In the old days, before COVID, I didn’t just review big phones — I used them almost exclusively. They’re especially helpful here in big cities, where you never knew when a train will get held up. There’s nothing like a big screen and some noise-canceling headphones to help you feel like you’re anywhere but a crowded subway car. Needless to say, things have changed.
So, the question is like, should you have an Iphone 13 Pro Max ?
- Expert’s Rating :
WHAT ABOUT WINNING AN IPHONE 13 MAX PRO INSTEAD OF BUYING ?
PROS :
CONS :
- Great low-light photography performance
- Ultra-smooth 120Hz refresh rate
- Incredible battery life
- A15 Bionic is unbeaten
- Big and bulky
- Relatively slow charging
- Cinematic mode is capped at 1080p
- Expensive
It’s a fact :
The iPhone 13 Pro Max offers the best battery of any iPhone to date, but the lack of differences between it and the more affordable iPhone 13 Pro – including ProMotion tech and enhanced cameras – make it hard to recommend to most.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max full review
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is the culmination of Apple’s work over the past few years, offering the biggest, fastest display and best battery life of any iPhone to date.
However, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is also the most expensive iPhone currently available, and unlike last year, there aren’t upgrades unique to this year’s Pro Max variant.
With that in mind, is it worth paying the extra for the bigger display and longer battery life, or should you save yourself a bit of money and go for the equally-capable iPhone 13 Pro? Keep reading to find out.
WHAT ABOUT WINNING AN IPHONE 13 MAX PRO INSTEAD OF BUYING ?
Design and build :
- Slightly thicker and heavier than its predecessor
- 20% smaller Face ID notch
- New colour finishes
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is the biggest in the iPhone 13 series, both in terms of display size and overall heft – even the move from an iPhone 12 Pro to the 13 Pro Max is noticeable.
It’s something you adjust to fairly quickly, but I wasn’t expecting such a bulky experience when I first got my hands on the smartphone.
That’s not to say it’s not a stunning piece of kit though; if you like the industrial look first introduced on the iPhone 12 range, you’ll love the iPhone 13 Pro Max because it’s essentially the same.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max sports the same stainless steel bezels, frosted glass rear and edge-to-edge display as its predecessor. it’s also protected by the same IP68 dust- and water-resistance and ceramic shield tech on the front too.
It is slightly thicker and heavier at 7.7mm and 240g respectively, likely down to the increase in battery power – more on that later – and the camera bump protrudes further than ever too, but given most people will immediately put a case on the smartphone, it’s likely not something you’ll notice.
The big change compared to its predecessor is in the notch department; it’s still there, but it’s 20% smaller this time around. Hardcore Apple fans will appreciate the reduction in size – that doesn’t affect Face ID performance – but it’s likely that most people won’t notice unless they’re side-by-side.
Display :
- Vibrant 6.7in Super Retina XDR OLED display
- 120Hz ProMotion is a big addition
- Improved refresh rate doesn’t affect battery life
For most Apple fans, the display will be a core reason to upgrade to this year’s iPhone. Why? Because it finally introduces one of the most heavily requested features: a high refresh rate.
While the entire iPhone 13 range sports Apple’s top-of-the-line Super Retina XDR OLED displays with phenomenal colour and detail, support for HDR and True Tone and more, the 6.7in iPhone 13 Pro Max (and the smaller 6.1in Pro) introduce Apple’s 120Hz ProMotion tech.
Specs and performance :
- A15 Bionic is unbeaten
- New 1TB storage option for videographers
- Frequent iOS updates
Another iPhone means another Apple-designed chipset, and this year’s 5nm A15 Bionic at the heart of the iPhone 13 Pro Max certainly doesn’t disappoint.
In terms of pure power, the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s A15 Bionic is simply unbeaten, even compared to the top-end Android smartphones – and some of our benchmark results are much further ahead than most of the competition, especially in the CPU department as our Geekbench 5 tests show.
Simply put, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is rapid, with enough power under the hood to keep it chugging along for a few years yet, and it’s yet to be beaten in benchmark tests.
There’s also a meaningful boost to internal storage, with a new 1TB storage option available alongside the 128GB, 256GB and 512GB variants. Though most iPhone users – especially those that take advantage of iCloud – will be happy with the 128GB model, the 1TB model will no doubt come in handy for those that want to use the phone’s high-end cameras to record Apple ProRes video at 4K.
In terms of connectivity, you’ll find 5G, though with varying support depending on the market. The faster mmWave 5G tech, for example, is still a US exclusive. That’s flanked by NFC for Apple Pay, Ultra-Wideband tech for the enhanced Find My tech, Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 6.
There’s also the iOS experience itself to consider. The iPhone 13 Pro Max runs iOS 15 out of the box, boasting key upgrades including massive improvements to the notification system, and the introduction of Focus Modes too.
Focus Mode allows you to create different profiles – for tasks like work, sleep, personal time – and control not only the incoming notifications and calls, but which iPhone home screens are displayed too. Want a work mode with a Home Screen devoid of social media and gaming apps? It’s easy to do in iOS 15.
CAMERA :
- Great everyday performance
- Low-light focused camera upgrades hit the mark
- Cinematic Mode is a lot of fun
While the entire iPhone 13 range benefits from the sensor-shift OIS introduced on the iPhone 12 Pro Max last year, there are other benefits that make the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s rear-facing tri-camera setup among the best in the market right now.
Let’s start with the main wide camera; the 12Mp snapper sports the largest sensor ever packed into an iPhone, and that’s coupled with a faster f/1.5 aperture in an effort to vastly improve the amount of light taken in any given shot.
It should come as no surprise that in normal lighting the iPhone can produce stunning photographs packed with plenty of detail, but that’s true of just about every flagship right now. It’s low-light performance where performance can vary largely, and that’s where the iPhone 13 Pro Max excels.
Though there’s still a notable amount of grain visible – a factor of most low-light modes regardless of model – the iPhone 13 Pro Max is capable of slurping much more light from a scene without the need for a tripod, and that translates to a much more detailed image. In fact, in certain scenarios, the iPhone captured more of a scene than I could see with the naked eye.
It’s not the perfect night mode, with particularly bright spots – like nearby street lights – blowing out, but it’s something that Apple can tweak with future OS updates.
Similarly, the 12Mp 120-degree ultrawide sensor has also had an upgrade to improve low-light performance, with an impressive jump from f/2.4 to f/1.8 making it one of the widest apertures in an ultra-wide on any smartphone right now.
As with the main sensor, photos in great light are stunning, with Apple’s anti-distortion tech removing much of the distortion present on most ultrawide cameras, especially with large vista shots, but it’s low-light that sees the main benefit.
WHAT ABOUT WINNING AN IPHONE 13 MAX PRO INSTEAD OF BUYING ?
