I’m so on the fence. I have an XS (well technically I also have an 11 Pro but the screen is bad so I’ll be returning it on Monday). Now I’m not sure whether to do a straight swap for a new Pro or to go to the Pro Max.
I’d like the benefits of the bigger screen but have been worried ever since Apple started doing the Plus/Max sizes about the bigger physical size. I just began to wonder in the last week though whether going from a 5.8" to a 6.5" device might actually be less of a problem for me than for many people, not because I have big hands but because I have very small hands! My thinking is that my hands are sufficiently small that I already have to do quite a lot of stuff two-handed on my 5.8" XS so would it really be such a big leap for me to go to a Max vs someone who can effectively use a 5.8" model one-handed?
I'm now most worried about pocketability and weight. Maybe a few of us do crazy things around this time of year but I think I'm crazier than most at the moment. My regular phone that I'm carrying around with me right now in my pocket is my XS - with a 6s stuck onto the back of it! I'm trying to simulate what it's like to carry much more weight around with me in my front pocket. Results so far are quite encouraging, honestly I don't find even that crazy weight a particular problem (177g + 143g = 320g for my Xs/6s monster vs 226g for an 11 Pro Max). I haven't simulated the extra physical size yet but I'm off to a party tonight so I think I might ask to borrow a friend's Galaxy Note for the evening, not to use it but just to keep it in my pocket for a few hours to see how that size feels when walking around, sitting down etc. That's probably a reasonably close approximation to the size of a Pro Max.
Maybe I'm going overboard trying to talk myself into the Max but I'm also wondering whether the extra width and height of a Max vs my 5.8" might even be a benefit. I always keep my phone in my front-right trouser pocket and with my Xs and all earlier phones even though I put them into my pocket upright (i.e. parallel with my leg) they then tend to tip over sideways so that they're at a diagonal angle or sometimes even sitting in my pocket almost perpendicular to my leg. Perhaps the bigger size of a Max will make it tip over in my pocket less than smaller phones do.
All in all I think I'm leaning towards going to the Max, partly for the big screen but probably even more to get the maximum battery life that I can from an iPhone. Also, there is a 14 day return and if I don't try I'll never know so maybe this year is the year to take the Max size out for a spin.