The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are well on the way. Will the Pro Max have its own exclusive features again? Which will be the better option to go for? Let’s review what we know so far.
Intro
The Apple Glowtime event graced us with the reveal of a new quartet of iPhones — the iPhone 16 series is now live, and it comes with many upgrades across the board! Well, the non-Pro models and the small Pro got most of them, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max seems to have slowed down its pace to let the others catch up.
What we mean is that the iPhone 16 Pro now has the same camera module, processor, and overall build as the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Upon first look, it seems like the only difference here is size. But can there be something more hiding underneath?
Well, pre-orders will begin on the 13th, and the new iPhones will ship on the 20th. But, according to what we know thus far, here are the differences between the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro!
iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 16 Pro differences explained:
iPhone 16 Pro MaxiPhone 16 Pro
Bigger and heavier:
163 x 77.6 x 8.25 mm
227 g More compact, with a 6.3-inch screen
149.6 x 71.5 x 8.25 mm
199 g
Bigger 6.9-inch screen with slimmer borders Bigger 6.3-inch screen with slimmer borders
Apple A18 Pro Apple A18 Pro
120 Hz ProMotion display 120 Hz ProMotion display
Starts from 256 GB for $1,199 Starts from 128 GB for $999
New Camera Control Button and Action Button New Camera Control Button and Action Button
~4,700 mAh battery ~3,600 mAh battery
Triple camera with 5x tetraprism lens Triple camera with 5x tetraprism lens
New 48 MP ultra-wide camera New 48 MP ultra-wide camera
Table of Contents:
Design and Display
Performance and Software
Camera
Battery and Charging
Specs
Which one should you buy?
Also read:
Apple iPhone 16 Pro preview
iPhone 16 Pro Max preview
Design and Display QualityLittle brother, big brother
iPhones typically look pretty similar — a Pro Max is a slightly enlarged Pro, and same holds true for the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro. And it’s the second gen of titanium-coated iPhones, now with a new color added. Again, no discrapancy here — both Pros get the Desert Titanium shade.
The bezels around the screens have also shrunk furhter, making them the thinnest borders around iPhone displays yet. Uniform across the entire display, of course. This will allow the screens to grow a bit, with the bodies of the phones staying the same-ish size. The iPhone 16 Pro Max now has a 6.9-inch display, the iPhone 16 Pro — 6.3 inches.
The panels are OLED as before, and have a 120 Hz max refresh rate with the same ProMotion branding. They are Super Retina XDR displays, otherwise known as « these go to 2,000 nits peak brightness », which has been surpassed by Android phones since, but make no mistake — it’s plenty enough for HDR content, even in daylight. The minimum has now fallen to 1 nit, which will make iPhones slightly more comfortable to use at bedtime.
There’s a new Camera Control button, which will be able to invoke the camera app whenever you want. Different from the Action Button from last year, this one has a capacitive pad on top and it can register half-pressure as well as full press (upon which, it clicks in). You can slide across the button to control various camera settings on the fly — exposure, focus, bokeh, or scroll through Photographic Styles (the new age version of filters).
