iPhone 14 Pro Max iPhone 14 Pro Max vs 15 Pro Max today ?

[SnowCrocodile]

I am thinking of upgrading my iPhone 12 and am tempted by the Apple refurbed iPhone 14 Pro Max that is just becoming available.

Curious as what the real world differences are between it and 15 PM.

Obviously the USB-C vs Lightning.

I assume the processor differences are not very noticeable.

What about camera, battery life, overall usability? Any major improvements that I should know about ?

It took almost a year since 15 launch for 14 to show up on the refurb site, so waiting for 16 to get a 15 may be a while.

My biggest issues with 12 are the absolute **** camera (horrible flaring in even a hint of backlight, the worst iPhone camera I ever had) and the so-so battery life. I could also use a larger phone.

 

[now i see it]

Likely refurbished 14 will still be available in September and the 15 will drop in price when the 16 comes out.
There are people who are not happy with the iPhone 15PM camera either.

 

[uczcret]

Weight! 19g might not look like a big difference on paper, but having owned every Max since the XS, I find the 15PM a bit more comfortable to hold for extended periods of time.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

My biggest issues with

I'm in a similar situation, considering upgrading from my iPhone 12. The refurbished iPhone 14 Pro Max seems like a great option.

The camera on the 14 Pro Max is a significant upgrade, with improved low-light performance and reduced flaring. You can also expect some improvement in battery life, and the larger screen is a nice bonus.

If you can't wait for the 15 Pro Max to become available refurbished, the 14 Pro Max seems like a great choice. The camera and battery life upgrades alone might be worth it for you, especially considering your current issues with the 12.

Yeah, I'd say it's so far the worst iPhone I've had. I swear I took better photos with 7+. Any light source in view at all and it poops the bed.

 

[Neofox]

The 14 pro max is crazy heavy, even heavier than the Samsung Fold

 

[James6s]

I’ve had a 14 Pro Max & currently a 15 Pro Max. The 15PM is way more comfortable to hold due to the lighter titanium and rounded off edges, the 14PM was heavy causing hand/wrist pain and the sharp edges dig in and hurt lol. This may not bother you though.

Obviously it has USB-C now but it’s not that big of a deal. If you’re into photography then the camera upgrades and the new 5x lens are great.

The 15PM will also support Apple AI with iOS 18 if you care an about that!

The 14PM will be a nice upgrade over the iPhone 12 if you choose that device!

 

[Tsepz]

I am thinking of upgrading my iPhone 12 and am tempted by the Apple refurbed iPhone 14 Pro Max that is just becoming available.

Curious as what the real world differences are between it and 15 PM.

Obviously the USB-C vs Lightning.

I assume the processor differences are not very noticeable.

What about camera, battery life, overall usability? Any major improvements that I should know about ?

It took almost a year since 15 launch for 14 to show up on the refurb site, so waiting for 16 to get a 15 may be a while.

My biggest issues with 12 are the absolute **** camera (horrible flaring in even a hint of backlight, the worst iPhone camera I ever had) and the so-so battery life. I could also use a larger phone.

There is absolutely no point in getting anything less than an iPhone 15 Pro now that Apple Intelligence is coming and only supports A17 Pro and M1 and higher chips.

Forget the 14 Pro Max completely, stick to what you have now and wait for 15 Pro Max to show up on refurb or get it used.

If you want an iPhone that will get a large portion of new stuff going forward get the 15 Pro Max, the upgraded RAM and chip have placed it in that perfect position that it will probably be getting a lot of new things for the next couple of years with minor differences between it and 16 and 17.

 

[TheSilverSurfer]

Weight! 19g might not look like a big difference on paper, but having owned every Max since the XS, I find the 15PM a bit more comfortable to hold for extended periods of time.

I co-sign this. I love my iPhone 14 PM but the weight of it can be annoying sometimes. I'm looking forward to getting a lighter iPhone in the iPhone 16 Pro Max

 

[winxmac]

Go for iPhone 15 Pro Max for 5x telephoto [and additional optical quality zooms and Smart HDR 5] AND Apple Intelligence

Go for iPhone 14 Pro Max for 3x telephoto [Smart HDR 4] and if you still prefer Lightning over USB Type C

iPhone 15 Pro Max has hardware acceleration [A17 Pro] that is getting close to the performance of a desktop/laptop computer...

iPhone 15 Pro Max has matte titanium frame while iPhone 14 Pro Max has shiny/glossy stainless steel frame... Does not matter that much if you use a case...

If you use a smartphone without a case, go with either iPhone 14 Pro Max or iPhone 15 Pro Max depending on your color preference...

iPhone 15 Pro Max has a bigger battery than iPhone 14 Pro Max and some users say that iPhone 13 Pro Max has better battery life than iPhone 14 Pro Max...

 

[TheBMacAttack]

There is absolutely no point in getting anything less than an iPhone 15 Pro now that Apple Intelligence is coming and only supports A17 Pro and M1 and higher chips.

Forget the 14 Pro Max completely, stick to what you have now and wait for 15 Pro Max to show up on refurb or get it used.

If you want an iPhone that will get a large portion of new stuff going forward get the 15 Pro Max, the upgraded RAM and chip have placed it in that perfect position that it will probably be getting a lot of new things for the next couple of years with minor differences between it and 16 and 17.

This is actually very poor advice. Just because you see Apple Intelligence as a big deal, others don't care about AI. This can't be the only reason that an iPhone is recommended or not.

 

[Neofox]

This is actually very poor advice. Just because you see Apple Intelligence as a big deal, others don't care about AI. This can't be the only reason that an iPhone is recommended or not.

While I do agree with you, if you think long terms we can expect that Apple is gonna continue building on Apple Intelligence and that the next iOS version will have less and less changes outside of it.
So if you want your phone to stay mostly compatible for the new features coming in the future, going with what we now as the new “minimal requirements“ seems like a great advice IMO

 

[TheBMacAttack]

While I do agree with you, if you think long terms we can expect that Apple is gonna continue building on Apple Intelligence and that the next iOS version will have less and less changes outside of it.
So if you want your phone to stay mostly compatible for the new features coming in the future, going with what we now as the new “minimal requirements“ seems like a great advice IMO

Thats if you care about AI. The average consumer doesn’t yet. They don’t know that a year from now AI will be different or smarter. But again the smarter play is the wait and save money for the 17 if you actually care about AI. That will be the phone that is fully loaded with all the AI features Apple showed off.

 

[Torty]

While I do agree with you, if you think long terms we can expect that Apple is gonna continue building on Apple Intelligence and that the next iOS version will have less and less changes outside of it.
So if you want your phone to stay mostly compatible for the new features coming in the future, going with what we now as the new “minimal requirements“ seems like a great advice IMO

But remember it’s the first version of “apple intelligence“, developed in a hurry. I think we can wait for „apple intelligence 2“.

 

[Tsepz]

This is actually very poor advice. Just because you see Apple Intelligence as a big deal, others don't care about AI. This can't be the only reason that an iPhone is recommended or not.

That is your opinion and I respect it.
People can claim all they want about not caring for AI, it really is not about you caring for it, nobody needs to care about the underlying tech, the likes of Apple learnt that a long time ago, it is about what will come of it as it evolves over the next couple of months and coming years.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I don’t think AI is a reason to choose a phone at this point, especially not from Apple. I’d want to see them prove they’ve got commitment in it and that it’s not another Maps or Siri debacle. It’ll be years before it’s commonly used and worth having IMO. A 14 Pro would be a decent upgrade if it’s needed now.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

That is your opinion and I respect it.
People can claim all they want about not caring for AI, it really is not about you caring for it, nobody needs to care about the underlying tech, the likes of Apple learnt that a long time ago, it is about what will come of it as it evolves over the next couple of months and coming years.

But that is your opinion. People should be buying phones for what it offers them now, not what future updates might come.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

I don’t think AI is a reason to choose a phone at this point, especially not from Apple. I’d want to see them prove they’ve got commitment in it and that it’s not another Maps or Siri debacle. It’ll be years before it’s commonly used and worth having IMO. A 14 Pro would be a decent upgrade if it’s needed now.

100% this! AI is still hugely an unknown. There is no guarantee the 15 pros get much more than what was shown on stage at WWDC. So recommending an 15 pro right now just solely for AI doesn’t make a ton of sense. Just to get in the door when we don’t know what it will look like a year from now.

 

[Tsepz]

But that is your opinion. People should be buying phones for what it offers them now, not what future updates might come.

Well, the iPhone 15 Pro and up are now well into Apple Intelligence, that is now what they are.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

Well, the iPhone 15 Pro and up are now well into Apple Intelligence, that is now what they are.

Uh, well into? Far from it. They have writing tools and a new Siri interface, but not new Siri. And thats just in the beta. Also, again some people don't care about AI, so telling people to go with the last model just because it will have some kind of AI on it is poor advice. On top of all of that, the 16s are right around the corner. They will surely be more capable of AI, so if that is what a user is concerned about. Buying an 15 pro right now is very poor advice.

 

[Tsepz]

Uh, well into? Far from it. They have writing tools and a new Siri interface, but not new Siri. And thats just in the beta. Also, again some people don't care about AI, so telling people to go with the last model just because it will have some kind of AI on it is poor advice. On top of all of that, the 16s are right around the corner. They will surely be more capable of AI, so if that is what a user is concerned about. Buying an 15 pro right now is very poor advice.

It is great advice, the OP was looking at a 14.
The advice was wait for 16 and they can get 15 P/PM at a lower price at the minimum.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

It is great advice, the OP was looking at a 14.
The advice was wait for 16 and they can get 15 P/PM at a lower price at the minimum.

For someone that could potentially be on a budget, telling them to forget the 14 solely because of Apple Intelligence is still very poor advice. AI is not important to everyone, and the OP said nothing about AI being important to them.

I 100% agree the 15 pros are great devices, and if USB-C or action button are important to someone, sure the 15 pros are the way to go. That sure didn’t sound like the direction the OP was going.

 

[Tsepz]

For someone that could potentially be on a budget, telling them to forget the 14 solely because of Apple Intelligence is still very poor advice. AI is not important to everyone, and the OP said nothing about AI being important to them.

I 100% agree the 15 pros are great devices, and if USB-C or action button are important to someone, sure the 15 pros are the way to go. That sure didn’t sound like the direction the OP was going.

So we both agree the 15 was correct to recommend once its price comes down, lol.
OP will decide what is important to them.

 

[TheBMacAttack]

So we both agree the 15 was correct to recommend once its price comes down, lol.
OP will decide what is important to them.

Not necessarily. There are lot more factors than price, but once the 15 pros come down in price, the 14 pros are even cheaper.

 

[timeconsumer]

Unless for budget reasons, I wouldn’t recommend anything less than a 15 Pro / Pro Max at this point. And, unless there’s an immediate need for a different/new device, I wouldn’t recommend making any decision until after the 16 is announced/launched.

 

[Christopher Kim]

Agree with a number of others here, to me the biggest difference in 14PM vs 15PM was the weight. The new titanium vs stainless steel made it so that the 15PM was the first "large size" phone I got, after having the "regular size" Pro phone every other time. It just crossed the subjective barrier for me where it's comfortable enough to hold (I also use my phone caseless).

You also get the added benefit of the better camera, the better AI-ability (even if we don't know how much we'll use it yet), the USB-C... Agree with @timeconsumer as well, that we're less than a month away from the iPhone 16 generation launch - you should wait, as there'll probably be better deals to be had on the 15 (or 14), or you may even decide it's worth it to buy the 16?