our iPhone 14 deals guide to get the biggest reductions, and our iPhone 14 transport date manual to look whilst you may assume to peer your cellphone if you buy it right now.
iPhone 14 Pro Max overview: Design
When I picked up the iPhone 14 Pro Max for this evaluation I observed things at once. The first is that the notch has been replaced by a tablet-formed cutout extra at the Dynamic Island beneath, and the second is that the digital camera bump is even bigger.
All 3 digital camera lenses on the again of the iPhone 14 Pro Max are large, as is the flash, so this vicinity takes up plenty of room. This is also a slightly heavier and thicker cellphone than its predecessor: The iPhone 14 Pro Max measures 6.33 x three.05 x zero.31 inches and weighs eight.Forty-seven ounces, as compared to 6.33 x three.07 x 0.3 inches and 8.Forty-six ounces for the iPhone thirteen Pro Max.
There are 4 coloration options for the iPhone 14 Pro Max: deep red, silver, gold, and space black. I’m partial to the deep purple as it pops the maximum, and that’s the only one I examined for this evaluation. I continue to comprehend the matte glass again that is now removable and coloration-matched polished metal aspects Apple uses for its Pro phones. The normal appearance is elegant if a bit too familiar, with equal IP68 water resistance.
What’s lacking? That would be the SIM card tray. Like the headphone jack before it, Apple has removed this option for U.S. Fashions, changing it with eSIM technology. The excellent information is that we discovered it quite smooth to feature a line to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and you may have energetic numbers without delay say, one to your non-public number and one for commercial enterprise. The awful information is that a few distant places companies don’t but support eSIM, so you’ll want to test if your issuer is well matched earlier than you journey remote places.
If you need to maintain your iPhone 14 Pro Max searching field-fresh then test out our spherical up of the nice iPhone 14 Pro Max instances.
iPhone 14 Pro Max review: Meet Dynamic Island
Now, this is modern. Apple didn’t just cut back the iPhone’s notch and flow it down; it found a way to make this location useful or even amusing. In addition to housing the TrueDepth digital camera, the Dynamic Island acts like a mini dashboard, providing get entry to the information you want irrespective of what app you’re in.
If you open up Apple Music or Spotify, as an instance, and then swipe back to the home display, you’ll see the album artwork displayed on the left side and there’s a mini waveform animation at the right. And in case you press and hold on the Dynamic Island, a larger window will pop up showing the music development and playback controls. Or you can press once simply to launch into the app.
There are a lot of different apps that take gain of Dynamic Island. You can see the popularity of your timer there, the next route to take in Maps, the status of incoming and outgoing calls, and greater. You can even have two live activities displayed aspect by way of aspect within the Island.
Later this year Apple will make a Live Activities API to be had to builders to supply extra Dynamic Island stories like sports activities rankings, food transport status, journey sharing info, and extra. I can’t wait as a way to see how way away my DoorDash transport is or Uber experience without having to constantly dive back into the app.
The makes use of Dynamic Island extends to other sports as nicely, which includes Face ID, and the animations are fluid without being intrusive. This is only a killer characteristic and frankly, an amazing purpose to get the iPhone 14 Pro Max over the normal iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus.
iPhone 14 Pro Max evaluate: Always-on show and display screen first-rate
Apple is truly gambling capture-up with Android telephones with regards to the iPhone 14 Pro’s new usually-on show, and yet Apple’s implementation supplies an improved revel in if you’re inclined to take the time to set it up.
Because the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s display refresh charge can scale all of the manners all the way down to 1Hz, Apple designed its AOD to essentially reflect the lock screen in shade but at a far lower brightness degree. So you may still see your wallpaper, lock display screen widgets like climate, calendar, activity ring, and notifications coming through.
The always-on show is wise enough to show off if you placed the iPhone 14 Pro Max in your pocket or upside down on a desk. I in my opinion appreciated having the always-on display for virtually displaying the time while not having to absolutely turn on the display, as my puppies usually see that as a sign they are able to cross outdoors irrespective of the time of night time.
In a way, I pick the simplicity of the Pixel 6 and Galaxy S22 Ultra with their always-on presentations, showing just the basics like time, battery reputation, and notifications. But I like that there are more customization options for the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Otherwise, the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s Super Retina XDR show is incredibly shiny and vibrant. In reality, this panel is rated for up to one, six hundred nits of brightness with HDR content material and a pair of,000 nits outside in brilliant sunlight.
This panel dazzled as I zoomed in on photos of a fountain, as I may want to make out the drops of water hitting the pool beneath and developing a fizzy bunch of bubbles. And I was given lost in a tropical paradise when gambling on the AirTwister air taking pictures game, with fluid animations to healthy the 120Hz ProMotion show.
On our lab exams, the iPhone 14 Pro Max reached up to one,565 nits with HDR content, which may be very near Apple’s claim. And this panel registered 117.Five% of the sRGB color gamut and 83.2 % of the DCI-P3 colocation space. The Delta-E analysis for coloration accuracy became zero.26, in which 0 is ideal.
By assessment, the iPhone thirteen Pro Max hit 1,040 max nits on our checking out and scored 109.Three% and 77.Four% at the sRGB and DCI-P3 assessments. So the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a higher display all around, although its Delta-E rating become barely at the back of the iPhone thirteen Pro Max at 0.21.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra reached 1,359 nits with HDR content material, and it registered 137.5% and 97.Four% on the sRGB and DCI-P3. And its Delta-E rating became zero.25. Which makes Samsung’s panel greater colorful but a bit dimmer.
iPhone 14 Pro Max overview: Cameras
Apple has shaken things up with its cameras on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, imparting a 48MP major wide sensor for the primary time. By default, the sensor will group every four pixels in a quad-pixel and optimize for higher mild capture in 12MP pix. But you can move 48MP in Pro RAW mode if you need the maximum element feasible, which is ideal for cropping in. The 48MP digicam also allows a new 2x zoom choice that joins the 12MP 3x telephoto zoom lens, but you don’t get the better zoom supplied with the aid of the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 10x dual optical setup.
The iPhone Pro Max also features a new 12MP ultrawide camera that’s almost twice the dimensions and the 12MP TrueDepth digital camera now gives autofocus in conjunction with a faster f/1.Nine aperture for higher low-mild photographs. In truth, higher low-light overall performance is a large theme throughout the board with this phone, as there’s a Photonic Engine powered by way of the A16 Bionic chip that’s designed to offer brighter and extra colorful photos for every digital camera.
You can shoot 48MP photographs, but you first should allow Apple ProRaw and set the ProRaw resolution to 48MP in the Settings app. It could be easier, to begin with by setting off this inside the digital camera app, but once enabled, you may toggle between RAW and normal photographs inside the digital camera app.
When I shot a 48MP photo of a hearth pit location, I could zoom in a great deal more without losing detail. You could make out greater elements in the bricks and lights atop the circular wall. Just keep in mind that you’ll have to edit the images later on for pleasant effects.
For extra, test out my in-depth iPhone 14 Pro Max digital camera trying out comparing 48MP pictures opens in a new tab versus 12MP photographs in a huge variety of scenarios. Based on my trying out as opposed to competing flagships, I’d say the iPhone 14 Pro is the first-class camera telephone you could buy. Let’s start with this shot of pansies. The red and yellow pop greater through the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, however, there are greater details in the petals on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. This one is truly close. Turning to this photo of peppers, the iPhone 14 Pro Max offers extra evaluation and depth as you zoom in, and the colors from the S22 Ultra are a piece too oversaturated. I’d give the edge to Apple right here.
With this photograph of Halloween decorations, the iPhone 14 Pro Max wins in my eyes due to the fact the oranges, whites, and sunflowers in its photo appear richer; there’s additionally a bit of a haze over the S22 Ultra’s photo. However, Samsung’s telephone does a better process illuminating the history, as you could make out more of the skeletons placed on the wall in shadow.
In this portrait of me taken on the Manasquan reservoir, the iPhone 14 Pro Max captures outstanding detail in my shirt, shorts, and face whilst blurring the history well. The Google Pixel 6 offers a more practical blue in my shirt and takes some of the shine far from my face.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max wins this nighttime mode evaluation palms down. The stone wall surrounding the fireplace pit is much sharper on the iPhone, and the inexperienced cushions and surrounding lighting fixtures are brighter.
One area wherein the Galaxy S22 Ultra nonetheless wins is zoom. At 15x you could make out more detail on this gross silver and orange slug, and the bark in the tree appears sharper, too. Plus, that is the max zoom degree for the Pro Max, even as the S22 Ultra can get to 30x and even 100x with a little shakiness.
Last but now not least, both the iPhone 14 Pro Max and Galaxy S22 Ultra capture a pleasing selfie. I deliver the nod to the iPhone with its better detail in my hair, face, and shirt. There’s a little smoothing taking place with the S22 Ultra in my face and the image is a hint hazy.
iPhone 14 Pro Max Overview: Video
There are two major improvements with the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s video seize. The first is Action mode, and the second one is bumped-up 4K resolution in Cinema Mode.
With Action mode, you just toggle a button inside the digicam app when recording to ease out the movement. This specifically comes in available whilst each the shooter and difficulty is in movement. To check out Action mode I first recorded a clip jogging up a small incline on a trail. With Action mode off, the camera shook backward and forward so much it became dizzying, but with the effect on my ascent looks silky easy nearly like I changed into the use of a gimbal. Just observe that the decision is capped at 2.8K, as Apple vegetation in at the footage to make the effect work.
When I comparison the iPhone 14 Pro Max Action mode versus the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s Super Steady Mode, I determined each phone presented similarly smooth photos while strolling up a hill. The downhill video did appear steadier on the iPhone than the Samsung, as the S22 Ultra’s clip was shakier albeit brighter.
The common video recording fine from the iPhone 14 Pro Max is stellar, as evidenced by the aid of pictures I captured of a fountain. The dashing water and inexperienced moss look professional-grade and appear like they were shot by using a seasoned-level camera, in spite of a piece of lens flare. And Apple has made stepping between zoom levels when capturing video smoother than earlier.
Unfortunately, If you need to shoot video in 4K ProRes, you will need to buy an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max with a minimum of 256GB of storage. Otherwise, you will be capped at 1080p HD video at 30FPS.
iPhone 14 Pro Max evaluation: Performance
The iPhone 14 Pro Max’s A16 Bionic is Apple’s first chip constructed using the four-nanometer manner, and it’s once again the quickest chip in a phone. The CPU is rated to be simplest 10% faster than the A15 Bionic, but it gives 50% greater memory bandwidth, which aids gameplay.
In my testing, I observed the iPhone 14 Pro Max splendidly responsive whether I was bouncing among lots of apps or playing games like Asphalt nine Legends. Racing at the Himalayas music, I skilled fluid motion in spite of numerous other cars on screen jostling for first place.
On Geekbench 5, which measures normal performance, the iPhone 14 Pro Max hit 1,882 in single-core and five,333 in multicore. That’s significantly better than the iPhone 13 Pro Max (1,720/4,549) and it blows away the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and it’s Snapdragon eight Plus Gen 1 chip (1,328/3,831). The S22 Ultra was even similarly at the back with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor (1,249/3,392).
| Processor | Single core | Multi-core | |
| iPhone 14 Pro Max | A16 Bionic | 1,882 | 5,333 |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 13 Pro Max | A15 Bionic | 1,720 | 4,549 |
| Galaxy S22 Ultra | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | 1,240 | 3,392 |
| Galaxy Z Fold 4 | Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 | 1,328 | 3,831 |
Turning to graphics, the iPhone 14 Pro Max notched 12,363 or 74 frames per second on the 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited benchmark. The Galaxy S22 Ultra had a score of 9,499 and 56.87 fps. Last year’s iPhone 13 Pro Max reached 11,418 and 68.37 fps, so it’s definitely a tick-up in graphics performance here.
| Processor | Score | FPS | |
| iPhone 14 Pro Max | A16 Bionic | 12,363 | 74 |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 13 Pro Max | A15 Bionic | 11,418 | 68.3 |
| Galaxy S22 Ultra | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | 9,499 | 68.37 |
| Galaxy Z Fold 4 | Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 | 8,819 | 52.8 |
Oddly, the iPhone 14 Pro Max became in a slightly slower time in our video modifying test, which concerned transcoding a 4K video to 1080p inside the Adobe Premiere Rush app. The new iPhone took 30 seconds to the iPhone thirteen Pro Max’s 25 seconds. The Galaxy S22 Ultra needed forty-seven seconds and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 45 seconds.
If you’re interested in our full outcomes, and the way they evaluate different iPhones, take a look at our iPhone 14 benchmarks guide.
iPhone 14 Pro Max evaluation: Battery lifestyles and charging
Thanks in element to the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s extra efficient chip, the iPhone 14 Pro Max lasted a totally long term on Tom’s Guide battery test. We’re speaking a mean of thirteen hours and 39 mins. This is ideal enough for the iPhone 14 Pro Max to vault close to the pinnacle of our exceptional smartphone battery life list.
Anecdotally, the iPhone 14 Pro Max fared pretty well in terms of persistence. After charging close to ninety% after which using the smartphone from 1 p.M. To 6 p.M. For downloading apps, playing tunes, and capturing pics and videos, the phone’s battery best dropped to 60%.
Unfortunately, the iPhone 14 Pro Max sticks with 20W charging, so there are quicker charging telephones accessible. Charging a tired iPhone 14 Pro Max, we got to only 42% in a half-hour; Apple claims you could hit 50%, so we’ll be retesting and updating this evaluation. By evaluation, the Galaxy S22 Ultra got to 58% in 30 minutes with its 25W charger, and the OnePlus 10 Pro reached 93% and got to 55% in 15 mins, benefitting from 65W charging speeds.
iPhone 14 Pro Max assessment: Emergency SOS thru satellite and crash detection
Later this fall, Apple will launch two key safety capabilities for the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The first is Emergency SOS thru satellite tv for pc, which mixes new antennas and software to hook up with satellites whilst you couldn’t get a mobile or Wi-Fi sign. You’ll then get help from emergency services for your place.
The 2nd safety characteristic is Crash Detection, which leverages the iPhone 14’s progressed accelerometer and gyroscope to detect whether or not you’re in a car crash. Should a crash take place, your iPhone can robotically dial emergency offerings, in addition, to notify the emergency contacts you designate.
In one iPhone 14 Crash Detection test via a YouTuber(opens in new tab), the function labored nicely at some point of simulated crashes using a remote-managed automobile. In both instances, the iPhone started its countdown to automatically name the emergency offerings before being canceled. However, there was a small put-off between the crash and Crash Detection kicking in on the low-speed crash.
IPhone 14 Pro Max evaluation: iOS sixteen
The iPhone 14 Pro Max runs iOS sixteen by default, and there are loads to like in this new software update. You can customize the lock display screen with widgets, photos, and greater, and what you choose will even show up for your continually-on show. Other highlights include the capacity to unsend texts and edit them, a substitute for passwords called Passkeys, a brand new fitness app, and (subsequently) a battery percent indicator.
Later this 12 months iCloud Shared Photo Library will make it simpler to proportion pictures with own family contributors. And Live Activities are coming from developers, that allow you to make the Dynamic Island at the iPhone 14 Pro higher by way of showing such things as sports activities rankings and the real-time development of your meals order or journey proportion. For greater see our iOS sixteen assessment and the way to use the iOS sixteen guides.
iPhone 14 Pro Max problems and problems
Some iPhone 14 Pro proprietors are complaining about the digital camera shaking or rattling while using apps like Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram. The difficulty can be related to the optical picture stabilization machine in the new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. While we’ve got not been able to replicate the problem, a few customers have published motion pictures of the hassle.
We could assume that a software replacement could address this hassle within the iPhone 14 Pro collection and will document again.
iPhone 14 Pro Max evaluation: Verdict
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is the excellent large-display screen telephone around, and it justifies the excessive charge via providing a stellar show with usually-on skills, the quality cameras in a telephone, and further long battery lifestyles. Dynamic Island is by far my favorite function because it saves you time having to leap between more than one app just to get key bits of info, and it’s going to get even better as builders soar on board.
If you want to shoot video, you’ll also experience the new Action mode for smoother pictures and the even sharper Cinematic mode. The usually-on display additionally works properly, even when you have to work to get the feature in the manner you want.
There are a few things I don’t like approximately the iPhone 14 Pro Max, including its heft and the reality that it doesn’t offer quicker charging that suits what rival telephones provide. And at the same time as I for my part can live without a SIM card tray, global travelers can be frustrated now not being able to simply pop in a brand new SIM after they land; a few carriers truly don’t assist with eSIM capability yet.
Overall, even though, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is a beast of a smartphone that’s Pro-degree effective even as also a joy to apply. It’s a satisfactory smartphone you could purchase, period.
