Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Review: Four Months With the iPhone 16 Pro Max
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Exactly. The most recent Apple innovation was in 2007 when the iPhone was released.
If the differences between regular and pro iPhones don’t matter to you, then great! You get to save some money!
I get that ProMotion and an extra GPU core are not worth that much, but the better cameras and LiDAR Scanner will make a difference to my job!
I know that many people are dissatisfied because smartphones are plateauing, and the only big splashy upgrades are terrible gimmicks, but I’m ok with that. None of those gimmicks appeal to me.
I don’t want a better, more conversational Siri. I don’t use Siri, so making it better is irrelevant to me. I don’t want stupid AI chatbots! As LLMs improve, use them to make better tools, like the proofreader in Apple Intelligence! I don’t want to fold my phone in half, though that has appeal to some.
All these devices are hideously expensive too. So, since I tend to keep my iPhones 5 years or so, I am satisfied with Apples method of incremental improvement. I’m not comparing a 15 to a 16. I compared an 8 Plus to a 14, and I’ll compare my 14 to a 19/19 Pro.
long-time iPhone user here (been on IUP from the start). i’ve completely disabled my camera control button.
I found that while setting my phone onto the charger, I would often hold it in a way where I hit camera control, so the camera app would open. so, I changed the setting to require double-click.
But then, I found myself accidentally changing modes/exposure settings/etc all the time while taking a photo (holding camera landscape)
I guess I was holding it wrong
Anyway, after fully disabling the button (in Accessibility settings), it no longer gets in my way. It’s just a dead button, nowBut there is still the swipe for camera gesture which can’t be turned off.
No the button is not a flop. The button is very useful, but many naive folks just learned previously to tap the display (an absolutely awful UI from a photography standpoint) and fail to grasp the improved choice the camera button represents.
Why? Is there some reason you are incapable of ignoring it ?? Some of us photogs find it very useful. Certainly the available choice is a big improvement in camera UI. Those who choose to stick with the older UI can do so; I use both UI constantly, depending on the situation.
My iPhone 16 Pro experiences more lag, stutters, app glitches than the last few have.
I don’t know if it’s a memory issue with Apple intelligence or just crappy software but it just feels laggy..
I don’t know if it’s a memory issue with Apple intelligence or just crappy software but it just feels laggy..
I quite like my 16 Pro. My previous iPhone was a Max. The smaller Pro is better for pocketing.
Genmoji and Image Playground are kind of boring. It is too safe. I should be able to type anything, use anything. Instead it's too much like I'm inputing words for a template.
Visual Intelligence is cool.
Clean Up is annoying to use. It should load/download in the background, not when I choose to use it. It still sucks to remove text.
If my iPhone is tracking me in the background why can't I see it, for example, in Maps. See where I've been, how long I stayed there, what I did on my iPhone when I was at that location. See the whole day mapped-out in Maps. Show where I walked and then changed to car or public transportation...
I like the camera button for setting-up a shot. Using the button seems to be better when my iPhone is in the clear MagSafe Apple case.
Genmoji and Image Playground are kind of boring. It is too safe. I should be able to type anything, use anything. Instead it's too much like I'm inputing words for a template.
Visual Intelligence is cool.
Clean Up is annoying to use. It should load/download in the background, not when I choose to use it. It still sucks to remove text.
If my iPhone is tracking me in the background why can't I see it, for example, in Maps. See where I've been, how long I stayed there, what I did on my iPhone when I was at that location. See the whole day mapped-out in Maps. Show where I walked and then changed to car or public transportation...
I like the camera button for setting-up a shot. Using the button seems to be better when my iPhone is in the clear MagSafe Apple case.
Last edited:
I agree. I thought the camera button was going to be useless, but I use it multiple times a day now to get the camera quickly.
I try to do it every so often at events because I figure at some point there will be a great way to display it whether with an improved AVP, some type of projection, or holography.What? Nothing about recording videos for the Vision Pro? Wondering how many times people use this feature?
first time ever upgrading year over year (on a family carrier plan that offers great trade in deals so might as well take advantage). 15PM -> 16PM
Love the increase in battery life. Still not as great as when I had the 13PM but an improvement nevertheless.
Also love how much cooler the phone runs. I do some basic stuff on my 15PM and it gets lightly warm. More advanced and it's super hot that I become concerned. Never have that on the 16PM other than using image playground nonstop where the phone will warm up significantly..
One downside is that im not the biggest fan of the desert titanium color. Looking back, I think id rather go with natural titanium or black.
Love the increase in battery life. Still not as great as when I had the 13PM but an improvement nevertheless.
Also love how much cooler the phone runs. I do some basic stuff on my 15PM and it gets lightly warm. More advanced and it's super hot that I become concerned. Never have that on the 16PM other than using image playground nonstop where the phone will warm up significantly..
One downside is that im not the biggest fan of the desert titanium color. Looking back, I think id rather go with natural titanium or black.
The Apple road map calendar is not working anymore … since the introduction of the IPhone 11 its the same keynote over and over again … Better performances, better camera better battery better screen and that’s about it Apple intelligence is showing the true issues with Apple now It’s sooo uninteresting compared to Chat GPT … So for now I keep my iPhone 13 Pro and my iPad Pro M2. Might switch my Mac Mini to a Mac Mini M4 though … Come on Apple don’t you have misfits and dreamers anymore ? It’s time for the board to get rid of Tim …
There is indeed, but the beauty of the dedicated button is that it encourages you to be already be holding the phone in whatever orientation you want, and then your finger is already in the exact same place to take a picture. Imagine if you’d had a touchscreen point-and-click back in the day that required a swipe on the screen and then moving your finger to a fairly small target area to actually take a picture… oops, too late, moment has passed. Acceptable in planned situations but unhelpful in others.
I have both 15 and 16 pro max in black 1TB. The 16pm is blacker, the screen is wider higher resolution I don’t have to zoom into videos anymore and everything looks crisp! Well worth the upgrade! Enabling 48mp in camera settings is cumbersome and confusing have to enable some heif crap or something and I’m not a photographer so don’t really care too much. It’s perfect media consumption device finally the pro max feels PRO MAX. With the wider bigger screen and higher resolution. Battery life is 2-3 hours better than my 15pm I always have full brightness on.
Edit: ai is useless and dumb rn same with the camera button. They need to make camera button like the action button let us assign custom actions to it not related to camera and make it do it instantly with screen off.
Edit: ai is useless and dumb rn same with the camera button. They need to make camera button like the action button let us assign custom actions to it not related to camera and make it do it instantly with screen off.
Absolutely hate this phone.
The touch issues my screen has developed have just gotten worse and worse over time.
I feel like I’m pressing the screen instead of touching it to get simple commands. Today I couldn’t even launch the calculator from the control center. I’m just sitting over here like stabbing the screen with my finger.
I’m so disappointed in my device. And yes. I have no screen protector. I 100% hate this phone.
To think I gave up my 14PM for this crap. Just don’t. Don’t do it people. There is something wrong with a batch of these or the way they were made.. stay away from this model. This phone is awful.
The touch issues my screen has developed have just gotten worse and worse over time.
I feel like I’m pressing the screen instead of touching it to get simple commands. Today I couldn’t even launch the calculator from the control center. I’m just sitting over here like stabbing the screen with my finger.
I’m so disappointed in my device. And yes. I have no screen protector. I 100% hate this phone.
To think I gave up my 14PM for this crap. Just don’t. Don’t do it people. There is something wrong with a batch of these or the way they were made.. stay away from this model. This phone is awful.
Last edited:
Keep your 15PM. Had I not needed to replace my previous phone, I would have skipped the 16PM. iOS 18.x is a complete mess with bugs everywhere, and if you can believe it, it is even worse on the 16PM.
Apple has taken its eye off the ball with terrible quality control. Stop the hybrid work schedule where employees can work up to 2 days a week at home. That experiment is a complete failure.