Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Plus
83
out of 100
VS
76
out of 100
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.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Delivers 10% higher peak brightness (1805 against 1645 nits)
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2974 and 2631 points
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15 Plus
- Weighs 20 grams less
Review
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
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| 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 (1-120 Hz) | 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-to-body ratio | 89.8% | 88% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 99.5% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 3 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
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 |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.94/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| 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 2.11 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 3.78 GHz: Everest |
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Apple Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | 6 core Apple GPU | 5 core Apple 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)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 28374 | - |
| Single-core score | 2974 | 2631 |
| Multi-core score | 7533 | 6602 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 374357 | 445436 |
| GPU | 463612 | 404027 |
| Memory | 184670 | 206014 |
| UX | 444831 | 471804 |
| Total score | 1467470 | 1527281 |
| Samples | [7 tests] | Less than 3 |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 71% | - |
| Graphics test | 10 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 1391 | - |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | 73% | - |
| Graphics test | 23 FPS | - |
| Section 1 | 29 FPS | - |
| Section 2 | 23 FPS | - |
| Section 3 | 16 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 6089 | - |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 63% | 72% |
| Graphics test | 21 FPS | 20 FPS |
| Graphics score | 3655 | 3340 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-28 (Kuan.28) | AnTuTu 11 | 1752198 |
| 📘 2026-09-23 (podsolnuh) | AnTuTu 11 | 1357765 |
| 📘 2026-09-11 (Zabza) | AnTuTu 11 | 1599694 |
| 📘 2026-09-10 (elio) | AnTuTu 11 | 1445771 |
| 📘 2026-07-26 (Desss) | AnTuTu 11 | 1323415 |
Apple iPhone 15 Plus
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-04-12 (Runnima) | AnTuTu 11 | 1527281 |
| 📘 2024-01-29 (Anshul Agrawal) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2631 / 6602 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 17 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) | iOS 17 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| OS size | 17.6 GB | 18 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4441 mAh | 4383 mAh |
| Max charge power | 23 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 |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (46% in 30 min) | Yes (53% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:49 hr | 1:34 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 12:36 hr | 13:13 hr |
| Watching video | 22:07 hr | 20:21 hr |
| Gaming | 06:58 hr | 07:01 hr |
| Standby | 139 hr | 122 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (32nd and 50th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8064 x 6048 | 8064 x 6048 |
| 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 | 1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX803 | Sony IMX904 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/1.78 - 2.8 | - |
| Focal length | 120 mm | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX913 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX633 | Sony IMX633 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 80 | 80 |
| Preview | 86 | 84 |
| Zoom | 142 | 114 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 Plus 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 |
| Sensor | Sony IMX714 | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | Yes | Yes |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | 145 | - |
| Video | 156 | - |
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 |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| 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 |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2023 | September 2023 |
| Release date | September 2023 | September 2023 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1199 | $899 |
| Successor | - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | - Apple iPhone 16 Plus |
| SAR (head) | 0.98 W/kg | 0.98 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 0.98 W/kg | 0.98 W/kg |
| 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
Total votes: 833