Design
When the iPhone 15 Pro Max was released last year, I wrote about how it is the nicest-feeling iPhone yet. And, I still think this is the best iteration of the flat-edged iPhone design. The titanium frame and the weight distribution do wonders to the hold-ability of the phone. This is especially noticeable if you’re coming from the 14 Pro Max, as the phone does not feel heavy as before. The 15 Pro Max weights 19 grams less than its predecessor, but the distribution of weight on the phone has been refined, and it feels much more comfortable in the hand.
I have the Natural Titanium colour, it’s one of my all-time favourites. The colours on the iPhone 15 Pros were essentially four shades of grey—muted tones, but I still think Natural Titanium is a great colour. I hope that one day we see iPhone Pros in the great whimsical and fun colours that Apple is known for.
Durability
My 15 Pro Max has been without a case for 95% the time. The only occasions I’ve used a case is when I know that having a naked iPhone is risky, like climbing over a mountain with other camera gear, or when I go to the gym/boxing and know I’ll have to leave my phone somewhere where it could get scratched or damaged. The case I use is the most cheapest clear case I can get from Amazon; I’ve been doing this for years. I order a cheap case as soon as I preorder an iPhone, and usually, the case arrives before the phone does.
I am happy to report that my phone has not got a single scratch on it. None of the other iPhones that I have used can make this claim. The stainless steel used on the iPhones prior was a fingerprint magnet and wasn’t scratch resistant. There was always ding or scratch on the sides, but not with my 15 Pro Max.
When the iPhone 15 Pro launched, Zack Nelson from JerryRigEverything, who is known for testing the durability of phones, did a video with the 15 Pro Max and the phone didn’t seem durable at all. Now, I didn’t try bending my phone in half – nor do 99.99% of the people – and my iPhone 15 Pro Max turned out to be the most durable iPhone yet. I did drop it a few times, (but not on hard surfaces) and it has survived.
I bet I can take my phone, give it a good wipe, and it would look as good as it did when it first came out of the box.
The Performance
iPhones are not “slow”, and the same is true of the 15 Pro Max. Not once did I wish that my phone performed something faster. Throw anything at it and it delivers. If anything, I feel like I have never pushed the processor to its max, but that is a good thing. I upgrade my phone every year, but even if I didn’t, having a faster processor means the phone could still be usable for many years.
I’m currently on the iOS 18 public beta, and this still holds true, I might be running beta software but the processor just ploughs through anything you throw at it.
The Action Button
The Action button was one of the prominent features of the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro Max, and there’s usually a new thread on twitter every week stating how it’s the most unnecessary feature ever. Twitter thrives engagement bait, but for me, since the need for a ring/silent toggle disappeared when I got my Apple Watch in 2016, the action button has been great. I’ve set it to the camera as I wrote before, and as someone into photography, this is the fastest way I can access the camera.
With the rumours about a capture button on the next generation of iPhones, I might have to go find a new use for this button. As of now, it’s one of my favourite features of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It wasn’t something I asked for, and I could still live without it, but I am glad this has been a significant upgrade from the ring/silence switch.
USB C Port
During the iPhone 15 keynote last September, I wasn’t particularly excited about the switch to USB-C. I almost always used MagSafe to charge my phone, so USB-C felt like just another cable.
But, was I wrong! I love the USB-C ecosystem. It’s not just a port to charge my phone anymore. Once, I plugged my iPhone 15 Pro Max to a USB-C dock with a monitor and keyboard attached, and the whole display got duplicated on the monitor. And I could even use the keyboard to reply to messages. It was no Samsung DeX, but it felt really cool to do that. I have seen the change to USB-C lead to new devices in the ecosystem like the Lexar Go Portable external SSD which I’ve just backed on Kickstarter.
Another major benefit is that I can now carry just one USB-C cable to charge all my devices—having one cable/port to rule them all is pretty great.
Battery Life
The battery life on my 15 Pro Max has been on par with my iPhone 14 Pro Max from a year ago. The iPhone 14 Pro Max was a downgrade compared to the 13 Pro Max, which had the best battery life of any phone I’ve ever used. Is it because of the Always-On Display, or do the newer processors drain more power? I don’t know, but it hasn’t been a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Both my 14 Pro Max and 15 Pro Max have lasted the whole day.
My battery health is currently on 94% after 280 cycles. I remember my iPhone 14 Pro Max being at a similar level about a week before the iPhone 15 was introduced. My charging habits have mostly been the same too. I use the MagSafe Duo to charge my phone at night, and plug it in via the cable when needed. I said “mostly” because now, thanks to USB-C I tend to plug my phone in a lot more places if I have to. At my day job, we have USB-C docks that output up to 96W, and I do plug my phone in if I need to top-up. I’m aware the iPhone doesn’t support fast charging, but I do use various USB-C ports to charge my phone. This wasn’t the case with the Lightning port.
Another difference in my charging routine is that I limit my charging to 80%—this wasn’t something you could do with previous iPhones. 80% is usually enough for me to use my phone all day, but as I mentioned above, if I need a top-up, USB-C makes it much more available and convenient.
The Heating Problem
It wouldn’t be a proper iPhone release without some sort of controversy or “fail”. With the iPhone 15 Pro, it was the phones getting too hot. Some blamed it on the new Titanium frame, and some on the new A17 Pro processor. I wrote about this too and I am glad it wasn’t a big deal, and no one complains about it today – It was indeed an issue for a small set of people but I wasn’t affected.
Occasionally, I do notice the phone feeling a bit warm to the touch, but it never gets too hot for me to be concerned, and it hasn’t interfered with using my phone. However, Apple could, and should, explore more cooling options for future models.
The Camera
The camera is the primary reason I upgrade to a new phone every year, and the set of cameras on the iPhone 15 Pro Max have been great.
The sensors on the main and ultra-wide camera haven’t changed much from the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The processing has been tweaked slightly, resulting in photos that look a bit different with Smart HDR 5, but only when you’re shooting JPEG. I now exclusively shoot in RAW, and the photos are identical. I haven’t done any pixel peeping to find differences, but to my eye, they look the same.
The telephoto lens has been a game changer. The 5x lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the best telephoto lens on an iPhone yet. In terms of quality ,it’s much better than the 3x, 2.5x and 2x lenses we’ve had in the past.
It does zoom in a bit too much, and I miss the 3x from the 14 Pro Max – on the 15 Pro Max any focal point between 2x and 5x is a digital crop on the main lens. But as someone who never liked digital zoom, I am enjoying the zoom I am getting on the telephoto lenses. Framing a subject is more challenging on the 5x compared to a 3x lens, but I would take the 5x over the 3x any day.
I have taken a lot of video, and the 5x lens delivers both during day and night. I am glad Apple didn’t just put in a 5x lens for the sake of it. As I said before, it’s the highest quality telephoto lens I have used on an iPhone.
One feature that I haven’t used much on the phone is video recording in the Log format. This is because I’m more into photography than video, but that might change in the near future. I’m glad Apple included a real “Pro” feature on the Pro phones, and I hope more features like this continue to be introduced.
The Software
The iPhones 15 released with iOS 17, and on the most part, it was one of the more stable and bug-free iOS releases. There were occasional springboard crashes, but nothing major to complain about.
There aren’t many software features that were exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro, yes, there’s the software for the action button and some camera APIs exclusive to the 15 series. But that isn’t a bad thing, iOS and the iPhone are matured platforms now, there is no need for a exclusive software feature every year. The operating system works well across all new versions of the iPhone.
iOS, with it’s privacy & security, fluidity, and features, has been great on the iPhone. I’ve been on the iOS beta for the past few weeks, and even the beta has been working well, barring a few crashes of certain apps. If you’ve purchased an iPhone 15 Pro Max and are not upgrading this year, iOS 18 would be a great upgrade, and when Apple Intelligence comes with iOS 18.1 the phone (and software) will get better.
What next?
In a few days time, the successor to the iPhone 15 Pro Max will be here. It’s touted to be slightly bigger, feature a capture button for taking photos and video, and include an upgrade to the Ultra-wide lens. I am looking forward to these upgrades, even though these aren’t major groundbreaking upgrades.
Every year, we are excited about the tech we have, and we get even more excited about what’s coming next. One thing is certain: the iPhone, like every other tech product, gets better every iteration. I can’t wait to see what comes this year (even though I know thanks to the rumours), but I am more excited to see where the iPhone will be in a decade’s time.
As of today, this is the best iPhone you can get. And, even when the new iPhones are launched next week, the iPhone 15 Pro Max will still be a great phone.
