Hands-on iPhone 16 Plus review: Two-minute preview
If you were to stumble upon an iPhone 16 Plus from the front, looking directly at the screen, I'd hedge that you might think it's the 15 Plus or even the 14 Plus. It sticks with being the big-screen iPhone that doesn't cost an arm or leg, offers fast performance, and has two excellent cameras.
When you flip it over, though, or examine the left or right sides, the story begins to change. That's what I did when I first saw the iPhone 16 Plus in the hands-on area shortly after Apple's "It's Glowtime." event concluded.
It's still a large 6.7-inch iPhone with a vibrant OLED display and the Dynamic Island at the top for cool Live Activities and unlocking with Face ID. But turning it to see the left-hand side reveals the Action Button, which I like to think is the iPhone's superpower of sorts. You can set it for whatever you like through a Shortcut – albeit with some work – or pick from several presets like a flashlight or setting a timer. You can also change the preset based on the device's orientation.
Even though the arrival is exciting, it's not an entirely new feature. Action Button premiered on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in 2023. However, just like the iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, and even the iPhone 16, the new "Camera Control" is here.
By definition, it's not really a regular button, though it is recessed and can be pressed in. It's a slightly recessed piece of sapphire glass that you can press in, light press, or even swipe on.
When the iPhone is locked, you can click it in to open the camera, and another press lets you snap a shot. A swipe to the left or right enables you to zoom in or out, and a slight press-in lets you play around with camera options. It takes a little bit to get the hang of, but no doubt it's one of the most exciting parts of the new iPhone 16 Plus, and it's really awesome that Apple is including this on the standards and the Pros from the start.
Thanks to the A18 chip inside, the iPhone 16 Plus will also have plenty of power to handle this new form of input and snap photos with the new 48-megapixel main and 12-megapixel ultrawide lens. It's also plenty powerful to handle the forthcoming Apple Intelligence features – the very first of which should begin to arrive next month – and all of the new iOS 18 features like customizations. If you enjoy gaming on the iPhone, A18 means that the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus can tackle AAA titles and even support hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
Apple is still promising all-day battery life for the iPhone 16 Plus, and considering how well the 15 Plus performed, it's safe to say we have high hopes.
I did save the best for the last, though, and that is color. The iPhone 16 Plus, like the iPhone 16, has one of the best color palettes in recent memory. I especially like the 16 Plus in either Ultra Marine (kind of a mix of blues, but don't call it blue) or Pink, though you can also get it in Teal, Black, or White. The colorful ones are, well, colorful, but all of these pop in a way that really delights.
The iPhone 16 Plus is still the big-screen iPhone for the masses, and considering the addition of the Camera Control and Action Button, it's more Pro than ever before – a sentiment I echoed in my iPhone 16 hands-on as well. It also means that if you can live without a 120Hz screen or a telephoto lens, the 16 Plus is set to deliver a big value.
Wondering how much? Well, so am I, and we'll need to test it further to deliver that answer.
Hands-on iPhone 16 Plus review: Price and availability
Starts at $899 / £899 / AU$1,599
Pre-orders open on September 13, and shipping begins on September 20
The iPhone 16 Plus was announced at Apple's 'It's Glowtime.' event on Monday, September 9. iPhone 16 preorders will begin on Friday, September 9, and the new phone will hit store shelves on Friday, September 20.
The iPhone 16 Plus starts at $899 / £899 / AU$1,599 for the model with 128GB of storage, which is the same launch price as the iPhone 15 Plus. Full iPhone 16 Plus pricing can be found below.
Hands-on iPhone 16 Plus review: Specs
Below, you'll find a roundup of the iPhone 16 Plus' key specs.
Running from the Apple Keynote to the expansive demo room right behind it, I was confronted by long tables of new products, including iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max phones on pedestals (as they should be), and hoards of excited media and analysts who crowded so tightly around the products that I could scarcely get close enough to sniff them.
Lucky for me, many Apple representatives were milling about who would almost surreptitiously remove the gleaming handsets from their pockets and then just as casually walk you through features.
That was how I finally got close to the iPhone 16 Pro, a now 6.3-inch iOS 18 device that is slightly larger than the iPhone 15 Pro while offering noticeably more screen real estate. Apple managed this trick by shrinking the bezel so it's just a thin dark line surrounding the Super Retina XDR display. Apparently, Apple figured out how to reroute some of the screen traces from the edges to underneath the display, which made the razor-thin bezel possible.
As they handed me the phone, I noticed its Black Titanium body felt just as solid and smooth as before. It felt familiar because the design was largely unchanged from the last iPhone. The one noticeable and significant difference is the new Camera Control. This tactile/haptic combo button, which adorns the full iPhone 16 lineup, is kind of the star of the new iPhone show.
Stuffed full of technology, the button lives below the power button and is used initially to open the camera app. A lighter press activates the haptic response access controls, and a double press accesses a deeper set of camera controls.
After that, you can swipe up and down on the bottom to select different photography features. After a quick training, I could use it to access the different lenses, set exposure, and change the depth of field. There's a visual cue on the screen to help you keep track of all the touch, tap, and gesture-based camera changes.
Eventually, virtually any app that uses the camera could access the Camera Control button. Snapchat is already doing so.
This button might just change how you use your iPhone, and I think people will like it.
There is another big and significant change in the iPhone 16 Pro. Again, it has parity on the zoom front with its big brother, the now 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max.
While the iPhone 15 Po offered just a 3x optical zoom, the iPhone 16 Pro has the same 5x tetra prism zoom as the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Other camera changes include a 48MP ultra-wide and a faster shutter speed on the 48MP main camera. I saw some of these photographic skills in action when I took a few sample photos, but I didn't gather enough evidence to draw any useful conclusions.
Demos I saw elsewhere of the 4K 120fps show some impressive video skills. I have yet to see or try out the Cinematic Slo-Mo, but it looks like a great tool for pro videographers.
The new A18 Pro CPU powers the iPhone 16 Pro, a mobile processor with more power than most consumers need, but I suspect pro users will appreciate it. It'll also support all those promised Apple Intelligence features. The news here, though, is that the iPhone 16 Pro will not ship with Apple Intelligence. Apple has promised to ship an iOS 18 update next month that will support it.
The good news is that I did see some Apple Intelligence features in action. Photo Cleanup works smoothly to identify photographic detritus and expertly remove it with a tap or erase gesture.
Writing tools are hidden but appear to have a lot of depth and are ready to not just clean up your writing but almost do your writing for you...if that's your thing.
Siri got a literal glow-up and now turns on the entire iPhone 16 Pro screen when activated. It was hard to use her in the crowded room but I do love the look of it.
While I didn't spend a lot of time with the phone, the initial operation appeared snappy. A18 Pro has all the power you need for virtually any task and more. Console-level gaming is now a thing on the iPhone. Even at 6.3 inches, the screen might be a bit small for some AAA games, but it can certainly handle the action. Part of that is due to the new heat management system that makes the iPhone more efficient for longer at peak operation.
I think it'll be a challenge to over-tax this smartphone.
Even with all that power and new AI features, Apple said during the keynote that we should expect longer battery life, and by longer, I mean you might be able to measure it in hours. That's an exciting prospect.
It's a shame that this iPhone 16 Pro will start with half the storage of the iPhone 16 Pro Max: 128GB vs. 256GG. 128GB is nothing to sneeze at, but if you're shooting a lot of 4K video, you might wish for that extra 128GB.
A better and bigger screen, improved cameras, including 5x zoom, that new Camera Control button, and so much power could make this one of the best iPhones Apple has ever made. Will it be the best smartphone? That's a question I can't answer until I test it.
Hands-on iPhone 16 Pro review: Price and availability
Starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,849
Pre-orders open on September 13, and the phone ships from September 20
The iPhone 16 Pro was announced at Apple's 'It's Glowtime' event on Monday, September 9. iPhone 16 preorders will begin on Friday, September 9, and the new phone will hit store shelves on Friday, September 20.
The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 for the model with 128GB of storage, with storage options rising to 1TB. For reference, that's the same starting price as the iPhone 15 Pro.
Full iPhone 16 Pro pricing is as follows:
Hands-on iPhone 16 Pro review: Specs
Below, you'll find a roundup of the iPhone 16 Pro's key specs.
Apple's iPhone 16 is officially official, and returning are fun, vibrant colors, a redesigned camera bump on the rear, and a slew of new buttons. I'm on the ground in Cupertino, CA, and as Tim Cook closed out the "It's Glowtime." keynote, I dashed out of the Steve Jobs Theater and headed straight towards the iPhone 16.
First, the colors are fantastic and best described simply as fun, at least for most shades. Ultra Marine (a mix of blues, but don't call it blue), Pink, and Teal all come together to freshen up the iPhone palette and look delightful. I think Pro users will be a little upset with the vibrant shades here, though. You could say Black and White here resembles the more neutral shades that the Pros get.
Regardless of shade, it's most prominent on the back and is also the canvas for the redesigned main camera bump that sits vertically. It contains a 48-megapixel primary lens and a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens, and the new orientation will allow this iPhone to capture spatial video for playback on the Vision Pro.
The physical changes live on the sides, though – the Action Button has trickled down to the standard iPhones and lives above the volume rocker. I see it as a welcome addition, and much like the new customization features of iOS 18, it is a customizable button on your iPhone. You can be like me and use it to unlock your car, play a specific version of "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen, make a custom Shortcut to trigger, or pick from presets like turning on the flashlight or opening up the camera.
Though, I don't know why you would set it to camera, considering the iPhone 16 has an all-new "Camera Control" button on the left. It's in the perfect position, as when you're holding the iPhone 16 horizontally, it's on the top right, which mirrors the design of nearly any camera. You can click it once to open the camera and again to take the shot, but it's a button filled with technology. You can swipe left or right to zoom in or out, and a slightly lighter press-in lets you jump between shooting modes and other effects. It's really cool, and I cannot wait to spend more time with it.
Aside from these changes, though, the iPhone 16 really resembles the iPhone 15 quite a bit. Thanks to an aluminum build, it still feels solid in the hand, but it won't weigh you down. To the untrained eye, the front is nearly all display, at 6.1 inches, and the OLED is still vibrant and crisp with details. It's still just 60Hz, so there is no buttery smooth refresh rate, but I imagine most folks will be split. If you have a phone with a 120Hz screen, it's best to steer clear, but if you haven't experienced it, I don't think you'll mind it all.
Plus, the Dynamic Island is on top, so you can use the Live Activities galore. During my brief hands-on time, the iPhone 16 felt snappy for opening applications, playing around with the new buttons, and even attempting a few games. There is also a new chip under the hood – yes, an entirely new one instead of Apple trickling the Pro's one down – and it's the Apple A18 chip, which can handle a lot. It will be plenty for daily tasks and will be ready to help you make the most of Apple Intelligence when those features arrive.
To address the proverbial elephant in the room, the iPhone 16 will come out of the box with iOS 18, meaning that no Apple Intelligence features will be available out of the box. The first of those features, Writing Tools and Photo Cleanup will arrive with iOS 18.1 in October.
That about sums up my first impressions of the iPhone 16 – it's a powerful smartphone that should be zippy with some extra buttons in a similar, familiar build. I suspect the experience will be a lot like the iPhone 15, but I'm also curious to see how it steps things up, especially compared to earlier iPhones. At the minimum, these are way more colorful, which is something to celebrate.
Hands-on iPhone 16 review: Price and availability
Starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399
Pre-orders open on September 13, and shipping begins on September 20
The iPhone 16 was announced at Apple's 'It's Glowtime' event on Monday, September 9. iPhone 16 preorders will begin on Friday, September 9, and the new phone will hit store shelves on Friday, September 20.
The iPhone 16 starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 for the model with 128GB of storage, with that price rising to $899 / £899 / AU$1,599 for the model with 256GB of storage and $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,949for the model with 512GB of storage.
Full iPhone 16 pricing can be found below.
Hands-on iPhone 16 review: Specs
Below, you'll find a roundup of the iPhone 16's key specs.
Hands-on iPhone 16 Pro Max review: Two-minute preview
At a glance, the iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn't look or feel much different from what preceded it, and perhaps that's to be expected. The competitive game of smartphones is now one of inches. The question is, can the small or even invisible changes add up to something big?
In the early going with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, I'd say the answer is yes.
Design-wise, it's a doppelganger for the iPhone 15 Pro Max...except it isn't. As soon as I held a sleek Titanium Black one, I was struck by the screen. It's still Super Retina XDR, but somehow, it seems much larger. Where the iPhone 15 Pro Max offered a 6.7-inch display, this one is 6.9 inches. That is Apple's largest iPhone display ever. Thankfully, Apple did not do this by simply making the whole device larger (it is a bit larger but more or less a wash-on weight difference). One way Apple gained so much visible screen real estate was by shrinking the black bezel surrounding it way down. I suspect that someday, that bezel will disappear altogether.
A bigger screen does make everything seem bigger, brighter, and better. But it's not just that.
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There is one other truly noticeable physical difference between the old and new iPhones. The iPhone 16 Pro Max (actually the whole line of iPhone 16 phones) has the new Camera Control.
This button is a bigger deal than I imagined, and I'm almost embarrassed to say that I already like it quite a bit.
Covered in sapphire, the roughly half-inch long button sits on the phone's left side a couple of inches down from the power/sleep/Siri button. It's recessed (which is important, and I'll explain why in a bit) and is both a physical button and a haptic one.
A hard press gives instant access to the iPhone 16 Pro Max camera. That's a nice trick, but, of course, you could program the Action Button to do so, too. However, when I pressed lightly on Camera Control, I felt a little haptic vibration and then could sweep up and down on the button to quickly switch between the phone's cameras. If I lightly pressed twice, I gained access to deeper image controls.
Using the Camera Control, however, was not initially obvious. I was pressing too hard and then not hard enough. It took me about 20 seconds to figure it out.
I could use Camera Control to switch zoom, depth of field, and image styles. Oh, and you're not blindly guessing which settings the Camera Control enables. Every time I used it, a little black cutout appeared on the screen right next to the button to show me every setting and control.
Yes, if you hold the phone in landscape mode, it begins to feel like you're using a traditional camera...with one caveat. The feature that would let me light press to lock focus and long press to shoot is not yet enabled. I can, though, always full press to complete taking a photo.
I even saw how Snapchat is already using Camera Control to control images simply and send photos to friends with the press of a button.
Camera Control seems like a slight misnomer. The button will also be used to enable Vision Intelligence, which lets you point the phone at an object and press the button to get a description. It's like Circle to Search without the circle or, I guess, Google.
As I noted above, the button is recessed, and I found that it's quite hard to trigger it accidentally. That's a good thing.
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The other big changes are in software and silicon. Inside the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the new A18 Pro. This is the apex Apple silicon mobile chip, a 3nm CPU that has more power for the Pro phones. It should also provide enough power to game to your heart's content. The iPhone 15 Pro Max was a pretty decent little gaming console, so I would expect no less from this bigger and better-equipped beast. I'll know more when I finally test the phone.
You won't need to play a game to experience this power, though. Like the A18 found in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, the A18 Pro has all the juice you need for the Apple Intelligence.
In my brief experience with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, this is not full-boat Apple Intelligence. When the iPhone ships next week, it won't have any Apple intelligence, but an iOS update should roll out next month and then Apple will slowly seed the rest of Apple Intelligence into these iOS 18-running iPhone 16 handsets over the coming months.
Here's what I did quickly try the demo iPhone 16 Pro Max phones running a later version of iOS 18:
I brought up some photos and navigated to the new Clean Up tool. I found photos that Apple had taken and some that others in the demo room added to the phone. In one, I used my finger to paint over offending objects and watched as they disappeared. I didn't make it easy for the phone, and sometimes there was only a partial deletion. When I used a canned photo with a distinct person in the background, Apple Intelligence Clean Up automatically found and highlighted them. I tapped the screen, and they disappeared. It was as if they were never there.
I tried the Writing tools, which I still think are sort of hidden, in Notes. There were many offers to change the text to be more professional, more concise, or a total rewrite. This is not a feature I am likely to use, but I suspect some will think it a godsend.
Siri has an all-new look, and she now makes the iPhone 16 Pro Max screen glow when you summon her. The effect is beautiful on the big-screen phone. It was a loud room, so Siri only caught part of my request. I think I asked for her to show me a photo of where I am, but she only heard "where I am" and quickly brought up my location.
While I took a few pictures, I can't offer anything definitive about the cameras. What I will say is that there is good news in this updated camera array. Now we have two 48MP cameras, one on the main Fusion camera and another on the new ultrawide. There's also still the 12MP 5x tetraprism lens. The main camera is reportedly faster than ever, with virtually no shutter lag. Between that and the updated image pipeline, I expect photography on this big phone to be better than ever.
I have not tried out the new Cinematic Slow Motion, which looks insanely cool, nor did I get a chance to try the studio-grade mics. I did see the latter in action and was impressed by how the In-frame setting could cut away any sound not coming from whatever was in the frame. I also thought the studio quality, which left in the background noises but emphasized the main subjects' sounds, was quite good.
The new 4k 120fps-capable camera looks like it will transform how people take dramatic videos. I like that there's a new speed control that will allow for easier stepping up and down of playback speed (half or quarter speed).
My takeaway from all these new photo and video tools is that this may be the ultimate pro videographer phone option. Apple, by the way, shot its entire Glowtime video presentation on an iPhone, and it's no wonder. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is a powerful device with some serious skills.
Apple is promising better battery life on all the iPhone 16 models, but the gains may be especially great on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Its much larger battery, coupled with the efficient A18 Pro and more battery management, might add hours to the battery life, but I won't know for sure until I test it.
Finally, there's the look of this phone. As I mentioned above, I got to touch the Titanium Black. It is a gorgeous device, and I really can't understand why you would want any other color. But if you're so inclined, it's available in White, Natural, and new Desert Titanium (think sand but shinier).
Is this the best iPhone Apple has ever made? Possibly, It'll certainly claim a spot near the top of our best iPhone list and maybe even best smartphones. I'll offer my definitive take when I finish my full review.
Hands-on iPhone 16 Pro Max review: Price and availability
Starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149
Pre-orders open on September 13, shipping from September 20
The iPhone 16 Pro Max was announced at Apple's 'It's Glowtime' event on Monday, September 9. iPhone 16 preorders will begin on Friday, September 9, and the new phone will hit store shelves on Friday, September 20.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149 for the model with 256GB of storage, with that price rising to $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,849 for the model with 1TB of storage. For context, those are the same starting and maximum prices as the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Full iPhone 16 Pro Max pricing is as follows:
Hands-on iPhone 16 Pro Max review: Specs
Below, you'll find a roundup of the iPhone 16 Pro Max's key specs.
• Original review date: September, 2023
• Apple keeps improving iOS 17
• Spacial video is now possible with Apple Vision Pro
Update: April 2024. Apple continues to show the rest of the smartphone world how to update phones, and iOS 17 has added new features to the iPhone 15 Pro Max as well as every iPhone released in the last five years. With new discovery features, Apple's new Journal app, and plenty more, iOS 17 is the gift that keeps on giving. The iPhone 15 Pro Max also now has the capability to record videos with an added depth component. These videos take advantage of Apple's spatial computing platform, Apple Vision Pro, and give you a more realistic, 3D look at whatever you record, as long as you watch the videos while wearing Apple's new headset.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Two-minute review
Leave it to Apple to make titanium sound sexy, while also putting me in mind of my somewhat aging joints.
I know, Apple enthusiastically told us how the iPhone 15 Pro Max (and Pro) uses the same titanium as was used by NASA on the Mars rover. I buy that, and it sounds impressive; but when I think of titanium, I usually think of hip or knee replacements. The low-corrosion, lightweight, and high-strength material is favored by surgeons for those properties, and it's for those same reasons that it makes perfect sense as the new frame material for the iPhone.
Patients sporting new titanium knees and hips will likely never get to touch the metal, but if you buy an iPhone 15 Pro Max or – as I did – test it, you'll find that it's smooth yet solid, with a brushed surface that feels cool but not cold. Holding the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max is a distinctly different experience compared to handling the iPhone 14 Pro Max; it's lighter, and the titanium feels a little warmer than the polished steel of its predecessor.
It's not just the titanium, though; Apple has made a small yet subtle change to the frame, removing just enough metal to add contoured edges all around. It's one of the smallest yet most impactful changes I've seen a smartphone manufacturer make to a design, and it truly changes how the phone feels in the hand.
Staying with the frame, Apple's retirement of the silence / ring button is one of the most welcome and useful changes. It takes a dull, one-trick-pony analog feature and transforms it into a sleek, customizable button that can be almost anything you want it to be.
The biggest change for some iPhone fans, though, will be the introduction of the USB-C port in place of Lightning. I know there's a fair amount of frustration over the change (all those now-useless cords in your home, office, and car) but it doesn't change the operation of the phone, and at least Apple supplies you with a woven USB-C-to-USB-C cable. I will miss the old port, but believe we'll all soon forget it.
Naturally, if those external changes were the only differences between this phone and its predecessor, the iPhone 15 Pro Max might be a disappointment. However, this is a significantly more powerful phone than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, with Apple's all-new A17 Pro silicon that, for the first time ever, brings console-quality gaming to the iPhone line. Granted, console games like Resident Evil: Village were not designed for a 6.7-inch display, even Apple's high-definition Super Retina XDR OLED panel, although at least that display now benefits from the smallest iPhone bezels I've seen.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max's triple-camera array looks unchanged from the iPhone 14 Pro Max's, but looks can be deceiving – there are upgrades both inside and out that help to deliver one of the best photography experiences you'll find on any phone.
While Apple appears to have used the same 48MP primary camera sensor as in last year's Pro Max, it's basically rebuilt its image processing pipeline.
There's a new 24MP default image size that cannily combines 12MP of pixel-binned image data with full-sensor 48MP information for images that are, in almost all instances, true-to-life (Apple may be over-blueing the sky a little).
The new setup is more versatile too. I never had to decide if I wanted to shoot portrait mode now or later – in most instances, if the iPhone 15 Pro Max could read depth information, it stored all the detail I'd need to change a photo to portrait mode and choose the focus subject post-shoot.
If you were hoping for 10x optical zoom on an iPhone, though, the iPhone 15 Pro Max will disappoint you (though not as much as the 3x optical iPhone 15 Pro). I was frustrated when Apple announced that it had only raised the maximum optical zoom on its largest smartphone to 5x; after all, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has an excellent 10x optical zoom, plus the wild, AI-assisted 100x Space Zoom (which may add too much 'artificial' information for my taste, but it's an option if you need it). Apple does do a remarkably good job of competing with just half that zoom range, largely because the image quality at that extended focal length is simply excellent, rivaling and sometimes beating Samsung's best camera.
The combination of its new 3nm chipset, a display that can stop down to a power-sipping 1Hz, and smart power management may account for excellent full-day-plus battery life; though your experience will depend on how you use the iPhone.
In short (this is my two-minute review, after all), this is my favorite iPhone ever. I usually don't like Apple's largest iPhone, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max is lighter (and a tiny bit smaller) than the iPhone 14 Pro Max which – along with the new contoured edges – makes it feel comfortable in my hand. Add to all that excellent photography, fast performance, and seemingly unlimited potential and you've got a lock for a place at or near the top of our best phone list.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,199 , which is a price hike over its predecessor – the iPhone 14 Pro Max – but you do get twice the storage in the base model: 256GB. This also puts the iPhone 15 Pro Max in line with the starting price of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (both now start at 256GB).
The iPhone 15 Pro Max became available to buy in-store and online on September 22, and if you're interesting in picking one up, head over to our iPhone 15 Pro Max deals page for a roundup of all the best offers available now.
It's not entirely accurate to say Apple raised the price of the iPhone 15 Pro Max (from the iPhone 14 Pro Max base price) because what it actually did was remove a tier and settle on the 256GB storage and $1,119 as the new base model. This makes the iPhone 15 Pro Max a little less affordable (no less so than the similarly configured Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra) but, as I see it, 256GB should really be the base storage on all smartphones nowadays, especially as we continue to shoot higher resolution photos and videos (and manage our lives on them).
If storage is your jam, you can pack the iPhone 15 Pro Max (or iPhone 15 Pro) with up to 1TB of storage and pay $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,899 for the privilege. What you won't get for that price, though, is more memory. While the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra raises the RAM level to 12GB – starting with its 512GB model, the iPhone 15 Pro Max seemingly sticks with 8GB through all tiers.
There's no getting around that this is Apple's most expensive iPhone, but at least there are numerous payment options, including those from Apple which can start as low as $33 a month in the US. As for whether or not the iPhone 15 Pro Max is worth the money, its design, build, quality, and exceptional capabilities convince me it is. Even at this price, I suspect it will be Apple's best-seller.
Value score: 4.5 / 5
iPhone 15 Pro Max review: Design
Titanium!
Contoured edges make it a pleasure to hold
It's lighter and slightly smaller
Exquisite build
In case you haven't heard, Apple's 2023 Pro-level iPhone has traded in its shiny stainless steel frame for a brushed titanium one. It's tough (though not necessarily harder than steel), corrosion-resistant, and – perhaps most importantly for your hands, pockets, and bags – a lighter material.
Apple made a handful of other changes that give the phone a new look and feel beyond changing up the outer metalwork, however. First are the new contoured edges. It's true that this iPhone can, at a glance, look almost exactly the same as the iPhone 14 Pro Max, but close inspection reveals rounding along the sides that give the phone a softer look and make it – especially at this size – much more comfortable to hold. Additionally, the Super Retina XDR display looks larger (and the Dynamic Island looks smaller), thanks to a noticeably thinner bezel.
The phone feels different because the dimensions and weight are different. Where the iPhone 14 Pro Max was 77.6 x 160.7 x 7.85mm, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 76.7 x 159.9 x 8.25mm. That means it's just a hair smaller than the last model, a fact I confirmed when I tried slipping the iPhone 15 Pro Max into an iPhone 14 Pro Max leather case (Apple is no longer selling leather accessories) and it was loose inside it. It is worth noting that the new phone is almost a millimeter thicker than the last model.
However, thanks to the titanium body and new recycled aluminum frame, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 19 grams lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max (221g vs. 240g). That's a noticeable difference.
Another major design change is actually a functional one: the new USB-C port. It's a little bit larger than the departed Lighting port but will – if you have the right cable – bring some 10Gbps high-speed data transfer capabilities (the cable Apple ships with the iPhone is not a high-speed one).
The body is covered on the front and back with what Apple calls "tough glass-based materials", and on the front is also their Ceramic Shield, designed to protect the glass from damage. I'm not in the business of dropping my phones, so I could not tell you much about the strength of these glass materials. I did, though subject the phone to a dunk in a water fountain. The IP68-rated phone handled it just fine. That was just for a moment, but the phone is rated to handle swimming in up to six feet of fresh water for 30 minutes. If you dunk your phone, just remember that you can't plug it into a charger again until it's completely dry.
Apple didn't mess with the power/sleep/Siri button or the pair of volume buttons but right above that is Apple's other big design/functionality change: the new Action button, which is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro.
This tiny little button replaces the long-surviving silence/ring switch (still available on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus). Instead of a single-function switch, the Action button is programmable via one of Apple's most high-designed utility interfaces ever.
The Action button defaults to ring/silence control but instead of a switch, it takes a press to check the status of your phone (ring or silent) and a long press to change it. Many people may leave well enough alone here, but then they'd be missing out on all the hidden utility. Action button can enable a preferred Focus Mode (with detailed controls inside the Action button settings page), turn the flashlight on and off, launch voice memos, turn your phone into a digital magnifying glass, run your favorite Shortcut, offer instant access to accessibility features, launch the camera, or even turn off all Action button features (a waste, really). If you miss the ring/silent control you can still find it under the updated Control Center too.
After trying out the Action button in default mode, I quickly switched it to control the camera. From there, I could use a long-press to instantly open the camera and then use a quick press to take a picture.
The only downside to this new button is that if you are in the habit of taking a lot of screenshots by simultaneously pressing the power and volume up buttons, you may accidentally press the new Action button instead because, well, it's now the top button on the left side of the phone. I expect this to become an iPhone 15 Pro Max meme ("When you press Action instead of Volume Up").
In total, I think the iPhone 15 Pro Max design retains what was good about the last model while making ergonomic and functionality tweaks that move the familiar into the future, with a lighter chassis, smoother lines, a bigger screen, and more functional buttons and ports.
Design score: 4.5 / 5
iPhone 15 Pro Max review: Sustainability
Over the years, Apple has been rethinking its packaging and, increasingly its products, with an eye toward sustainability. I can still remember when Apple started using biodegradable packaging on its EarPods. The corn-based material would dissolve in water. Now, Apple's efforts extend to its Apple Watch Series 9 (Apple claims the product is now carbon neutral) and iPhones.
This iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 100% recycled aluminum interior and uses recycled cobalt in its battery. Beyond the phone, Apple is whittling away at its carbon footprint by using more earth-friendly materials. In past years, I would usually get leather cases to protect my iPhone test unit but leather is not exactly carbon-friendly. This year, Apple is using a new material, FineWoven, on cases and MagSafe Apple Wallets.
Those cases, by the way, still feel luxurious. My wife thought they were faux suede, but I pointed out the ultra-fine weave.
iPhone 15 Pro Max review: Display
6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED
Surrounded by ultra-thin bezels
Unchanged resolution. Still supports ProMotion adaptive refresh rate
Always-on display
If you liked the 6.7-inch display on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, you'll probably like the iPhone 15 Pro Max's screen just that little bit more.
Apple shaved millimeters off the black bezel surrounding the Super Retina XDR OLED screen to make it seem larger (this also makes the Dynamic Island look smaller). Between that and the newly-curved edges, it really looks as if the screen extends all the way to the outer edge of the phone.
To be clear, the screen is slightly larger but the resolution, 2796 x 1290 and 460ppi is unchanged from the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Essentially, this iPhone is just giving those pixels a little more breathing room.
It remains a beautiful and bright screen, with a maximum brightness of 2000 nits, which means I had no trouble using it outdoors in bright sunlight. Its wide color gamut means visuals are rich and the 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio endows it with support for the inkiest of blacks. Looking at everything from photos to games, apps, websites, and videos on this display is a pleasure.
ProMotion support means the iPhone 15 Pro Max is as adept at handling web page scrolling as it is at videos and gaming. All motion looks smooth. Plus, the phone's ability to stop down to 1Hz means that, when it needs to, it sips power while still providing you information; ideal for always-on functionality.
I put the iPhone 15 Pro Max on a Belkin Boost Charge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless charge stand with MagSafe, which automatically puts the phone in iOS 17's new Standby mode, and then set it up on my nightstand. Overnight, the Always-On display was just bright enough that I could glance at it in the middle of the night and see the time.
This is still an excellent smartphone display, though I wonder why, now that Samsung's flagship has an integrated pen and supports not only touch but stylus input, Apple can't finally add Apple Pencil support to its biggest and best smartphone. Even so, I understand that not everyone needs or wants pen input and that may be something Apple intuits as well.
Basically, what you have is Apple's top-notch screen technology, slightly embiggened and now supported by some excellent new iOS 17 functionality.
Display score: 4.5 / 5
iPhone 15 Pro Max review: Cameras
Dedicated 5x optical zoom camera
New 48MP primary sensor
Impressive new portrait photography capabilities
If you read the iPhone 15 Pro Max's specs, see 48MP, and think little has changed since the iPhone 14 Pro Max, you would be mistaken.
Leaving aside the obviously-different 5x optical zoom camera (even the iPhone 15 Pro doesn't get that new snapper), let's look at the leading 48MP sensor. It's not the same one as was introduced on the iPhone 14 Pro Max (or the new iPhone 15). It's larger and, reportedly a Sony-made IMX903. And Apple is using this sensor in ways it has never done before.
Every default image I shot with the iPhone 15 Pro Max comes rendered at 24MP resolution. Yes, that's a new resolution for iPhones and Apple manages it by first pixel binning 48 megapixels-worth of data into the best possible 12 megapixel still and then combining that with the full detail of the 48MP sensor. The only downside is that 24MP images will be larger than 12MP stills (by about a megabyte). Apple mitigates the storage cost a bit by automatically storing photos in HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format) format. You can also shoot in 48MP RAW format for uncompressed imagery, ready for editing.
The result is some truly eye-popping images. The colors are brighter and, with the exception of maybe a just too-blue sky (possibly a result of more aggressive use of smart HDR), the most accurate I have ever seen from a smartphone. Even in direct comparison with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the iPhone 15 Pro Max won. The colors in flowers are perfect and the sharpness is startling. My macros are levels above what I gathered with the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. The skin tones are exact. It didn't matter the skin tone, the iPhone 15 Pro Max understood it and reproduced it. I, for instance, look just as pale and freckled as I do in real life.
Apple has stuffed this iPhone full of more pro-level photography tools than ever before. In particular, you can now choose physical camera-like digital lenses, from 13mm to 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 48mm, and 120mm for the 5x zoom. You can see these measurements in the camera app by holding down on one of the main magnification levels. You can also go into settings and set one of the lenses as a default.
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For most consumers, though, this might be more control than they want or need. It might help to understand what millimeters (mm) in lenses actually mean. The mm defines the degree of magnification and field of view. Lower mm means a wider field of view and lower magnification. Obviously, you can ignore this or act like a pro photographer and start switching up digital lenses during a shoot.
Apple's decision to use just a 5x optical zoom is a source of frustration but I can't really argue with the result. The lens, which uses an unusual tetraprism (four turns of the light between the lens and the image sensor), captures some lovely images. So while this is a long way from 10x optical zoom, I think Apple fans will still be pleased with this result. You can zoom quite a bit further with digital zoom but these images never hold up upon close examination.
Working in conjunction with that zoom is the new 3D sensor shift optical image stabilization which does a much better job of keeping shots stable, especially on digitally zoomed videos. I was impressed with the stabilization when I was capturing a video of a robin who was perched up in swaying branches at least five yards away from me.
The entire iPhone 15 line essentially refines portrait photography. There's still a specific mode, but you no longer need to use it to get the same result. As long as the iPhone 15 Pro Max's cameras can capture depth information, you can turn almost any photo into a portrait shot after the fact, even if it was shot with only the main camera.
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You can tell if the camera is seeing any depth while you shoot because a little "Portrait f" will appear in the upper righthand corner. You can tap on it and then select Portrait (On or Off) to see what the photo would look like in portrait mode. it doesn't always work because, if the camera does not 'see', say, a person, or pet or fails to capture any useful depth information, then you can't change a photo to portrait mode; in my experience, most photos were convertible, however. As with traditional Portrait Mode shots, you can set the depth of field but additionally, you can now also tap on different subjects to change the focus point. This works just as advertised and makes you feel like a god of portrait photography.
Portrait photography – including that taken with the front-facing TrueDepth camera – got a huge upgrade with access to Apple's Photonic Engine (I know, Apple, loves it's tech labels) that just makes portrait photography look more authentic and less computational than ever.
Apple has made some leaps in low-light and night photography. The iPhone 15 Pro Max's ISPs (image signal processors) collect more light and make better use of it in even the most challenging situations. It's not vastly better than what you get with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, but I think Apple achieves parity.
Night photography is better, too. I noticed less green in the star photography and more stars. The one thing I still can't do as easily as I can with the Galaxy S23 Ultra is take star trail photography (without a third-party app).
The iPhone remains a great video capture tool, with a wide variety of lens options, Action mode for shooting your child's soccer game without nausea-inducing judder, and Cinematic mode for when you want to shoot auteur-quality video. The last, by the way, works just like portrait mode photography in that you can, while capturing video, shift focus from one subject to another with just a tap (in filmmaking, this is the job of the focus puller). What the iPhone 15 Pro Max can do that you can't with the traditional film is change the focus point of the video after shooting. It's more than a neat trick and could be useful if you happen to forget to focus on the right subject during the initial shoot.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Camera samples
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The phone now maxes out at shooting 4K 60fps ProRes, while I'd say leaving out 8K video shooting capabilities (which some rivals support) could only be a problem if I thought anyone actually had an 8K TV in their home.
Even as Apple dips its toes further into the pro-level smartphone photography waters, its camera app does not yet feel as deep and versatile as Samsung's, which may go a bit too far and accidentally bury some really useful features.
Again, I think Apple knows its consumers better than most and is being careful about what it presents to iPhone users; not wanting to confuse them while also not holding them back, either. It's a delicate balance. In the end, Apple mostly pulls it off and the real proof is in the fantastic image quality, which should make any smartphone owner envious.
Camera score: 5 / 5
iPhone 15 Pro Max review: Performance
Hello new A17 Pro
8GB of RAM
More base storage (for a price)
Ever since Apple launched Apple silicon, it's been pushing the boundaries of what's possible, with system-on-chips (SoCs) in laptops, desktops, and mobile that rival and often beat the competition, and sometimes they even take generational leaps.
I think it's fair to call the A17 Pro a leap forward from the A16 Bionic in the iPhone 14 Pro Max (the chip now also powering the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus). As compared to the A16 Bionic, the A17 Pro is built on an even-smaller 3nm process, which should improve efficiency (think battery life), with a CPU that is 10% faster and a six-core GPU that's not only 20% faster but supports on-hardware Ray Tracing.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max Geekbench 6 results support Apple's performance claims. It shows that the A17 Pro is running at a 3.78GHz clockspeed, as compared to 3.46GHz for the A16 Bionic and 3.36GHz for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Numbers, naturally, only tell part of the performance story. For me, it's what I can do with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. One of the promised experiences is playing console-quality games natively. Not gonna lie, I was skeptical. Console gaming is not mobile gaming and never the twain shall meet – until they do on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Capcom gave me test flight access to the ported version of Resident Evil: Village. It was a large file that I needed to download at home on WiFi. Once it loaded up I immediately saw a problem. The game is designed for consoles and their controllers. Without one, Resident Evil put the controls on-screen – all the buttons you would usually find on a console controller were crowding the 6.7-inch display. I realized I needed a physical controller, so I borrowed one of my son's extra Xbox controllers and connected it to the phone via Bluetooth.
I'm not much of a gamer, but the visuals, especially on the cut scenes, look quite good on the 6.7-inch display. Still, on such a small console gaming screen, losing even a little bit of space to the Dynamic Island is frustrating.
The graphics never stuttered or tore. I only noticed one spot of pixelation early in the game, where a shadow didn't quite hold together on the snow. This was a repeatable experience which makes me wonder if it's less about the A17 Pro and more about the game port from console to mobile.
The game was otherwise responsive and the sound was excellent. When I put in my AirPods Pro, I was presented with a really captivating and immersive experience; an experience good enough for me to proclaim that console-quality gaming has finally arrived on the mobile phone.
Outside of gaming, every action on the iPhone 15 Pro Max was as responsive as I expected and wanted it to be. I tried editing multiple 4K 60fps clips in iMovie and found no issues with it or the output. The speed of the latter was no faster on the A17 Pro than it was on the A16 Bionic on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
As with last year's iPhone 14 Pro Max (pictured above) in the US, my test unit was eSIM-only. It's incredibly easy to transfer your phone number from an existing phone to these new eSIM variants, but it also means you can no longer easily swap in and out SIM cards without carrier assistance and support.
This is also a 5G phone, though your 5G experience will depend largely on the proximity of cell towers and how many people are sharing them. Lately, 5G speeds are making me pine for still-under-development 6G.
Call quality is good. My wife remarked I sounded good, clear, and "younger". I don't know if that's a product of the connection or if the iPhone 15 Pro Max includes a time machine for free; if it's the latter, Apple should adjust its marketing to place a little more emphasis on that particular upgrade.
This is also Apple's first Wi-Fi 6E iPhone, which is good news if you have a Wi-Fi 6E router in your home or office. In my anecdotal tests, the iPhone 15 Pro Max had consistently faster download and upload speeds (as measured by Google's online Speet Test) than the WiFi 6-supporting iPhone 15 and my iPhone 14 Pro (also WiFi 6).
There's also a new Ultra Wide-band chip (across all iPhone 15 models) that should help with precision finding of not only your Apple stuff but other friends carrying iPhones too.
Apple is also expanding its integrated Satellite services support beyond Emergency SOS to free (for two years) roadside assistance. The idea is that in areas where cell service is poor or non-existent, the system can guide you to connect with an orbiting satellite and then message nearby road services.
Performance score: 4.5 / 5
iPhone 15 Pro Max review: Software
iOS 17 out the box
Nice quality-of-life improvements
No major changes otherwise
iOS 17, which will come pre-installed on your new iPhone 15 Pro Max is, in total, a relatively lightweight update to what is already a very rich and deep platform, of which I suspect most iPhone owners barely scratch the surface.
The StandBy feature turns the iPhone 15 Pro Max into one of the best bedside clocks and at-a-glance-info hubs around. New Contact Posters are a nice extension of some of the features first found in the impressive Lock Screen update. I also like the new Name Drop feature, which utilizes AirDrop to instantly share contact information with another iPhone placed next to it. Just know that this feature is on by default and if you have two phones near each other with this enabled it might automatically connect. If and when you get your iPhone 15 (of any model), I'd suggest you go into settings and turn this off until you learn how and when to use it.
When I made a FaceTime call – which looked fantastic, by the way – I used iOS 17's new gestures to send thumbs ups and balloons, some of which appeared behind me; it was a neat effect.
Software score: 4.5 / 5
iPhone 15 Pro Max review: Battery life
Same quoted battery life as iPhone 14 Pro Max
Marginally larger capacity YoY
USB-C charging (and data speeds up to 10Gbps)
Power adapter not included
MagSafe for iPhone
Apple never shares the battery capacity and one can only assume that the iPhone 15 Pro Max battery is at least as big as the one in the iPhone 14 Pro Max (independent sources suggest it's fractionally larger). Battery size, though, is only part of the story. Managing battery life is a product of mAhs (milliampere-hours), processor efficiency, and onboard intelligence (often AI-based), to manage battery consumption.
All of this, I would say, is done well on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which managed 28 hours of mixed-use. This is an anecdotal measure and your results will vary depending on what you do with the phone. Remember that part of my time with the phone was not using it while I slept for five hours (I did not charge it).
Apple says the iPhone 15 Pro Max can recharge to 50% in 30 minutes with an optional 20W USB-C adapter. Mine charged 47% in that time. It took another hour and a half for it to fully charge. I'm not sure why Apple can't get fully on board with faster wired charging.
As for how you charge the iPhone 15 Pro Max, now you'll use the new USB-C port and the included USB-C cable. I was surprised to see that the cable is now woven – as opposed to the classic plastic/rubber protective jacket. This is similar to MacBook and HomePod cables and may prove more durable than the old cables.
The phone also supports Qi and, obviously MagSafe charging (and accessories).
Battery score: 4 / 5
iPhone 15 Pro Max review: Verdict
The iPhone 15 Pro Max raises the bar, not only for the iPhone family but for smartphones in general. From the new materials to some of the best smartphone cameras we have ever used; Apple's big flagship satisfies your smartphone needs in virtually every aspect. It falls just short of perfection thanks to a slightly higher price tag than the last model, the lack of true fast charging, and Apple's frustrating insistence in presenting 5x optical zoom as the apex of smartphone telephoto technology. Still, these end up being minor quibbles for a broadly exceptional iPhone experience.
Should I buy the iPhone 15 Pro Max?
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
iPhone 15 Pro Max review: also consider
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra If the myriad of mentions didn't give it away, the most like-minded rival to the 15 Pro Max right now remains Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra. It can zoom further, boasts a larger battery and stylus support too.
Google Pixel 7 Pro* Google's current flagship boasts and excellent similar-sized display, a clean take on Android, designed by Google itself and a camera experience that stands ahead of its competitive price tag. *The caveat is that the Pixel 8 Pro is set to arrive on October 4.
iPhone 14 Pro Max Some phones don't hold up the further from launch you get, but Apple's previous flagship will not only cost you less but still deliver a great all-round experience.
How I tested the iPhone 15 Pro Max
I tested the iPhone 15 Pro Max for four days, using it to take pictures, play games, watch videos, listen to music, and do a variety of other mobile tasks. I ran anecdotal battery tests and various benchmarks, but I have also included benchmark and battery results from Future Labs.
I bring almost 20 years of phone testing experience and 32 years of technology media experience to my review work and have tried or reviewed almost every iPhone since Apple first released them in 2007.
Update: April 2024. Despite its age, the iPhone 13 remains a great choice for anyone in need of a reliable, no-frills iPhone. It's still available from Apple directly for just $599 / £599 / AU$1,099 (some $200 / £180 / AU$200 less than its original launch price), and Amazon often has the iPhone 13 at even cheaper prices. Thanks to its still-capable chipset and strong battery life, the iPhone 13 currently ranks as the best value phone on our best phone list, and the best value phone on our best iPhone list. It's compatible with iOS 17, and will be compatible with iOS 18, too, since Apple typically supports iPhones with software updates for five years after launch. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
Two-minute review
The iPhone 13 is no longer Apple's newest smartphone, though it may well be a more tempting buy than its successor. The iPhone 14 (and 15) series is out, and the main device in the series is pretty similar to the 13 with the same cameras, display, chipset and design. You can check out our iPhone 14 review to find our full notes on the device.
That's a shame, because in our initial iPhone 13 review, we noted that it didn't bring a huge number of features over the iPhone 12, though it did have a few tweaks here and there.
On paper, you’d be hard pressed to find a reason why Apple didn’t call the iPhone 13 the iPhone 12S. The design is largely the same, the specs don’t look hugely different, and there aren’t many headline-grabbing new features.
If you do want a bigger upgrade then you might not have long to wait, as we're expecting to see the iPhone 14 on September 7, along with the iPhone 14 Max, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max, so bear that in mind before buying this.
That said, everything on the iPhone 13 is a touch better than before – and some elements are significantly better.
The highlight of the iPhone 13 is its battery life. Previously, iPhones haven’t been synonymous with strong battery life, but during every day of our testing we’ve been hard-pressed to run the iPhone 13 out of juice.
Apple has finally cracked it when it comes to battery life, and it's now far better than it has been on previous iPhone iterations.
The iPhone 13’s A15 Bionic chipset, meanwhile, is incredibly powerful, and paired with 4GB of RAM it’s capable of running multiple apps and tasks quickly and efficiently.
An updated duo camera for the iPhone 13 improves clarity in images, while the introduction of the company’s Sensor Shift optical image stabilization (OIS) technology, previously only available on Apple’s Pro Max handsets, is a big deal for those who want to shoot quickly without losing their subject in a blur.
Even the screen on the iPhone 13 is a touch better than what we’ve seen on previous ‘standard’ iPhones, and that’s a big deal if you’re upgrading from an iPhone XS or older. The OLED technology here enables a brighter picture than ever, and the picture quality is simply fantastic.
One disappointment, however, is that Apple hasn’t included a 120Hz refresh rate on the iPhone 13, so you’re not getting as smooth an experience as on the iPhone 13 Pro or iPhone 13 Pro Max.
iPhone 13 prices start at $799 / £779 / AU$1,349 – although that gets you 128GB of storage, rather than the 64GB of the base-model iPhone 12. Since the original publication of this review, mind, those prices have plummeted.
While at first glance the iPhone 13 may not seem like a great leap forward for Apple, the improved battery life, performance, screen and camera all add up to be a worthwhile upgrade for anyone who’s coming from an older iPhone, or looking to make the switch from Android.
The iPhone 13 series was announced on September 14 at the company's annual launch event, with pre-orders opening on September 17. The iPhone 13 release date was September 24, and unlike with 2020's iPhone 12 series it was possible to buy all the new handsets on the same day.
iPhone 13 specs
Weight: 174g Dimensions: 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.7 mm Display size: 6.1-inch Resolution: 2532 x 1170 Refresh rate: 60Hz Pixel density: 460ppi Chipset: A15 Bionic RAM: 4GB Storage: 128GB / 256GB / 512GB Rear cameras: 12MP + 12MP Front camera: 12MP Battery: 3,240mAh
The iPhone 13 starts at $799 / £779 / AU$1,349, which is the same price as the iPhone 12 in the US and Australia, and a touch cheaper in the UK. The iPhone 12 cost $799 / £799 / AU$1,349 at launch.
You’ll get 128GB of storage for that price – Apple has dropped its 64GB models this year, and not before time. If you need more storage, the 256GB iPhone 13 costs $899 / £879 / AU$1,519, while the 512GB model costs $1,099 / £1,079 / AU$1,869.
If those prices are a bit of a stretch, the iPhone 13 mini has similar specs but is a not-insignificant amount cheaper, starting at $699 / £679 / AU$1,199, while going in the other direction you’ve got the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max if you’re looking for higher specs and, in the case of the latter phone, a larger screen.
In all cases, it's worth seeing what Apple promo codes are currently available for ways to save on your purchase.
If you own an iPhone 12, you’re unlikely to see a big difference between that handset and the iPhone 13. If, however, you own an older iPhone, or an Android device, you’re certainly going to see some differences.
The iPhone 13features a flat-edge design, which debuted with the iPhone 12 range. That means the design is a touch more angular than the rounded finish of previous iterations, but the phone is still comfortable to use one-handed.
The front and rear of the handset are glass, but only the front panel has Apple’s patented Ceramic Shield technology, introduced on last year’s iPhone 12 . Apple says this offers four times the drop resistance of the glass on older iPhones, but we still wouldn’t recommend putting this claim to the test.
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We’ve yet to drop this handset, but it’s comforting to know that the Ceramic Shield tech is there as a safety net – although we’d be more comforted if it was on the rear of the phone too.
On the subject of durability, the iPhone 13 series is IP68 dust and water resistant, which means it can survive in up to six meters of water for a period of 30 minutes. Don’t expect this handset to be fully waterproof, but it’ll survive the odd dunk.
On the left edge of the phone are the silence switch, the volume buttons and the SIM tray. The right edge hosts just the power button, so it’s easy to find with your thumb or finger when you’re trying to wake the handset.
On the bottom edge are the speakers, and the Lightning port connector for charging and data transfer.
We found the iPhone 13 was easy to use one-handed – it measures 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.7mm – although if you want a truly one-handed device, or you have smaller hands, the iPhone 13 mini may be a better choice.
The iPhone 13 weighs a touch more than the iPhone 12, at 174g compared to 164g, but it’s not something you’ll notice in everyday use, and it’s roughly the norm for a phone of this type.
The rear of the iPhone 13 is plain, but looks sophisticated, with the Apple logo taking center stage and the camera module at the top-left. A minor change this year is that the company has opted to arrange the main lenses in the camera array diagonally, rather than vertically as on previous iPhones.
There are five color options for the iPhone 13: Blue, Midnight, Starlight (a cream color), Product Red and Pink – the shade you see pictured throughout this review.
These shades are rather muted, and if you’re not a fan of any of them you may want to hang on and see if Apple introduces more colors at a later date – the company introduced a purple iPhone 12 around six months after that phone first launched.
If you own an iPhone 12, you should note that the cases for that handset won’t fit this model.
iPhone 13 display
6.1-inch screen with 2532 x 1170 resolution
OLED panel looks good in sun
Only 60Hz, not 120Hz like Pro
The display on the iPhone 13 is 6.1 inches, with a resolution of 2532 x 1170. It’s a Super Retina XDR OLED display made by Apple, and it makes for a clear and bright image – the brightness has been improved on the iPhone 13, and it can hold its own against other smartphones in direct sunlight.
That resolution equates to 460 pixels per inch, which isn’t the best we’ve seen on the market but is perfectly suitable for everyday use – we didn’t find we ever needed a higher resolution, even when watching video or playing games.
There are thin bezels around the handset’s screen, and some of the display is also taken up with the notch at the top. Yes, there’s still a notch on the iPhone 13, but it’s 20% smaller than the notch on the iPhone 12, giving you a touch more screen real estate.
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It’s not a big change, but it’s noticeable when you compare the handset to the iPhone 12. It’s something you’ll quickly grow used to though.
An important note here is that the iPhone 13 display doesn’t get the new 120Hz refresh rate that Apple debuted on the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max – the displays on those phones refresh twice as fast as a standard 60Hz screen for a smoother experience when scrolling web pages or playing games.
If you’ve experienced this technology before – it’s now common now on a lot of Android phones – you’ll notice the difference here, although it’s a feature that’s nice to have, rather than indispensable.
iPhone 13 camera
12MP main and 12MP ultrawide cameras
The front-facing camera is 12MP too
Digital zoom up to 5x
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Going on the headline specs, the iPhone 13 camera setup doesn’t look that different to the array on last year’s model, but you’re getting some worthwhile upgrades here, with tweaks to the cameras themselves as well as a variety of software updates.
You’ve got two cameras on the rear: a 12MP wide camera with an aperture of f/1.6, and a 12MP ultrawide camera with a f/2.4 aperture and a 120-degree field of view. There’s no telephoto shooter here – you’re reliant on digital zoom, so this phone isn’t going to be the best for grabbing long-distance shots.
When not shooting at a distance, this is a fantastic and versatile experience. The main camera uses 1.7µm pixels (up from 1.4µm on the iPhone 12) that give a noticeable difference to the picture quality here.
You’re also getting Apple’s Sensor Shift OIS technology, which debuted in last year’s iPhone 12 Pro Max, and which offers the best image stabilization we’ve seen on an iPhone, enabling you to get sharp shots even when you’re not able to keep the phone perfectly still.
There’s less noise in images taken in most scenarios than in comparable shots from the iPhone 12, and there were few situations where the camera didn’t perform to the level we’d expect – it’s a great point-and-shoot experience.
The ultra-wide camera’s 120-degree field of view is useful when you want to get more of your subject or scene in, but we mostly found ourselves sticking with the main camera.
There’s digital zoom up to 5x, but the results aren’t very impressive, and you’ll find that many other smartphones are more capable in this area, although it’s by no means an essential feature.
Another new feature here is Photographic Styles, which you can access through the camera app. These enable you to apply custom looks to your images, such as Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm and Cool.
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These are useful if you have a particular style of shooting, and the idea is that unlike a simple filter they will allow the phone to apply adjustments to different elements of an image. We didn’t find this made a huge difference to our shooting, but it’s another tool in your photography arsenal.
On the front of the phone is a 12MP f/2.2 wide camera that we found worked well for selfies and video calls. The front cameras on iPhones have been impressive for some time now, and while there are no big improvements here you’ll be happy with the results you get.
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You can shoot video on the iPhone 13 at 4K at 24, 30 and 60 frames per second, as well as Full HD at 30, 60, 120 and 240fps.
The big video recording upgrade is the introduction of Cinematic Mode that allows you to film with a bokeh effect where the background of your shot is blurred. The effect also follows faces that are in the frame, so it'll switch between subjects.
We've found this to work well, but it takes some getting used to and you may need to play around with it a few times to be able to get the absolute perfect shot. This is a fun tool though, and it's something you may enjoy if you like playing around with video modes.
Camera samples
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iPhone 13 specs and performance
A15 Bionic chipset is very powerful
The phone is great for gaming
4GB RAM, storage goes up to 512GB
Apple’s iPhone 13 series all feature the company’s A15 Bionic chipset, it’s 2021 attempt at making the most powerful smartphone chipset on the planet. Apple says it has a 50% faster CPU and 30% faster GPU than the competition.
Whatever the accuracy of those claims, Apple’s 2021 handset is undeniably powerful, and while everyday performance won’t be noticeably different to what you’d get from the iPhone 12 or the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, this will be a huge step up for those using an iPhone 8 or below.
During our testing we found that the iPhone 13 could launch apps in an instant, and was easily capable of swapping between apps with a limited wait for each to load.
Gaming on the handset was also a breeze, with titles loading as quickly as we’ve seen on other products like the iPad Pro (one of Apple’s most powerful devices in 2021). Games looked fantastic on the OLED display, with those GPU performance upgrades particularly noticeable.
Geekbench 5 scores match our testing with the phone having an average multi-core score of 4688. The iPhone 12 scored 3859 in the same test, while the Samsung Galaxy S21 scored 3367 and the OnePlus 9 Pro scored 3630.
Apple has made another big step up here, but it’s most noticeable in benchmarking results. The everyday experience is largely the same, but it’ll be a marked step up from much older iPhone models.
The A15 Bionic chipset is teamed with 4GB of RAM, and that’s enough to keep it running at full tilt. That’s less RAM than you’d see on most equivalent Android phones, but Apple doesn’t seem to need a lot of RAM to make the most of its A15 Bionic.
Your storage options are 128GB, 256GB or 512GB, and if you’re planning to load your phone up with media over a couple of years we’d recommend opting for the 256GB or 512GB variant; even with iCloud support, 128GB may prove easy to fill up.
Apple has, at least, dropped the ridiculously meagre 64GB storage option that’s been its base offering for the last few years.
The iPhone 13 series is 5G-ready, and it’s nice to know that you’re future-proofed for the next-gen tech, even if you don’t yet need it or it’s not available where you are – it’s becoming increasingly widespread, and the iPhone 13 will be compatible with any 5G carrier.
iPhone 13 software
Comes on iOS 15
Will see several years of updates
Focus Mode is useful for productivity
The iPhone 13 comes running iOS 15 out of the box, so you can enjoy all the latest software features from the company.
The upgrades for 2021 are smaller than the major overhaul we saw with iOS 14, but the new additions are interesting, and include a Focus mode that’s easy to enable through the dropdown menu.
Tapping the Focus label gives you easy access to the Do Not Disturb mode, as well as settings that you can enable for when you’re at work or you’re ready to go to sleep. Want to block your Twitter notifications when you’re at your desk? This will allow you to do that.
Other new features are more minor, but overall it’s a nice refinement of what we’ve seen before.
A major benefit of a new iPhone is that Apple is likely to support it with software updates for many years to come; even the iPhone 6S is compatible with iOS 15, so if Apple continues to offer that depth of software support you can expect the iPhone 13 to continue receiving updates until around 2027.
iPhone 13 battery life
Reliable day of use
Charged to 51% in 30 minutes
No in-box charger
Apple’s handsets have never been known for strong battery life, and while the iPhone 13 doesn’t offer the best stamina we’ve ever seen in a smartphone, it’s a clear improvement on previous iPhones.
We’ve yet to find out if Apple has increased the size of the cells inside the iPhone 13, but the increase in battery life here suggests so. Rumors ahead of the iPhone 13 launch suggested that Apple would be increasing the size of the batteries in every model.
According to Apple’s estimates, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Max are set to offer the better battery life in the series. We’ve found the battery life to be significantly improved compared to the iPhone 12 and what has gone before it.
During our testing time, the iPhone 13 made it through every day with enough charge in the tank to keep going for at least another couple of hours.
On one day, we pushed the phone to its absolute limits by ensuring the screen was on for the entire day streaming video from YouTube and other services from 10:30am until 11pm. We were unable to kill the phone, and it remained with 20% battery life. That was with the screen on full brightness for eight hours and 48 minutes.
As we’ve said, this isn’t the best battery life you’ll find in a smartphone – many Android alternatives will be able to last longer – but this is a big step up for Apple, and it’ll make the iPhone a more compelling option for many potential buyers.
The iPhone 13 is compatible with 20 watt chargers, which we found offered good fast-charging but not the best we've seen. From zero, the phone charged to 26% in 15 minutes and 51% in 30 minutes.
Wireless charging makes a return here, and if you’ve got a compatible charger you’ll be able to hit 15W charging. That’s far from the fastest wireless charging on the market, but it’s still useful to have if you don’t like having to plug your phone in, or you’re low on battery and find yourself with a Qi charger to hand.
As with the iPhone 12 series, you won’t get a charger in the box with the iPhone 13. The aim here is to cut down on e-waste, and Apple’s logic is that you’re likely to have a Lightning charger from a previous iPhone purchase.
If you don’t, you can buy a charger from Apple for $19 / £19 / AU$29, while there are also third-party options that can cost less. You may also want to upgrade your charger to make the most of that 20W charging, which many older iPhone chargers aren’t capable of.
Should you buy the iPhone 13?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
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