With two flagship phone models on the market, it can be hard to decide which one is right for you. The Google Pixel 6 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max are both top-of-the-line options, but there are some key differences between the two. Here’s a look at how they compare.
Price: iPhone 13 Pro Max Vs. Pixel 6 Pro
There’s no doubt about it, Google’s Pixel 6 Pro comes out on top when pitted against the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Not only does it come in at a cool $200 less than Apple’s offering, but it also boasts some pretty impressive specs that give it a real edge. Plus, you get the same 128GB of storage space with the Pixel 6 Pro ($899) as you do with the iPhone 13 Pro Max ($1,099), making it a great choice all around.
The Pixel 6 Pro and the 13 Pro Max both offer 256GB for an extra $100, but the 512GB Pixel 6 Pro is only a $200 markup on the base price; the 512 iPhone 13 Pro Max costs $300 more than the iPhone 13 Pro Max 128GB version. Apple fans can also get a crazy 1TB config for an eye-watering $1,599.
Google Pixel 6 Pro is the winner (Price).
Design: Google Pixel 6 Pro Vs iPhone 13 Pro Max
In terms of design, the new Pixel 6 Pro is a huge departure from the old Pixels. The whole phone looks and feels much more premium, and there’s the new camera bar that spans the width of the phone. The camera patch is no more. The spartan design of the Pixel A series phones may stay or Google may revamp them.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max looks pretty similar to its predecessor, except with a smaller notch and a bigger camera hump. But don’t be fooled, the new iPhone has a lot of hidden features that make it a major upgrade. The squared-off edges on the iPhone 13 Pro Max don’t feel ergonomic, but they’re not a dealbreaker. The phone is wide at 3.1 inches, and the overall design feels safe. Apple didn’t take too many chances with this iteration of its smartphones.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max can stay submerged in water up to 6 meters deep for 30 minutes, while the Pixel is only rated for 1.5 meters.
iPhone 13 Pro Max is the winner (Design).
Display: iPhone 13 Pro Max Vs. Pixel 6 Pro
The Pixel 6 Pro’s 6.7-inch QHD+ OLED display sports a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s 6.7-inch OLED screen only has a 2778 x 1284 resolution. However, the iPhone 13 Pro Max does have a dynamic display that scales up to 120Hz or down to 10Hz.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max’s display is significantly brighter than the Pixel 6 Pro’s, reaching 1,038 nits in our testing. The Pixel 6 Pro only managed 842 nits, which is noticeably dimmer in direct sunlight.
The Pixel 6 Pro did an impressive job of reproducing 104% of the sRGB spectrum, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max managed to get up to 110%. When it comes to the more challenging DCI-P3 colorspace, the Pixel 6 Pro reached 74% while the iPhone 13 Pro Max got a slightly better 77%. However, colors are more accurate on Apple’s phones, with the iPhone 13 Pro Max beating the Pixel 6 Pro with its 0.21 Delta-E score. The Pixel 6 Pro came in at 0.3.
iPhone 13 Pro Max is the winner (Display).
Cameras: Google Pixel 6 Pro Vs iPhone 13 Pro Max
Both the iPhone 13 Pro Max and Pixel 6 Pro rock triple rear cameras. Google’s new 50MP main sensor allows in up to 150% more light than the Pixel 5, giving you brighter, clearer photos. The ultrawide camera on the iPhone has a 12MP sensor and a 4x optical zoom lens, while the Pixel 6 Pro has an 11MP ultrawide front camera and a 3x optical zoom lens.
This is where the two phones’ photography capabilities are most similar. Google and Apple are the leaders in smartphone photography, with their computational photography skills on display here being simply incredible.
The Pixel 6 Pro has a nifty little feature called Magic Eraser. This effectively removes unwanted elements from your photos, like photobombers or superfluous objects. The Pixel will recommend things to remove, or you can select things on your own. The feature’s not perfect, but wow is it amazing. Let’s take a look at how these cameras compare.
Google Pixel 6 Pro is the winner (Cameras).
Performance:
with its A-series processors, Apple has long led the way in smartphone performance. The A15 Bionic chips in the iPhone 13 Pro Max are incredible in benchmarks and tests, and that has remained true this year.
Google made an interesting move this year when it decided to ditch Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 series in favor of its own Tensor system-on-chip. This has opened up many possibilities for AI and machine learning applications on a smartphone. The Pixel 6’s performance is on par with that of the Snapdragon 888, which is used in many of the best Android phones like the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the OnePlus 9 Pro.
The Tensor even puts up a good fight against the A15 Bionic, though Apple still maintains its lead in every regard. For example, in Geekbench 5, Apple’s multicore score was 4,549, while the Pixel 6 Pro’s was 2,760 – quite a bit lower. In the single-core test, Apple scored 1,720, compared to the Pixel 6 Pro’s 1,027.
iPhone 13 Pro Max is the winner (Performance).
5G: Pixel 6 Pro Vs iPhone 13 Pro Max
While we don’t have speed comparisons between the iPhone 13 Pro Max and Pixel 6 Pro, we do have some opinions to offer. Apple chose the latest Qualcomm X60 5G modem this year to take advantage of many efficiency gains over the X55 from 2020. This has helped improve the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s battery life.
Google appears to have chosen an older Samsung 5123 5G modem, which is roughly equivalent to the Qualcomm X55. We believe this choice may be partially responsible for the poor battery life results we will get to in a moment.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is the winner (5G).
Battery life and charging: Google Pixel 6 Pro Vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max
The Pixel 6 Pro boasts the biggest battery we’ve ever seen in a Pixel, packing a whopping 5,000 mAh. Unfortunately, the phone’s battery life isn’t all that impressive in our testing, which causes a breakdown in the pipeline. For the best results with your phone, disable 5G.
We don’t know the exact capacity of the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s battery in milliamp-hours, but we do know that it’s bigger than last year’s model.
