I dragged myself over to the work desk in my hotel room, unplugged my iPhone 14 Pro and stuck the Lightning charger into the iPhone 15 Pro Max<\/a>. It didn\u2019t work. In my sleep-deprived fog, I tried a few more times to jam the cable into the port. It wasn\u2019t until about five attempts later that it hit me: This is USB-C<\/a>.<\/p>\n With a smaller, lighter, build and tons of new features, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is arguably the best phone around.<\/p>\n ProsSmaller and lighter than previous Pro MaxesUseful zoom camerasUSB-C is the way of the futureLong-lasting batteryReverse charging via USB-CConsAction button is hard to reach on the larger handsetBoring colors$999 at Apple<\/a> Though it doesn\u2019t have the same telephoto lens and long-lasting battery as the 15 Pro Max, the smaller Pro model still delivers plenty of helpful features.<\/p>\n ProsSmaller and lighter than previous ProsHandy Action buttonUSB-C is the way of the futureConsole-level gaming supportedConsBoring colors$1,199 at Apple<\/a><\/p>\n A spark of joy broke through the haze clouding my brain, until I realized I had to unplug my laptop or set up a whole new USB-C charger. I looked at the clock, glanced at the iPhone 15 Pro Max\u2019s battery indicator, shrugged and went to sleep. It\u2019ll probably have enough power till I can plug it in in the morning.<\/p>\n As it turns out, although my dream of a one-charger-fits-all world had finally come true (at least for the devices I use), the utopia I had envisioned wasn\u2019t quite perfect in reality. I wanted to just be able to carry a single charger for the half dozen (or so) gadgets I carry around when I travel, but that\u2019s probably never going to happen. If I\u2019m going to have to bring multiple wires anyway, does it matter if one of them is Lightning<\/a>?<\/p>\n In the end, it does, but the convenience of being able to use any of the cables I have to charge any of the devices I own doesn\u2019t make as huge of a difference as I had expected. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps it will be a bigger improvement when people using older, Lightning-charging iPhones finally move on to USB-C and the whole world adopts this standard. For now, though, the change is small.<\/p>\n What might matter more on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are the new action button, camera improvements, refined design and updated processor. Apple also managed to keep the same price for the Pro ($999) and Pro Max ($1,199) while doubling the storage capacity on the base model of the latter. If you\u2019ve been holding onto an iPhone that\u2019s at least two years old (or even just a year old), this could well be the year to upgrade.<\/p>\n For the first time, I\u2019ve found myself seriously considering switching to a Pro Max. In the past, despite some performance benefits and superior features, Apple\u2019s largest handset has always felt too hefty. But thanks to its new titanium build, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is fractions of an inch smaller and almost 20 grams (or about half an ounce) lighter than its predecessor. I said this in my hands-on<\/a> and I\u2019ll say it again: The iPhone 14 Pro Max<\/a> felt like it would fracture my skull if it fell on my face, while the new model may only leave a bruise (or maybe a dent).<\/p>\n That\u2019s probably in part thanks to the fact that the new iPhone\u2019s edges are slightly curved, which not only makes them feel less sharp, but gives the handset the illusion of being thinner, even though it\u2019s actually a hundredth of an inch thicker than last year.<\/p>\n Speaking of teeny measurements, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max\u2019s bezels are also ever so slightly smaller than before. That\u2019s largely why Apple was able to retain the same screen sizes while bringing the length and width of each device down.<\/p>\n Together with the smaller bezels, the overall design changes make the iPhone 15 Pro Max slightly easier to use with one hand. I also appreciate the brushed metal finish on my Natural Titanium review unit, though I wish Apple would give the Pro line some brighter colors already. This year, you can choose from the silver-ish shade I have, or white, black and blue. Yawn. I know a lot of people slap a case on their new phones the second they get them, but some of us like to live a little dangerously and want a pretty color like those on the regular iPhone 15s.<\/p>\n Though the iPhone 15 Pro Max is smaller and lighter than the last generation, it\u2019s certainly still one of the heaviest in its category. The Pixel 7 Pro is a bit lighter at 212 grams (7.5 ounces) while the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the heaviest at 234 grams (8.25 ounces). Meanwhile, the smaller Pro model is actually lighter than the S23 Plus (195 grams) and the Pixel 7 (197 grams, 6.9 ounces).<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t used the phones long enough, nor have I been brave enough to risk exposing these review units to my hazardous purse without a case, so I can\u2019t tell you how durable or scratch-resistant the titanium build is yet. Thankfully, I have also not dropped either device so far, but, as in previous years, they\u2019re both rated IP68 for dust and water resistance, which should provide the clumsiest of us some peace of mind.<\/p>\n There are, of course, two crucial external hardware changes this year: USB-C and the Action button. If you\u2019re not looking for them, these differences aren\u2019t obvious. The hole at the bottom is still a hole, while the button now juts out slightly more than before. And because the iPhone 15 Pros are slightly smaller than their predecessors, your old case will not fit.<\/p>\n I was surprised to learn that I\u2019m actually in the minority of people who used the mute slider on older iPhones. It turns out that apparently most people set their devices to mute and leave it at that. I tend to leave my phone on my couch while doing chores, so every now and then I\u2019d set it to ring so I wouldn\u2019t miss calls from delivery people.<\/p>\n In any case, Apple switching the mute slider out for the Action button doesn\u2019t bother me. I still get access to a physical key to quickly mute my phone, but for people who don\u2019t use that function, there are plenty more options. You can set it to open the camera, turn on the flashlight, begin a voice recording, change Focus modes or start a shortcut. In each of those, you can fine-tune the settings to have the system, say, launch the camera in selfie or portrait mode.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve used the Action button to trigger your shortcut, you can keep pressing the button to control the primary action in each scenario. In the camera, that\u2019s the shutter. For voice recordings, that becomes the start or stop key.<\/p>\n In the days that I\u2019ve been testing the iPhone 15 Pro Max, I\u2019ve set it to launch the camera, since I\u2019ve been focusing on testing the new hardware. It\u2019s frankly been a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it\u2019s so much faster to use the Action button to open the camera than having to long press or swipe on the on-screen shortcut. On the other hand, it wasn\u2019t always easier to reach for the Action button, and though it\u2019s easy enough to identify it by size, I found myself accidentally pressing the volume keys a few times.<\/p>\n I get the sense that this is a gesture I\u2019ll get used to over time, especially since it did eventually come in handy when I was frantically photographing some wild deer and rabbits in Caumsett State Historic Park.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth noting that, despite my concerns that the Action button might be too easy to accidentally trigger, I have yet to unintentionally launch the camera. I\u2019ve tossed the iPhone 15 Pro Max in a satchel full of other phones, a backpack stuffed with jackets and snacks, as well as a tightly packed overnight duffel bag. Surprisingly, none of these tight squeezes caused the shortcut to trigger.<\/p>\n This year, the Pro Max has a new telephoto lens that offers 5x optical zoom, thanks to a tetraprism design<\/a> that reflects light four times within the iPhone\u2019s body and creates enough space for a 120mm focal length. Meanwhile, the smaller Pro still retains a 3x optical zoom at 77mm.<\/p>\n In reality, the iPhone 15 Pro Max delivered closeups that are slightly cleaner than what its predecessor was capable of. I used them both to take photos of an ad for the iPhone 15 Pro Max on the side of a building, and only after I zoomed all the way into the pictures on my laptop did I notice a slight difference. The newer phone rendered a window frame better, with a bit less noise than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.<\/p>\n When I set both cameras to shoot at the older phone\u2019s maximum range of 15x, the newer phone had a noticeable advantage. Wording on the back of a faraway bus was so much clearer on the 15 Pro Max that I could actually guess what an ad said, while the 14 Pro Max\u2019s image was basically a blur.<\/p>\n The iPhone 15 Pro Max\u2019s closest rival on the zoom photography front is Google\u2019s Pixel 7 Pro<\/a>, which also offers 5x optical zoom. Samsung\u2019s Galaxy S23 Ultra<\/a> has 3x and 10x options, with a total of 100x zoom when combined with digital processing. It\u2019s no surprise, then, that in general, the Galaxy handset tended to deliver the clearest images at 3x, 5x and beyond. Words were visible on distant objects, and blades of grass were clearer.<\/p>\n Compared to the Pixel 7 Pro, the iPhone 15 Pro Max offered similar clarity and detail, as well as brighter images. But Google usually offers better contrast and shadows.<\/p>\n In a very challenging situation when I was trying to shoot a gray heron that was bathing by Oyster Bay in Long Island, the iPhone was better at retaining the ripples on the water\u2019s surface, while the Pixel mostly overexposed the sea. At 10x zoom, the Galaxy S23 Ultra\u2019s pictures of the bird looked like I had captured images of the Predator, <\/em>complete with extreme halo effect around the subject.<\/em><\/p>\n The iPhone and Pixel both allow you to make use of these telephoto options while recording video, which came in handy when I tried to film a finicky baby deer from a distance. The Galaxy, on the other hand, is stuck at one zoom level. Ultimately, if you frequently use your phone to capture distant subjects, the iPhone 15 Pro Max will serve you well and has mostly caught up to the competition.<\/p>\n What might matter more in your daily photography scenarios is the updated portrait mode pipeline, which Apple says now \u201cbenefit from the Photonic Engine.\u201d I was really excited to see an improvement here, since I rely heavily on Portrait mode for most of my photos of food, animals and people. For the latter two (specifically cats, dogs and people), Apple will automatically capture depth information so you can edit background blur later, and you won\u2019t have to go into Portrait mode just to get bokeh. But sadly, the iPhone still lags behind the likes of its Pixel and Galaxy competitors.<\/p>\n<\/a>Apple94100<\/p>\n
Apple iPhone 15 Pro<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max<\/a><\/h3>\n
Design<\/h2>\n
Action button<\/h2>\n
Cameras \u2014 To zoom or not to zoom<\/h2>\n