Review | Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max review: impressive video, but pending AI features nothing special
iPhone 16 Pro Max has amazing mics and video recording; coming AI features are useful but lag other brands’ AI; hardware upgrades are minor
Apple’s new iPhone 16 series brings the expected upgrades in silicon and camera performance, but the big selling point this year is “Apple Intelligence”, the Cupertino tech giant’s take on generative AI features that are already available on Samsung and Google devices.
However, Apple Intelligence will not quite be ready when these new iPhones hit store shelves this week. Instead, consumers will have to wait until October for the 18.1 software update.
Still, I’ve been testing an iPhone 16 Pro Max (the highest-tier model) with beta software featuring Apple Intelligence, and while the AI features are genuinely helpful, I am impressed by the new iPhone’s video recording capabilities the most.
Design and hardware
The iPhone 16 Pro Max’s 6.9-inch (175mm) screen is the largest display in an iPhone yet, but thanks to bezels being shaved even more, it does not feel much bigger than last year’s 15 Pro Max. The titanium finish introduced last year returns.
There’s a new button on the right side that Apple dubs “Camera Control”, and it does exactly what the name suggests. That is about it for noticeable physical changes.
The phone has been upgraded to the latest Apple silicon, the A18 Pro, once again a world beater in terms of benchmark numbers and real-world tests like video rendering.
The ultra-wide camera sensor is also new, jumping to 48 megapixels and gaining a larger sensor. There are also four new microphones hidden throughout that are the best I’ve ever tested on a phone.
Overall, nothing immediately pops out as new from a hardware standpoint.
