The iPhone 15 Pro Max is an expensive phone, starting at $1,199. But it’s also one of the very best you can buy. Find our why in our full review.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is a showcase of “the very best of Apple innovations.” That’s how Apple describes the 15 Pro Max in its official press release for the phone, and it’s similar marketing speak that we hear every single year: Last year’s iPhone was great. But this new one? It’s the best Apple has ever made.
It’s easy to roll your eyes when Apple uses language like that, and I often do. But for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it actually feels warranted. The big changes this year compared to the previous Pro Max are few in number, but the impact they have on the iPhone 15 Pro Max is incredible.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max doesn’t reinvent the iPhone formula, but it absolutely is the most capable and polished iPhone you can buy today.iPhone 15 Pro Max: titanium design
I loved last year’s iPhone 14 Pro Max. It was one of the best phones you could buy in 2022 and throughout a good chunk of this year too. But there was one thing that really irked me about it: its stainless steel design. It didn’t take long for the 14 Pro Max’s huge size and weight to become so overbearing that I had to switch to the smaller iPhone 14 Pro. This has been a problem since the iPhone 12 Pro Max launched in 2020, and it only got worse with the iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
But that’s no longer the case with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple ditched its stainless steel frame and replaced it with a brushed titanium one — and it makes a big difference. You can see this right on the spec sheet. The iPhone 15 Pro Max weighs just 221 grams, which is a substantial decrease from the 240-gram iPhone 14 Pro Max and 13 Pro Max.
When you actually use the iPhone 15 Pro Max, you really do feel that difference. The lighter construction was immediately noticeable when I took the 15 Pro Max out of its box and held it side by side with the 14 Pro Max; it’s a night and day difference.
And it’s not just the lighter weight that makes the iPhone 15 Pro Max more enjoyable to hold. In addition to being a millimeter thinner, Apple also slightly rounded the front and back glass to meet the titanium frame more smoothly. That basically means the sharp, often painful edges of the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro are finally gone.
When you add all of that together, the iPhone 15 Pro Max ends up being the most comfortable Pro Max iPhone I’ve ever held. The flat sides of the frame still give you a secure grip on the phone, but it’s no longer unbearably heavy and doesn’t dig into your palms.
If this is the future of iPhone design for the foreseeable future, I couldn’t be more excited. I treasured almost every single aspect of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, with its in-hand feel being the one glaring omission. Apple totally fixed that with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and I really hope it continues on this path for the next few years. Some reports of weakened durability are worth keeping an eye on, but I’ve not had any such issues with my unit. It should also be mentioned that I haven’t tried to purposefully break it in half, so take that for what it’s worth.
Finally, Natural Titanium (the color photographed throughout this review) is 100% the color to get this year. It’s just stunning.iPhone 15 Pro Max: Action button
If the titanium design is my No. 1 favorite change with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, not far behind it is the new Action button. Ever since the original iPhone in 2007, Apple has included a ring/silent switch above the volume buttons to quickly turn on or silence your ringtones and notifications. On the iPhone 15 Pro Max, however, that’s been replaced with a customizable button — dubbed the Action button.
By default, pressing and holding the Action button enables and disables silent mode (just like the old switch). It works really well for this, displaying a pop-up in the Dynamic Island and playing the same haptics you’re used to when flicking the old switch.
But the real magic lies with everything else you can do with it.
Go to the Settings app, tap on the Action Button icon, and you can completely change what the button does. Besides enabling silent mode, you can also use the button to:
Turn on a Focus mode
Open the Camera app
Turn on the flashlight
Start a Voice Memo
Enable the Magnifier app
Run a Siri Shortcut
Launch an accessibility tool
Some of these actions can be further customized too. For example, you can choose exactly which Focus mode you want to launch if you choose that option. If you’ve selected the camera option, you can have the button launch the main camera, selfie mode, video recording, Portrait mode, or Portrait selfie. I’ve had the Action button set to open the main camera since I began my review, and it’s been infinitely easier to open the camera compared to the (often unreliable) lock screen shortcut.
While all of this is great, things get even more exciting with the Shortcuts option. There are a few recommended shortcuts by default, such as opening any app you want, starting a new note in the Notes app, and launching Spotify to recognize a song. All of these are fantastic, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible. For example, we’ve already seen one Shortcut that can perform multiple actions based on the orientation in which you’re holding your iPhone. It’s ingenious.
For as much as I love using the Action button, my biggest complaint is that I can’t do more with it. As it stands, the only way to use the Action button is with a press-and-hold, which means it’s always limited to doing just one thing at a time. I see no reason why there couldn’t also be double- and triple-press options, and I really hope Apple considers adding them in a software update down the road.iPhone 15 Pro Max: cameras
I’ve kept you in suspense long enough. It’s time to talk about the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s cameras.
At first glance, it doesn’t look like anything has changed. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 48-megapixel (MP) main camera, 12MP ultrawide camera, and 12MP telephoto camera with apertures of f/1.78, f/2.2, and f/2.8, respectively. For those keeping track at home, those are the exact same specs as the iPhone 14 Pro Max. But there are differences beyond those numbers, and they’re rather impactful.
For one thing, the main camera on the iPhone 15 Pro Max now defaults to 24MP shots instead of 12MP like last year — giving you more detail in each image. Taking pictures of people, dogs, or cats now automatically captures depth information so you can turn them into Portrait mode shots in the Photos app after the fact. You also get Apple’s new Smart HDR 5 image processing for improved colors. And the telephoto camera on the iPhone 15 Pro Max now supports 5x optical zoom instead of the old 3x maximum.
Some of those upgrades sound bigger than others, but all you really need to know is that the iPhone 15 Pro Max takes outstanding photographs.
The 48MP main camera has been a joy to shoot with.
