Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max – Should you upgrade?

It’s time once again to ask whether you really need the newest iPhone. That’s not a situation unique to the newly-announced iPhone 16 Pro Max and it’s not a difficult question to answer either. Apple does its level best each year to ensure that the answer is ‘yes’. 2024 seems to be no exception.

But it may not necessarily be the case. Particularly for users who bought an iPhone 15 Pro Max at any time in the last twelve-month cycle, an immediate upgrade may not be the most sensible choice. If your iPhone is getting long in the tooth — say, old enough that it’s no longer getting iOS updates — then the choice is simple. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is hands-down Apple’s best phone ever. If you own one of Apple’s last two best phones ever, though…

Button it up

Let’s say you’re considering it anyway. You own an iPhone 14 Pro Max or 15 Pro Max but those tasty new features are just begging to be explored. What does the iPhone 16 Pro Max have that no other smartphone in 2024 does? Well… extra physical buttons. Obviously. Apple has included a dedicated camera control on top of last year’s customisable Action Button. With all of the fancy new camera tech packed into the 16 Pro Max, it makes sense.

It’s also exceedingly well engineered, to the point where we shudder to think what will happen to Apple’s latest and greatest if there’s a problem with the camera key. But if you want the smartphone with the greatest number of physical keys, the 16 Pro Max (and the 16 Pro) will scratch that itch.

Screen test

A more direct comparison between the current generation and the new contender shows that some aspects of the iPhone 16 Pro Max aren’t as one-sided as having a whole extra button is. The major difference between the panels is one of size. Apple has upscaled its largest phone, increasing acreage from 6.7in to 6.9in.

That means more pixels (1,320 x 2,868 versus 1,290 x 2,796 in the 15 Pro Max) but functionally, nothing has changed. It’s still a 120Hz Super Retina XDR OLED with HDR, Dolby Vision, and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. Even the pixel density (460ppi) hasn’t budged. They might as well be the same screen. The extra 0.2in probably isn’t enough to make you trade up on its own, no matter how skinny Apple has made the bezels.

Pictures and power

The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on paper, is the most powerful iPhone ever. It’s probably that in practice too, with the new A18 Pro processor bodying the A17 Pro — according to Apple’s figures. We’d expect to see real-world performance bear this out but when comparing Pro Max performance, will you really notice the speed uptick?

If you’re using the 16 Pro Max the way Apple obviously expects you to, then yes. Video and image editing, audio recording, and general multimedia functions are the way forward with this phone, helped along by Apple’s new AI (Apple Intelligence) functions which squeeze every bit of utility out of the 16 Pro Max’s hardware. If you’re a normal person, though? You’ll probably struggle to tell the two phones apart.

Until you fire up the camera, anyway. This is weird because Apple hasn’t done anything novel with its camera layout for 2024. As with Samsung’s newest devices, the major differences are enabled by software. Unless you count that new Taptic shutter key, which is a very neat touch for photographers. We expect it to be cloned by Chinese companies immediately. It’s that cool. But it’s not enough to make 15 Pro Max owners experience FOMO unless they’re incredibly paranoid.

Should you buy the iPhone 16 Pro Max?

As mentioned above, there are a few questions you should ask before laying down the cash for Apple’s newest Pro Max. The first is: Can I afford it? That question will be answered in the next few weeks but using the previous iteration as a benchmark, expect to pay upward of R30,000 (without a trade-in of some sort). The next is: Do I already own the iPhone 15 Pro Max? If you do, this upgrade is harder to recommend. We get the feeling that a bunch of the new stuff could be enabled in the older phone via software update with only a slight knock to performance.

If you’ve got the budget and need a highly advanced video and stills camera in your pocket, plus a mobile recording studio, and don’t already own a recent Pro Max, you’ll want to line up outside an Apple store to get your hands on one come launch day. Or, at least, that’s what you would have to do if pre-orders and deliveries hadn’t made that particular activity redundant. But if you’re doing it ironically, for the ‘Gram, it’s an option.