iPhone 15 Pro Max Pro max vs Plus - have to decide today!

[ssledoux]

I officially have one of each ready for pre-order, so I'm getting closer. All I have to do now is decide which one, and then delete the other.

So actually, not really any closer to deciding. LOL

 

[thadoggfather]

Go to a store and hold the 14 plus

The weight is gonna be nearly the same as 15 plus

 

[ctjack]

And what is tempting is that there would be a drop in weight even from the regular 14 pro if I went with the plus.

And yeah I guess I do struggle between what I THINK I need vs what I actually need. LOL

Thing is, I had goals this year to pare down devices and go with simpler ones because I really didn’t NEED the best of everything. I ditched my cellular 12.9 pro and my cellular mini 6, and went to an Air 5 to take the place of both, knowing I was gonna jump to a larger screen phone to sort of take my mini’s place for reading and stuff in bed. My goal was to go with the plus because who really NEEDS a $1200 phone?

But of course now I can’t help but wonder if I’d like the additional features on the pro.

And yeah I post about it because the feedback helps me to think things through more thoroughly. Different people make different points to consider, and it helps.

If you plan to upgrade yearly then pro max retains better value always. It is a cost upfront but savings down the road.
Just like the winter boots are the cheapest in summer when nobody needs them - but if you have spare cash then can pick up with a summer discount. This of course doesn’t work with people paycheck to paycheck and they are urged to pay full price when winter comes.

 

[Yuuuki]

If you plan to upgrade yearly then pro max retains better value always. It is a cost upfront but savings down the road.
Just like the winter boots are the cheapest in summer when nobody needs them - but if you have spare cash then can pick up with a summer discount. This of course doesn’t work with people paycheck to paycheck and they are urged to pay full price when winter comes.

Have to disagree with this. This may depend where you live, but I just checked this today. The 14 plus and pro Max lost about the same value where I live. So you are not saving or getting more back for either of them. At least over here in EU.

 

[ctjack]

Have to disagree with this. This may depend where you live, but I just checked this today. The 14 plus and pro Max lost about the same value where I live. So you are not saving or getting more back for either of them. At least over here in EU.

In US plus lost 20 bucks more. The difference was bigger with 13 and 14 era.

So apple still sells 14 plus for 830 but giving back 470 for trade in? On the contrary you can no longer pickup 14 pro max from apple.

On top of it, apple gives 450 for 12 pro max - so person who bought 12pm is having the same value as a person who bought plus 1 week ago.

 

[ssledoux]

Go to a store and hold the 14 plus

The weight is gonna be nearly the same as 15 plus

I was in there the other day. I am honestly not super worried about the weight. I think lighter would be nice, and the 15 plus is even lighter than my 14 pro (in fact, also lighter than the 8+, which was my last big phone), but I almost bought the 14 pro max, and the 15 pro max is at least a little lighter than that, so I don't think the weight of the 15 pro max is prohibitive.

 

[ssledoux]

If you plan to upgrade yearly then pro max retains better value always. It is a cost upfront but savings down the road.
Just like the winter boots are the cheapest in summer when nobody needs them - but if you have spare cash then can pick up with a summer discount. This of course doesn’t work with people paycheck to paycheck and they are urged to pay full price when winter comes.

Well, up until now I haven't skipped a year, but I'd like to go to at least every other year, and alternate with watch or other device upgrades.

 

[thadoggfather]

I was in there the other day. I am honestly not super worried about the weight. I think lighter would be nice, and the 15 plus is even lighter than my 14 pro (in fact, also lighter than the 8+, which was my last big phone), but I almost bought the 14 pro max, and the 15 pro max is at least a little lighter than that, so I don't think the weight of the 15 pro max is prohibitive.

Yeah if that’s the case I’d go 15 PM

999 isn’t bad for the 14 pro max right now either

 

[metzy25]

Go with Pro Max. What happens in 2 months when you want to have the additional benefits of the max but you’re stuck with the Plus? It’s not like you can add those additional features at anytime.

 

[BC2009]

If you are into photography and especially if you have kids and take photos of them, just remember that you can never go back in time and retake a photo or video with a better camera. I would go with Pro Max for the camera.


I still have a video of my now-17-year-old's first steps that was taken using a VGA camera that attached to the bottom of my Sony T68i back in like 2007. I so wish that phone cameras were good back then.

 

[jimmy_uk]

It’s really individual. As stated above I prefer 60hz. But native 60hz turning off 120hz looked even worse to me.

I’ve seen it and agree. The Pro screens are clearly calibrated for 120hz refresh.

The iPhone Pro 120hz gives me weird motion sickness - making my surroundings look like it’s slow motion for a split second. It's fine on iPads.

 

[ssledoux]

Yeah I deleted the plus, and kept the pro max. I figure the only regret I might have with the PM is it being a littler heavier, but if I regret losing my macro camera, not having the action button (if it turns out to be worthy of having), or not having the AOD, I'll be sorry.

Thanks for the input, and for tolerating another of my annual indecisiveness posts. Maybe next year there won't be one. ;-p

 

[537635]

Also struggling to decide between Pro and Pro Max. I upgrade each year. So far I had X, 11 Pro, 12 PM, 13PM. 12PM was still ok, while 13PM was too heavy, so I went to 14 Pro. I do like the smaller footprint, but I miss the screen and battery life. 15 PM is smaller and lighter than 12PM, so I'm thinking it might be ok.

Anyone else planning to move from 14 Pro to 15PM?

 

[BC2009]

Yeah I deleted the plus, and kept the pro max. I figure the only regret I might have with the PM is it being a littler heavier, but if I regret losing my macro camera, not having the action button (if it turns out to be worthy of having), or not having the AOD, I'll be sorry.

Thanks for the input, and for tolerating another of my annual indecisiveness posts. Maybe next year there won't be one. ;-p

The fact that you can get a new phone annually should tell you to count your blessings. Getting a new iPhone used to mean dropping a few hundred dollars.... now it is like $1000. Unless you've worked one of those annual upgrade plans into your monthly budget.

I thought I got a steal last year trading in my 11 Pro Max for $1000 in billing credits with AT&T, making the 14 Pro Max only $200 over 36 months with bill credits. They are offering the same for 11 Pro Max trade-in this year (and I assumed you would have to trade-in a 12 Pro max to get that offer this year). But, since I upgraded last year it would cost me to payoff the 14 Pro Max for like $800, trade it in for $1000, and then pay $200 over 36 months.... So it would be a $1000 upgrade this year (before AppleCare+). Last year's steal of a deal is this year's hefty price tag. I guess what AT&T is really paying me for is 3 more years of continued service since the bill credits cease if you pay off the phone.

 

[kp98077]

I would get the plus, it's about the same as the 14 Pro (same chip, same camera) and it has a better battery and is lighter. Also, you save money. Unless you really want the new camera, or you really are pushing your phone's chip, the Plus is better for you.

Now there’s some common sense

 

[nutmac]

You need to weight whether spending $300 more for iPhone 15 Pro Max (over iPhone 15 Plus) is worth getting these:

• Always-On, ProMotion display
• Action button
• 10-20% faster performance (A17 Pro vs A16 Bionic)
• 5x telephoto camera reach vs 2x
• Next generation image stabilizer
• Night mode portraits, macro photography, ProRAW
• ProRes video, log video, Academy Color Encoding System, macro video recording
• Up to 29 hours vs 20 hours battery life
• USB 3 (10 Gbps) vs USB 2 (480 Mbps) data transfer speed
• 256GB base storage vs 128GB
• Smaller overall dimension
• Thread network
• LiDAR scanner

 

[ssledoux]

The fact that you can get a new phone annually should tell you to count your blessings. Getting a new iPhone used to mean dropping a few hundred dollars.... now it is like $1000. Unless you've worked one of those annual upgrade plans into your monthly budget.

I thought I got a steal last year trading in my 11 Pro Max for $1000 in billing credits with AT&T, making the 14 Pro Max only $200 over 36 months with bill credits. They are offering the same for 11 Pro Max trade-in this year (and I assumed you would have to trade-in a 12 Pro max to get that offer this year). But, since I upgraded last year it would cost me to payoff the 14 Pro Max for like $800, trade it in for $1000, and then pay $200 over 36 months.... So it would be a $1000 upgrade this year (before AppleCare+). Last year's steal of a deal is this year's hefty price tag. I guess what AT&T is really paying me for is 3 more years of continued service since the bill credits cease if you pay off the phone.

Well I pretty much always have a payment for my phone. I buy them through ATT because we probably won’t ever leave ATT. We are in a rural area and no other service is worth having (and ATT isn’t great). Usually I sell last year’s phone for whatever it’ll cost me to pay it off, and then upgrade to the next one. There’s a $6/month difference in the Plus vs the Pro Max.

 

[MrAverigeUser]

You will absolutely hate going from the 120 Hz Pro Motion display to the 60 Hz display of the Plus. All other factors aside, this will be jarring. I wouldn't recommend it. I would go to the store and look at the displays of the current non-Pro phones and see if it bothers you. If it doesn't, then maybe the Plus will be okay.

There exists a Thread about the 14Plus and some people witched from the MaxPro zo the Plus..
ALL of them said they did not notice ANY difference between the 120 f/sec screen snd the 60 f/sec screen of the 14Plus..

All of the 14+ owners praised the long battery time and less weight..

As for me I purchased the 14+ just some days ago - prices were already south a lot and I want just a good and large OLED screen (It has it) , a high-perfirmance battery (it has it), good camera (it has it) and 512 GB (it has it)

Even after just some days I love the plus model a lot

 

[Lakersfan74]

Basically todays pro max is tomorrows regular iphone 16.
Decide if you want iphone 15 or 16 in a nutshell.

Not really. The standard 16 will not have 8GB of ram like the current pro unless Apple increases it. The pro models will have the better USB-C speed, 120hz versus 60hz display, newest chip rather than leftovers from the previous year and the better camera because of three cameras system versus two. Standard models will never catch up to the pros Apple won’t jeopardize Pro sales by doing that

 

[slplss]

I just DONT believe the max will be significantly lighter -

I just checked on Apple website, 15 PM will be 5 grams lighter than my 11 PM while having 0,2” larger screen. And right back to matter glass finish. I think I’ll like the PM more than I thought!

 

[Lakersfan74]

You need to weight whether spending $300 more for iPhone 15 Pro Max (over iPhone 15 Plus) is worth getting these:

• Always-On, ProMotion display
• Action button
• 10-20% faster performance (A17 Pro vs A16 Bionic)
• 5x telephoto camera reach vs 2x
• Next generation image stabilizer
• Night mode portraits, macro photography, ProRAW
• ProRes video, log video, Academy Color Encoding System, macro video recording
• Up to 29 hours vs 20 hours battery life
• USB 3 (10 Gbps) vs USB 2 (480 Mbps) data transfer speed
• 256GB base storage vs 128GB
• Smaller overall dimension
• Thread network
• LiDAR scanner

Titanium frame

Is Wi-Fi 6E only on the Pro?

 

[ssledoux]

You need to weight whether spending $300 more for iPhone 15 Pro Max (over iPhone 15 Plus) is worth getting these:

• Always-On, ProMotion display
• Action button
• 10-20% faster performance (A17 Pro vs A16 Bionic)
• 5x telephoto camera reach vs 2x
• Next generation image stabilizer
• Night mode portraits, macro photography, ProRAW
• ProRes video, log video, Academy Color Encoding System, macro video recording
• Up to 29 hours vs 20 hours battery life
• USB 3 (10 Gbps) vs USB 2 (480 Mbps) data transfer speed
• 256GB base storage vs 128GB
• Smaller overall dimension
• Thread network
• LiDAR scanner

Just to clarify - the 15 plus is showing 26 hours of battery life, not 20

 

[OrenLindsey]

Is Wi-Fi 6E only on the Pro?

Yes, only on pro models

 

[kp98077]

I just checked on Apple website, 15 PM will be 5 grams lighter than my 11 PM while having 0,2” larger screen. And right back to matter glass finish. I think I’ll like the PM more than I thought!

oh wow! Maybe me too..

 

[kp98077]

Just to clarify - the 15 plus is showing 26 hours of battery life, not 20

yes its going to be lot with no AO!