By now you’re all across the fact that Apple has released a new range of phones, and while we’ve reviewed both the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the iPhone 15 Plus, we haven’t really done a side-by-side comparison of the two phones. One is for more pro users, and the other is still a shiny new handset, it’s just a little lighter on the wallet, but they’re otherwise the same phone….right?
In a similar vein to the way we compared the iPhone 14 Pro Max to the iPhone 14 Plus, the Apple iPhone 14 to the Google Pixel 7, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max to the Pixel 7 Pro, in this article we’ll compare this year’s Pro Max to the Plus.
Which is better iPhone 15 Pro Max or iPhone 15 Plus?
While we’re going to run through everything from iPhone cost to camera, and looks to differences, it must be said that the 15 and 15 Plus are for a completely different user than the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. While the more budget-friendly iPhone 5G SE exists, the 15 is the entry-level phone, and the 15 Plus allows those who don’t care for a ridiculous camera system to have a larger screen for larger text/watching videos a little easier. The Pro gives an exceptional camera system at a cheaper price and the Pro Max allows those who need the camera system and also want the larger screen to have the best of both worlds. The reason for having four seems to be there’s a phone for everyone – except those who want the Mini back.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus: Price
The iPhone 15 Plus comes in three different storage configs: 128GB, 256GB and 512GB. The iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at 256GB and goes to 1TB. The below is pricing as per Apple’s website.
- iPhone 15 Plus 128GB: $1,649
- iPhone 15 Plus 256GB: $1,849
- iPhone 15 Plus 512GB: $2,199
- iPhone 15 Pro Max 256GB: $2,199
- iPhone 15 Pro Max 512GB: $2,549
- iPhone 15 Pro Max 1TB $2,899.
The cheapest 15 Plus is $550 cheaper than the cheapest 15 Pro Max. Before we consider the extra stuff you get, the fact it’s another week’s rent needs to be addressed. So, on pricing alone, the Plus has it.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus: The iPhone 15 Plus is cheaper.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus: Look & feel
The 15 Plus is aluminium and has a colour-infused glass back. The Pro Max, meanwhile, is titanium with a textured matt glass back. Both have a ceramic shield front. The 15 Plus has a more softer edge, but the Pro Max feels a lot more premium – like I could drop it on concrete and we’d be fine (I will not be testing this, though). The colour range for the 15 Plus is also a bit more softer than the Pro range. While it comes in black, the other colours (blue, green, yellow, pink) are more light and the powdered/muted hues (you may call this ‘baby colours’) give the illusion of softness and lightness, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro series chuck the word ‘titanium’ into the colour names, to reiterate the phone has balls, I assume. You get black, white, blue, and ‘natural’ which is a brown shade. The colours look less ‘fun’ and more ‘serious’ and that’s exactly what you get.
Both screen sizes are 6.7-inches, but the dimensions differ ever so slightly. The Plus is 160.9 mm x 77.8 mm x 7.8 mm and the Pro Max is 159.9 mm x 76.7 mm x 8.25 mm. Both have USB-C.
With the phones unlocked, face-on they look exactly the same. They both now have Dynamic Island and iOS 17 renders the same on both. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has an Always on Display, while the 15 Plus does not. The 15 Plus also doesn’t have an Action Button, rather it keeps the silent ‘on and off’ toggle that we’ve had for many a year now.
Phone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus: The iPhone 15 Plus wins for colour choice but the Pro Max wins when we talk “premium” feels as well as the Action Button and Always On.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus: The guts
With both phones, you’ll get an OLED screen, Super Retina XDR display, True Tone and 5G, but the guts differ drastically. The Plus uses Apple’s A16 Bionic chip (was in the 14 Pro/Pro Max), while the 15 Pro Max packs the A17 Pro. The A17 chip is reportedly the industry’s first 3nm chip. It boats 19 billion transistors, 6-core CPU, 6-core GPU, and 10 per cent faster performance cores. Neural engine is now up to twice as fast (16-core), allowing up to 35 trillion operations per second. You probably won’t notice a lag when comparing both phones, but the capabilities of the 15 Pro Max will impress you.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus: The iPhone 15 Pro Max, no argument.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus: Battery
Every time we review something with a screen, we conduct our famous (it’s not actually famous) simple battery test. At 100 per cent, we stream all three hours of Avengers: Endgame from Disney+ over Wi-Fi at full volume, full brightness, top quality stream. After the first hour, the 15 Pro Max had 92 per cent, the 15 Plus had 93 per cent. At hour two, the Pro Max was at 79 per cent and the Plus at 80 per cent. As the credits were winding up, the iPhone 15 Pro Max had 67 per cent battery remaining and the Plus had 66 per cent.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus: They’ve both got good battery life, it seems pointless giving the Pro Max another win here.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus: The camera
The part you all wanted to see.
The iPhone 15 has two physical cameras (48MP main, 12MP ultra-wide), but you get essentially three different camera lengths. You also get a 12MP TrueDepth selfie camera. The Pro Max, meanwhile, Apple is marketing the camera system as essentially seven cameras, even though it’s just three physical cameras. 0.5x ultrawide (Macro), 0.5x ultrawide (13mm), 1x main (24mm), 1x main (28mm), 1x main (35mm), 2x telephoto (48mm), and 5x telephoto (120mm).
Starting with 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x, then digital zoom 25x, on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The digital zoom shot isn’t great but it’s also not terrible. You wouldn’t make a habit of it but it serves a purpose.
The camera range on the Plus obviously isn’t as good, but it still holds up. This is 0.5x, 1x, 2, and 10x digital zoom.
The detail and colouring on the original photos is much better on the Pro Max, just remember these are transferred to my laptop from the phones, then uploaded to Canva, then downloaded, then uploaded into Gizmodo Australia’s article-writing software – they look much better at the source.
Standard shot, side-by-side (Pro Max left, Plus right) – my first thought was “did I screw this up? surely the Pro Max is on the right”, then I realised the colour outside was, in fact, how it’s presented in the shot on the left. The Plus added colour that wasn’t there. I still prefer the right shot.
Then, selfie mode (thanks again, Lachy).
And portrait mode with my model Jonesy stepping in once again with his cuteness. The colours are true to life in the left shot (Pro Max) and it gives a more 3D feel than in the Plus.
Lastly, Macro shots. It’s a no-brainer here. If Macro is your jam, you shouldn’t get the iPhone 15 Plus.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus: Hands down, the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The 15 Plus isn’t terrible, except when taking macro/zoom shots, but the shots this thing takes are gorgeous.
The verdict
As I said at the start, there are four different users Apple is targeting this year. If you take a lot of photos/videos, need the bigger screen, and/or just love having the best phone Apple makes, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the phone for you. But, if good (not great) photos are good enough for you, you can’t escape the fact the iPhone 15 Plus is so much cheaper than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. I know you came here for me to convince you that opting for the cheaper iPhone would be no different to splashing the cash on the Pro, but just like I couldn’t last year, this year I still can’t. The camera in the Pro Max is noticeably better, the software, while the same, is faster and more responsive on the 15 Pro Max and the phone very much feels more Pro.
Image: Apple/Gizmodo Australia