Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max review – It’s a handful

The one thing you notice about Apple’s new iPhone 16 Pro Max is that its massive and also heavy.

I had the opportunity to review Apple’s new flagship which was a welcome surprise as the iStore takes a new path and allows tech reporters to check out new gadgets from the Cupertino tech giant.

There were some big questions that kept nagging me as I was testing the new iPhone 16 Pro Max, like does the larger screen make it compelling or too big? Is the new Camera Control a game changer or a gimmick and if the Phone 16 Pro Max has the best iPhone battery life ever.

Massive

The iPhone 16 Pro Max has the largest display ever of any iPhone at 6.9 inches and while the thinner bezels help keep the device somewhat compact, it’s still taller, wider and heavier than last year iPhone 15 Pro Max, which I thought was the perfect size and weight for a big-screen phone.

The overall design of the iPhone 16 Pro Max is unchanged from last year, with the same shiny titanium exterior frame and lightly textured matte glass back that is far too slippery, so get into a case as quickly as possible or while you are in the store.

Apple claims its glass is twice as strong as any other, but I can’t verify that unless I do drop test with the expensive device.

The back panel has a matte finish that’s pleasing to the touch, and I like the matte titanium finish of the frame, too.

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Camera Control

I was excited about the new Camera Control button, however during testing, I found the new features are frustrating.

It’s fiddly, that you’re always in danger of missing the moment simply because you’re trying to figure out how to switch back to the zoom option (or how to instead switch between optical focal lengths to avoid the perils of digital zoom).

The new 48 MP ultra-wide lens isn’t the leap forward I wanted, and the remaining updates are so minor that they don’t impact the user experience in a meaningful way.

Photos with the camera were decent, but I still maintain that Huawei’s P series and Pura series takes amazing pictures, artificial intelligence (AI) aside.

However, I do like the new desert titanium colour.

Daily use

In my daily usage, the lowest I recall getting the phone’s battery was 43% in any given day and as a journalist, I phone gets very busy with hundreds of messages from the different WhatsApp groups that I am part of.

The battery life the iPhone 16 Pro Max I got was with the screen brightness set to little over 60% Auto Brightness disabled, but no changes made to Background App Refresh and other features.  

There were a couple days when I had the display brightness set to full and Screen Curtain disabled, and I noticed no significant difference in battery life than with the above-mentioned settings enabled.

Verdict

After spending almost six weeks with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, I found that is that it’s nearly identical to its predecessor, the iPhone 15 Prom Max.  

Starting at R31 799 for the 256GB variant and R42 499 for the 1TB model, if you want a phone for creating content, the 16 Pro Max has absolutely everything you need, though for most people, the standard iPhone 16 Pro gets you plenty of the way there for a lot less money starting at R26 499 for the 128GB model and R39 999 for the 1TB version.

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