Mario Bautista
The iPhone 16 Pro Max (starting at $1,099) packs numerous small changes that make for a compelling—if not quite exciting—update. A bigger screen provides more real estate for interacting with content, its battery lasts significantly longer, a Camera Control button provides more creative flexibility, and upgraded radios mean faster wireless performance. Moreover, the 16 Pro Max’s advanced video capture tools are among the best available from a phone and should tempt creators of all kinds. Those looking to get an early jump on Apple Intelligence will have to wait until it arrives later this year, though the 16 Pro Max should run those features more seamlessly than any other iPhone. If you want a phone for creating content, the 16 Pro Max has absolutely everything you need, though for most people, the standard iPhone 16 (starting at $799) gets you plenty of the way there for a lot less money, making it our Editors’ Choice.
Apple iPhone 16 Hands On
Design: Minimal Upgrades
Of the four iPhone 16 models, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is clearly the flagship thanks to its size and advanced feature set. From a design standpoint, however, it’s hardly different from last year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max, nor is it all that different from the iPhone 16, 16 Plus (starting at $899), or 16 Pro (starting at $999).
Left to right: iPhone 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max (Credit: Eric Zeman)
The 16 Pro Max is the biggest and heaviest iPhone, measuring 6.42 by 3.06 by 0.32 inches (HWD) and 7.99 ounces. Its top competitors, the $1,099 Google Pixel 9 Pro XL (6.4 by 3.0 by 0.3 inches, 7.8 ounces) and the $1,299 Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (6.4 by 3.1 by 0.3 inches, 8.18 ounces), are in the same neighborhood in terms of size, weight, and price. The iPhone 16 Pro has all the same features as the Pro Max but is more pocketable, at 5.89 by 2.81 by 0.32 inches and 7.03 ounces.
I carried and used the phone both with and without a case over several days. It is fractionally largely than the 15 Pro Max (6.29 by 3.02 by 0.32 inches, 7.81 ounces) and arguably close to “too big.” For some, it will surely be too much phone.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
The 16 Pro Max has a titanium frame with Apple’s Ceramic Shield forming the front and rear surfaces. Apple claims its glass is twice as strong as any other, but we can’t verify that. The back panel has a matte finish that’s pleasing to the touch, and I like the matte titanium finish of the frame, too. The phone has an IP68 rating for protection against dust and water, which is standard among flagships. It can handle dust and dirt well and survive a 30-minute bath in about 5 feet of water. Even so, we continue to recommend that you use a protective case for a device that costs this much. The 16 Pro Max comes in four color options: Black Titanium, Desert Titanium, Natural Titanium, or White Titanium. We reviewed the Natural Titanium model.
Action Button (Credit: Eric Zeman)
The buttons and controls are well placed and work as expected. The left side features the Action Button, followed by two volume keys. The Action Button is a little small and a little close to the volume keys, but it’s a nice tool to have for interacting with select apps on your phone. The phone’s right edge holds the power button and the new Camera Control key, which lets you quickly open the camera to take photos or videos, as well as interact with several advanced functions. As has been the case for several years, the 16 Pro Max does not feature a physical SIM card tray because US iPhone models rely on eSIM only. The bottom edge of the phone holds a high-speed USB-C port (up to 10Gbps) as well as a microphone and down-firing speaker.
Camera Control (Credit: Eric Zeman)
Apple hasn’t changed the camera module on the rear panel. The phone has three cameras arranged in a triangle, mounted to a large square bump. The bump is quite prominent and makes the phone wobble if you place it on a hard, level surface (without a case).
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
Display: The Big Apple
Apple has increased the size of the display from 6.7 to 6.9 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro Max (and from 6.1 to 6.3 inches for the 16 Pro). Other than the size and number of pixels, the two screens share every feature. The 6.9-inch Pro Max has a resolution of 2,868 by 1,320 pixels at a density of 460 pixels per inch (ppi)—it is the largest-ever screen on an iPhone. Meanwhile, the 6.3-inch 16 Pro has a resolution of 2,622 by 1,206 pixels at 460ppi. Apple was able to increase the size of the screens by squeezing the bezels into a minimal black strip around the display. Some early adopters are experiencing touch problems with the transition from bezel to screen, but we didn’t encounter that with our review unit. The TrueDepth camera for Face ID is hidden in the Dynamic Island at the top of the screen. Face ID continues to be one of the top biometric security technologies of any consumer device.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
Both Pro models feature a screen with a variable refresh rate that Apple calls ProMotion. The refresh rate can change from 1Hz to save power up to 120Hz for smooth performance. The screen supports an always-on mode, which means you can keep a wallpaper with several widgets visible at all times. An always-on display is helpful for gleaning info at a glance without having to turn the screen on.
The panel produces 1,000 nits of brightness (typical), with HDR brightness reaching 1,600 nits and peak brightness reaching 2,000 nits. The brightness, combined with the high contrast ratio of 2 million to 1 and fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating, make for a superb display that looks great indoors and out. I had zero problems seeing the screen, no matter the ambient lighting conditions. HDR content from apps like Netflix looks outstanding.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL features a similar 6.8-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2,992 by 1,344 pixels, a 1Hz to 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and 3,000 nits of peak brightness, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s screen measures 6.8 inches with the same adaptive refresh rate and 2,600-nit brightness.
Performance: Quick, But Warm
The entire iPhone 16 family gets new Apple silicon inside. The iPhone 16 Pro Max and 16 Pro rely on the A18 Pro processor, while the less expensive iPhone 16 and 16 Plus use the A18. As you might expect, the A18 Pro performs better than the A18, but not by too much.
The A18 Pro includes two performance cores, four efficiency cores, six GPU cores, and 16 Neural Engine cores (or NPU). The iPhone 16 Pro Max is available with 256GB of storage ($1,099), 512GB of storage ($1,399), or 1TB of storage ($1,599). All four iPhones share 8GB of RAM. Some Android phones have as much as 12GB or 16GB of RAM.
(Credit: 3DMark/Geekbench/GFXBench/PCMag)
In terms of everyday performance, we can’t ask for a faster, smoother mobile processor. It simply blasts its way through every possible task with ease. I ran intensive apps like GarageBand, iMovie, and Lightroom, and the phone didn’t break a sweat. I tested several AAA games like Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, and the phone delivered peppy performance.
To quantify the A18 Pro’s speed, we ran some benchmark tests so we could better compare it with other phones. On Geekbench 6, which tasks the CPU, the 16 Pro Max reached 3,312 and 8,086, respectively, for the single- and multi-core tests. For comparison, the iPhone 16 Plus (Apple A18) reached 3,091 and 7,129, the Galaxy S24 Ultra (Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy) scored 2,273 and 7,056, and the Pixel 9 Pro XL (Google Tensor G4) tallied 1,961 and 4,718 on the same benchmark.
Challenging the GPU required us to run the GFXBench Aztec Ruins test, which saw the 16 Pro Max hit 57.9 frames per second (fps). Comparatively, the 16 Plus scored 57.5fps, the S24 Ultra hit 66fps, and the Pixel 9 Pro hit 43fps. The 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test also provides a glimpse at GPU performance. On 3DMark, the 16 Pro Max hit 4,559, which is notably higher than the iPhone 16 Plus, which scored 3,881.
One important thing to note here, however, is that the iPhone 16 Pro Max got warm during every test. It cooled down quickly but was obviously warm to the touch when running benchmarks. It didn’t get hot while gaming or performing everyday tasks.
Further, Apple Intelligence is not on board the iPhone 16 Pro Max yet. It won’t arrive until Apple releases iOS 18.1 later this year. Therefore, we are not able to assess how well the phone handles machine learning and artificial intelligence tasks with real-world apps. We’ll revisit the phone’s AI performance once Apple makes those features available.
Battery: A New Champion
According to our battery tests, Apple’s Pro Max model is often the longest-lasting iPhone each year. Accordingly, the 16 Pro Max easily steals the crown from the 15 Pro Max.
According to MacRumors, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 4,685mAh battery inside, which is up about 6% in capacity compared with the 15 Pro Max. Competing Android flagships typically have batteries of about 5,000mAh. Apple says the 16 Pro Max can play local video files for up to 33 hours, stream online video files for up to 29 hours, and play audio for up to 105 hours.
In our rundown test, which involves streaming HD video over Wi-Fi with the screen brightness set to the maximum, the 16 Pro Max lasted an impressive 22 hours and 5 minutes. That’s up almost 2 hours compared with the 15 Pro Max, which ran for 20 hours and 15 minutes. For comparison, the S24 Ultra lasted 14 hours and 10 minutes, and the Pixel 9 Pro XL lasted 12 hours and 25 minutes. If you need power in your pocket all day long—and beyond—the 16 Pro Max delivers.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
As for charging that massive battery, the 16 Pro Max supports MagSafe wireless charging at up to 25W (30W brick required), Qi2 charging at up to 15W, and regular Qi charging at 7.5W. Apple says the phone supports up to 45W wired charging, which is an upgrade over older iPhones, which were at about 30W. There is no charger in the box, but Apple supplies a quality, braided USB-C cable with the iPhone.
I test-charged the phone with Apple’s new MagSafe charger. It needed 90 minutes to reach a full charge, which is 30 minutes less than last year’s Pro Max. A full charge via a 45W wired connection took 65 minutes, or 20 minutes less than the 15 Pro Max. These are solid and appreciated improvements that put the iPhone 16 Pro Max in line with the charging speeds of the S24 Ultra and Pixel 9 Pro.
Connectivity: Powerful Radios
All four iPhone 16 models share a nearly identical radio package. They have the same sub-6GHz (including C-band) and mmWave 5G support, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and Thread radios. The only notable difference is that the Pro models have dual-band GPS while the non-Pro models have single-band GPS. This mostly impacts pinpoint accuracy in dense vegetation and dense urban environments.
Apple has not identified the modem inside the 16 Pro Max, but all evidence points to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X75, which is an update over the X70 modem in the iPhone 15. I tested the iPhone 16 Pro Max on Verizon’s network in New York City and New Jersey and found that it performed incredibly well.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
In an area with a strong Verizon Ultra Wideband signal, the 16 Pro Max reached a download speed of 885Mbps, more than double the speed we saw last year from the 15 Pro Max. Upload speeds saw a similar gain at 199Mbps. These speeds are quite good considering the urban area and the number of people nearby. A Pixel 9 Pro XL didn’t do quite as well, maxing out at 674Mbps down and 131Mbps up when tested in the same spot. The iPhone was a strong performer in areas with a weak signal, too, hitting a solid 63Mbps down and 42Mbps up despite a single bar of standard 5G service.
The 16 Pro gains a nice Wi-Fi upgrade, moving from Wi-Fi 6E to Wi-Fi 7. Though most people won’t notice a performance improvement until they adopt Wi-Fi 7 gear at home, the newer spec means the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a bit more future-proof than previous models. When tested near a Verizon Fios router with 1Gbps service, I saw a peak download speed of 798Mbps, which is about the same as the 774Mbps scored by the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Uploads were similarly speedy at 451Mbps compared with 465Mbps for the 9 Pro XL. The iPhone was also impressive when tested at the Wi-Fi network’s edge, where it peaked at 28.2Mbps down against the 9 Pro XL’s 21.5Mbps.
Apple keeps the Bluetooth radio at version 5.3 for a third year in a row rather than upgrading to 5.4, the latest spec. The iPhone’s codec support includes AAC, APAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, and FLAC. The phone’s stereo speakers are decent. You get about 86dB of output, but the bass in our test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” was a bit thin.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is good for voice calls. The conversations I had were perfectly clear. The earpiece provides plenty of volume (78dB) no matter where you are, and the Voice Isolation feature effectively eliminates background noise to make your voice stand out.
Camera: The Best iPhone for Video
One of the biggest changes across the entire iPhone 16 line is the addition of the Camera Control button. Located on the lower portion of the right edge, the Camera Control manages a number of camera-focused functions. A quick press opens the camera. A second quick press takes a photo. A long press starts the video camera. Since Camera Control falls right under your right thumb, it’s a natural way to fire up the camera and start shooting (if you’re a righty). The button also falls approximately where the shutter button does on many standalone cameras when you hold the phone sideways. For now, the button takes a shot with a single press. It doesn’t support a half-press to focus, but it will later this year through a software update.
Left to right: iPhone 16 Pro, Pro Max camera modules (Credit: Eric Zeman)
The secondary functions of the Camera Control are where things really get interesting. It’s a touch-sensitive surface covered by sapphire crystal. Light presses open a sub-menu of advanced features, including exposure, depth of field, zoom, cameras, styles, and tone. Switching between these controls is aggravating. The combination of presses, screen swipes, and rolling finger motions needed to get them to switch from one to the next is unpredictable. Once you land on one, though, gently swiping left or right on the Camera Control does make the appropriate adjustments, such as changing the brightness or zooming in. If you’re a just-point-and-shoot type of photographer, these extra controls are likely to be visual noise that you can ignore. If you like to tweak your camera settings before shooting, however, these offer a wealth of options for adjusting to get the right shot. Some knowledge is needed, though, to get the most out of them.
From a hardware perspective, the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max now share identical camera arrangements. Each has a 48MP main camera with an aperture of f/1.78 and optical image stabilization. This camera, which Apple calls a Fusion Camera, blends high-resolution 48MP snaps with 12MP Quad-Bayer shots (binned by a factor of four) to create 24MP final images. Apple claims these pictures include the detail of the 48MP shot with the light sensitivity of the binned 12MP shot. This camera can also take 2x digital telephoto shots by using the central 12MP of the sensor. There’s a lot going on here.
Ultra-wide camera (Credit: Eric Zeman)
Main camera (Credit: Eric Zeman)
Apple has updated the ultra-wide camera to a 48MP sensor. It has a 120-degree field of view at an aperture of f/2.2 and can snag full 48MP resolution or 12MP pictures. A dedicated 12MP 5x optical telephoto camera is available to both iPhone 16 Pro models. Previously, the smaller Pro was limited to 3x optical telephoto. In addition to 5x optical zoom, the 16 Pro Max telephoto supports up to 25x hybrid zoom via optical zoom and digital cropping. The TrueDepth selfie camera is a 12MP shooter at f/1.9. The 16 Pro and Pro Max can shoot in ProRAW, HEIF, or jpeg file formats, which give you plenty of flexibility.
2x telephoto (Credit: Eric Zeman)
5x telephoto (Credit: Eric Zeman)
There’s a lot of discourse concerning the iPhone 16’s cameras. Most of it has to do with Apple’s treatment of dynamic range. Apple often brightens the lows and tones down the highs to bring images into (what it considers to be) balance. Some people don’t like this look because it does things like take away the dark moodiness of a deep shadow. Apple is also doing some work on the color. Often, it produces photos that are warmer than they are in real life. Google and Samsung have their own versions of this type of computational photography. Google tends to lean the closest to reality as far as color is concerned, while Samsung often overdoes colors completely. Both are as guilty as Apple at flattening dynamic range.
Ultra-wide camera (Credit: Eric Zeman)
Macro camera (Credit: Eric Zeman)
I bring this up because people’s feelings about phone photos are changing. Some people want their phones to act like real cameras, which might mean shadows that are too dark, skies that are too bright, but more realistic colors. You’re not going to get that with the iPhone 16 if you open the camera app and start firing off shots. You can get that from the iPhone 16 if you take the time to tweak the settings—the Tone setting, in particular.
iPhone Tone controls (Credit: Apple/PCMag)
The Tone control tool is new and available in the camera’s control strip. Pressing it opens a small square near the shutter button. Move your thumb around to adjust the tone, from bright to dark, and from saturated to unsaturated. Alternatively, you can swipe through a series of Apple-defined Tone presets. You can do this before you take your shot or when editing your shot later (but only if you choose to store images in the HEIF format). Taking the time to do it beforehand seems like a great way to miss the moment.
Selfie (Credit: Eric Zeman)
Portrait (Credit: Eric Zeman)
For people who prefer to point and shoot, the iPhone 16 Pro Max takes fine photos. The results are somewhat flat, and the color doesn’t always match what your eyes see in the real world, but they are certainly sharp, free from noise, and contain lots of detail. The fact that you can edit them afterward is nice, but even for quick sharing, the iPhone does absolutely fine. Some people are going to like the photos, and some aren’t. The latter group will have to be satisfied with editing the results. This applies to all four of the iPhone’s cameras.
Main camera (Credit: Eric Zeman)
Main camera (Credit: Eric Zeman)
All the iPhones can shoot 1080p or 4K video at 24, 25, 30, or 60 frames per second in Dolby Vision. You also get Cinematic Mode, Action Mode (at 2.8K), slow motion, time-lapse, and spatial video capture (for the Apple Vision Pro). The Pro and Pro Max add Fusion capture at up to 4K120, so you can get incredibly smooth action or slow things down after the fact with 5x slow motion. The Pros also get ProRes capture at 4K120, Log video recording, and Academy Color Encoding System. Last, they have stabilized sensors and include four microphones for improved audio recording.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is hands-down the best video camera built into a phone. Nothing on the Android side compares in terms of features, ease of use, and execution. You’re going to see the same HDR and color issues as you get with the camera, but switching to the professional capture modes sidesteps that issue and leaves you with stunning footage that you can mold into just about anything. The 4K120 Fusion capture is simply amazing. It gobbles through storage like crazy, but the ability to choose your playback speed after the fact and get smooth results at various frame rates is a creator’s dream. (Android phones have had this type of high-speed capture for some time, though not packaged in a way that’s as easy to use.) Apple is plainly hoping the creator community ditches standalone video gear in favor of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. I’m sure many will.
Software: Apple Intelligence Isn’t Here Yet
The iPhone 16 Pro Max ships with iOS 18. It will receive at least five years’ worth of security and feature upgrades from Apple, so you’ll (almost) always have access to the latest software over time. The biggest aspect of iOS 18 is the expanded flexibility to customize your experience. You can easily resize and even recolor home screen icons, adjust quick controls in the Control Center, swap out the Lock Screen shortcuts, and much more. iOS 18 also has a revamped Photos app, support for RCS chat, which improves messaging with Android users, a more powerful calculator app, and more. But iOS 18 is just a baby step.
(Credit: Apple/PCMag)
Many of the new features headed to iOS 18 aren’t here yet. They’re part of Apple Intelligence, which is what Apple has spent the last few months marketing. These features won’t begin to arrive until iOS 18.1 shows up (hopefully in October). More 18.x updates will arrive later in the year with yet more features.
Apple Intelligence will first come to the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, as well as all four iPhone 16 models. These devices have the necessary horsepower to run the machine learning tasks that power Apple Intelligence. Writing Tools will be among the first to arrive and should help with summarizing text, proofreading, and rewriting. The Notes and Phone apps will support recording, transcribing, and summarizing audio. Apple Intelligence will also be able to prioritize notifications and summarize them. Siri should become more powerful with not only a new glowing look but also the ability to respond to more natural spoken language queries. Later on, Apple Intelligence will include Image Playground and Genmojis, which let people type or speak prompts to create new photos and emoji. These features are available to try in the iOS 18.1 Public Beta but we did not test them for this review.
In comparison, Google and Samsung announced new AI features for their flagship phones this year and shipped the majority of them when the phones went on sale.
Verdict: The Top iPhone for a Niche Audience
The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max is the best iPhone for creators and artists who want a powerful handset to capture and process their content. It’s got the biggest and best screen of any iPhone, the longest battery life, plenty of speed, and lightning-quick connectivity for uploading and downloading as needed. Its cameras are very good, and its video capture functionality is particularly outstanding. That said, many of the Pro Max’s features are borderline overkill, particularly its hand-busting size. So, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max is easy to recommend to anyone looking for a one-stop content-creation shop, the standard iPhone 16 is our top recommendation for most people. It offers most of the same features and functionality as the 16 Pro Max (including Apple Intelligence when it’s available) in a more manageable size and for hundreds of dollars less, earning it our Editors’ Choice award.
Pros
The Bottom Line Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max is a content creator’s dream, with extra-long battery life and leading video capabilities, but it’s more phone than most people will need.
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About Eric Zeman
Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics
