Apple’s latest, most expensive superphone is a big step forward for the iPhone.
But despite a powerful new camera and USB-C port, the best feature is simply its lighter weight.
That is because Apple’s 6.7in iPhones have always been beasts in price and weight.
But while this new iPhone 15 Pro Max is still wallet-crushingly expensive,
starting at £1,199 (€1,449/$1,199/A$2,199), it is at least 19g lighter, making a huge difference in your hand and pockets.
The new Max has titanium sides rather than stainless steel, which saves the 19g but also shifts the
balance of the phone towards its centre, making it feel lighter than it is.
The design otherwise sticks closely to that introduced with the iPhone 12 Pro Max in 2020,
with just a little bit of softening around the edges and slimmer bezels around the screen.
The screen is one of the very best on the market and can get super bright in sunlight,
making it easier to read outdoors. New for this year is the action button, which replaces the mute switch that has been on every iPhone.
It can still mute and unmute the phone by pressing and holding but if you leave your phone permanently
silenced or are happy toggling mute in control centre, then you can remap it to do other things such as
turn on “do not disturb”, launch the camera, light the torch, record a voice memo as well as other features.
The 15 Pro Max has Apple’s most powerful camera yet. It shares the same general setup as last year’s 14 Pro, including a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, 48MP main camera and a 12MP telephoto camera, but with a couple of key differences.
The telephoto camera on the Pro Max has a 5x optical zoom, up from 3x on the standard 15 Pro
and previous models, which significantly closes the distance to objects and finally gives the iPhone
meaningful magnification. The camera can then stretch up to 25x digital zoom with good results up to
around 10-15x. The main camera now captures 24-megapixel photos by default – up from 12MP – and can shoot at three different focal lengths (24, 28 or 35mm), which will please keen photographers. It also keeps the useful 2x optical zoom from last year.