The iPhone 16 Pro Max is now a better phone, but it’s the video camera features that make it different.
Earlier this month, I wrote about the Panasonic Lumix S9 camera (review), which has been designed with the creativity community in mind. The smartphone industry has been left scrambling to find a sense of purpose as more and more people prefer only to capture and record with their smartphones. In the past couple of years, Apple has incorporated many high-end camera features into its flagships giving users the impression that their phone is better than other devices, even for shooting professional videos. In addition, Cupertino continues this narrative with its new iPhone 16 Pro Max.
I was unsure of which phone was the new one shortly after I utilized Apple’s copy from your old phone feature to set up the new iPhone 16 Pro Max from the iPhone 15 Pro Max (review) that I had been using up until then. It shared the same wallpaper on the front as the 15 Pro Max. Up until you realize that the iPhone 16 Pro Max is somewhat taller, everything about the back panel is the same. At that point, you see an additional button the new camera control that wasn’t included in the previous iteration.
It takes some time to get used to this button, but it does a great job of opening the camera app and allowing you to quickly navigate between cameras and their settings with simple finger scrolls and soft taps. Yes, this functions somewhat like a DSLR dial, allowing you to concentrate on the framing while fine-tuning the parameters. I was so impressed with this feature’s brilliance throughout the week I used it that I became certain that camera manufacturers were considering incorporating something akin to it into their mirrorless lines shortly. However, as a frequent user of an iPhone camera, I must adjust to this new button and remember to utilize it naturally. That will take longer than a week.
For the past week, I have been using the iPhone 16 Pro Max as my primary phone. And as soon as I set it up, it seamlessly filled the position left by the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Sure, compared to the previous model, the display is somewhat larger and sharper, but the differences are not great enough to negatively affect your experience. I was content and doing everything I had been doing before; in fact, I might have been even happier because I was using a more potent CPU to accomplish the same tasks. When the Apple Intelligence feature of this phone is made available to all users, the A18 Pro chip will be used more frequently, and we will need to update this review. Up until that point, this phone has been the fastest available; it has gotten somewhat quicker than the previous model, which was also the quickest phone at the time. Although all of this may sound complicated, the reality is that premium iPhones now have processing powers that surpass both human expectations and use cases.
Indeed, there is one area in which the new phone’s performance is particularly noteworthy, and that is its battery life. After a year of use, the previous model went into the red in around 12 hours, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max barely drops below 20% after roughly 15 hours. One benefit for people who use their iPhone every day is that I don’t usually charge it in the nights in my workplace using the wireless charger.
Don’t assume that the iPhone 16 Pro Max isn’t a new device just yet. As usual, Apple has undoubtedly pushed the boundaries in several areas. The first is the Apple Intelligence section, where major features like the new Siri will be released eventually. The other is the video camera, where Apple claims it is now on par with equipment used to record full-length movies.
This time, the camera has undergone a few notable modifications. Their ultra-wide camera has been upgraded to 48MP, while their telephoto and primary cameras remain same. I was pleased to see an improvement in clarity and quality as I frequently use the ultra-wide. However, Apple believes that the phone’s capacity to capture 4K video at 120 frames per second will amaze professional users. The replay speed can then be adjusted to 60, 30, or 24 frames per second (fps), with the latter offering a cinematic slow motion that has never been seen on a smartphone or most normal cameras. And this change doesn’t even take a second when you consider that using a decent camera will require extensive postprocessing to achieve the slow-motion effect.