Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max review: A pro-grade phone set to get better with AI

The iPhone 16 Pro Max represents the best of Apple. As the top-tier model in the iPhone 16 series, it builds on the successes of its predecessors while bringing noteworthy enhancements. With a larger display, titanium frame, and a versatile camera system, this phone is a powerhouse designed for both professionals and casual users alike. While its full potential is expected to be unlocked with iOS 18.1's Apple Intelligence later this month, the iPhone 16 Pro Max already stands as a formidable device.

Design

The iPhone 16 Pro Max continues Apple's tradition of design evolution rather than revolution. Similar to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it features a titanium frame with contoured edges for enhanced comfort. However, this year brings a new colour option, Desert Titanium, which blends the aesthetics of gold with the dusky tones of sand, delivering a unique finish. Despite the design refinements, the iPhone 16 Pro Max remains tall, heavy, and bulky—traits that users looking for a more compact device might find cumbersome. For such users, the standard Pro model offers a smaller form factor with a smaller battery and display.

 

Durability remains central to Apple's design ethos. The Ceramic Shield glass on the front and back is now 50 per cent tougher than before, providing enhanced drop protection but does not extend to scratch resistance. The phone is also IP68 rated, ensuring resistance against dust and water.

Display and Audio

Apple has slightly increased the display size in the iPhone 16 Pro Max to 6.9-inch from the previous 6.7 inches, making it the largest display on an iPhone yet. Despite the larger display, the phone's dimensions have only marginally increased, thanks to Apple shrinking the bezels to a record-thin size. The result is a screen that is not only bigger but also brighter, more vivid, and highly responsive.

The display shines with excellent sunlight legibility, and True Tone technology ensures real-time colour adjustments based on ambient lighting. In darker settings, the display dims to deliver a comfortable viewing experience. Additionally, it supports an always-on mode, a feature that remains absent in the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus models.

The audio complements the display, providing a rich, immersive experience. The speakers are loud, clear, and deliver a good amount of depth, making media consumption enjoyable.

Camera

As expected from Apple's flagship models, the iPhone 16 Pro Max excels in the camera department. The triple-camera system features a 48MP main sensor with sensor-shift optical image stabilisation, a 48MP ultra-wide sensor with autofocus, and a 12MP telephoto sensor with 5x zoom. The front camera is a 12MP unit with autofocus.

By default, the main camera captures 24MP stills, and users have the flexibility to choose between 24mm (1x), 28mm (1.2x), and 35mm (1.5x) focal lengths. The phone compensates for the lack of a dedicated 2x telephoto lens by cropping the 48MP sensor to deliver optical-quality 2x zoom, especially useful for portraits. However, the quality of 2x zoom images is not as consistent under artificial lighting, where some loss of detail may be noticeable. That said, the main sensor is versatile, offering zero shutter lag even at its native 48MP resolution for ProRAW and HEIF captures.

The ultra-wide sensor delivers comparable performance in terms of colour accuracy and dynamic range, and it doubles as a macro camera for close-up shots. Thanks to ProRAW support, macro shots can now deliver even more detail, enhancing post-processing flexibility. The telephoto sensor, with its 5x optical zoom and OIS, excels at stabilising distant objects, especially in video mode.

Video recording capabilities are another strength of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. All cameras support 4K resolution at 60fps in Dolby Vision, with the main camera also offering 120fps recording. One of the standout features is the ability to adjust playback speed for videos shot in 4K at 120fps, which can be slowed down to 60fps, 30fps, or even 24fps with no processing delay.

Apple has also improved audio capture by introducing spatial audio recording by default and upgrading the microphones to reduce wind noise. For users looking to fine-tune their audio tracks, the new Audio Mix tool offers four modes: Standard, In-Frame, Studio, and Cinematic.

Performance

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is powered by Apple’s A18 Pro chip, a system-in-package (SiP) that merges high performance with energy efficiency. Routine tasks are handled smoothly, and even intensive workloads like 4K video recording or editing large batches of images are managed effortlessly.

For gaming, the inclusion of hardware-accelerated ray tracing is a noteworthy addition, allowing games like Resident Evil 4 and Assassin’s Creed Mirage to deliver good graphics performance on a mobile platform. More on the gaming performance can be read here.

Software

The iPhone 16 Pro Max ships with iOS 18 out of the box, but its potential will fully materialise with the release of iOS 18.1 and Apple Intelligence. Apple Intelligence will leverage machine learning to improve experience across board. While these features are yet to roll out, the phone already offers glimpses of what’s to come. For example, the Voice Memos app can now generate transcripts, though it currently struggles with accents such as Indian English.

India-specific software features also get a boost with iOS 18, which now supports additional languages and numeral systems. Voice call transcription in Indian English is another highlight, making the iPhone more accessible to Indian users.

Battery and Charging

The iPhone 16 Pro Max delivers an all-day battery life under moderate use, but intensive tasks can drain the battery faster. The phone supports fast wired and wireless charging—up to 25W for wireless via Qi2—and comes with a braided USB-C cable for both data transfer and charging. Thanks to USB-C 3.0 support, the phone can transfer data at speeds up to 10Gbps and even record videos directly to external storage devices.

Verdict

Starting at Rs 144,900, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a powerhouse packed with pro-grade features. With Apple Intelligence on the horizon, the device is set to get even better, offering enhanced AI capabilities. There is hardly an area where the iPhone 16 Pro Max falls short, whether it is the display, performance, or camera system.

However, its focus on professional features like advanced video editing, spatial audio, and console-grade gaming might make it more appealing to creators and professionals rather than everyday users. If you are willing to wait for the AI update and find these features useful, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is an excellent choice. Otherwise, the last generation model is still a worthy option.