iphone 15 pro max Review

I’ve had the iPhone 15 Pro Max for 48  hours.Here are 3 things you need to  know

My iPhone 15 Pro Max arrived on September 20, and at the time of publishing this, I’ve been using it for just about 48 hours. That’s obviously not enough time for a full review, but during that limited amount of time, I’ve already learned some really important things about Apple’s latest entry in the Pro Max family. It’s very familiar in a lot of ways, but there are three specific changes that could make it a more worthwhile upgrade than expected — and I’m not talking about USB-C.

Titanium is a game-changer for the iPhone

Apple made a big deal about titanium when it announced the iPhone 15 Pro series, and rightfully so! Apple’s been using a stainless steel frame for its Pro iPhones since the iPhone 11 Pro — and even before then with the iPhone XS and iPhone X.

But for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, that stainless steel frame has been replaced with a brushed titanium one. It means this year’s Pro iPhones are lighter than ever, and Apple doubled down on the material by slightly curving the edges of the titanium frame around the front and back glass. The end result is the most comfortable Pro Max iPhone I’ve ever held.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max was (and continues to be) an outstanding smartphone — but it’s also ridiculously heavy and uncomfortable to use, weighing 240 grams. The iPhone 15 Pro Max now weighs just 221 grams, and it makes a huge difference. The minute I took the iPhone 15 Pro Max out of the box for the first time, the reduced weight was immediately noticeable. Combine that with the more rounded, softer corners compared to the annoyingly sharp ones we’ve had since the iPhone 12 Pro, I can confidently say it’s the most pleasant iPhone I’ve held in years.

Last year’s iPhone 14 Pro Max never felt comfortable to me. I made myself get used to it, but it’s never been a design I’ve been 100% happy with. The iPhone 15 Pro Max feels like the polar opposite within seconds of picking it up. It’s lighter, softer, and actually feels like it was designed to be held by human hands. Even this early on, I think it’s safe to say that Apple killed it here.

The camera makes a great first impression

No, I’m not going to give you a highly analytical evaluation of the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s camera after just over two days of using it. What I will say, though, is that I’ve been quite happy with the first few photos I’ve taken with the phone.

Like the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 48MP main camera. However, it should produce better overall images thanks to Apple’s new Smart HDR 5 processing and a new coating to help reduce lens flares. The 48MP camera also now captures photos at a higher 24MP resolution compared to the 12MP files Apple was relying on last year. The 12MP ultrawide camera is also identical, but the 12MP telephoto camera gets a big upgrade from 3x optical zoom to 5x.