Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max launched in September 2024 alongside the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus. The iPhone 16 Pro is the first device built for Apple Intelligence. With these new models, Apple improved performance to meet the AI-first world’s needs while making subtle design changes to the Pro lineup. Apple says the iPhone 16 Pro Max is now the iPhone with the best battery life.
While the conventional wisdom has always been to hold on to your iPhone for at least three years, the iPhone 16 Pro is enough that it might be tempting for even iPhone 14 Pro Max owners to upgrade. However, before you do that, here’s a look at how the iPhone 16 Pro Max compares to the iPhone 14 Pro Max and whether you should consider an upgrade.
iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: Battle of Pro iPhones
The idea with Apple’s Pro iPhone lineup has always been about packing the best that Cupertino offers. However, that cannot be said about this year’s Pro lineup since the performance delta between Pro and non-Pro models isn’t great and there is camera parity between the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. But if you look at iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 16 Pro Max, a great deal has changed.
Design and display
The big difference between the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro Max can be seen in their design. While the iPhone 14 Pro Max used a stainless steel body with textured matt glass back, the iPhone 16 Pro Max uses titanium with textured matt glass back. The use of titanium results in the iPhone 16 Pro Max weighing 227 grams, around 13 grams lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
If you are switching from the iPhone 14 Pro Max to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, you will be looking at two new buttons: the action button and the camera control. The action button takes the place of a ring/silent switch while the camera control is a new way to interact with your iPhone camera. The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes in desert titanium, natural titanium, white titanium, and black titanium options while the 14 Pro Max was launched in deep purple, gold, silver, and space black colors.
At the front, we are still looking at a candy bar-shaped smartphone with both devices featuring a dynamic island, and a pill-shaped cutout for dynamic interaction. Compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s 6.7-inch display, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a larger 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion technology and always-on display mode. Though the display is 0.2 inches bigger, the phone is only marginally taller thanks to thinner bezels surrounding the display.
Hardware and software
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is powered by a new A18 Pro chip, which is an SoC with a hexa-core CPU and hexa-core GPU. The A18 Pro is fabricated using TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process, delivering improved performance and efficiency compared to the A16 Bionic found on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is a 4nm chip with a 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU.
Compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the A18 Pro on the iPhone 16 Pro Max delivers the biggest performance improvements. For example, in areas like computational photography, AI tasks, and gaming. The iPhone 16 Pro Max also brings big improvements to battery life, with Apple claiming that it is the iPhone with the longest battery life. There is also support for wireless charging with MagSafe, Qi2, and Qi wireless charging.
Other hardware features include Wi-Fi 7 support, an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, Bluetooth 5.3, a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, and a USB Type-C port with USB 3.0 speeds up to 10Gbps.
Camera(s)
The iPhone 16 Pro Max also brings big improvements to the camera system compared to the one found on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. They both sport a 48MP main camera with f/1.78 aperture and a 12MP telephoto camera with f/2.8 aperture but the ultra-wide angle sensor has been updated from 12MP to 48MP. This means the iPhone 16 Pro Max supports up to 5x optical zoom as opposed to 3x on the 14 Pro Max.
The 4K video recording is also updated with 4K Dolby Vision possible at 100fps (Fusion) or 120fps (Fusion) and Cinematic mode also supports 4K Dolby Vision. Another camera change is support for spatial video recording at 1080p at 30fps. While ProRes video recording support has been updated from 4K at 30fps to 4K at 120fps with external recording. Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max’s camera updates are aimed at creative professionals.
iPhone 16 price: iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max
There is no denying that the iPhone 16 Pro Max is an upgrade over the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which launched only two years ago. With all the updates, Apple also introduced a price update for the iPhone 14 Pro Max. When The iPhone 14 Pro Max was launched in 2022, it was available at a starting price of Rs 1,39,900. As for, the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at Rs 1,44,900.
It is also important to note that the iPhone 14 Pro Max started with 128GB base storage whereas iPhone 16 Pro Max bumps the base storage to 256GB. So, the difference in starting price isn’t huge. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is a worthy upgrade over iPhone 14 Pro Max if you are looking for a larger screen, titanium build, improved cameras, longest battery life, and Apple Intelligence.