Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max review

28 September 2023


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What an absolute joke the gaming tests are. Call of duty and especially Pokemon go are not even barely demanding 😂😂. Try to play Genshin Impact at ultra for long periods of time and then let's talk. Apple are claiming latest AAA games will be playable and here GSMA are testing this hardware with 5 year old cod game and Pokemon go like kids, which is absolutely hilarious.

    From my own experience, having now used this device for a week is that the performance is fine, though I’ll admit I don’t waste time…er…sorry… I don’t game on my phones. If your the type who likes to bolt a miniature wind tunnel onto the back of your device for the sake of that extra half dozen fps 30+ minutes into not doing something more productive, then yes, one of those ludicrous ‘gaming phone’ monstrosities might be a better bet.

    Battery life is also decent, I can finish a day with about 3-4 hours screen active time and about 60-70% remaining. Ok, I’m working from home so on a stable Wi-Fi network, I am aware that if out and about cellular connection conditions would likely reduce that.

    The camera’s have been a welcome surprise, being a noticeable improvement across the board, especially where portrait photos are concerned, the edge detection and blur effect are truly superb. Also there is a lot more flexibility for taking portrait shots than even Apple advertised. Yes you can take them using the actual portrait option in the camera app, at the usual 1x, 2x and now 5x (with looks fantastic), but now thanks to it capturing depth data automatically you can also use the 28mm (1.2x) and 35mm (1.5x) settings.
    Also Apple only said it would only automatically capture the depth data if it detects a human dog or cat, but I have found it does do the same for any shot where you use tap to focus, and as I say the results are a pleasant surprise.

    In all, I’m quite happy with 15 Pro Max, am not going to dismiss the ‘overheating’ reports but my gut feeling is that this has become quite overblown. Am just surprised it hasn’t been labelled a ‘gate’ yet. I wonder if Apple go without some sort of gate one year, whether that will also end up being labelled a gate, gate-gate perhaps 🤷

    I’m also not going to proclaim this the best smartphone in the world, nor suggest anyone ditch their Androids for it. As with any device it has its fair share of downsides as well, and isn’t going to be to everyone’s tastes. For anyone reading this who is thinking picking one up, my advice would be to consider the findings of the review itself, and take the comments in the comments section with a large pinch of salt, not the other way round……

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 0BG
      • 29 Sep 2023

      LOL 25h 3G talk time. That's terrible battery life. Even talking will drain the battery quickly and that's still mobile network usage, which means browsing through 3G/4G/5G will drain it in no time. Who cares about good WiFi endurance?

        • J
        • Jman
        • pLh
        • 29 Sep 2023

        Kaloyan, 29 Sep 2023We spared nearly half a page on the subject and spent two d... moreI've had the Pro Max for a few days now, and it's not overheated once. Is it happening when charging? My Pixel 6 Pro was toasty sometimes when charging on a Samsung charger.

          • S
          • Shiny Dave
          • nxt
          • 29 Sep 2023

          Super Android 22, 28 Sep 2023It looks like a really good phone, in the uk it will be ins... moreContracts definitely the most appealing way to get current flagships here, at least the best value ones (currently iD Mobile seem to be delivering those).

          The cheapest 24-month deal on a 15PM is about £1,250 for 24 months (£550 + £29/mo for 100GB data, another £1/mo for unlimited). That same contract on an S23 Ultra is £260 less upfront for the same monthly price (comparing 256GB models here), putting the TCO around a grand.

          I'd definitely rather have another £260 and a phone that can pass a bend test (or another £280 again and the vanilla S23 256GB at just £9 upfront on the same network) but if the 15PM heat issues are as software-based as this review retesting the 14PM implies and then get fixed soon, I'm sure it's going to have many satisfied customers.

            Mike9625, 29 Sep 2023Funny how people would call iPhones the best phone for phot... moreiPhone still photography is very good on portraits but wideangle, landscape and point and shot pictures are not the best compared to Samsung Note 20.Ultra (though over saturated colours in some case, still lot vibrant and bright)

              I like how samsung get nice 50mp from 200mp sensor, without unreal colors on white blinds.

                After satisfying synthetic benchmarks with the super hot oven titanium material, following updates will throttle to contain the overheating then we will come to know how software fixes super heating oven

                  Rkm, 29 Sep 2023"And here are a few 12MP photos taken with the new iPh... moreAnd the way they praised the flat frames just to change it’s mind now that iPhones are little flat-less 🤣. I just come here to read the comment sections hahaha reviews stopped being unbiased long time ago on this website

                    Funny how people would call iPhones the best phone for photography🤡 the over sharpening is still there and that nasty yellowish tones too. At least it seems that the HDR processing was improved.

                      • A
                      • Aerni68
                      • Ec7
                      • 29 Sep 2023

                      Dear @GSMARENA-team!
                      Thank you very much for your super-detailed high-class review with a lighthouse state for reviews in the market! What I have hoped for from a content point of view, has been fulfilled in a perfect manner. I'm very grateful and thank you @GSMARENA folks so much! The coverage of the reception quality with a "sample corner" in an underground parking garage (or elevator) and aspects of the distribution of offered zoom options in correlation with hardware-supported zooming levels are a perfect addition to your testing pattern! The coverage of the behaviour of an IPhone 15 Pro Max being connected to an external 16:9 monitor was also extremely helpful, although I did not like the findings (but that's life and the test is not at all to be blamed for!!). All in all a lighthouse quality review, which I will enjoy to see for future smartphone tests as well, since you - dear @GSMARENA team - really have reached a unique quality & detail level in smartphone (...and tablet?) reviews in the market! Chapeau for that result / achievement!
                      Greets
                      Aerni68

                        • J
                        • Jason
                        • yR0
                        • 29 Sep 2023

                        A YouTuber disabled, the image processing of the iPhone, 15, and the raw image capture from the camera. Lens itself, is a really bad. it doesn’t look like Apple improves on the lens at all, rather the software.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • fCE
                          • 29 Sep 2023

                          Pro Max phone with a low Max quality back glass

                            • R
                            • RealOne
                            • TG4
                            • 29 Sep 2023

                            It’s better to compare 48MP with 24MP HEIF photo.
                            24MP HEIF is better than 48MP HEIF

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • x0k
                              • 29 Sep 2023

                              Anonymous, 29 Sep 2023What about the overheating?It's in the performance/benchmark section. They experience substantial throttling

                                Jongjave, 29 Sep 2023They cover it up like never happen while other reviewer say... moreWell mine ain’t so I guess I just got the one single good one then eh 🤷

                                  I need new phone, 29 Sep 2023LMAO........ 50 percent performance drop is hilarious......... moreTrue but I would not dare to make the same statement with SD 8 gen 1 devices. Depending on the brand it could also reach 50 % drop... SD 8 gen 1+ fixed issues partially and the gen 2 ones are stable, more or less.

                                    AnonD-512010, 29 Sep 2023It's a software issue with iOS 17. My iPhone 14 Plus a... moreSo happy that I left the Apple family with the last iPhone I had being an iPhone 11. That one was kind of fine but with second 11 all started to crumble with battery drainage and fast battery degradation. The drop was sending the phone for repair via Apple and getting it back with the lame message that there was nothing wrong (while the battery was already down to 90% after just shy of two months of usage and it was a brand new one, not a refurb). From then on I never bought any iPhone for myself. Give me Android any time (regardless of the brand). At least I'm free of doing what I want and share what I want with whomever I want and how. To bad because they are well made devices when it comes to assembly and finish (luckily as it already cost you an arm and a legg to buy one).

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • gDf
                                      • 29 Sep 2023

                                      "if needed, the iPhone 15 Pro Max would offer zoomed photos beyond 5x with good quality."
                                      Machine learning artifacts are not what I would call good quality.

                                        Jongjave, 29 Sep 2023They cover it up like never happen while other reviewer say... moreWe spared nearly half a page on the subject and spent two days exclusively testing for this thing. Just to cover this up :)

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