After I purchased the iPhone 15 Professional Max in 2023, it was my return to Apple’s largest iPhone after a number of years of solely residing with the smaller Professional mannequin. I made the choice based mostly on its characteristic upgrades and a want to strive life with a big-screen iPhone once more.
Now, eight months after doing so, have I regretted it? No, fairly the other.
The iPhone 15 Professional Max is excellent
I’m not going to beat across the bush right here. The iPhone 15 Professional Max is my favourite smartphone I’ve used since its launch, and I couldn’t be happier with it. Whereas it’s not excellent, and I’ve used two different telephones which have superior cameras because it was launched — the Xiaomi 14 Extremely and the Huawei Pura 70 Extremely — the bundle as a complete is excellent and near unbeatable in its class.
Huge statements want loads of justification, and with the iPhone 15 Professional Max, the explanations behind it being a agency favourite are quite a few and simple to checklist. The massive display screen is flawless, with excessive brightness and daring pure colours, together with the deliciously clean ProMotion 120Hz refresh fee that I believe ought to be commonplace on all Apple telephones and tablets at this stage. I’ve by no means needed extra efficiency from the A17 Professional processor, both.
Each app I need is obtainable, and I hardly ever have any reliability issues with them. I take advantage of my iPhone for Apple Pay cellular funds, which is so easy and handy I by no means suppose twice about utilizing it. The cellphone is frequently linked to my Oura Ring utilizing Bluetooth, and it has not failed to attach over the previous yr. It’s the identical scenario with headphones I take advantage of, whether or not it’s my AirPods Professional, Sony WH-1000XM4, or Nothing Ear 2. I take advantage of the iPhone to connect with my Ray-Ban Meta sensible glasses, and just like the Oura Ring, the connection and app have been faultless.
Then there’s the Apple Watch Collection 9, which is the most effective smartwatch you should buy in the meanwhile, and it additionally connects and interacts with the iPhone 15 Professional Max with out situation. From the always-fast AirDrop to my latest love for StandBy mode, the iPhone neatly suits into my life and by no means provides stress or requires sudden problem-solving to spoil my day.
I evaluation Android telephones on a regular basis, however I select to make use of my iPhone for the various important on a regular basis apps — from banking to paying for automobile parks by app — as a result of it’s so fuss-free. I swap my different SIM card into completely different Android telephones often a number of instances monthly, and can’t say the identical factor about a few of them. I depend on my iPhone, and it repays me with final reliability and peace of thoughts.
An important cellphone, however not an ideal cellphone
I understand that’s numerous gushing in regards to the iPhone 15 Professional Max, however I’m additionally the primary to confess it’s not excellent. The battery life is usually lower than optimum, though I’m at present going by way of a interval the place it’s working very properly certainly. During the last week as I experiment with an AI chatbot app, the battery has returned a display screen time of as much as and somewhat past six hours on a single cost, and that’s improbable efficiency. Nevertheless, it doesn’t all the time do that, and I’m cautious {that a} future software program replace (I’m at present on iOS 17.5.1) might change all the things once more.
I positioned my belief in Apple’s personal Ceramic Protect glass to guard the iPhone 15 Professional Max’s display screen after getting the cellphone new, and in hindsight, this was the incorrect determination. Inside weeks, the display screen had picked up a noticeable scratch throughout the highest, and though only a few have joined it since, I do catch sight of the unique and fairly deep scratch glinting within the solar, the place it jogs my memory I actually ought to have used a separate display screen protector too.
I’m additionally dissatisfied with the digital camera. It’s definitely not horrible, and numerous the time it takes good photographs. However when the most recent Apple iPad Air has the power to take extra pleasing photographs than the iPhone 15 Professional Max in some conditions, you realize there’s one thing incorrect. Its shortcomings had been harshly highlighted after utilizing the sensible Xiaomi 14 Extremely’s digital camera, which is stuffed with character, and the astonishing technical prowess of the Huawei Pura 70 Extremely. It appears Apple has been much less involved with making its nonetheless digital camera the most effective on the market not too long ago and has focused on video options. I’d actually like this to vary for the iPhone 16 sequence.
Will I proceed with the Professional Max mannequin?
I’m struggling to seek out a lot else that I discover a particular draw back. Sure, it’s a giant, heavy cellphone, however I knew that stepping into. And it’s costly too. However for as soon as, it’s truly cheaper than Samsung’s high S-series Extremely cellphone of the yr, so it’s not the priciest choice on the market. I additionally discover a substantial amount of the advantages come from being deep inside Apple’s ecosystem, and it provides appreciable worth and comfort to the iPhone. When you don’t wish to primarily use Apple merchandise — whether or not it’s a MacBook, Apple TV, iPad, or Apple Watch — then it could not all the time work so seamlessly, and it’s one thing it’s best to take into account earlier than shopping for.
Though the summer time isn’t over but, which implies the iPhone 16 sequence isn’t near being introduced, how do I really feel about persevering with with one other Professional Max iPhone mannequin when the time comes, or will I return to the smaller Professional? Selecting the iPhone 15 Professional Max was the fitting determination. I settle for it’s extra of a handful, however the larger display screen is such a winner for video, modifying photographs, and studying that it’s well worth the tradeoff. It might be tough to return to the smaller dimension.
Nevertheless, that is depending on Apple’s determination across the specification, as I might imagine in another way if there’s no characteristic benefit outdoors of the display screen dimension to get the Professional Max mannequin. The 5x optical zoom swung the choice for me in 2023, and the iPhone 16 Professional Max might want to supply an identical profit to tempt me into paying the extra price for the cellphone in 2024. However leaving apart future plans and the downsides talked about, the iPhone 15 Professional Max is definitely my favourite smartphone launched since late 2023. Contemplating the competitors, that is extraordinarily excessive reward.
