Apple iPhone XS Max review

Portrait mode

The Portrait mode uses the telephoto camera for the shots, but it isn't relying on a second sensor for the depth map. Instead, the new ISP and the A12's NPU do the subject separation thing, and Apple says both the mapping and the bokeh effect have become better because of that.

The new A12 chip is precisely the reason why the iPhone XR will also offer Portrait mode in spite of it having just one camera at the back.

The blur strength is adjustable post-shooting - the default setting is f/4.5, but you can opt or anything between f/1.4 and f/16. Even better, iOS 12.1 will allow you to do this real-time on the viewfinder.

Adjusting the level of blur after taking the photo

The portrait samples are quite good. Indeed, the subject separation has improved, and the bokeh effect is a little bit more natural than it was on the iPhone X. Once again, the improvements aren't massive, but they do move the mobile Portrait photography yet another step further.

Apple iPhone XS Max 12MP Portrait samples

Smart HDR works in portraits, too, and it does its magic for popping more detail in both faces and backgrounds.

HDR off • HDR on • Default blur • Adjusted to f/1.4 later

And if you are keen on using those Stage Light effects, they are still here for you.

Apple iPhone XS Max 12MP portrait shot with Portrait Lightning Effects

4K video recording at 60fps, wide stereo audio for videos

Apple iPhone XS Max captures all kind of videos, all of them - optically stabilized as usual. All except the 4K@60fps clips also feature cinematic video stabilization. All 30fps samples benefit from expanded dynamic range, an improvement over the previous models. The XS Max can also do 1080p at 240fps, just like the iPhone X. Each of these modes and features is available for the telephoto camera as well.

The 4K 60fps videos are available only on the new high-efficiency format (H.265 HEVC). The regular 4K at 30 fps, 1080p at 30, and 1080p at 60fps are available for both H.264 and HEVC. The 4K at 24fps film mode is here to stay, too.

One final thing, the iPhone XS Max captures wide stereo recording for the videos. This means spatial sound, just like some recent HTCs and some old Nokia phones did, and you should enjoy richer and deeper sound if compared to just regular stereo.

The camcorder UI is as simple as it gets, offering nothing but a flash setting. You can find the resolution and file format switch in the Settings menu instead of having a shortcut in the viewfinder, which is as cumbersome as it has ever been. The video options along with the other camera related settings are all buried far away in the iOS Settings menu.

The 4K videos captured both at 60, and 30 fps with the main and telephoto camera are virtually identical in quality. The picture is very close to the still images - plenty of detail, but there is an average foliage presentation. The colors are great, and so is the contrast and white balance. There are no focus issues or compression artifacts. And the dynamic range is nothing short of impressive.

The 1080p videos, 30 or 60 fps, from the main or telephoto camera, are class-leading. Plenty of detail, great foliage, jaw-dropping dynamic range. Those are among the best 1080p videos a smartphone can do.

You can directly download the wide-angle 4K@60fps (139MB, 10s), 4K@60fps telephoto (139MB, 10s), 4K@30fps (60MB, 10s), 4K@30fps telephoto (60MB, 10s), 1080p@30fps (20MB, 10s), 1080p@30fps telephoto (22MB, 11s), 1080p@60fps (30MB, 10s), and 1080p@60fps telephoto (29MB, 10s) video samples.

Below you have the Apple iPhone XS Max in our video compare tool. You can check the telephoto video quality with this tool as well.

2160p at 30fps: Apple iPhone XS Max vs. iPhone 8 Plus vs. Galaxy Note9 in our 4K video compare tool

Selfie camera

The front-facing camera has the same 7MP unit behind f/2.2 lens we saw on the iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, and X, but it captures photos a little bit faster thanks to the new ISP.

The camera can use the so-called Retina flash, where your screen lights your face up in particular color to provide more pleasing skin tones depending on the color of the available light.

There is plenty of resolved detail, though not the best we've seen. The contrast and colors are very good, while the exposure is always based on the human subject, while the Smart HDR takes care of the background.

Apple iPhone XS Max 7MP selfies

Smart HDR is also available for the selfies, so if you have it enabled in Settings, you will notice it doing its mojo.

HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on

The new A12 chip enables smart portraits on the selfie camera, too. The quality is quite alright, subject separation is excellent, and you can adjust the blur after shooting them.

Apple iPhone XS Max 7MP portrait selfies

The iPhone XS improves the video recording capabilities of the selfie camera, though. First, you can now shoot 1080p videos at 60fps. It took us quite a lot of prodding around to find how to use this new mode on the iPhone XS - we had to set the main camera to shoot at 1080p at 60fps to get the selfie camera do the same. Otherwise, it will always capture at 30 fps. Really, Apple?

There is also cinematic video stabilization available for both 1080p at 30 and at 60 fps. It's always working, you can't turn it off, but you really don't want to anyway as it is excellent.

Finally, wide stereo audio capturing for the selfie videos is available, as promised.

The video quality is excellent - the stabilization works great, there is more than enough detail, the colors are accurate, and the exposure is correct - the subject's face. The expanded dynamic range is available for the 30fps clips, and it restores most of the blown highlights.

Overall, the iPhone XS Max offers some of the best selfie videos we've captured in a while. Now, if only Apple organizes its camera settings better that would be really nice and long, long overdue.

You can see our 30 and 60 fps samples in the playlist below.

Update, Oct. 4. We received quite a few tips about the iPhone XS and XS Max selfie cameras. There are various claims for some permanent beautification effects and samples to prove it. Well, we had to check it for ourselves and here is what we found out.

There are no beautification effects in the selfie camera whatsoever. Apple had never added such throughout the years and it won't just sneak them in the new iPhones without making some big deal out of it at least.

It's quite simple - the selfie camera shoots poor quality shots without Smart HDR. The faces are very soft in the non-HDR selfie photos, the resolved detail is average and the noise reduction smears some of the detail. All of these make the images look soft, while the lack of detail and the face smear can be mistaken for beautification.

But if Smart HDR is enabled, as well as Keep Original Photo option, you can see both the original and the HDR photo. And the HDR one is very sharp and detailed because of the multi-stacking, while the original is, well, just poor. And this applies not just for the regular selfies, but for the portrait ones, too.

Here are some samples to prove it.

iPhone X • iPhone XS Max (no HDR) • iPhone XS Max (Smart HDR)

Check this side by side comparison.

So, there is no conspiracy in the selfie camera, it just shoots so poor without HDR, that some people mistake this for beautification enhancements.