Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 16 Plus
89
out of 100
VS
83
out of 100
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 16 Plus, which is powered by Apple A18. 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 16 Pro Max
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- 8% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3507 and 3256 points
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16 Plus
- 11% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1949K versus 1750K)
- Weighs 28 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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.9 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1320 x 2868 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 | 92.3% | 88% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.6% | 99.8% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 256 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 4 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163 mm (6.42 inches) | 160.9 mm (6.33 inches) |
| Width | 77.6 mm (3.06 inches) | 77.8 mm (3.06 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 227 g (8.01 oz) | 199 g (7.02 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Silver, Gold | White, Black, Blue, Green, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
| Repairability | Average (2.83/5) | Average (2.78/5) |
| Drop resistance | Good (C) · 90 drops | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A18 Pro | Apple A18 |
| Max clock | 4040 MHz | 4040 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 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Neural Engine | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | 6 core Apple GPU | 5 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 768 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 1490 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2289 GFLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 33340 | 28158 |
| Single-core score | 3507 | 3256 |
| Multi-core score | 8789 | 8096 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 508577 | 585993 |
| GPU | 540541 | 563695 |
| Memory | 191233 | 218294 |
| UX | 509980 | 581763 |
| Total score | 1750331 | 1949745 |
| Samples | [4 tests] | [5 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 74% | 76% |
| Graphics test | 13 FPS | 12 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1718 | 1582 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | 28 FPS | 26 FPS |
| Section 1 | 34 FPS | 31 FPS |
| Section 2 | 29 FPS | 26 FPS |
| Section 3 | 21 FPS | 20 FPS |
| Graphics score | 7448 | 6750 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-23 -> Rappzzzz | AnTuTu 11 | 2043169 |
| 📘 2026-09-20 (thuanday) | AnTuTu 11 | 2043169 |
| 📘 2026-09-17 (Jonibek) | AnTuTu 11 | 1692383 |
| 📘 2026-07-21 (l1tsemerr) | AnTuTu 11 | 1650968 |
| 📘 2026-04-27 -> hoduyhaodzso1tg | Battery life | SOT 12:58 / – |
Apple iPhone 16 Plus
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-18 (Aj) | AnTuTu 11 | 1949745 |
| 📘 2026-04-23 (Ninety6Beast) | AnTuTu 11 | 1995425 |
| 📘 2026-03-03 (Ninety6Beast) | AnTuTu 11 | 1918031 |
| 📘 2026-02-20 (monolog) | AnTuTu 11 | 2007786 |
| 📘 2026-02-14 (Mathachai) | AnTuTu 11 | 1822701 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) | iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) |
| OS size | 18 GB | 18 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4685 mAh | 4674 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | Yes |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (46% in 30 min) | Yes (55% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:57 hr | 1:39 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 14:34 hr | 15:57 hr |
| Watching video | 22:01 hr | 21:26 hr |
| Gaming | 07:12 hr | 07:34 hr |
| Standby | 163 hr | 148 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (14th and 16th 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 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: 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 | - |
| 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/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 | 48 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX972 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 160 | - |
| Preview | 93 | - |
| Zoom | 130 | - |
| 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/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 | 149 | - |
| Video | 155 | - |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| 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 | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 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 2024 | September 2024 |
| Release date | September 2024 | September 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1199 | $899 |
| Successor | - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | - |
| SAR (head) | 1.22 W/kg | 1.24 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.45 W/kg | 1.33 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | 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.
Notes on iPhone 16 Plus:
- In the USA, the smartphone only supports eSIM, while the international model has 1 physical slot + eSIM. In China, a model with only two physical SIM cards is available.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max. It has a better display, camera, connectivity, and sound.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 434
