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ssledoux

macrumors 601
Original poster
Sep 16, 2006
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Down south
Kinda on the fence about keeping my pro max or going back smaller. I know the 16s increased in size a little, so I was wondering if you went down to a regular 16 or a 16 pro from a max if you felt like it was a huge change.

My daughter needs a phone, and I’m thinking of giving her my pro max and going smaller. Just wanted some input from any who have done it.
 
Kinda on the fence about keeping my pro max or going back smaller. I know the 16s increased in size a little, so I was wondering if you went down to a regular 16 or a 16 pro from a max if you felt like it was a huge change.

My daughter needs a phone, and I’m thinking of giving her my pro max and going smaller. Just wanted some input from any who have done it.
Contemplating going from the 16 Pro Max to a 16. Giving my adult daughter my 16 Pro Max and trading her 14 Pro Max in for a regular 16.

Haven’t had a non-Pro since the 8. Getting to the point where I want the best value.

Have you made a decision?
 
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Me. I bought the beautiful blue 16 plus. Always had pro max models up to now.

Not only felt that the 40% extra wasn’t worth it, but that the 16 plus is a better phone. Why ? Because it’s lighter and slightly thinner. The screen looks sharper to me then the pro, the battery is the same and the cpu benchmarks are in spitting difference. The only advantage of the pro is the 5x zoom if you absolutely have to have it, but the 2x zoom at 12mp is fine for me, this used to be leading edge a few years ago.

Very satisfied after purchase. I think the pro max is just a guilt trip. Many people think if they don’t get the top model they are missing out in some way. Today, given the differences are only really minimal paper specs, not real world performance, I really think there is no point to getting the pro max, at least for me.
 
Contemplating going from the 16 Pro Max to a 16. Giving my adult daughter my 16 Pro Max and trading her 14 Pro Max in for a regular 16.

Haven’t had a non-Pro since the 8. Getting to the point where I want the best value.

Have you made a decision?

I haven’t. I went to the Apple Store and I really do love the smaller phones, but I’ve used this one for a while now, and I’m nervous to give up the big screen. Lol

I don’t think I’ll ever actually get a max again since they’ve actually gotten bigger, so eventually I’ll go smaller for sure - just not sure if I’ll do it now.
 
I went from 15 pro max to 16 pro which I felt wasn’t worth it considering the storage limit on the entry model compared to the max and weight felt very concentrated in relation to its size. I regretted getting rid of the 15 pro max so went to the 16 pro max and used that for a few months and found the size and weight to be a major annoyance. Downgraded to the regular 16, no case and am very satisfied. I usually resisted the non pros because of the refresh rate but honesty got use to it and don’t notice its limits in regular use.
 
Not quite the same but I went 15 Pro to 16 Pro Max and instantly regretted the jump to a larger device so went back to the 15 Pro.

Had I originally got the 16 Pro I’d have likely kept that instead, although I’m not a fan of the camera control button.
 
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I went from 15 pro max to 16 pro which I felt wasn’t worth it considering the storage limit on the entry model compared to the max and weight felt very concentrated in relation to its size. I regretted getting rid of the 15 pro max so went to the 16 pro max and used that for a few months and found the size and weight to be a major annoyance. Downgraded to the regular 16, no case and am very satisfied. I usually resisted the non pros because of the refresh rate but honesty got use to it and don’t notice its limits in regular use.

Pretty sure the refresh rate wouldn’t be an issue for me either with how I use my phone.
 
The 15 Pro Max is one of the best iPhones ever made and I wouldn't trade mine for a 16 series iPhone on the account of all the 16 Pro issues since launch with iOS 18 such as the camera button not launching the camera upon pressing it once or even the reports of iPhones getting the occasional kernel panick (OS crashing) and rebooting themselves. Mine is perfectly working on iOS 18 and my battery capacity is still at 100% over a year later with battery life that leaves absolutely nothing to be desired (which allows me to keep it at the 80% limit most of the time).

Does your daughter need a flagship pro max iPhone? Since you're apparently paying for it just get her a regular 16 which is very much a midrange device even if it's a newer generation and keep enjoying your flagship Pro Max. Or get her a 15 if you can find it cheaper.

Any kid could be happy to get an iPhone 15 let alone a 16, those do anything a kid or teenager could possibly need. And from my experience if you give them too nice a phone they could get it stolen or unfortunately depending on how awful some kids at the school might be even worse. I recall back in my youth a friend coming in to class with an iPod Classic which was the latest thing at the time. She left it on her desk for less than a minute with friends around and it was never seen again...

The only thing your Pro Max has an advantage with is the 5x zoom lens on the main camera because it can be quite nice for filming concerts. If my kids really want that they can come up with ideas on how to cough up the cash. Doesn't matter how well-off we are I don't want them to think flagship smartphones fall out of the sky.
 
The 15 Pro Max is one of the best iPhones ever made and I wouldn't trade mine for a 16 series iPhone on the account of all the 16 Pro issues since launch with iOS 18 such as the camera button not launching the camera upon pressing it once or even the reports of iPhones getting the occasional kernel panick (OS crashing) and rebooting themselves. Mine is perfectly working on iOS 18 and my battery capacity is still at 100% over a year later with battery life that leaves absolutely nothing to be desired (which allows me to keep it at the 80% limit most of the time).

Does your daughter need a flagship pro max iPhone? Since you're apparently paying for it just get her a regular 16 which is very much a midrange device even if it's a newer generation and keep enjoying your flagship Pro Max. Or get her a 15 if you can find it cheaper.

Any kid could be happy to get an iPhone 15 let alone a 16, those do anything a kid or teenager could possibly need. And from my experience if you give them too nice a phone they could get it stolen or unfortunately depending on how awful some kids at the school might be even worse. I recall back in my youth a friend coming in to class with an iPod Classic which was the latest thing at the time. She left it on her desk for less than a minute with friends around and it was never seen again...

The only thing your Pro Max has an advantage with is the 5x zoom lens on the main camera because it can be quite nice for filming concerts. If my kids really want that they can come up with ideas on how to cough up the cash. Doesn't matter how well-off we are I don't want them to think flagship smartphones fall out of the sky.

Well my daughter is an adult with kids of her own. She has a 15 plus - I was just gonna offer her my pro max if I got a 16. I am considering it because I’m just burnt out on having a big, heavy phone.
 
I was considering the same switch (15PM to 16P) as I would prefer the smaller phone factor.

After taking everything into consideration, I decided to stick with the 15PM, but *only* because I am a very heavy user, and battery life is the most important consideration for me. Other than that, 16P is better in every way. While I was weighing the two options and spent some time with the 16P, I was also very pleasantly surprised with how much difference a bump from 6.1 to 6.3 makes in use - it’s noticeable without a size penalty.

16P is a fantastic phone.
 
I was considering the same switch (15PM to 16P) as I would prefer the smaller phone factor.

After taking everything into consideration, I decided to stick with the 15PM, but *only* because I am a very heavy user, and battery life is the most important consideration for me. Other than that, 16P is better in every way. While I was weighing the two options and spent some time with the 16P, I was also very pleasantly surprised with how much difference a bump from 6.1 to 6.3 makes in use - it’s noticeable without a size penalty.

16P is a fantastic phone.

Well I’m just considering the regular 16. I don’t want to invest in a 16 pro right now in case I can’t pass up the 17. With the regular 16 I won’t have quite as much invested. I am just in love with the size/weight of the 16. After looking at them in the store again yesterday, and playing with the zoom feature, I can actually get a larger texting keyboard on the regular 16 than on my 15 pro max. It’s not quite as wide of course, but the keys are bigger overall.

My only drawback is camera quality loss. I honestly don’t think I’d notice it based on my use, but of course I can’t know that until I use it.

I took some pics with my granddaughter’s 16e the other day though, and honestly, with the type of pictures I take, even that phone did a great job.
 
I didn’t, but I wish I had. I went from an iPhone 15 Pro Max to a 16 Pro Max. I know in every practical sense the devices were the same size, but the 16 Pro Max did not feel like a drop-in replacement for the 15 Pro Max. It crossed a threshold into too large.

I’m looking forward to getting a 6.3” model this year.
 
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Every time I've tried this (11PM to 12 Pro, 13PM to 14 Pro) I returned the Pro within a week and went for the PM again. Always found the weight distribution of the Pros worse than the PM, plus the hit in battery life and smaller display- too many cons to live with when used to the PM's size.
 
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I may end up doing this. I have a 14 Pro Max. I do like the bigger screen and the camera system. But I absolutely just hate the weight of it and sometimes the size too. The new iPhone Air did sound promising to me but I'm worried how much you will be losing out on with a single camera. So I may take a look at the standard 17 when it's out, if it has pro-motion as rumoured it should be an interesting choice, and a lot lighter too.

My favourites iPhone was the 6S as it was so light and slim.
 
I may end up doing this. I have a 14 Pro Max. I do like the bigger screen and the camera system. But I absolutely just hate the weight of it and sometimes the size too. The new iPhone Air did sound promising to me but I'm worried how much you will be losing out on with a single camera. So I may take a look at the standard 17 when it's out, if it has pro-motion as rumoured it should be an interesting choice, and a lot lighter too.

My favourites iPhone was the 6S as it was so light and slim.
I absolutely don’t care about the cameras, so as long as the 17 Air (or whatever they end up calling it) is 120Hz and has a good battery life, I’ll be all over it.
 
I absolutely don’t care about the cameras, so as long as the 17 Air (or whatever they end up calling it) is 120Hz and has a good battery life, I’ll be all over it.

After having the Pro cameras I do, I am in no way professional, but the point and shoot ability of the Pro is amazing plus it has proper zoom. I don't think the Air can match it but she shall see. Their is a chance anyway if it has an eSim only it may not be useful to me anyway.
 
Every time I've tried this (11PM to 12 Pro, 13PM to 14 Pro) I returned the Pro within a week and went for the PM again. Always found the weight distribution of the Pros worse than the PM, plus the hit in battery life and smaller display- too many cons to live with when used to the PM's size.

I’ve heard people say that about the pros. I can’t say I’ve really noticed that, as I’ve had pros and pro maxes. I’m thinking of doing the regular 16 though - not the pro. It seems like a pretty noticeable difference going to the non-pro based on comparing them in store.
 
I’ve heard people say that about the pros. I can’t say I’ve really noticed that, as I’ve had pros and pro maxes. I’m thinking of doing the regular 16 though - not the pro. It seems like a pretty noticeable difference going to the non-pro based on comparing them in store.
Not sure about the 15 or the 16 Pro, but the 12 and the 14 Pro had shockingly bad weight distribution. I tried them out because I found the PM size a tad heavy and uncomfortable to hold, but the Pros felt even worse somehow, very top heavy. I reckon the regular 16 shouldn't have this issue.
 
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I’ve heard people say that about the pros. I can’t say I’ve really noticed that, as I’ve had pros and pro maxes. I’m thinking of doing the regular 16 though - not the pro. It seems like a pretty noticeable difference going to the non-pro based on comparing them in store.
It is - non pro is much lighter and nicer to hold. I would not hesitate to get it if it wasn’t crippled by 60Hz .
 
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It is - non pro is much lighter and nicer to hold. I would not hesitate to get it if it wasn’t crippled by 60Hz .

I’ve been playing with the 16e(s) I bought my grandkids, and honestly, I love it, and the 60hz isn’t really noticeable to me at all.

If it wasn’t for the notch, I would just get myself one of those.
 
Contemplating going from the 16 Pro Max to a 16. Giving my adult daughter my 16 Pro Max and trading her 14 Pro Max in for a regular 16.

Haven’t had a non-Pro since the 8. Getting to the point where I want the best value.

Have you made a decision?
what did you end up doing?
 
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