Over the past few years, purchasing Apple’s top-tier iPhone meant getting the equivalent of the Pro models. If you desired the best camera, display, and battery life, a Pro iPhone was what you needed. This year is no exception, with the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max being the best iPhones of 2022.
Apple’s brand-new 48-megapixel camera, the always-on display, and the dynamic island are the latest and highly popular upgrades on the new Pro iPhones. The iPhone 14 Pro Max retains all the exceptional performance of the 14 Pro while taking it a step further with an even more immersive display and longer battery life. These features come at a cost, but if you can tolerate the higher price and added weight, the iPhone 14 Pro Max epitomizes flagship smartphones. It’s large, premium, powerful, and presents itself in the best possible way.
iPhone 14 Pro Max Design
The design of the iPhone 14 Pro Max looks very similar to last year’s 13 Pro Max, meaning it resembles the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Apple has been using the same general design language for the past few years, and while it may not make the iPhone 14 Pro Max visually groundbreaking, this tried and tested design leaves little to complain about.
The stainless steel frame exudes luxury, and the frosted glass back looks and feels incredible. Nowadays, most smartphones have good build quality, but the iPhone 14 Pro Max still feels like a step above.
The Pro Max has a unique design characteristic, and that is its size. At 160.7mm tall and weighing 240g, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is one of the heaviest phones you can buy. As someone who usually prefers smaller phones and has been using the iPhone 13 Pro over the past year, transitioning to the iPhone 14 Pro Max initially seemed quite challenging.
After using the phone for over a week, the transition wasn’t as difficult as I imagined. Yes, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is still a very tall and very heavy smartphone. It may be too large for comfortable use for some people. However, once you get used to its weight, it’s not an issue at all.
iPhone 14 Pro Max Display
Enduring the massive size of the iPhone 14 Pro Max has two main advantages, one of which is its large 6.7-inch display. The display is an OLED panel with a resolution of 2796 x 1290, resulting in the same pixel density of 460ppi as the smaller iPhone 14 Pro.
Similar to the iPhone 14 Pro, the screen quality of the 14 Pro Max is also outstanding. The colors are vibrant and beautiful, text is easy to read, and the screen is now brighter than ever. You can expect a typical maximum brightness of 1000 nits, but in direct sunlight when more brightness is needed, the iPhone 14 Pro Max can reach up to 2000 nits. Even on the sunniest of days, viewing the phone outdoors shouldn’t be an issue.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max also retains the 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate introduced in the iPhone 13 Pro series, providing you with ultra-smooth animations whenever you interact with the phone. Combined with the fluidity of iOS 16, it can be one of the smoothest and fastest phones around.
Additionally, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is one of the first iPhones to feature an always-on display. Pressing the power button to turn off the iPhone’s display now shows a dimmed version of the lock screen, which includes notifications, lock screen widgets, and full-color wallpapers.
From subtle animations when opening and closing the screen to displaying album artwork while listening to music, it makes the lock screen feel more alive than ever. As someone who wears an Apple Watch every day, it’s particularly useful.
All these qualities can also be enjoyed on the iPhone 14 Pro. There is no difference in terms of hardware. It simply gives you even more incredible display to play with. Everything feels larger and more spacious on the 6.7-inch screen of the iPhone 14 Pro Max compared to the already sizable 6.1-inch display of the iPhone 14 Pro.
iPhone 14 Pro Max Dynamic Island
Equally pleasing is the dynamic island. Apple’s notch is gone, replaced by a solid black bar at the top of the screen. Setting aside the silly name, the dynamic island is one of the exciting iPhone features that gets me excited about what Apple can do with it.
Listening to music? A swipe up brings your music app to the dynamic island, displaying album art and color-matched waveforms for the content being played. Starting a timer? The dynamic island shows a real-time countdown, so you can easily keep an eye on it. The dynamic island also displays incoming calls and call controls, Face ID prompts, device charging reminders, AirPods connection pop-ups, Apple Maps directions, and more.
These are all notifications that have always existed on the iPhone, but the dynamic island now gives them a fixed location. In addition to streamlining many of iOS’ alerts, it gives them a fun characteristic. The dynamic island doesn’t always do something, but when apps do utilize it, it’s enjoyable.
The only complaint about the dynamic island is that I wish it could do more. Apart from a few system notifications and music playback, the feature currently doesn’t have much practicality.
iPhone 14 Pro Max Camera
Apple’s cameras have been at the forefront for the past few years, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max further improves the situation. Since the iPhone 6s, Apple has stuck with a 12-megapixel camera sensor, but with the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, you get an all-new 48-megapixel primary camera with an f/1.78 aperture and sensor-shift optical image stabilization. With the additional resolution from the sensor, the 48MP primary camera can also serve as a 2x optical zoom lens.
The primary camera is accompanied by a 12-megapixel telephoto camera capable of 3x optical zoom and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view. Also new is the 12-megapixel front-facing camera, which is the first selfie camera on an iPhone to have autofocus. And that’s what you get on the hardware front. According to Apple’s website, on the software side, the iPhone 14 Pro Max leverages Apple’s new Photonic Engine Image Pipeline to deliver “more realistic colors and exquisite details in textures” in less light than ever before.
iPhone 14 Pro Max System – iOS 16
Out of the box, the iPhone 14 Pro Max runs on iOS 16. Apple’s latest take on iOS largely reminds me of iOS 15, although there are some notable changes. The biggest change this year comes in the form of the lock screen.
In iOS 16, Apple now lets you have complete control over editing the lock screen in multiple ways. You can change the time font, add widgets, and create multiple lock screens to switch between whenever you want. The interface for customizing these elements could be improved, but the additional functionality provided here is great, and it looks fantastic when displayed on the always-on screen of the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The lock screen interface isn’t the only significant update in iOS 16. The Weather app now allows you to tap on forecasted weather and other statistics. There’s also a fantastic photo cropping feature, battery percentage option for the status bar, haptic feedback while typing, edit/cancel-send options in iMessage, and more.
In typical Apple fashion, you can expect the iPhone 14 Pro Max to continue receiving new iOS updates for the next few years. While Apple doesn’t guarantee specific numbers, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is expected to receive regular operating system and security updates for five to six years after its release.
iPhone 14 Pro Max Performance
Performance is rarely a point of contention with iPhones, and unsurprisingly, the iPhone 14 Pro Max continues to deliver on this front. Both the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max are equipped with Apple’s new A16 Bionic chip. With a smaller 4nm design compared to the 5nm architecture of the A15, the A16 is faster and more energy-efficient than its predecessor.
The A16 Bionic has proven to be an exceptionally powerful chip. It opens apps instantly and runs them flawlessly. Gaming experiences of all sizes perform excellently on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. And when combined with 6GB of RAM, multitasking becomes a smooth and reliable experience.
iPhone 14 Pro Max Battery Life
At this point, it should be quite evident from the review that the iPhone 14 Pro Max is an outstanding smartphone. As the second Apple phone to exceed 4000mAh battery, the battery life is also a leader among current Apple devices.
iPhone 14 Pro Max Conclusion
There is no doubt that 2022 is an exciting year for Apple’s iPhone Pro Max. With the new always-on display, dynamic island, significant camera upgrades, and the A16 Bionic chip, there’s a lot to recommend about the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
However, considering the choice between the two, I believe the Max is the one to go for this year. You get everything that makes the iPhone 14 Pro great, but the 14 Pro Max improves on it with a larger display and significantly longer battery life. While it comes at a premium price, if you can overcome that barrier, the iPhone 14 Pro Max will be the best iPhone of the year. And it can be argued that it’s one of the best smartphones money can buy.
