Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Camera Comparison: iPhone 11 Pro Max vs iPhone XS Max

They're both very close. To my eyes, the iPhone 11 Pro is slightly better with respect to color balance (except possibly for one photo). But that's easily nulled out in post on the XS.

The super wide angle lens and night mode are both killer. Something I'd use a lot in my photography.

Not photo related, but UWB and precision location is something I'd definitely use as well.
 
jase1125 said:
I was able to easily identify noise and sharpness improvements when comparing my XS Max and 11 Pro Max. As noted earlier, the XS smart HDR leaves images too flat. The 11 does a much better job processing. The wide angle lens has a great deal of distortion too.
Click to expand...
I concur, I had an opportunity to play around with the 11 and Pro models at the Apple Store and I noticed distortion on the Ultra-Wide for both. I even tried a pano in Ultra-Wide and it is more evident. There is a reason why Apple did not include a Wide and Telephoto on the 11 as the Ultra-Wide really is useful for a few type of shots but not as useful as a Telephoto.

If iPhone 11 has a Wide and Telephoto camera the Pro is just overpriced in comparison with nothing useful to show for the Pro moniker.

iPhone XR/XS and 11 are the best deals unless one can wait till 2020. I feel that Apple may have wanted to skip updating the iPhone this year due to a lack of anything promising to show but did so out of tradition and routine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: catean
numbersyx said:
Upgraded from XS Max and not much difference in day photos but a world of difference in low light. And the ultra wide shots are really useful for taking landscape and bigger areas. Don't need to use the full width but really helpful to adjust. So I'm content. Also have Deep Fusion to look forward to....
Click to expand...
can you please do a test of indoor telephoto 2x 4k video and tell me theres less noise/grain than XS video wwith telephoto indoor?
 
This was a great video & answered a lot of my questions! Its going to be a huge upgrade for me because I haven't updated since the iPhone6s+. I'm really excited to use the new camera when traveling.
 
WaterOz said:
As someone who updated from an XS Max to a 11 Pro Max, the biggest upgrade is the battery. My battery life now is crazy; I’ve never had an iPhone battery last this long.
The night photos are obviously a lot better, and what convinced me to upgrade because I’m constantly complaining about how bad low light photos would look on my iPhone - but now they look great.
The battery life though is way better than imagined. Saying you get an extra 4 hours plus and actually experiencing it with the battery, are two different things. I can’t imagine having too many days where I have battery issues, with the exception of special trips when I’m snapping photos all day or on my phone way more than normal (like on a flight).
I charge it in my car on my 40 minute drive to and from work, and where before I’d go to bed with the life often under 15% (and usually much lower) to now going to bed with battery life over 70% - so much so that I didn’t even plug it in last night and just relied on the drive today. I’ve been home for 2 hours tonight and I’m still at 97% right now (with admittedly light use)

if you have battery issues at all with older iPhones, the 11 Pro Max is a very worthy upgrade - and you get better low light photos too!
Click to expand...
is 2x telefoto video indoors low light less noisy than XS?
 
ender21 said:
I hate to sound like a pompous photographer here, but I second this.

I have a great 11–16mm lens and I never use it to get items in to the shot. It’s always to create an effect and nearly universally results in me getting very close to my subject, not very far.

That said, if people use it to fit things in, eh. Their pictures, their choice.

My wife got the iPhone 11 (non-pro) and almost immediately noted that including the ultrawide lens instead of the telephoto made the phone a bit less valuable to her.
Click to expand...

I remember when Android phone makers introduced now ultra-wide to add on a spec sheet, except the reviews noted the distortion. I was hoping Apple would have used some ML in this area, but sadly no.
 
the main takeaway from this story is... babies really do look like their fathers!!
[automerge]1569466767[/automerge]
code-m said:
I concur, I had an opportunity to play around with the 11 and Pro models at the Apple Store and I noticed distortion on the Ultra-Wide for both.
Click to expand...

agreed - i played with an iphone11 in the apple store today and the distortion was really evident - i happened to take a picture of the wall with all the iphone cases and with all those straight lines it was pretty obvious.

who knows though, maybe it's actually worse than we see and they are doing some distortion correction in software. it's not super hard to model after all.
 
Wow impressive low light pictures! I can’t jump from my xs max to 11 max just because it’s too soon and the day time pics aren’t too dramatic. But looking forward to 12 and iPhone 13. Can’t wait for further battery improvements and improved camera.
 
As an SE user, I'm way past due for an upgrade. What I'm still not seeing are many people saying just go with the 11 over the 11 pro. I would use the phone for online video production, but still not seeing a compelling reason to pay the difference between the 11 and 11pro over putting that money toward other equipment. What is compelling those going for the Pro to go all the way to the 11 Pro Max over an 11? Is the telephoto lens really worth the price difference for you guys? #decisionsdecisions
 
AdamJD said:
As an SE user, I'm way past due for an upgrade. What I'm still not seeing are many people saying just go with the 11 over the 11 pro. I would use the phone for online video production, but still not seeing a compelling reason to pay the difference between the 11 and 11pro over putting that money toward other equipment. What is compelling those going for the Pro to go all the way to the 11 Pro Max over an 11? Is the telephoto lens really worth the price difference for you guys? #decisionsdecisions
Click to expand...
If you're coming from an SE get the 11? You're not seeing many people saying go with the 11? Maybe on the forums because it's the "buy the most expensive" crowd. Anything the SE can do the regular iPhone 11 will do so much better.

Pro vs regular iPhone, OLED screen (overrated IMO), zoom camera (could be useful), stronger and more water resistant body (get a case). Both have the same A13 processor and camera quality. One advantage the iPhone 11 has over the iPhone 11 Pro is it shows more data on it's screen. You have to get the iPhone 11 Pro Max to show the same.

When you're comparing the price consider your storage requirements. A 128 GB iPhone 11 is $500 cheaper than a 256 GB (128 GB not available) iPhone 11 Pro Max.
 
Iphone Xi image hdr
 

Attachments

  • 7751EE0B-2239-4901-ADC8-4C5F908C5547.jpeg
    7751EE0B-2239-4901-ADC8-4C5F908C5547.jpeg
    4.3 MB · Views: 461
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: citysnaps, whg and russell_314
why is there no option for taking 3:2 photos? 3:2 is a standard format in photography. btw taking ultrawide photos in 4:3 format looks ***** to be honest. beside that missing 3:2 format i love the iphone 11 photo quality, i upgraded from a iphone 7.
 
With so much emphasis on justifying upgrading to the latest iPhones being "focused" upon the camera, it would appear the prime reason for buying one is the camera rather the phone for the majority of users.

If that's really the case, then the prime functionality of an iPhone has flipped from being a phone with a camera, to a camera with a phone, so perhaps Apple will rename the next iPhone to iCamera in recognition of this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RickDEGH and PrecisionGem
Cyprusian said:
With so much emphasis on justifying upgrading to the latest iPhones being "focused" upon the camera, it would appear the prime reason for buying one is the camera rather the phone for the majority of users.

If that's really the case, then the prime functionality of an iPhone has flipped from being a phone with a camera, to a camera with a phone, so perhaps Apple will rename the next iPhone to iCamera in recognition of this.
Click to expand...
Yes well.... the screen can only get better by so many percentage. The camera seems to be something that can differentiate the old and new. As well as battery life. But at the end of the day what do I need my xs max for? Internet, mail, music podcast. All work the same as the 11 pro.
I’m gonna upgrade for sure in iPhone 13. Maybe upgrade at iPhone 12. But I just hope longer period between upgrades will feel like a significant leap.
When I went from 7plus, then 8 plus, then xs max, I thought the jump in camera was great. But day today it wasn’t a big difference.
I’m getting a titanium Apple Watch Saturday I’m excited about that. It’ll be a different between my series 3 and 5.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RickDEGH
Wait a minute, aren't long exposure pictures just a software tweak? I mean in order to take long exposure photos the shutter just has to stay open for longer in order to take more light. So Apple basically is giving us the same cameras (excluding the wide one).

I felt exactly the same when they introduced animoji, which is using only the camera, because when I cover the FaceID sensor the animoji continues to work and detect my motion, only "camera is covered" messages appears, but it works. So basically all other phones without the FaceID sensor can have animoji, but they don't.

The same with Apple Watch Series 5, the new one has always on display, which all OLED displays have by default, so watch series 4 can also have always on display, but it doesn't. So watch series 4 and watch series 5 are the same?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back