Whip Bull reported that on September 18, the overseas technology media TechRadar took the lead in evaluating Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max, saying that this is a beautiful and intelligent beast, Apple Intelligence provides some useful and interesting features, but it is not yet a factor that promotes upgrades.
The following is a detailed review.
TechRadar测评结论:4.5星
The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max is bigger and more powerful than ever. It has a beautiful screen, a great camera array, and new camera controls that could change the way you take photos with your iPhone. Both power and battery life have been boosted, making it the big-screen smartphone of your dreams. Apple Intelligence offers some useful and interesting features, but it's not yet what drives the upgrade. Still, if you've been using an iPhone 12 or 13 Pro Max, now might be a good time to upgrade to a larger screen.
Merit:
Bigger screen
Camera control for instant access to the camera
Apple Intelligence（通过 Beta 预览）
Shortcoming:
Apple Intelligence 的简短介绍意犹未尽
Photo editing is too complicated
APPLE IPHONE 16 PRO MAX: TWO-MINUTE REVIEW
I understand the frustration. In a way, the iPhone 16 Pro Max looks the same as the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but after a week or so of using Apple's latest iOS phone, I can assure you that there are significant and noticeable differences between them, and some of these differences will forever change the way you use your iPhone.
First of all, this iPhone is bigger. The titanium body is slightly larger than the iPhone 15 Pro Max and weighs 6 grams. The screen is just 7 inches away. But the Super Retina XDR OLED screen is bigger and not just because of the body; Apple has shrunk the bezels of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max to give you a large, bright, colorful pixel screen of 6.9 inches.
Another major difference is the new button below the Power/Sleep/Siri button on the right side. Apple wants us not to call it a button, although in a way it is. You can press the recessed camera control button and it will move, but it also has a tactile response that makes tapping the button feel like it's moving. It even includes gesture recognition.
仍然是超级视网膜 XDR OLED
While the name and primary purpose of the new button are related to photography, this is a customizable control that will soon provide one-click access (among other features) to Apple's new visual intelligent object recognition feature.
Inside the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the faster and more efficient A18 Pro. It's not much different from the previous A17 Pro, and most customers will never take advantage of its true power; But it's clear to me that Apple's Pro series of smartphones are ready to live up to their reputation. If there really is a pocket-sized supercomputer, the iPhone 16 Pro Max might just be it.
In a way, all this hardware is nothing more than a vehicle for Apple's next big thing: Apple Smart. However, Apple's own perception of AI is also the biggest source of frustration, as it is far from complete. In fact, unless an iOS beta is installed, early iPhone 16 customers won't see much AI at all. Features like writing tools, prettier and smarter Siri, long email summaries, and photo updates (such as creating your own memories based on prompts) should arrive soon after the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts shipping, but other features are basically "coming soon."
There is no image generation, Genmojies, ChatGPT integration, or support for languages other than English, and Siri has yet to demonstrate any of its exciting personal context capabilities, which could be Apple's secret weapon when it comes to winning the battle of artificial intelligence. Siri with Apple Intelligence will eventually be able to use what it learns about you from all the information on your phone to better help you get answers and complete tasks. All of these could be this year, or maybe next year; And this fact has diminished my enthusiasm for the iPhone 16 Pro Max somewhat.
If you're not buying this new iPhone for Apple Intelligence, then allow me to introduce you to the powerful camera array. While it's not entirely new, there's a faster new sensor behind the 48MP main fusion camera, and the ultra-wide jumps from 12MP to 48MP (in both cases, you're typically shooting at 12MP, i.e. cram four pixels of information into each pixel). The 5x optical zoom remains largely unchanged, as does the 12MP True Depth selfie camera.
Still, I'm sure every iPhone 16 Pro Max user will love the myriad of new imaging and even audio tricks. There's a 4K 120fps (still no 8K video) camera feature that can be phased in with the new speed tool to give your video a truly cinematic feel. There are also new audio mixing tools that can add studio quality to audio that isn't captured with a microphone in some environments.
Apple has also added some new image styles and undertone controls, and I'm not sure they'll be as widely available as Apple would like.
Camera controls say hello
If you ask me, the choice between the base iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro Max is simple: you'll get a Pro Motion display (1Hz to 120Hz), a 5x zoom camera, and Apple's most powerful mobile chip.
However, the differences between the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max this year are more subtle. With a screen size of 6.3 inches, while a battery size of 6.9 inches, the battery life is increased by at least an hour and that's it. Both phones now come with a 5x quad prism lens. Perhaps the only notable difference is that the iPhone 16 Pro inexplicably only has 128GB of storage.
In short, I love the iPhone 16 Pro Max. It's big, powerful, and capable of anything. Yes, I played a console-level game on it with an Xbox controller because I could. The photos it takes are beautiful, and even if you choose not to try new styles and undertones, they're crisp and color-accurate.
I accessed Apple Intelligence by installing the iOS 18.1 developer beta, which was a nice start, with some cool features, but it's not yet a compelling reason to upgrade. I have a similar feeling about the camera control buttons. Don't get me wrong; I love this new button, I think it's full of untapped potential, but now there's almost a bit of competition between the action button, which was introduced a year ago, and this new, arguably more complex button. Those who buy any of the new iPhone 16 models may get a lot out of the camera control buttons and wonder how they would use their iPhone without this button. At the same time, the action button may sit idle until Apple finally makes it obsolete.
APPLE IPHONE 16 PRO MAX 评测：价格和供货情况
Priced at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149
Pre-orders begin on September 13 and will ship on September 20
The iPhone 16 Pro Max was released at Apple's "Glowtime" event on September 9, 2024, and will ship from September 20.
It's a larger phone with a bigger screen, more performance, more AI, and new camera controls, but it's still priced the same as last year's iPhone 15 Pro Max in the United States and United Kingdom; In Australia, it's actually a little cheaper. I'm not saying that a 256GB iPhone is cheap at $1,199/£1,199/AU$2,149, but at least Apple hasn't raised the price by $100. Apple also highlighted some big trade-in deals at this year's iPhone 16 launch. I think the point is that you probably won't pay full price for these phones (and besides, Apple wants to start an upgrade super cycle as well).
The almost identical iPhone 16 Pro costs $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 but starts with half the storage. If you like a big screen and you want reasonable storage space for all your 4K 120fps videos, then you might want to go with the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes in four colors: Natural Titanium, White Titanium, Black Titanium, and Desert Titanium, with Desert Titanium being the color of my test machine. I still prefer black.
Price rating: 4 / 5
APPLE IPHONE 16 PRO MAX 评测：规格
APPLE IPHONE 16 PRO MAX REVIEW: DESIGN
Apple has already determined the aesthetics of the iPhone
Bigger but not bulky
A new button has appeared in town
Apple's iPhone design strategy now seems to be "Why spoil a good thing?" "In some ways, it's true. The iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn't deviate from the aesthetics that the iPhone 12 first established, but it also inherits the countless changes made over the generations, like smooth edges and a new Action button, which replaces the mute switch on last year's Pro model.
Its dimensions are close to that of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but zoomed in a few millimeters everywhere. The dimensions of the 16 Pro Max are 163 mm x 77.6 mm x 8.25 mm and weigh 227 grams. This is 15 grams heavier than the iPhone 6 Pro Max, 3.1mm taller and 0.9mm wider. If you can comfortably hold and use the Phone 15 Pro Max, I don't think you will be bothered by the iPhone 16 Pro Max either. I can't say that the new phone feels a lot bigger in my hands, but I did notice a difference in screen size.
There are microphone and speaker holes on the bottom edge, as well as a USB-C port, which can support Thunderbolt 4 data transfer speeds with the right cable. There is also a speaker slot on the top edge of the display. Paired with the bottom-edge speaker, the phone can produce undistorted, room-filling sound – clear treble, powerful midrange, and good bass for the size of the device.
The button positions are basically the same as last year, with volume buttons and action buttons on one side and a larger Power/Sleep/Siri button on the other. There's a new button between them (Apple insists it's not a button), though: Camera Controls. The camera control button, roughly the same size as the power button, is a versatile control that recognizes physical presses, as well as lighter pressures to enable haptic responses and gestures. It provides instant access to the camera and access to a variety of virtual millimeter lenses and camera settings with additional presses and gestures.
The camera controls replace the old antenna cutout on the iPhone 15 Pro Max (it looks like the new phone no longer needs the antenna cutout), and it's recessed, so there's little chance of accidentally triggering it. On the other hand, I noticed that when I put my phone in the pressure grip iPhone holder, there are no longer buttons that fall in clear places under the grip. So, the camera control does press a little, but it doesn't trigger any action. What I see on the iPhone screen is a tiny part of the virtual screen distortion that appears when you start pressing the camera controls.
Once again, the materials and build quality are outstanding. Apple uses grade 5 titanium alloy on the body, and the substructure is covered with graphite aluminum (which obviously also helps with heat dissipation and increases efficiency). Apple has also upgraded the ceramic shield, which may make it less prone to cracks and scratches, although I'm very careful with the 1TB Desert titanium testing machine, so I can't say for sure if that's the case.
Well, I did get it wet by deliberately putting an IP68-rated iPhone 16 Pro Max under a garden sprinkler. It's interesting to watch the screen activate, as if it had been touched by a thousand little fingers, when in reality it is just a drop of water, but other than that, the phone has not been affected and harmed by floods.
For the IP68-rated iPhone 16 Pro Max, getting wet is not a problem
Design score: 5/5
APPLE IPHONE 16 PRO MAX REVIEW: DISPLAY
依然出色的 Super Retina XDR 显示屏
It's clear, and it's bright
Apple's largest iPhone screen to date
Sometimes I wonder how Apple will name its next-generation screen technology. Will it add "Duper" to the end of the name, making it a "Super-Duper Retina XDR" display? I mean, it may have cornered itself, but Apple has sidestepped the issue this year and barely changed its iPhone display technology.
左侧为 iPhone 15 Prom Max。 请注意 iPhone 16 Pro Max(右侧)的边框更窄。
It's a huge screen: 6.9 inches, made possible by a combination of a slightly larger body and a pleasantly thinner bezel. There are more pixels than last year. The iPhone 16 Pro Max screen is 2868 x 1320, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 2796 x 1290. There are more pixels, but the density is not high. That's still 460ppi, so at least in terms of ppi lags behind the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's QHD+ display (it's 501ppi).
Apple has also not made changes to the Dynamic Island, which remains a useful and replaceable information capsule at the top of the screen. It houses Face ID, a depth sensor, and a 12MP TrueDepth camera. This camera can take great selfies and is my first choice for biometric unlocking.
This dynamic island is also equipped with a TrueDepth camera.
While the core specifications of the display have not changed, they are worth mentioning. It's a wide color gamut screen that supports HDR, True Tone, Always-on (which means you don't need to unlock your phone to see a less saturated lock screen), 2,000 nits peak brightness outdoors (in my experience, it blocks direct sunlight), and ProMotion. The latter allows the screen to smoothly adjust from a power-hungry 1Hz to a fast and ultra-smooth 120Hz, making it perfect for gaming and watching sports.
Speaking of which, everything I did on the iPhone 16 Pro Max looked great. I don't even notice the dynamic islands when I'm playing a certain game, and streaming videos through Netflix tend to crop off the cuts.
Display score: 4.5/5
APPLE IPHONE 16 PRO MAX 评测：软件和 APPLE 智能
iOS 18
Apple Intelligence opens up the possibilities
The furniture was rearranged
I know everyone (especially Apple) wants to talk about Apple Intelligence, but the changes to the core iOS 18 platform will have the biggest impact on your iPhone 16 Pro Max day-to-day use.
For example, the Photos app has undergone a massive redesign, but I'm not entirely sure that this revamp will make it better. Now it's like "Who moved my cheese?" Because many of your core functions may have been transferred or replaced. The Photos app now defaults to search and favorites, which can be confusing for those looking to see the photo library. Still, they might be pleasantly surprised if they're used to using search for some natural language queries and get useful image results.
The iOS interface is now more customizable, and you can leave space in the app grid if you wish. You still can't put the app icon in a space that spans two spaces in the invisible grid, but I think people will love this new flexibility.
Apple seems to be a bit obsessed with summaries. Summaries are available in both the writing tool and the new version of Safari, including a slightly subtle highlighting; There is a small hamburger menu on the left side of the address bar. You can use it to open it, and it will condense thousands of words of a long article on Ronald · Reagan in The New Yorker into a summary. Impressive, but I fear that such a concentration might miss important nuances.
There's even a new password app that integrates and displays all of Apple's previously hidden password features in features like Keychain (which can be found under Settings). Now you can use one easy-to-access app to manage the sometimes confusing world of passwords and security.
One of my favorite iOS 18 new features is Math Notes. In Notes, you can write down any equation (with your finger) at will, and when you put an equal sign at the end of the equation, Math Notes will automatically solve the equation and write the answer in exactly the same way as your handwriting. It's a clever skill in machine learning.
None of this is as appealing as Apple Intelligence, but these, along with the myriad of other changes that iOS 18 brings, may be more practical than what you can currently do (and some promise) with Apple's AI efforts.
Apple Intelligence was available at the launch of the iPhone 16 series (most of the features will be available in October, and I accessed some of them by installing iOS18.1 with Apple's support), and it has some impressive tricks. The most obvious and striking is Siri.
Apple's 13-year-old digital assistant has burst out of a bubble floating in the air, and now, when you summon it, it takes up the entire screen. I switched between calling out Siri's name and long-pressing the power button to summon it, and each time the entire screen was enveloped in a beautiful multicolored glow. The display almost looks curved when you press the button, and when you make a request, the screen responds to pulsations. Siri does seem to be more active than ever.
This is probably the most exciting part of the update, though. Apple Intelligence is yet to be available, a feature that allows Siri to access your information on your phone so that its responses are more contextually relevant. The App Insights feature, which may be useful in digging deeper into the app to enable features and actions, is also not yet available.
Instead, we get Siri that improves on how it handles "ah" and "um," words that sometimes appear when you're trying to write Siri prompts. I've found that Siri can understand some jumbled conversations, although Siri can also be overwhelmed if you're almost incoherent.
Siri does a good job on some issues, and when I say I want to take a selfie, it quickly turns on the FaceTime camera. When I asked how to share my Wi-Fi password, it also performed well and returned a concise step-by-step guide.
It's often better at keeping the conversation in context than it used to be. I asked where I was, and it brought up a map with my location. Instead of saying "Siri" again, I asked if there was anything good to eat nearby. Siri immediately brings up a list of local restaurants. Then I asked, "What if I need to find a place to stay tonight?" ”
The last question seems to trigger some of Siri's features because it asks me if I need emergency services. To confirm, I asked the question again and got the same answer. At least Siri is for me.
Another nice Siri update is the secret "Text Siri". Just triple tap at the bottom of the screen to open the Siri window, where you can enter prompts. It's a clever and discreet way to get the answers or help you need.
Writing tools can be found when you type text into a note, email, or message, and it can make your writing better in a variety of ways. I'm a confident writer with a lot of communicative skills in email and messaging, so the help of AI in these tasks doesn't appeal to me. However, there are millions of people who disagree and may find these tools useful. I've noticed that while the writing tool can make your text more professional, concise, and friendly, it does an excellent job of not losing or misinterpreting the meaning of the original text.
Apple Intelligence shines in photos. The new cleanup option in Edit effectively removes unwanted objects from your photos. When I open a photo and hit the clean eraser icon, it immediately offers to remove a few people from the background of the photo. I wanted to keep them, so I chose an object I wanted to delete and overlay it on top of it. Accuracy is not required; I overwrote part of the content and cleaned up the complete object. When I was taking pictures of my wife at an outdoor restaurant, I noticed that you could see all the cars parked behind her. I used a cleanup tool to remove them one by one. It does a great job.
Overall, Apple Intelligence shows early promise, but it seems to be somewhat limited compared to Google Gemini and Galaxy AI. Siri still doesn't have that open LLM feel that you can ask it almost any question or solve any problem. There is no AI image generation, not even the promised Genmojis. It's still an English-only tool, and the promise of third-party integrations with ChatGPT and possibly Gemini hasn't materialized yet.
It's a good attempt, but this version of Apple Intelligence isn't going to trigger a billion upgrades.
Software rating: 4/5
苹果 IPHONE 16 PRO MAX 评测：相机
Abundant lenses
Apple hasn't pushed the limits of megapixels
There are so many tools that you're unlikely to use them all
There's a new way to get quick access to the camera
The camera array doesn't look the same, but we have faster sensors and taller pixels.
While Apple hasn't fundamentally changed the iPhone's camera array, there are enough changes in hardware, software, and image processing, plus the aforementioned camera control buttons to give the imaging system a whole new feel.
On paper, we only have one significant megapixel upgrade: the 48MP ultra-wide-angle camera, which not only improves wide-angle shots, but also has a measurable impact on macro quality (although the leap in image quality is more of a jump if you know how to fiddle with the settings on the iPhone 15 Pro Max).
Although Apple hasn't added more pixels to the main camera, though, it does upgrade the sensor and promises faster shutter speeds. Now, the autofocus function is also enhanced with dual autofocus sensors. These incremental changes should improve the user experience and the quality of the main camera sensor, but they're also hard to measure. More on that later.
The 12MP 5x optical zoom is basically the same as last year's iPhone 15 Pro Max. The biggest news is not this phone, but its little brother, the iPhone 16 Pro, which also comes with a quadrismatic lens. Last year's Pro model only came with a 3x optical zoom camera.
The 12MP FaceTime camera on the front is similarly unchanged.
Apple has also made some impressive updates in the video and audio space. No, the iPhone 16 Pro Max didn't end up shooting in 8K (I don't know if we really needed this), but the addition of 4K 120fps and audio mixing tools is something to celebrate.
At the iPhone 16 launch event, Apple described a feature called "Cinematic Slow Motion," which sounds like a new mode that combines cinematic video options in the iPhone camera app with a new slow-motion mode. But that's not what Apple meant. Cinematic video is still in the iPhone 16 series, but the new feature is 4K 120fps video for cinematic slow-motion effects.
I shot 4K video at 120fps and used the new speed control (under "Edit" and can be found in the new clock icon in the top right corner of the screen) to gradually switch between the four speed options. Speed options include 20% (i.e., 24fps), 25% (30fps), 50% (60fps), and the default 120fps (100%).
Since I'm shooting at high speeds, lowering the frame rate produces smooth, high-resolution slow motion that makes even the most mundane footage look like footage in a blockbuster. Cool.
It's fun to switch between various slow-motion modes slowly. Each mode makes your video look like an action movie.
Audio mixing is another exciting update that, in the right context, can transform open-air audio into near-cinematic or studio-quality audio.
I used it to record my voice in a conference room with a noisy ceiling fan, and I found it to process the audio to close to podcast quality. Maybe a little bit of over-processing, but I can imagine I would use it when I forgot to bring a microphone.
The in-frame audio mixing feature focuses on what's within the video frame and tries to remove background and side noise, which works well. I tested this feature by recording a video on my iPad where people were talking while I was babbling off the frame, but only six inches away from the iPhone. When I turn on the in-frame mix, my voice is lowered to a background whisper.
I recorded video at a local park and used In-Frame and Studio mix settings to reduce some of the ambient noise, but I thought they would be more useful in a real Studio environment where engineers were working to eliminate airplane and siren noise leaking into the recording space.
Audio Mix is one of the better updates. Studio can be a lifesaver for podcasts.
If you've been counting, you'll find that the iPhone 16 Pro Max has four cameras. However, Apple likes to say that the phone (and the iPhone 16 Pro) have seven lenses. This is because the way it measures the millimeter option is very similar to the way a professional photographer talks about all the shots in his bag. For the iPhone 16 Pro Max, there are macro lenses, 13mm ultra wide angle, 24mm, 28mm, classic 35mm, 48mm 2x, and 120mm zoom lenses. And because you can choose from all of these lens options in the camera app, it makes sense to describe them that way. It's a great window into the world of professional-grade cameras for the average user who isn't very fond of photography, and I encourage you to experiment with all the different "lens" options and see how they change the look of your image.
I tried testing the new speed of the iPhone 16 Pro Max camera by taking a fan photo. I also took photos with the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro. I've found that they're all good at fixing rotating fan blades. If I increase the camera shooting quality to 48MP Original, some movement is introduced. I had even better luck taking a series of photos of pigeons at an art installation in New York City. I noticed that the main camera and the tele camera did an above-average job of stopping birds in flight, and I could see the wings clearly rather than blurry.
In terms of macro photography, I can see some differences between the macro tricks of the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro Max, but when I bumped the shooting of both phones to 48MP HIEF raw, the difference was minimal. The iPhone 16 Pro Max captures macro results very well, but I don't think it's much ahead of the previous generation.
The photographic performance of all of Apple's cameras is excellent. Its clarity and color fidelity are the envy of most competitors. Low-light performance is excellent. I shot in dark shades and at night, and I had the best astrophotography I've ever shot with my iPhone.
Apple has also upgraded in terms of image style. There are now skin tones, undertones, and a variety of moods for you to use during or after the shoot.
Designed to change the appearance of the skin while keeping the rest of the image largely unchanged, the undertones come in names such as Standard, Amber, Gold, Rose Gold, Neutral, and Cool Rose. You can use these colors all at once, or you can set them to apply the same effect to all your photos. Also, it's worth noting that in my experience, the undertones do change the look of the rest of the image, albeit more subtly.
Both the undertone and the broader mood (obtained by swiping left instead of right in the camera app and applying the look to the entire photo) can be adjusted with a new grid on which you can drag the center point to this quadrant or that quadrant.
This gives good control over the look and feel of the image, but I don't think I understand why we need it. Maybe fashion photographers and influencers will love it. My goal has always been to capture people for what they really are. Of course, I want them to look good, but I don't want to change their skin tone. As for emotions, I like emotional black and white photos as much as anyone else, and I've tried this look on previous iPhones and other smartphones.
Hello, new camera control buttons
No new lens, megapixel count, or photographic style adjustment could have as much of an impact on iPhone photography as the new camera control buttons.
Almost from the day we started using the iPhone, people recognized that having a decent camera in their pocket could be more important than making phone calls. Five years after the launch of the iPhone, Instagram was born, cementing the integration of social media imagery with the smartphone lifestyle. In the decade since, Apple has been working to make the iPhone not just a replacement for point-and-shoot cameras, but a phone that gives you peace of mind to ditch the professional camera — and now has a dedicated camera button to support that idea.
The camera controls are located on the long side of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, a few inches from the power button. It is a true technical sandwich with a touch-sensitive surface and tactile response. It is surrounded by metal and comes with a sapphire case that is slightly recessed into the iPhone body.
If you put your iPhone in landscape orientation, your index finger may spot it naturally. If the phone is locked, press firmly once to turn on the camera, and press again to take a photo; If the phone is asleep, you need to press it three times. If you tap until you feel a haptic response, the camera controls open in a small window next to the button on the screen. Swipe on the button to scroll through features such as zoom level, camera lens selection, exposure, and depth of field. Tap again to select one, then dial to select. Double-tap on the haptics to go deep into the camera menu, where you can find "Mood" and "Undertones". The camera controls remember your last setup, so you may need to double-tap to find the camera lens, and if you're using a FaceTime camera, etc., you'll notice that "Camera" appears in the menu, but it doesn't do anything because there's only one camera option on the front of the phone.
When you hold your iPhone 16 Pro Max in landscape mode, the camera controls can make your phone feel like a real camera. At launch, though, it lacked a key feature: holding down the focus, then pressing down to shoot. This is how other digital cameras work, and this feature will be coming to iPhones in the near future.
I use the camera controls a lot in landscape mode, but if I hold the phone upright, I find it inconvenient to use. It makes me wonder how often social media fans will use this button because they take so many photos and videos in portrait mode. Perhaps the camera controls will lead the way in landscape mode.
Despite the name, Camera Control is a versatile piece of hardware that automatically shoots a video as long as you press and hold it (it defaults to the last video quality setting you used) and can be customized to launch the QR code scanner, magnifying glass, or do nothing. It is expected that many third-party camera apps will use it in the future.
Spatial photography is now the official menu option in the camera app. You can take stereoscopic photos and videos and watch them on Vision Pro.
Another camera feature worth mentioning is the ability to take stereoscopic photos and videos. This feature first appeared in the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, and is now available across the entire iPhone 16 series. It works by having two cameras (16x and ultra-wide on the Phone 5 Pro and 5 Pro Max) lined up so that they can capture stereoscopic images when you hold the phone in landscape mode.
I take photos and videos in my backyard and transfer them to my Apple Vision Pro. The stereo sound of the headset is very good, and the only issue I have with this feature is that it is only useful if you have a VR headset - how many of us have such a headset?
Camera rating: 4.5/5
苹果 IPHONE 16 PRO MAX 评测：性能
The A18 Pro's performance exceeds most people's needs
8GB is enough
Feel the heat
By all accounts, the iPhone 16 Pro Max's new A18 pro SoC is top-notch. It outperforms the A17 Pro and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in most benchmarks. While Apple doesn't offer the same memory for the CPU as the likes of the Google Pixel 9 or the Samsung Galaxy S 24 Ultra (both with 12GB of RAM), the iPhone 16 Pro Max and its A18 Pro chip make the most of its 8GB of memory.
It's no surprise that the iPhone 16 Pro Max is essentially a tiny computer in your pocket. Apple Silicon powers everything from daily productivity tasks to 4K video editing and AAA console gaming (which can now enjoy iOS 18's game mode, which prioritizes gaming-related activities). The A18 Pro is not an exception, but in this case we have more space to enjoy its benefits. I'm not sure if I can find a task that this phone can't handle. If there's any criticism, it's that the phone is playing games (does anyone play Death Stranding?). and editing videos in Capcut (Adobe Premiere can't open any of the videos I shot on my phone) and so on, it does seem to be a bit hot.
I don't know if it's because the graphite-covered aluminum base conducts heat more efficiently from the chip to the body, or if the phone is overworked. The good news is that this doesn't adversely affect performance or battery life.
The call quality is good, and I'm glad to see that this is a future-proof platform with Wi-Fi 7 support. It also supports Bluetooth 5.3 and Ultra Wideband Gen 2. It helps with the Find My app, which I used when I deliberately misplaced my new AirPods 4.
In the United States, iPhones now only support eSIMs, and I like that, although some people miss physical SIM cards. I appreciate the ease of switching eSIMs from one phone to another, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max lets you easily switch between multiple eSIM numbers on one iPhone 16.
Apple has also upgraded its satellite service. In addition to the Emergency SOS feature, which lets you send text messages and even share your location, photos, and videos with emergency services, text messages can now be sent and viewed to anyone via satellite – even if you're not in an emergency. I couldn't find a cellular dead zone to test this, but I did notice that when I was flying, the phone would ask me if I wanted to share my location via satellite. Currently, satellite service is free for iPhone owners for the first two years.
Performance score: 4.5/5
苹果 IPHONE 16 PRO MAX 评测：电池
Battery life is longer than ever
Qi 2 is supported
Buy your own adapter
Yes, you can charge from 0 to nearly 50% in 30 minutes with a raght adapter and Qi-2 MagSafe charger.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max's battery drain test results are the best I've seen. In our tests, the battery lasted an average of 16 hours, while depending on the activity, the battery lasted between 14 and 17 hours. This is impressive.
Apple finally supports Qi-2 wireless charging technology and provided me with a new Qi-2 capable MagSafe charger and 30W charging adapter. The iPhone 16 series comes with a USB-C cable that supports 60W, but there is no charging adapter.
With these two accessories, I charged my iPhone 30 Pro Max to 44% in 16 minutes. Apple claims to charge to 50% in 30 minutes, so that's pretty close. It takes about two hours to fully charge. One thing that many people don't know is that with a standard USB-C cable, you can charge your AirPods or Apple Watch through your iPhone (I tried. Valid).
There is even some movement in terms of the right to repair. Apple claims that the iPhone 16 series offers the easiest battery replacement to date. Instead of using a stretch-release adhesive, the iPhone 16 series uses an ionic liquid adhesive to secure the battery. It reacts to low voltage currents (even 9v batteries) and releases them from the case. I don't know if this means that more consumers can replace their own batteries, or if it will be simpler for Apple genius. Anyway, I can't wait to see it in action.
Battery rating: 4.5/5
你应该购买 APPLE IPHONE 16 PRO MAX 吗？
If...... Just buy it.
You want the biggest, best iPhone ever. There has never been a bigger iPhone than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and no iPhone screen bigger than the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
您想抢先体验 Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence feels like an exciting experiment, with some great features like Clean Up and a more forgiving Siri, but it's far from done. However, you can start experiencing it now.
If...... Just don't buy it.
You want more affordable big-screen features
The iPhone 16 Pro Max price remains the same, but it still starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149. If you want to save a few hundred dollars but still want to enjoy the big screen, you can take a look at the Google Pixel 9 XL.
You want higher pixels
While the 48MP doesn't disappoint, the Samsung Galaxy S 24 Ultra comes with a 200MP main camera.
APPLE IPHONE 16 PRO MAX REVIEW: PLEASE ALSO CONSIDER
Apple's latest flagship iPhone didn't make you tickle? Here are three alternatives to the cutting edge of Android.
Google Pixel 9 Pro
This is probably the best and most versatile AI phone yet, with the deeply embedded Google Gemini powering a plethora of cameras and smart tricks. It's a very attractive phone, with enough performance that you might forget you've given up on iOS.
三星 Galaxy Z Fold 5
If you're hopeful about the iPhone Fold, Samsung's excellent foldable phone could be the way to go. It's more expensive, but the combination of a professional-grade design, a quality camera, a large hidden screen, and stylus support makes it worth the price.
三星 Galaxy S24 Ultra
It's the best Android phone on the market right now, with a large screen, strong performance, and a hidden stylus. Yes, it also has Samsung's own AI brand (Galaxy AI). If you can give up on iOS, then this smartphone is the way to go.
我如何测试苹果 IPHONE 16 PRO MAX
Evaluation time: Received the phone on September 10 and tested it on September 17.
Testing includes everyday use, including web browsing, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback, and Apple Intelligence trials
使用的工具:Geekbench 6、Geekbench AI、GFXBench、30W 充电器和 Qi2 MagSafe 充电器
I compared the iPhone 16 Pro Max to the iPhone 15 and the new iPhone 16 Pro, mainly to compare the interface and performance differences. Where possible, I use the iPhone 16 Pro Max as an everyday smartphone.
I've been testing smartphones for over 20 years, and I've been writing about the iPhone since it was launched. I've also been tracking and writing about AI since the advent of consumer-grade experiences more than a decade ago, and I've been covering technology for 38 years now.