I’ve been an iPhone user since the original iPhone.
Heck, I was in the audience when Steve Jobs introduced the world to the iPhone.
After the unforgettable introduction, all of us who attended Macworld in 2007 marched over to the Apple booth on the floor of the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
There were no iPhones to play with, only two prototypes that were turning slowly under glass domes. That day we could only gaze at them from a few feet away.
These days, Apple holds media events to introduce new iPhones every September, and everyone gets plenty of time to see and touch the new phones.
Since I live in Dallas, I didn’t attend the iPhone introduction this year, but I did get a virtual briefing a week later, and the iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro Max were waiting for me on the front porch a few days later.
This isn’t a full-blown review. There are lots of other places online to find those. This is just a “greatest hits” look at some of the newest features of the iPhone 16 Pro Max and my thoughts on who should upgrade.
Bigger screen
Apple seems to have settled on the design of the iPhones. For the last few years Apple has introduced four phones — two “regular” and two “pro” models. Each pair comes in two screen sizes and regular and pro models.
Today I’m reviewing the iPhone 16 Pro Max, with a screen size of 6.9 inches, which is the largest phone Apple has ever made. It is just a bit larger than last year’s 6.7-inch 15 Pro Max.
The 16 Pro Max is 3 millimeters taller and 1 millimeter wider, which isn’t very noticeable. Apple has figured out a way to make the bezels (the border between the edges of the screen and the sides of the phone) thinner.
The OLED has a variable refresh rate up to 120 Hertz and the same brightness as last year’s models. The glass on the front of the display is stronger than previous years. The phone can dim down to just 1 nit, which is great if you need to check your phone at night and not wake up your spouse.
New button
Last year, Apple introduced the Action button in place of the mute switch, which users can personalize for a variety of functions. This year Apple introduces a camera control button to all iPhone 16 models. Pressing it brings up the camera app, even if the phone is locked. Once the camera is on, a slight press on the button brings up a scrollable list of camera features. The camera control button’s surface is a tiny, elongated touch pad. You can scroll through settings by moving your finger left or right. You can take a picture by pressing down fully and you can initiate a quick video by pressing and holding on the button. It took me a few days to get used to launching the camera with the button, but it is a nice addition.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max’s main (wide angle) camera gets a speed update, so it should react faster and eliminate much of the lag between pressing the button and capturing the image.
The 5x telephoto is the same as last year, but the ultra-wide jumps to a 48-megapixel sensor, up from last year’s 12MP sensor.
Speed and battery life
The iPhone 16 Pro Max has eight gigabytes of RAM and a new processor, the A18 Pro which is a nice bump over last year’s iPhone and quite a bit faster than Samsung and Google’s latest offerings.
The 16 Pro Max has the largest battery ever in an iPhone. It supports up to 33 hours of video playback. You’ll certainly get a full day out of a charge.
Charging speeds for wireless charging are faster if you use Apple’s new MagSafe charger and at least a 30-watt charging block.
Apple sent along the new MagSafe charger and I was able to charge from 40% to 70% in just 30 minutes.
Apple Intelligence
Apple has made a big deal of its AI offerings in iOS 18, but out of the box, Apple Intelligence was missing-in-action. It will be released by the end of this month in a software update.
So, what will be new and improved? Siri gets a big update, including a redesign of the interface where the entire edge of the screen will glow to let you know she’s there. You’ll also be able to type your Siri requests if you’re in a position where you’d rather not speak it out loud.
Follow-up questions or even mid-sentence changes to your query are understood.
Apple Intelligence also has a suite of writing tools so you can have AI proofread your texts or emails for grammar or spelling and even word choice. You can ask AI to rewrite your copy if you want a different tone.
You can ask for large amounts of text to be summarized, which I think everyone will find handy.
You can get how-to instructions on-the-fly by asking Siri how to do something, like change your oil or set up a new printer.
I don’t load developer betas, so I’ll wait a few more weeks to try out and review Apple Intelligence for myself.
Pricing
The iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 for a model with 256 gigabytes of storage. Add $200 to double the storage to 512gb and add another $200 to max it out at one terabyte ($1,599).
It is available in four colors — white titanium, black titanium, desert titanium and natural titanium. If you haven’t figured it out, the phone’s outer band is made of titanium with a textured glass back.
They are available from Apple, major cell carriers and electronics retailers.
Should you upgrade?
If you have an iPhone 14 Pro Max or a 15 Pro Max, you should really think hard before you pull the trigger. Heck, my personal phone is an iPhone 13 Pro Max and I’m still happy with it, but the bigger battery and better cameras are enough for me to really want to buy the 16 Pro Max. If your iPhone is a 12 model or older, do yourself a favor and grab an iPhone 16.
Jim Rossman is a tech columnist for Tribune News Service. He may be reached at jrossmantechadviser@gmail.com.
