Unboxing

As expected, the slim box that the iPhone 16 Pro Max arrives in contains just the phone and a braided USB-C cable.

The SIM ejector tool will still be around for another year. And there’s no Apple sticker, in case anyone was interested.

Design

The iPhone 16 Pro Max looks very similar to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which looks a lot like the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Apple changes the standard color options every year — whether to spice things up or to let users tell the new iPhone from the old one — we don’t know.

But what we do know is that the iPhone has been one of the toughest smartphones on the market, built to last, and universally praised for it. That means Apple can’t really change much to make it better. In fact, the only real improvement in the new models is the third-generation Ceramic Shield glass, which it touts as the toughest of all phone armor.

Let’s start at the beginning. The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max is a regular glass smartphone with a premium titanium frame (grade 5 now). The front is covered with Ceramic Shield, while the back is made of another unspecified Corning glass. Everything is flat and has a matte finish.

In addition, every side of the phone has at least one distinct design. The front has a pill-shaped notch with Face ID, the back has a triangular camera setup, and the frame now houses the new camera control key.

Camera

The iPhone 16 Pro Max introduces a significant change to the camera system, a new software setting to adjust HDR behavior, and a software feature that no one thought to ask for (plus its software side wasn’t fully finished yet at launch).

The camera modules are mostly unchanged, at least in their main specs. The main exception is the ultra-wide camera, which now gets a 48MP Quad Bayer sensor instead of the old 12MP RGB sensor. Apple didn’t specify the sensor size, but if the old sensor was 1/2.55-inch with a 1.4µm pixel pitch, the new 0.7µm sensor will almost certainly be 1/2.55-inch as well.

The main camera uses the same 1/1.28-inch sensor — a reasonable size in the global scheme of things and a bit larger (not insignificantly, but still) than what’s found in its main competitors (the Pixel 9 Pro XL and Galaxy S24 Ultra).

The telephoto lens is more modest in terms of sensor technology, with the 12MP 1/3.06-inch RGB shooter not cutting edge at all. The quad-prism lens is far from ordinary, however, with Apple’s folded design setting it apart from the periscopes of almost every other manufacturer. Still, it appears to be the same zoom camera as last year.

There don’t appear to be any changes to the selfie camera either.

Device Performance

Apple’s iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max all come with the latest available version of iOS 18 preinstalled. While Apple has tried to present this new version as one of the biggest redesigns, it doesn’t feel like much in daily use. However, allowing for deep customization options across the home screens and interface has the potential to make the user interface somewhat unique and different, something that has been missing from iOS over the years.

All iPhones will get iOS updates for at least five years, something Apple has been doing for years.

Do we recommend buying it?

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is a flagship phone, so if you want to own the best phone in 2025, you can buy it. If you own an iPhone 15 Pro Max, we don’t think you should upgrade to the higher version, as we don’t see it offering many new capabilities, if you are a fan of the iOS system.