Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.7-inch Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max (with Apple A17 Pro) that was released on September 12, 2023, against the Apple iPhone 15 Plus, which is powered by Apple A16 Bionic. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
  • The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • 14% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1579K versus 1386K)
  • Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
  • Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 20W)
  • 17% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2948 and 2528 points
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15 Plus
  • Weighs 20 grams less

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Plus crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Adjust priorities
Feature
Priority (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery Life:
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.

Value for money

You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
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Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.7 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1290 x 2796 pixels 1290 x 2796 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 460 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max rated brightness 2000 nits 2000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1600 nits 1600 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Ceramic Shield Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 88.2% 88%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3

Design and build

Height 159.9 mm (6.3 inches) 160.9 mm (6.33 inches)
Width 76.7 mm (3.02 inches) 77.8 mm (3.06 inches)
Thickness 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) 7.8 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 221 g (7.8 oz) 201 g (7.09 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Silver, Blue Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Yellow
Fingerprint scanner No No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and Apple iPhone 15 Plus in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Apple A17 Pro Apple A16 Bionic
Max clock 3780 MHz 3460 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.02 GHz:
- 2 cores at 3.78 GHz:
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest
Lithography process 3 nanometers 4 nanometers
Graphics Apple A17 GPU Apple A16 GPU
GPU shading units 768 640
GPU clock 1398 MHz 1398 MHz
FLOPS ~2147.2 GFLOPS ~1789.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
1579294
1386775
CPU 373446 377751
GPU 579682 481103
Memory 283791 203657
UX 341416 312208
Total score 1579294 1386775
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock 3200 MHz 3200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256, 512, 1024 GB 128, 256, 512 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 17 iOS 17

Battery

Capacity 4422 mAh 4383 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 20 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (7.5 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes Yes
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:50 hr 2:03 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 48 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8000 x 6000 8000 x 6000
Zoom Optical, 5x Digital
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 4 (48 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP) 2 (48 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 48 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 24 mm
- Pixel size: 1.22 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.3", Sony IMX803 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.5" (BSI CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.78 - 2.8
- Focal length: 120 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.9", Sony IMX913 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
-
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX633 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX633 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Depth lens Yes -
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Samples Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max from DxOMark -
Selfie camera
Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/1.9 f/1.9
Focal length 23 mm 23 mm
Pixel size 1.12 microns 1.12 microns
Sensor type Exmor-RS CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.6" 1/3.6"
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Type of SIM card eSIM eSIM
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 18
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2023 September 2023
Release date September 2023 September 2023
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger Not included Not included
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
40 (67.8%)
19 (32.2%)
Total votes: 59

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