iPhone 13 Pro Max Review: Bigger Screen, Better Battery Life, Best Camera

You’ve probably seen it in the hands of most celebrities lately. The three lenses at the back have become an iconic identifier of the iPhone 12 Pro Max and now the newest iPhone 13. 

The best part about the iPhone 12 and 13? They’re both great phones and you’ll definitely feel an upgrade when you buy either of them. If you’re trading your iPhone 12 for the iPhone 13 Pro Max, you’ll experience several differences. 

Here’s our recap on exactly those differences. 

iPhone 13 Pro Max: What are the upgrades? 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max is basically a bigger version of the iPhone 13 but with a couple of immediately noticeable differences. 

The screen size: The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a 6.70" Super Retina XDR OLED screen, bigger than the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12. This does make the phone less comfortable to hold in size and weight. But most of us are used to big phones by now, so that’s fine. 

The battery life: Tested by teams from various tech publications, the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s battery last an average of four hours more. 

This is good news for people who love gaming, filming and/or streaming and have accepted the fact that they also need to tote portable power banks along with their phones. 

The iPhone 13 Pro and the Pro Max are identical in tech and features. All you have to consider in your choice is if you need or want a bigger screen and a longer-lasting battery. If yes, lean toward Pro Max. 

Amazing battery life

The iPhone 13 Pro Max’s new, bigger battery is a powerful boss beast you can’t easily knock out. Apple says it lasts 2.5 hours longer than the iPhone 12 Pro Max. It’s definitely bigger: it’s 18.5% larger. That puts it a bit more than one-third the size of the Macbook Air’s battery. 

Macbook Air has nearly 50 hours of battery life. On a phone, that’s impressive. 

This trade-off to iPhones on the side of big and thick with better batteries is a good decision on Apple’s part. There’s room for all the tech and lenses without compromising on the battery. The iPhone 13 Pro Max’s battery is a tiny bit bigger than the Nintendo Switch’s, and if you’re a gamer, you know how much endurance that means. 

Reviews have come in from users filming in 4k, using max brightness, with more than 7 hours of very heavy screen time, and not seeing a low battery alert all day and all night. The phone lasts until the second day without charge. 

That’s convenient on a busy day or a long drive or flight when you don’t have to plug in at all until you arrive, if even then.  

You can definitely step out of the house without battery anxiety, wondering if you’d charged your phone and your power bank. 

The A15 bionic processor is speedy and adds to the efficiency of the phone and its already powerful battery life. 

Fantastic low-light camera

As we said above, it’s just a question of bigger screen and longer battery life if you’re deciding between the iPhone 13 and the Pro Max. The processors and the cameras are identical, although the Pro Max delivers sharper photos once you zoom in on details.  

But if you’re upgrading from last year’s iPhone or even older, the iPhone 13 camera will wow you with its splendid clarity and color accuracy. 

In bright light, pretty much most cameras can work at their best. But in low light, the iPhone 13 is frankly magnificent, capturing more details and with even better color reproduction in evening or darker settings when compared with the iPhone 12 Pro Max. 

It’s about the lenses and AI process shadows and highlights. iPhone 13 captures both without attempting to light up the shadows. The result is a subtly sharper photo, with less noise and more accuracy in exposure, tone, and colors.

On your phone screen, you might not notice the difference, but once you pixel peep, the details in the Pro Max can amaze you. It’s currently the best in the market for capturing the best low light photos. 

And speaking of pixel peep, the camera now has an autofocus feature that automatically switches to macro at 10cm distance from your subject. 

On video, you can shoot “ProRes” videos on the Pro Max, and the video quality is beautiful, thanks to the sensor-based stability giving you gorgeous footage in whatever light level you’re working with. You also get Cinematic Mode, a new camera mode. Cinematic Mode is like Portrait Mode for video. 

“Picture Profiles” is a new mode in the camera, which is like adding your trademark look to the way your iPhone 13 Pro Max shoots photos. You can toggle it on and off. You can select one and all your photos can have that distinct brightness, coolness, warmth or pop of color as you shoot, instead of applying a filter afterward. 

Essentially, you might no longer have to edit to add your brand or theme to your photos. They’ll all have this unified look. Instagram-ready! 

That’s our recap about the iPhone 13 Pro Max: the best battery, and as of this writing, the best camera system you can get in smartphones.

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