I’ve been using the iPhone 13 Pro Max as my daily phone for three weeks now, in this review I’ll go over the specs, real life usage, the cameras, my personal experience and the final verdict, should you buy the iPhone 13 Pro Max?
First impressions...
This phone is a monster, its huge and very heavy, even heavier than the 12 Pro Max. But this is made up in the form of battery life, as the battery is physically bigger this year, which we will get on to later in this review and you do get used to it over time, after a few days I didn’t even think about it. My first thought when I initially took the phone out of the box was wow, this really is premium. I’m not sure whether this was because its heavier, thicker or the silver colour I picked, but Apple did a really good job at making the Pro series feel really premium this year. I also noticed right away how big the new camera system was compared to my iPhone 12 Pro, its huge, but again this definitely pays off in features and quality which I shall discuss later.
The specs…
I don’t usually talk about specs but here is a quick overview of what the iPhone 13 Pro Max has to offer. It has a 6.7” XDR display with 1000 nits of brightness and promotion, promotion allows the screen to refresh from 10 times a second all the way to 120 a second, compared to the 60 times on every other iPhone. It has the A15 bionic ship set with a 5 core GPU, compared to the usual 4 which should help with activities such as gaming. The 13 Pro Max has 3 cameras and a LiDAR sensor just like last year but this year the sensors are a lot bigger and we now have a 3X telephoto zoom compared to 2X on the XS Max/11 Pro Max and 2.5X on the 12 Pro Max, which means you also get 15X digital zoom compared to 10X and 12X respectively. There is also a new mode on this years pro phone called macro mode which allows you to get super detailed close up shots using the ultra wide lens, the phone automatically switches across to macro mode when you get close up to an object. There are also bigger batteries in this years phones and a new notch as the earpiece has moved up into the top of the phone (the notch is the small dip at the top of your phone) which is a welcome upgrade. There are other improvements with the 13 Pro Max but that’s a small overview of what it has to offer, now its time to dive a little deeper…
Battery life…
Battery life is incredible. After full day of heavy usage this phone is still on 35-45% of battery left which is just amazing, my 12 Pro, I would have to charge up again around 5PM at night while this is at 50% of battery left which is crazy to think about.
If you’re buying this phone for good battery life then you’re not going to be disappointed by the performance of this phone at all. In one of my tests, even with 5G (not all day) on and devices constantly connected to my phone I was still able to get 8 hours screen on time, and 3 hours screen off time, out of my phone and it still had 15% left. I honestly don’t know what else to say about the battery other than WOW.
The screen…
The screen sizes are the same as last year but this year there are 3 key changes to the screen:
The smaller notch
Promotion
1000 nits of brightness, 1200 peak
First of all, the smaller notch, this isn’t really a make or break situation, I honestly didn’t really care about the notch on my iPhone 12 Pro but it is most certainly a welcome change! It is 20% smaller than last year allowing you to view more content on your phone at one time, so basically when you’re watching a video in full screen it won’t cut into your content as much as the old one did.
Secondly, the promotion display, which has been available on the iPad Pro since 2017, is stunning. A promotion display allows the display to refresh up to 120 times per second when doing activities such as scrolling, and all the way down to 10 times per second when the phone is showing a static image, this really helps battery life and makes actions like scrolling super smooth and responsive, which is an awesome feature which I also love on my iPad Pro 2020. This feature entices your experience by making the OS buttery smooth to navigate through.
Thirdly, the new brightness level, is insane. I’ve used this phone in direct sunlight and I have not once thought that the screen should be brighter. I’m blown away by the 1000 nits, everything is still readable in direct sunlight, which I could not say about previous generation iPhones, they were close, but the 13 Pro Max has the perfect brightness level.
Other differences…
There are a few other differences I’ve noticed with this years iPhones, including increased weight, less heat and they are ever so slightly thicker to accommodate for the bigger battery. You can only notice the increase in thickness if you place the 13 next to the 12, in which case you can see it is ever so slightly thicker. The iPhone 12 Pro, I found to be really fast and powerful, but it did suffer from a few heat issues especially when charging on MagSafe which my 13 Pro Max does not suffer from nearly as much as the 12 did. The weight is very noticeable at first but while carrying my phone last night I realised that it’s something you just get used to.
Should you upgrade from…
iPhone X or older
Personally, I would say if you have an iPhone X or older then this is the perfect year for you to upgrade, especially if you have low battery health on your phone. If you were already considering upgrading then I would go for it, there are so many differences, even coming from an iPhone X, especially in the camera, performance and battery departments.
iPhone XR
The iPhone XR was just discontinued by Apple, so is it time to upgrade? I would say that if you only just bought it last year then absolutely not as you have not had it that long and the battery should still be in good health, but if you purchased the iPhone XR say 3 years ago then I would say go for it! You will get an OLED display and amazing battery life upgrades, which are worth it alone, you will also see a huge leap in camera quality which is great if your phone is your primary camera.
iPhone XS/XS Max
I would say that if you were thinking of upgrading then go for it, although your phone is still more than usable, there are plenty of new features on the 13, you may also be able to get a good trade in value for your current phone making your upgrade even cheaper. But if your happy with your phone then you could replace the battery if you have low Heath and just wait and see what next year brings.
iPhone 11
The iPhone 11 is still actually sold by Apple an by no means is this an old, or slow phone, so I’m going to say that if you have one and your happy with it, then its not worth the upgrade but if you do want more battery life or an OLED screen, or even a bigger screen then the 13 Pro Max would be a huge jump in those areas, and because Apple still sell this phone, the trade in value of the phone should be pretty good!
iPhone 11 Pro/11 Pro Max
The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro max are Apple’s last flagship phones not to feature the new flat edge design and the screen sizes of 5.8” and 6.5”, and they are still really good phones. If your on a 2 year contract and really want to upgrade this year, then go ahead there are plenty of benefits going to the 13 but if your not bothered then it is probably worth waiting as your phone is not old and from what I remember, the battery life on the 11 Pro Max was insane, you also already have a triple camera system and an OLED screen so there are not going to be as many upgrades compared to coming from an older iPhone like the iPhone 7 for example.
iPhone SE (2nd generation)
Now this is a tough one as this phone hasn’t been out for very long and it is targeted at people who want a fast, reliable phone but are not bothered about having the latest and greatest, and don’t want to spend 1K on a phone, so I’m going to say that you should more likely consider an iPhone 12 or 12 mini or wait for Apple to release another budget iPhone, or you could try and get an iPhone 12 Pro Max from Apple refurbished for a good price.
iPhone 12 mini/12/12 Pro/12 Pro Max
If you have the iPhone 12 then it is very unlikely that you are considering an upgrade to the iPhone 13 but there is two kinds of people who may consider it. First is the people that want the best phone that they can get, with the latest camera upgrades, and the latest features such as promotion, if you do do this then you should definitely get very good trade in on your current iPhone. The second type of person that may want to upgrade is an iPhone mini user, if you had the 12 mini and loved everything except the battery life then it may be worth considering the upgrade so that you can get the best battery life, but only do this if you can get an amazing trade in deal and not have to pay too much for the upgrade.
Other
If you’re on an android phone and you want to make the jump to iOS, then the iPhone 13 Pro Max is a strong choice, it has so many refinements over the 12 such as the promotion display. Basically if you want the biggest, best iPhone to switch to iOS with then the 13 Pro Max is a solid choice with the all powerful A15 bionic and the new features such as promotion, and new camera features! But again, if you want the big phone and your not bothered about this years upgrades then you could look out for the iPhone 12 Pro Max on Apple’s refurbished website.
The camera in action…
This years camera system is crazy, especially on the pro series iPhones. I used to take a lot of photos on my iPhone 12 Pro as my phone is my primary camera, and by no means was that a bad camera, in fact it was a great camera and I honestly didn’t think that we would get many improvements this year but WOW the iPhone 13 Pro Max camera has amazed me. Now, you can change the photographic style of your photos, personally I’ve set it to vibrant as that’s how I like my photos to look. Another cool new feature is the macro mode which has to be one of my favourites, I’ve used this feature like crazy and had so much fun with it, and the results have been outstanding. I’m also happy that we now have a 3X telephoto zoom on the Pro iPhones rather than last years 2X on the Pro and 2.5X on the Pro Max, it does not sound like much but when taking photos it definitely makes a difference. Feel free to head free to head over to my Instagram to check out some sample shots on my highlights!
Conclusion…
The iPhone 13 Pro Max really is the best, most refined smartphone experience ever. The battery life could take a lot of users through two days of usage, the cameras are absolutely outstanding, the screen is super bright and smooth, all of these features paired with iOS 15 makes for the most reliable and refined experience a smartphone can offer. Yes, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is still a great phone, and if you own one of them, then the 13 Pro Max is probably not the phone for you. But for me, this is the best experience I’ve ever had with a smartphone and its definitely the easiest to recommend for me and would be a huge upgrade for someone with an older iPhone as mentioned before. I am still shocked at the camera quality of this phone, its just outstanding and I can’t wait to take even more photos with it, as it’s a pleasure to use. I know that I’ve said it many times, but the battery life on this thing is insane, I’m usually between 40 and 50 percent by the end of the day with heavy usage. So the answer is yes, the iPhone 13 Pro Max really is the ultimate smartphone and you should definitely consider picking one up, it is for sure worth the high price tag as it offers an experience you simply can’t get else where. Thanks so much for reading this review, I hope it helped you make your decision, if you want even more content from me then head over to Instagram and give me a follow over there, but for now, bye!
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