iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 16 Pro: will there be that much of a difference?

Updated: Sep 03, 2024, 8:04 AM

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iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 16 Pro: will there be that much of a difference?

Intro

Every September, we are treated to a new line of smartphones, and we believe this year it will be much the same. Four new iPhones — the iPhone 16 series — split into two groups of Pro and non-Pro variants. As of right now, we expect to see an iPhone event on September 9th, with the phone shipping about 10 days after the initial reveal.

And, again, we will very likely see a quad setup of new models. Assuming we skip the non-Pro iPhones with their 60 Hz screens — the choice would be between the super-fancy iPhone 16 Pro Max and its more pocketable sibling — iPhone 16 Pro without Max.

It's always a bit of a mystery what we are about to get — will the two Pro models be comparable, or will Apple save some exclusive features for the Max? Typically, they are the same model in different casings, but sometimes, the large one gets an extra camera upgrade. For example, last year's iPhone 15 Pro Max had the 5x tetraprism lens, while the regular iPhone 15 Pro stuck to the good old 3x zoom lens.

So, when the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max roll about, will we see some significant difference, or will this be the year when they even out on features again? With all we know thus far... here's what we expect:

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 16 Pro differences explained:

iPhone 16 Pro Max	iPhone 16 Pro
Bigger, heavier, with a 6.9-inch screen	More compact, with a 6.3-inch screen
Apple A18 Pro	Apple A18 Pro
120 Hz ProMotion display	120 Hz ProMotion display
Starts from 256 GB for $1,199	Starts from 128 GB for $999
New Capture Button and Action Button	New Capture Button and Action Button
~4,700 mAh battery	~3,600 mAh battery
Triple camera with 5x tetraprism lens	Triple camera with 5x tetraprism lens

Table of Contents:

Design and Display
Performance and Software
Camera
Battery and Charging
Specs
Which one should you buy?

Also read: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Preview: One Big Upgrade for the small iPhone Pro

Design and Display Quality

Little brother, big brother

iPhones typically look pretty similar — a Pro Max is a slightly enlarged Pro, and we expect the same to hold true for the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro. The return of titanium frames is also pretty much inevitable — by this point, this is the trendy premium material for flagship phones.

This year, we expect the bezels around the screens of the Pro Models to shrink to a razor-thin 1.2mm. Uniform across the entire display, of course. This will allow the screens to grow a bit, with the bodies of the phones staying the same size. Rumor mill states the iPhone 16 Pro Max will now have a 6.9-inch screen, the iPhone 16 Pro — 6.3 inches.

So, you are looking that a Pro Max that generally needs two hands to use, whereas the iPhone 16 Pro will be slightly lighter, a bit more compact-feeling.

We've also heard about a new Capture Button, which will be able to invoke the camera app whenever you want. Different from the Action Button from last year, this one will be a capacitive pad under the power key. Curious, yes, and we've no idea what the exact plan with it is. We've heard there may be the possibility to slide your finger across the capacitive surface to control gradual things, like zooming in. New information says this won't be exclusive to the Pro models, but will be a default feature of the entire iPhone 16 family. Interesting!

The camera module on the back is also rumored to grow... yet again — believe it or not! As per reports, it will hold a new 48 MP Sony IMX903 sensor, and probably more shenanigans to keep the iPhones on top of the video quality food chain.

For displays, we don't expect anything crazy, like the dual-layered Tandem OLED on the new iPad Pros. Well, that's not entirely true — reports say that Apple will be using the brand-new M14 OLED tech. It's the latest generation of OLED, improving brightness and longevity of the screens. Again, this will be on both Pro models, while the non-Pro will stick to M12 OLEDs for now. Of course, we expect 120 Hz ProMotion refresh rates and at least 2,000 nits of peak brightness on both Pro models, too.

The colors the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are expected to come in are Graphite, Silver, White, and a new Bronze Titanium, which looks brown-ish on leaked dummy units. Not super-inspiring — Pro iPhones have always had the more mature, non-aggressive colors, while the non-Pro ones go with vibrant and fun paintjobs.

Also read: iPhone 16 colors: all the rumored shades

Performance and Software

Pocket power

Last year's Apple A17 Pro chip was a miracle of pocket technology. Built on a 3 nm process, it was quite powerful — maybe too powerful for its own good. There were some throttling issues with it at launch, and after some patches, it was kind of made better, but we can still feel it being held down by the limitations of an iPhone's size and the thermal solutions inside.

Hopes for the next iteration are high — achieving the scores of an A17 Pro, but for a longer period of sustained load will be enough to score the A18 Pro a win here. But, naturally, Apple will probably try to outdo the previous chip's power once again.

So, expect hardware accelerated ray tracing and an upgraded NPU to tackle Apple's ever-growing portfolio of AI (that's Apple Intelligence!) features.

We've already seen a glimpse of them at this year's WWDC — iOS 18 is coming with image generation, text editing, transcripts, and all the tricks we've seen from other AI platforms, all gathered in one operating system. And since it's meant to interact with everything else that's stored on your phone, you can just ask the iPhone to "generate a sketch of my mom", then simply proceed with "remind me to send it to her on her birthday", for example.

And yes, Siri is getting smarter — much, much smarter, with the power of AI. It also has a direct line to ChatGPT — if your query requires some of the 4o power, you will be asked if you want the prompt to be relayed. If you have a premium ChatGPT account, you can link it to your iCloud to keep using all your benefits.

Also read: iPhone 16 AI features: Here is what to look forward to

Camera

Ultra-wide upgrade possible

In the past, when a Pro Max phone had something unique on its camera, the next year's Pro would also receive it. Which is why we believe the iPhone 16 Pro will have a 5x tetraprism lens, like the 15 Pro Max from last year. That, and also some supply chain leaks have said as much. With that upgrade out of the way, the rumor mill has been saying that it's time for the ultra-wide camera to get its due bump.

A 48 MP sensor under the ultra-wide lens has been said to be making it to the iPhone 16 Pro models. Same resolution as on the main camera, so you will be able to take some extra-sharp landscape and macro shots with this one. And, since Apple tunes all sensors the same, colors and dynamics should feel the same from both the main and ultra-wide cameras.

There's also the new Capture Button, that we should talk about. Apparently, it will be featured on all new iPhone 16 models, not just the Pro flavors. It'll be a capacitive, pill-shaped surface, on the lower-right of the phone (shutter position when the iPhone is held in landscape).

Employing its expertise in haptics, Apple will actually make that a two-step shutter button, reliable leaksters say. Half-press to focus in and get an auto exposure, full-press to snap. We are pretty sure these press levels will be accentuated by the excellent Taptic engine — the same thing that ticks inside Apple Watches, iPhones (remember 3D Touch? Those were the days...), and the trackpads of all MacBooks. So, yeah, we are fairly sure it'll feel responsive and intuitive.

But why is it capacitive? Well, apparently, you will be able to also slide your finger along the Capture Button to prompt the app to do... something. Supposedly — zoom in and out, or adjust exposure, or maybe adjust "aperture" when in Portrait Mode. It's possible that this will be customizable in the Camera settings.

What's more interesting is that, reportedly, you will be able to set the Capture Button to launch a camera app instantly. Any camera app — meaning, 3rd party is not out of the question. In fact, leaksters say that iOS 18 will launch with an API for the Capture Button, allowing camera app developers to do whatever they please with it. Apple, you OK?

Also read: iPhone 16 camera: All the upgrades we expect

Battery Life and Charging

Biggest battery in an iPhone yet...

iPhones typically don't have the massive batteries you can find in Android flagships. But iOS is quite efficient at preserving battery life — apps get frozen in the background, when you are in standby mode, you barely lose percentages. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is often touted to last two days with casual use.

For the 16 series, we are hearing the batteries will grow bigger — or, to be more precise, denser, thanks to a new stainless steel shell casing, which will allow for more capacity inside. The iPhone 16 Pro Max will have about 4,700 mAh in its trunk — the biggest battery on an iPhone thus far. The smaller iPhone 16 Pro is said to have around 3,600 mAh — still bigger than last year's iPhone 15 Pro, if not an impressive number.

We've heard very little about a possible upgrade to fast charging. So, for the time being, we will continue under the belief that the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max will charge at 25 W wired, 15 W wireless MagSafe.

Also read: iPhone 16 Battery and charging: Here's what to expect

Specs Comparison

For the most part, it looks like the new Pro siblings will be quite similar on the inside. Our full iPhone 16 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro Max specs table will be updated as information becomes available.

Specs	iPhone 16 Pro Max	iPhone 16 Pro
Dimensions	6.42 x 3.05 x 0.32 in (163 x 77.5 x 8.25 mm)	5.89 x 2.81 x 0.32 in (149.6 x 71.5 x 8.25 mm)
Screen	6.9-inch ProMotion OLED 120 Hz	6.3-inch ProMotion OLED 120 Hz
Processor	Apple A18 Pro	Apple A18 Pro
RAM, Storage and Price	8 GB / 256 GB / $1,199	8 GB / 128 GB / $999
Cameras	48 MP main 48 MP ultra-wide 12 MP 5x telephoto 12 MP front	48 MP main 48 MP ultra-wide 12 MP 5x telephoto 12 MP front
Battery Size	~4,700 mAh	~3,600 mAh
Charging Speeds	25 W wired 15 W wireless MagSafe	25 W wired 15 W wireless MagSafe

Aslo read: iPhone 16: what pre-order deals to anticipate

Which one should you buy?

Since it seems that 2024 will be "catch-up year" for the iPhone 16 Pro — from what we know, it will truly just be a more compact version of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. But Apple does love to surprise us. For the time being, we'd say — if you like a more pocketable handset, and one that you can kind of use with one hand — yeah, the non-Max will be the contender here. If you want that screen real estate for gaming and YouTube binges — the Pro Max will be your bet. It doesn't seem that you will enjoy extra camera features, but with a bigger phone, you do get a bigger battery and supposedly better thermal management.

Leaksters and analysts don't appear too excited about the new series. Which means that if you have an iPhone 15 Pro, you are probably fine for the time being. And yeah, we haven't heard about anything game-breaking coming with the iPhone 16 series. Of course, there will be Apple Intelligence tricks — but which ones will be exclusive to the new line? Well, we are counting down the days to learn all these secrets.

Just a couple of weeks left until we get the full details!

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Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.