iPhone 16 Pro Max Review: Maxing Out Perfection

Having spent over ten years reviewing smartphones, I sometimes wonder that with every new release, I might get a little jaded. But here’s the thing- Apple still has this remarkable knack for keeping things exciting. This time, it's the iPhone 16 series that has done just that.

As always, the new iPhones launched with all the usual buzz, and of course, a review unit of the iPhone 16 Pro Max has landed in my hands too. So, it’s October again, and like every year before, I find myself reviewing the latest iPhone. It’s almost become a yearly ritual at this point. 

For context, I had been using the iPhone 14 Pro as my secondary phone for over a year before switching to the 16 Pro Max. While it’s been a reliable companion, the new Pro Max moniker is capable of taking things to the next level. But does it live up to the hype? Let’s find out in this review of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Design: The iPhone 16 Pro Max looks almost identical to its predecessor. Apple hasn’t reinvented the wheel here but went with the idea of “why change something that already works well?". This is not at all a bad thing. The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes clutched in the titanium frame, which Apple introduced with the iPhone 15 Pro models.

The Grade 5 Titanium feels premium to the core. If you’re coming from the iPhone 14 series or base models of the 15 series, you’ll instantly appreciate the difference in the feel. Apple says it’s the same material used in spacecraft and aerospace industries, and has one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of any metal. This makes it more durable and scratch resistant than the lower-grade titanium used in other smartphones. 

They sent over the Natural Titanium variant for me to try out, and to me it’s the fanciest among all options. Other finishes are: Black, White and Desert Titanium. The micro-blasted texture on the Natural Titanium finish adds to the premium feel. 

Now, let’s be real- it’s a big phone, weighing 227 grams and measuring at 163.0 x 77.6 x 8.25 mm. That's six grams heavier, 3.1mm taller, and 0.9mm wider than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. So, this isn’t something you’re going to slip into your pocket without noticing. Apple has tried its best to make the iPhone 16 Pro Max feel balanced, and they’ve succeeded to an extent. The weight distribution is on point. 

The bottom edge features microphone and speaker perforations, along with a USB-C port that now supports Thunderbolt 4 data-transfer speeds (if you’ve got the right cable, of course). On the button front, it’s largely familiar territory. The volume buttons and the new Action Button are on one side, while the larger power/sleep button sits on the other.

But here’s the interesting part: Apple’s introduced something new- Camera Control. Though, Apple insists it’s not a button (classic Apple). Whatever you want to call it, It’s been designed to give you instant access to the camera settings. This multipurpose key is a useful inclusion and it comes in handy while capturing photos on the go.

With its haptic responses, you can navigate through different camera settings and lenses without jumping into the app manually. A light double press brings up an overlay with quick access to features like exposure, depth of field, zoom, and even Photographic Styles. You can slide your finger across to browse through the options, and a simple tap selects the control you want, like zoom. A quick press gets you right back to the last control you used. With this, it offers a DSLR-style control without a heavy setup.

The phone’s internal structure is also revamped. The iPhone 16 Pro Max now has a new machined chassis with a graphite-clad aluminium substructure that increases thermal efficiency by up to 20 percent. The phone remains cooler than ever during multitasking, including intensive gaming or video editing.

Display: Moving from the 14 Pro’s already stunning display to the 16 Pro Max was certainly an adjustment. I’m not a fan of big-screen devices, but to give the new iPhone a proper test, I had to upgrade. The larger display does have its perks, but it's a change I had to get used to over time.

That said, the iPhone 16 Pro Max comes with a giant 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR OLED panel, the biggest display ever in any iPhone. Apple has achieved this size not just by increasing the chassis slightly but also by slimming down the bezels. This offers more screen real estate without making the phone feel unwieldy. It’s big, but not bulky.

The resolution has also been bumped to 2868 x 1320 pixels from the 2796 x 1290 on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. While that’s a slight increase in pixel count, it doesn’t change the pixel density. Still, everything looks crisp and sharp​. The screen can hit up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness, which means you can use it under direct sunlight without any issues.

The display stays clear and easy to read. Whether you’re watching HDR content or just trying to reply to a message while out in the sun, it holds up brilliantly. Combine that with support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and you’ve got a display that’s ready to handle anything, from intense gaming sessions to streaming your favourite Netflix shows in the highest quality. The ProMotion tech is still here. So, the screen automatically adjusts from power-sipping 1Hz to  smooth 120Hz refresh rate for fluid scrolling and transitions​.

The display is protected by a layer of latest-generation Ceramic Shield. Apple says the material is 50 percent tougher than the first generation and two times tougher than glass found in any other smartphone. Other than this, Dynamic Island, sitting at the top of the screen, continues to be a handy and an adaptable little feature. It’s where you’ll find Face ID, depth sensors, and the 12MP TrueDepth camera, quietly doing their thing.

Camera: Apple upgraded the Primary and Telephoto sensors in previous models, but this time, it decided to let the ultra-wide camera take centre stage. The main 48MP camera, which we’ve seen in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, remains unchanged, and the 12MP telephoto camera still features the 5x tetraprism zoom. That said, the ultra-wide camera gets a boost with a 48MP upgrade, bringing it on par with the main camera. This means you’ll get better wide-angle shots, but the real treat is for macro photography. Close-ups now have sharper detail, and those intricate images you take will impress you.

The primary 48MP sensor is a rocker. I took a few landscape shots during my recent weekend trip, and the results were stunning. No distortion, just clean and crisp images with good dynamic range. The 12MP telephoto camera is also a reliable shooter. With 5x optical zoom and digital zoom stretching up to 25x, you can get close to the subject. 

Apple continues to use quad-pixel binning for 12MP photos. For those who want the full 48MP experience, you can switch to HEIF Max. Just be aware that it turns off Live Photos.

In Photographic Styles, Apple’s given us more control this time around, letting you fine-tune individual colours and vibrancy. In the camera app, you get a slider control that lets you adjust the intensity of the colours in the style. You can retroactively remove these styles from your shots if you change your mind later. It’s like a filter you can take on and off whenever you want.

I’ve always loved how Apple handles video, and this time slow motion capture has gotten a huge upgrade. Now, you can shoot slow-motion videos in 4K at 120fps. Even more intriguing is that you can adjust the playback speed after capture to quarter-speed (30 fps), half-speed (60 fps), or fifth-speed that corresponds to 24 fps playback. For those serious about shooting content on their phone, this is a huge selling point. 

To complement this, Apple has added some solid sound editing tools with its Audio Mix feature. This enables you to separate background noise from voices when recording and give your videos a more professional feel. After recording,  you can select the Standard option that captures everything in Spatial Audio, keeping it natural with no extra tweaks.

The In-Frame mode isolates the voice of the person on camera, filtering out off-camera chatter. If you're after a studio-quality feel, the Studio option makes it sound like your subject is speaking directly into a close-up mic.

The Cinematic mode centres voices like in a movie, while allowing environmental sounds to create a surround-sound effect. You get the Audio Mix benefits only when you’re recording through the iPhone’s built-in camera, and not with external microphones plugged in. The four microphones present in the handset have also been upgraded to filter noise.

Performance: Powered by Apple’s latest A18 Pro chip, the iPhone 16 Pro Max absolutely flies. It’s built on the cutting-edge 3nm tech and comes with a six-core CPU and six-core GPU. I threw everything at the device, from photo editing, 4K video rendering to gaming, and not once did it flinch.

The 14 Pro was no slouch, but the 16 Pro Max feels like it’s way faster. The A18 Pro offers 15 percent faster CPU and a 20 percent faster GPU compared to the A17 Pro used in the 15 Pro Max. Apps load in a flash, multitasking is seamless, and even with multiple apps running in the background, I never experienced any lag. During my usage, I never felt like the phone was struggling to keep up. It’s just fast, without you ever having to think about it.

With Dynamic Caching, mesh shading, and up to 2x faster hardware-accelerated ray tracing, iPhone 16 Pro is good at AAA games. I gave the iPhone 16 Pro Max a run for its money with some of the more demanding AAA titles, such as Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Resident Evil 4. These games are known for pushing devices to their limits, and the experience on the iPhone is pretty solid. Assassin’s Creed Mirage kept the open-world gameplay smooth, and while it’s not exactly the same as playing on a console, the iPhone still manages to handle the heavy action. 

Also, there are NPU cores inside the A18 Pro to power those Apple Intelligence features that will be rolled out gradually, starting in the US and reaching Indian models next year.

Battery Life: The iPhone 16 Pro Max also brings a boost in battery life, offering up to 33 hours of video playback, which is a nice jump from the 29 hours on the iPhone 15 Pro. In my hands, the phone easily lasted a solid day and a half with moderate usage, which, considering its size and power, is impressive. No complaints on that front.

Conclusion: I feel that if you’re using an iPhone older than the iPhone 15 Pro, the iPhone 16 Pro Max makes for a solid upgrade. The new 48 MP ultra-wide camera is a nice bump. It captures detailed landscapes and macro shots. With the 5x optical zoom, getting closer to your subject while keeping clarity intact is easier than before. On the video front, recording in 4K at 120fps and playing around with the slow-motion effects is pretty useful, and the Audio Mix feature gives you some extra flexibility when it comes to controlling sound. 

Performance-wise, the A18 Pro chip handles everything smoothly. Multitasking, gaming, and video editing all run without a hitch. It’s not an earth-shattering difference, but if you’re jumping from an older model, the speed boost and extra capabilities will definitely be noticeable. As for Apple Intelligence, it looks promising with all the smart features coming, but we’ll have to see how it really helps users once it’s rolled out.

However, if you’ve already got the iPhone 15 Pro, the differences might not be drastic enough. The improvements are there, but unless you’re a power user or someone who loves having the latest tech, you might not feel compelled to make the leap just yet.