Comparing the iPhone 13 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max – which one is the better option?
The new iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max have been released, and people are wondering which one is the better investment. It can be tough to decide which phone is right for you when both phones have their own unique features and benefits. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of each phone to help you make your decision.
How much do the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have in common, and what sets them apart? Although they share many features, there are a few key differences that make the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max unique. For example, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a larger display and a longer battery life than the iPhone 13 Pro.
What are the similarities between the iPhone 13 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max?
Design
Although the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max share many similarities, the biggest difference between the two lies in their size. The iPhone 13 Pro has a smaller Face ID notch, flat edges, and a square camera bump containing three cameras and a LiDAR sensor. However, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is larger in size.
The iPhone 13 Pro comes in four colors: Graphite, Gold, Silver, and Sierra Blue.
The ProMotion display’s refresh rate is an impressive 120Hz.
This year, both iPhone 13 Pro models feature the ProMotion display. With a maximum 120Hz refresh rate, this results in smoother performance and animations. The refresh rate can dynamically scale all the way down to 10Hz to save battery life. There are several new phones that feature this display, including the Samsung Galaxy S10, Huawei P30, and Nokia 9. Even though the iPhone 13 Pro is the middle child between the iPhone 11 and iPhone 13 models, it still boasts some impressive specs. Under the hood, it boasts the most powerful processor on the market, a matrix display that renders stunning 3D graphics, and support for fractions of a second faster than speeds reached by competitors.
Cameras
The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max boast three powerful camera sensors: a 12MP main camera with sensor-shift stabilization, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and a 12MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. Plus, there’s a LiDAR sensor that aids with AR apps and low-light photography. And for selfies and video calls, you have a 12MP front-facing camera.
These cameras have the same new features too, such as Apple’s Cinematic mode for video, real-time filters with Photographic Styles, and the option for high detail video recordings with ProRes video. However, ProRes only supports 4K resolution if you choose the 256GB storage option or higher.
There is no difference between these two sets of cameras. However, the new set of cameras is much better. This year’s iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 2.5x telephoto zoom and a sensor-shift main camera, whereas the iPhone 12 Pro has a 2x zoom and no sensor shift.
The A15 Bionic chip provides amazing performance.
The Pro and Pro Max share the same powerful A15 Bionic chipset under the hood. This chipset is coupled with a rumored 6GB of RAM, making it one of the most powerful mobile devices on the market. Apple is particularly proud of the GPU built into this chip, which is claimed to be the most powerful mobile GPU ever. This makes the Pro and Pro Max over 50% more powerful than their competition.
In our benchmark testing, the Pro and Pro Max had comparable results, but the regular Pro was a bit faster. On the Geekbench 5 general CPU benchmark, the iPhone 13 Pro had scores of 1,733 single-core and 4,718 multi-core compared to 1,720 and 4,549 on the Pro Max.
The iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max both performed well on the 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited test, with the iPhone 13 Pro scoring 70 fps and the iPhone 13 Pro Max scoring 68.3 fps.
Storage
When it comes to deciding how much storage space you need for photos, videos, and apps, you have four options to choose from with either phone. The base amount is 128GB, but you can also get 256GB, 512GB, or an impressive 1TB of storage by spending a bit more money.
Software
The new iPhone 13 models come with iOS 15 as standard, which brings several welcome improvements over iOS 14, including overhauled notifications, Live Text copy/paste from images, new FaceTime audio features, and general refreshes of other Apple apps.
How do the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max compare? What are the differences between them?
Price
The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max have a noticeable price gap between them. The all-new iPhone 13 Pro starts at $999 or £949, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max starts at $1,099 or £1,049. The gap between $100 and £100 persists through all the higher storage options as well.
The iPhone 13 Pro with 1TB of storage costs $1,499, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max with 1TB of storage is $1,599.
Display size
Not surprisingly, the two phones with different sizes have different-sized displays. The iPhone 13 Pro features a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch display.
Battery and battery life
Apple has increased the size of all its iPhone 13 batteries this year, but the Pro Max has a noticeably larger battery than the Pro. According to third-party analysis, the Pro Max’s battery is 4,373 mAh, whereas the Pro’s battery is reportedly 3,125 mAh. This means that the Pro Max will have longer battery life than the Pro. In Apple’s own words, this means that the iPhone 13 Pro Max can play video for up to 28 hours, and the iPhone 13 Pro can play video for up to 22 hours.
In our own testing, the difference between the iPhone 13 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max was narrower than expected, but the larger iPhone 13 Pro Max still came out on top, lasting 12 hours and 16 minutes Battery test. This test involves continuous web surfing over 5G at 150 nits of screen brightness.
The iPhone 13 Pro made it onto our best phone battery life list with a respectable 11 hours and 48 minutes. Not quite as long as some of the other phones on the list, but still good enough to keep you going throughout the day.
Charging
The iPhone 13 Pro series is unchanged from last year’s iPhone 12 series in terms of charging. Both versions of the iPhone 13 Pro are sold without a charging brick included but can be powered up with a 20W wired connection or a 15W wireless MagSafe connection.
However, our testing revealed that relative charging speeds vary, presumably due to differences in battery size. In half an hour of charging with the official Apple 20W charger, the iPhone 13 Pro Max reached 40% full, whereas the iPhone 13 Pro got to 53% full instead.
Bottom line: the iPhone 13 Pro is a great phone, but the iPhone 13 Pro Max is even better.
When it comes to the iPhone 13 Pro vs iPhone 13 Pro Max, it really depends on what you’re looking for in your next phone. The Pro Max is the clear winner if you want a bigger display and longer battery life – even though it comes at a higher price.
The iPhone 13 Pro offers the same great features as the regular iPhone 13, including a ProMotion display and great camera performance – so you’re not sacrificing anything by choosing a more compact design and smaller screen.
