Closer to perfection

5x closer to be exact. 2023's update to the seminal smartphone has yielded an all-new tetra-prism lens. That's Apple way of saying "get out of my way".

- Nishant Padhiar

A series of incremental improvements that add up to much more than the last few years of Pro models. That could be the snapshot review of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but of course, you have paid good money to read a proper review and “proper” is what you shall get!

Firstly, the hand feel has taking a huge leap in the positive direction. No longer will you be punished for your loyalty. Apple hasn’t moved the needle here, but the curved edges on the titanium frame do make matters a lot less...prickly. The thinner bezels marginally shrink overall dimensions without sacrificing screen size. Apple could’ve taken more risk with the colours though, which seem to have been inspired by the colour palette of HSBC corporate HQ. From a distance it’ll be hard to tell one apart from the 14 Pro Max, but what you will notice instantly is the lighter weight. Its a reduction of a few grams but one that you can sense.

New wine, old bottle

Although the camera module looks similar, the entire image signal processing pipeline has been overhauled. Better low-light skin tone balance, different focal lengths within the primary lens (24, 28, 35mm) and adding portrait effect to even regular photos is possible.

Consistency is key

What is perhaps most impressive is how the iPhone 15 Pro Max maintains the same tonality, temperature and exposure as you move from 13mm all the way to 120mm and beyond to digital zoom. Processing times are blazing fast, especially while editing videos.