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Five years ago the iPhone X brought the biggest iPhone facelift since the device was launched. There is no more physical home button, the chin and forehead are removed and the screen notch is introduced for the first time. In the beginning, the iPhone X became a joke by other brands before the use of the notch and the 3D facial scanning system placed inside became followed by other manufacturers.
Since that day, many expect Apple to be more daring in trying new designs on the products that generate the highest income for them. Yet every year we are disappointed because the design is as recycled as the paper used for iPhone boxes. This year finally the biggest changes were made to the 15 Pro Max model. USB-C, spatial video recording support and a camera system with prisms. Is this enough? Here's our first look at the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Specifications
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
6.7″ LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED screen,
120Hz, Dolby Vision
Apple A17 Pro processor
2 X 3.78 GHz High Power Chips
4 X 2.8 GHz Efficiency
Apple GPU Graphics Chip 6 Core
RAM 8GB RAM
Internal Load 256/512/1000 GB VNMe
Main Camera 48mp f/1.8 OIS, (Wide Angle)
12MP f/2.2 (Ultra Wide Angle)
12MP, OIS, f/2.8 5x Optical Zoom (Telephoto)
LiDAR
12MP f/1.9 Selfie Camera
4441 mAh battery
23W wired charging
MagSafe 15W wireless charging
7.5W Qi wireless charging
SIM/Telephony 1 Nano, 1 eSIM
5G
NFC Yes
No Audio Jack
Waterproof IP68
Face ID Scanner Scan System
Selling Price RM 6,499 (8/256GB)
RM 7,499 (8/512GB)
RM 8,499 (8/1TB)
SCREEN
This year's screen is still the same with a 6.7″ OLED size and 120Hz LTPO support. The brightness can reach 2000 nits when outside so the content of the screen can still be seen. A while ago during the Friday prayer we could confirm that the screen was operating well under the hot sun. For fans of HDR content, the 15 Pro Max screen supports the display of Dolby Vision content on Netflix, Prime apps and more.
The screen is flat with smaller bezels. It's the thinnest of our first flagship Android devices. When inserted into the case, the device appears to be frameless. We have a less popular opinion where we feel devices with bezels look prettier. Like a picture with a frame looks more stylish than a picture without a frame. But we're in the minority who prefer the bezel design on last year's iPhone 15 Pro Max.
With speeds up to 120Hz ProMotion, scrolling content looks fast and smooth. There are reports that in normal mode the screen only operates at a speed of 80Hz only. Even at 80Hz we didn't see any flaws after using the device for almost three days. It's just as smooth as the 14 Pro Max that we've been using for the past year.
iPhone 15 Plus left, iPhone 15 Pro Max right
The camera hole with Dynamic Island although not as big as the iPhone 13 Pro Max notch, we felt it was disturbing in the situation of watching Netflix videos, and YouTube in full screen mode. It also interferes with the in-game menu when we run games like COD Mobile. We'd like to say this camera hole isn't annoying but it would make us a cheater.
BIOMETRIC AND HAPTICS
Face ID is the best biometric system on modern smartphones. This cannot be debated anymore because until now after five years there is still no comparable system used on Android. Just glance at the screen and the device will unlock quickly. It would be great if the Face ID technology patent was made standard on other platforms.
Back panel with Fine Woven frame.
Haptics are also excellent with all the vibrations in the wheeled menu feeling like your finger is pressing on a physical wheel. Fortunately there are already many Android devices now capable of offering the same haptic experience as the iPhone.
DESIGN
This year's design brings back some of the rounded sides that made the iPhone X and XS series popular. When the announcement was made, we were among the less fond of this decision because we preferred the boxy design. But in the hand 15 Pro Max can be held more comfortably. Aided by a titanium body that feels very cool when held,
It can be felt that the 15 Pro Max is a little lighter than last year's model. Not significant but this is important for those who complain the iPhone is too heavy when the frame is used. And the frame we feel is necessary because of the thin screen bezels this year. On the model we reviewed there is no issue of cosmetic flaws like the one that went viral on social media. The titanium blue color is handsome but personally still can't match last year's purple color. Maybe because the titanium color is not shiny making the device look a little gloomy.
On the right side there is a power button while on the left side there are two audio adjustment buttons and an Action Button. The Action Button is this year's innovation that replaces the switch button that has been used only to mute the device. We were a little disappointed that only one action could be programmed at a time. It would be nice if the button had more than one function. On our device, the Action Button is programmed to launch the camera with this button then being the camera shutter button. It makes the 15 Pro Max feel like an Xperia 1 V as well.
Audio adjustment button and Action Button
The back panel is made of glass with the camera bump getting bigger. The glass surface on the panel is frosted so it does not trap dirt easily. This is a good move because we know from now on that there is a trend of using iPhone without frame.
The camera bump is getting bigger this year because in addition to the 50MP wide-angle and 12MP ultra-wide-angle sensors, the 15 Pro Max camera also features a 12MP 5X optical telephoto sensor complete with a prism system. The relatively large size of the prism also causes only the 15 Pro Max model to support optical zoom up to 5X. On the regular 15 Pro model it is limited to 3.5X like the 14 Pro Max. Like last year, the large bump causes the device to tip over when placed on a table surface.
Below is the speaker hole and finally the USB-C charging port. Our prayers for the past five years have finally been fulfilled by God because this is a change that should have been given a long time ago. Not only to facilitate device charging with just one cable but comes with faster USB 3 support. The issue with previous iPhone models was that transferring large-sized videos took a very long time.
This also allows the various USB-C adapters and accessories on the market to be used with the 15 Pro Max. Among them is installing an SSD directly on the device for video recording directly to external storage.
Finally, on the left side there is a nano-sized SIM tray. If you want to use more than one SIM, you need to have one eSIM. This is another bold move by Apple in doing something different. We are still lucky because iPhones in the United States only support eSIM since last year. Despite having a speaker hole and a physical SIM tray, the 15 Pro Max passes IP68 dust and water resistance standards.
USAGE AND SOFTWARE
Right out of the box it already runs the latest iOS 17. But we are facing the issue of data from old iPhone cannot be transferred to 15 Pro Max. A code that should be scanned from the screen does not initiate the transfer process. Then when readable it hangs for 30 minutes with no progress. Then we read this is a global issue. 15 Pro Max needs to be updated to iOS 17.0.1 first before the data transfer process can be carried out.
After seven years of reviewing the iPhone, this is the first time that the data transfer process cannot be done easily. If you received an iPhone 15 and 15 Pro ordered today, we recommend doing the same to avoid wasting time.
This year's iOS 17 brings many new features that we touched on in our previous 17 Cool Things About iOS 17 article. We will not list everything but we will touch on some of the most innovative and interesting ones.
INFO Read – 17 Most Interesting Features of iOS 17
The first is Name Drop which allows phone number information to be sent to other iPhone users by simply touching the top of the device. It has animations that make the process of changing phone numbers feel like magic.
Next is Personal Voice which is like a magic game. Users have to read 150 short phrases in English. The iPhone will then process the audio recording to allow the device to speak using your own voice. It's still not perfect but it came in handy a few days ago when we lost our voices from coughing. We chatted with the wife using this feature.
There are several other features promised such as Spatial Video, Journal, Look Up in video, AirDrop without distance limit and Check In which has not been activated at this time. Last year many people complained that iOS imitated Android too much but this year Tim Cook and all Apple employees gave a variety of unique new features only in iOS 17.
BENCH MARK
You must have read reports of overheating issues on the 15 Pro Max. This is allegedly due to titanium not dispersing heat well and the A17 Pro chip being too powerful. On the unit we reviewed, we did not experience this issue at all. After the COD Mobile session it was just lukewarm. Just as warm as the A16 Bionic.
But we have to admit that the 15 Pro Max is hotter after a long gaming session when compared to the Galaxy S23 Utra, Xiaomi 13 Pro and ROG Phone 7 equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. This year Android seems to have an advantage in the ability to reduce heat after a long gaming session .
This does not mean that this heating issue does not occur. We reached out to a few fellow writers and techtubers to ask if they were experiencing this viral issue. Few say that sometimes charging the phone cannot be done because the charging is stopped due to the temperature being too high. Apple has not yet given any official statement on this heating issue.
Here are the benchmark scores recorded by the iPhone 15 Pro Max with the A17 Pro.
Geekbench 6
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max – 2863/7128
Xiaomi 13T Pro – 1284/3520
Xiaomi 13 Pro – 1868/5272
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – 1922/5017
OnePlus 11 – 1495/4805
Vivo X90 – 1668/4000
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max – 2524/6317
Antutu 3D
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max – 1,512,775
Xiaomi 13T Pro – 1,431,444
Xiaomi 13 Pro – 1,252,296
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – 1,171,384
OnePlus 11 – 1,104,135
Vivo X90 – 1,147,029
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max – 974,941
3D Mark Wild Life Extreme
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max – 3530
Xiaomi 13T Pro – None
Xiaomi 13 Pro – None
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – 3247
OnePlus 11 – 3712
Vivo X90 – 3176
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max – 3373
CONCLUSION
The big change this year is USB-C and it is indeed the most awaited change by many Apple fans including ourselves. There is no denying the pleasure of charging MacBook Air, iPad Pro, iPad Mini and Z Fold5 at home using a single cable. Feel like Sauron with one USB-C cable to rule them all.
Performance and user experience still feels the same. Not surprising as the benchmark score showed an increase of only around 14%. It's too early for us to say the 15 Pro Max is a device worth buying for everyone. All we can say is that if you have an iPhone 12 and below, the improvements on offer make this device worth buying as there are significant improvements. Stay tuned for our full review next week.
Pro
The design is more comfortable and premium in the hand.
The A17 Pro is the most powerful smartphone chip this year.
Improved camera.
Finally USB-C with USB-3.
Cons
Early data transfer issues and overheating reports.
Prices increased slightly.