In just a few months, the iPhone 16 Pro Max will succeed the iPhone 15 Pro Max and become the best and most advanced iPhone currently available.
Although September is still far away and things could change, it seems we already know a lot about the upcoming top-tier iPhone models based on rumors and leaks.
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Design and dimensions (important changes)
iPhone 16 Pro Max will continue the same design language as iPhone 15 Pro Max, using the same titanium frame and flat screen.
The main difference between the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro Max is size.The screen width of the upcoming iPhone will grow to 6.9 inches, a significant increase compared to the 6.7-inch display of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple will achieve this significant display increase by simultaneously increasing the size of the device and shrinking the bezels.
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According to rumors, the height and width of the iPhone 16 Pro Max are 163mm and 77.58mm, while the height and width of the iPhone 15 Pro Max are 159.9mm and 76.7mm respectively. This is a small but significant change.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max debuted with an action button instead of a mute switch and a USB Type-C port on the bottom, both of which will carry over to newer models. However, the iPhone 16 series will also feature another button called the “shoot” button. This will be a fully capacitive button located on the right side of the device, below the power button. This new button allows iPhone 16 users to easily zoom in and out, as well as capture photos or videos, simply by tapping the side of their iPhone.
In terms of color, iPhone 15 Pro Max is available in four low-key titanium colors, namely black titanium, white titanium, blue titanium and natural titanium. Sources say Apple may use another titanium processing technology to make the iPhone 16 Pro Max glossier and better able to retain color. The device will be available in White, Grey, Rose, and Space Black color options.
Screen differences
As mentioned earlier, the iPhone 16 Pro Max will feature a larger display with a diameter of 6.9 inches.Apple will achieve this by using larger frames and narrower bezels. The 6.9-inch display will make the iPhone 16 Pro Max the largest iPhone ever.
But apart from the size, the new phone is not expected to have any other major changes. The new iPhone will of course be equipped with a Liquid Retina XDR display with an OLED panel, which provides excellent color, contrast and excellent maximum brightness. The screen will support a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, which will be the fourth consecutive generation of iPhones equipped with this technology.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is equipped with a Smart Island punch-hole screen, and there is no doubt that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will also use the same design language.
Performance and Software: The 3nm Era
The iPhone 16 Pro Max will use a second-generation 3nm chip and may be called the Apple A18 Pro. The product will reportedly be built using TSMC's second-generation 3nm manufacturing process, known as N3E, which allows for higher yields and fewer chipset chip defects. For reference, the current iPhone 15 Pro Max is powered by the Apple A17 Pro, the first mobile chip built on 3nm manufacturing technology.
It is conceivable that the performance of Apple A18 Pro will be better than that of Apple A17 Pro. Still, we've reached the point where we barely need better performance, so the more important “metric” is energy efficiency, or the chip's ability to waste less power on a single task, which is critical for battery life. Following this line of thinking, we hope that the second generation of chips will be more efficient than the previous generation of chips.
Since both iOS and the iPhone 16 series are rumored to be heavily focused on artificial intelligence, we expect the iPhone 16 Pro Max to come with a much-improved neural engine to handle all generative AI features.
iPhone 16 Pro Max will also support Wi-Fi 7, which theoretically provides 4 times the data throughput speed of Wi-Fi 6E on iPhone 15 Pro Max. The iPhone 16 Pro Max will also be equipped with a new 5G modem, Qualcomm Snapdragon X75 5G, which will reduce energy consumption by 20%.
iPhone 16 Pro Max will come with iOS 18 pre-installed. The software will be previewed at WWDC 2024 and will reportedly focus on generative AI capabilities that the iPhone lacks. The iPhone 15 Pro Max will also be updated to iOS 18 this September, but not all AI features may be available on the device – Apple is expected to reserve some exclusive features for the next-generation model.
Camera: New ultra-wide-angle lens is coming
The iPhone 15 Pro Max offers a number of important camera features, chief among them a new 120mm telephoto lens that gives the iPhone camera 5.0x optical zoom. A year ago, the main camera of the iPhone Pro Max was upgraded to 48 million pixels. With the iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple is finally addressing one of those forgotten cameras that hasn't seen any major improvements in recent years – the ultrawide camera.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple will introduce a 48-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The display has a pixel size of 0.7um and a sensor size of 1/2.6″, which is a major upgrade from the 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, 1.0um pixels and 1/3.6″ sensor size that Apple has used for years.
Beyond that, the iPhone 16 Pro Max finally addresses lens flare, which has long been an issue on iPhones, especially when shooting at night. We may finally no longer see reflections in photos or videos thanks to a new anti-glare coating on the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro Max.
In addition, all of the iPhone 16 Pro's cameras are likely to use lighter and thinner lenses, which will further reduce some weight. This is thanks to the use of a molded glass lens, which reduces the camera's bulge slightly.
Audio quality and haptics
When it comes to audio quality, iPhone Pro Max devices consistently rank among the best, setting the benchmark for all other manufacturers to measure against. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has great speakers that deliver great sound quality whether you're browsing videos or taking calls through the speakers. We expect the iPhone 16 Pro Max to perform better.
This also applies to touch. The iPhone is arguably the best device when it comes to tactile feedback, delivering precise, accurate vibrations that are strong enough but not excessive.
Battery life and charging
According to reports, the iPhone 16 Pro Max will be equipped with a 4676mAh battery, while the battery capacity of the previous generation product was 4422mAh. As far as the battery increase goes, this is a nice upgrade and will actually make the iPhone 16 Pro Max the iPhone with the highest battery capacity ever. Paired with the faster and more efficient Apple A18 chip, this larger battery is expected to provide better battery life for the iPhone 16 Pro Max, making it the battery champion.
Charging-wise, we haven’t heard anything yet about a potential increase in charging speeds, but we’d like to see that on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. For reference, the iPhone 15 Pro Max supports 25W wired charging.
It is worth mentioning that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will not have a charger in the box.
generalize
To sum up, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has made reasonable improvements on the basis of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and has made key upgrades in important aspects such as screen size, performance, artificial intelligence and battery life. At the same time, attempts like Capture Buttons are likely to have a huge impact on the future development of the iPhone product line: Apple doesn't often introduce new buttons on its flagship products.
So far, we have not heard any specific news about the price increase of the new model. Therefore, the starting price of the 256GB version of iPhone 16 Pro Max may still be $1,199, which is consistent with the previously released iPhone Pro Max.
However, if you already have an iPhone 15 Pro Max, there may not be much need to upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.