I have written about my love for the Mini sized iPhones, sadly I do still think the world has moved on from smaller “one hand operability” size of phones.
I have been using my iPhone 15 Pro Max in natural titanium since day one, and I have used it case-less for 95% of the time and I intend to use it case-less too.
Every time I pick up the phone I think to myself that this phone feels nice, and that is because of the multiple iterations that we have had over the years and Apple has had a go at perfecting the design. The iPhone 15 Pro Max, is the nicest feeling iPhone I have used since the iPhone 11 Pro Max I used 4 years ago. The Pro Max versions of the 12,13, and 14 were design iterations based off on the 11 Pro Max – with a flat edge instead of the curved edges you saw on the since the iPhone 6 to the 11.
When the iPhone went to the flat edge of the 12 Pro Max everyone loved it, mostly due to nostalgia of how nice the flat edges felt on the iPhone 4, 4S, 5, and 5S. I loved it at first with the 12 Pro Max but every time I would then pick up my partner’s 11 Pro Max it felt great in the hand. And in my view, moving to the flat edges on the 12 series onwards did not really help because the phones were not “small” anymore. I’d argue it looked much nicer and much more premium thanks to the stainless steel band around the phone but comfort was lost in the transition due to the flat edges and also the weight of the materials used.
The 15 Pro Max still uses the flat edge, but for the first time since the 11 Pro Max this phone feels great. It still has the flat edges but the front and the back of the phone has been curved off a bit more, with a simple design change the phone feels great in the hand.
Another major contribution to this is the titanium frame, this reduces the weight significantly. It is only 19 grams lighter compared to the 14 Pro Max but it makes all the difference in the world! The phone feels much more lighter as it feels less dense. This is something you will only understand if you were to compare the 14 and 15 Pro Max’s side by side – the weight distribution on the 15 Pro Max is well engineered. While I think the stainless steel edges looked premium, the titanium edge feels much more premium.
All these design improvements for myself, personally, make this the nicest feeling iPhones yet. I no longer pick up the 11 Pro Max and feel like it was the better feeling phone than the phone I had. The 15 Pro Max, whilst being bigger and more thicker feels great.
This all said, there are a few improvements I would like to see in this design, the places where the edge of the titanium frame meets the back glass of the phone is a bit “noticeable”. Mostly due to glass and titanium feeling different. I can feel the edge of the titanium frame. At first I thought I had a faulty unit and went into an Apple store to only feel that on every single Pro phone. This might be a case of very tight tolerances and I got one that is not perfect but still within the tolerance set by Apple. This does only bother me once in a while when I really hold the phone in a way that makes this feeling pronounced.
Next year, I hope Apple can get this bit right too. And the rumours for next year say the phones are even getting bigger, I hope the increase in size does not come at the expense of comfort.