Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 11 Pro Max

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.9-inch Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max (with Apple A18 Pro) that was released on September 9, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A13 Bionic and came out 5 years and 1 month before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Delivers 126% higher peak brightness (1785 against 789 nits)
  • The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
  • Shows 49% longer battery life (35:01 vs 23:30 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • 48% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1750K versus 1182K)
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A18 Pro
  • Comes with 716 mAh larger battery capacity: 4685 vs 3969 mAh
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 11 Pro Max 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
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 100% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max to Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: battery life, performance, and gaming.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.9 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1320 x 2868 pixels 1242 x 2688 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 460 ppi 458 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 2000 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1600 nits -
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection - Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 92.3% 84.4%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.6% 99.6%
PWM 240 Hz 245 Hz
Response time 1 ms 4.9 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
iPhone 16 Pro Max
6.9″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 18.1 in2
iPhone 11 Pro Max
6.5″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 16.1 in2
~12% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
1785 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 163 mm (6.42 inches) 158 mm (6.22 inches)
Width 77.6 mm (3.06 inches) 77.8 mm (3.06 inches)
Thickness 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) 8.1 mm (0.32 inches)
Weight 227 g (8.01 oz) 226 g (7.97 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Silver, Gold Silver, Gold, Gray, Dark gray
Fingerprint scanner No No
Repairability Average (2.83/5) -
Drop resistance Good (C) · 90 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max and Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
SoC
Chipset Apple A18 Pro Apple A13 Bionic
Max clock 4040 MHz 2650 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest
- 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Thunder
- 2 cores at 2.65 GHz: Lightning
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 3 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Neural Engine Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics 6 core Apple GPU Apple A13 Bionic GPU
GPU shading units 768 256
GPU clock 1490 MHz 1230 MHz
FLOPS ~2289 GFLOPS ~629.8 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max and Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 33340 14182
Single-core score 3507 1748
Multi-core score 8789 4187
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
1750331
CPU 508577 353295
GPU 540541 306685
Memory 191233 131245
UX 509980 391689
Total score 1750331 1182914
Samples [4 tests] [4 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 74% -
Graphics test 13 FPS -
Graphics score 1718 -
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability - 79%
Graphics test 28 FPS 10 FPS
Section 1 34 FPS 12 FPS
Section 2 29 FPS 10 FPS
Section 3 21 FPS 7 FPS
Graphics score 7448 2646
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability - 76%
Graphics test - 12 FPS
Graphics score - 2068
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-23 -> RappzzzzAnTuTu 112043169
📘 2026-09-20 (thuanday)AnTuTu 112043169
📘 2026-09-17 (Jonibek)AnTuTu 111692383
📘 2026-07-21 (l1tsemerr)AnTuTu 111650968
📘 2026-04-27 -> hoduyhaodzso1tgBattery lifeSOT 12:58 / –
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-06-03 (Phzinho)AnTuTu 111190389
📘 2026-04-26 -> RaxxxyAnTuTu 111182914
📘 2026-04-26 (RAXXXY)AnTuTu 111182914
📘 2026-02-12 (Absl)AnTuTu 111174939
📘 2024-11-28 (Nehul Tyagi)Geekbench 6 GPU14182

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4X
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 64 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) iOS 13 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27)
OS size 18 GB -
OS updates 7 years -
Security updates 7 years -

Battery

Capacity 4685 mAh 3969 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes No
Bypass charging No No
Fast charging Yes (46% in 30 min) Yes (48% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:57 hr 1:57 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 14:34 hr 08:51 hr
Watching video 22:01 hr 14:18 hr
Gaming 07:12 hr 05:41 hr
Standby 163 hr 117 hr
General battery life
35:01 hr

Main camera

Matrix 48 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 8064 x 6048 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 5x Optical, 2x
Flash Dual LED Quad LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 120FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 120FPS 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: 48 MP
4) Depth
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 48 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 24 mm 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX803 Apple iSight Camera
Sensor size 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1.22 micron 1.4 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.8 f/2.0
Focal length 120 mm 52 mm
Sensor Sony IMX913 -
Sensor size 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 48 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.4
Focal length 13 mm 13 mm
Sensor Sony IMX972 -
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron -
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 160 65
Preview 93 76
Zoom 130 88
Samples Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/1.9 f/2.2
Focal length 23 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX714 BSI CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Autofocus Phase autofocus No
Stabilization Optical Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) Yes No
DxOMark front camera
Photo 149 115
Video 155 134

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/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 Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
DisplayPort Yes -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* - 1
Type of SIM card eSIM Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 18
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
92.6 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2024 September 2019
Release date September 2024 September 2019
Launch price (MSRP) $1199 $1099
Successor - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
SAR (head) 1.22 W/kg 0.95 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.45 W/kg 0.99 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 -
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16 Pro Max:
    - The US version of the smartphone exclusively supports eSIM, while the international model features both a physical SIM slot and eSIM capability. In China, the device is available with dual physical SIM card slots only.
*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 16 Pro Max is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
98 (71%)
40 (29%)
Total votes: 138

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