Apple iPhone 17 vs iPhone 15 Pro Max
86
out of 100
VS
83
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.3-inch Apple iPhone 17 (with Apple A19) that was released on September 9, 2025, against the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A17 Pro and came out 2 years before. 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 17
- 47% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2156K versus 1467K)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- The phone is 2 years newer
- Supports higher wattage charging (40W versus 23W)
- 26% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3736 and 2974 points
- Weighs 44 grams less
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.2 mm narrower
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Delivers 78% higher peak brightness (1805 against 1015 nits)
- Shows 24% longer battery life (31:37 vs 25:32 hours)
- Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 749 mAh larger battery capacity: 4441 vs 3692 mAh
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 | 6.3 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1206 x 2622 pixels | 1290 x 2796 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 460 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 3000 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1600 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Ceramic Shield 2 | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.1% | 89.8% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.6% | 99.8% |
| PWM | 241 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
iPhone 15 Pro Max
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
iPhone 17
6.3″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 15.1 in2
~13% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 149.6 mm (5.89 inches) | 159.9 mm (6.3 inches) |
| Width | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) | 76.7 mm (3.02 inches) |
| Thickness | 8 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) |
| Weight | 177 g (6.24 oz) | 221 g (7.8 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue, Green, Purple | White, Black, Silver, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
| Repairability | Average (2.82/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Very good (B) · 180 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A19 | Apple A17 Pro |
| Max clock | 4260 MHz | 3780 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.6 GHz: - 2 cores at 4.26 GHz: |
- 4 cores at 2.11 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 3.78 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | 5 core Apple GPU | 6 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 640 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 1620 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2073.6 GFLOPS | ~2147.2 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 37553 | 28374 |
| Single-core score | 3736 | 2974 |
| Multi-core score | 9226 | 7533 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 598735 | 374357 |
| GPU | 803562 | 463612 |
| Memory | 200566 | 184670 |
| UX | 553263 | 444831 |
| Total score | 2156126 | 1467470 |
| Samples | [19 tests] | [7 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 72% | 71% |
| Graphics test | 16 FPS | 10 FPS |
| Graphics score | 2147 | 1391 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 73% |
| Graphics test | 36 FPS | 23 FPS |
| Section 1 | 40 FPS | 29 FPS |
| Section 2 | 36 FPS | 23 FPS |
| Section 3 | 31 FPS | 16 FPS |
| Graphics score | 9465 | 6089 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 63% |
| Graphics test | - | 21 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 3655 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone 17
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-20 (Shovandeep) | AnTuTu 11 | 1837059 |
| 📘 2026-08-27 (Zharkyn) | AnTuTu 11 | 2243285 |
| 📘 2026-08-07 (Aarav) | AnTuTu 11 | 1776737 |
| 📘 2026-08-06 (yuki) | AnTuTu 11 | 2352837 |
| 📘 2026-07-25 (Taelnwza) | AnTuTu 11 | 2117495 |
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 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 26 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) | iOS 17 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| OS size | - | 17.6 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 3692 mAh | 4441 mAh |
| Max charge power | 40 W | 23 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (25 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | Yes |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (63% in 30 min) | Yes (46% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:25 hr | 1:49 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | 09:21 hr | 12:36 hr |
| Watching video | 19:24 hr | 22:07 hr |
| Gaming | 06:44 hr | 06:58 hr |
| Standby | 109 hr | 139 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#32nd place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8064 x 6048 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 5x |
| 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) Ultrawide: 48 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.6 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX904 | Sony IMX803 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.22 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 | 48 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX972 | Sony IMX633 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 170 | 80 |
| Preview | - | 86 |
| Zoom | 105 | 142 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 17 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 18 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4896 x 3672 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX914 | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 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 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 6E (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 MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 3.2 |
| 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, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Type of SIM card | eSIM | eSIM |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 20 |
| 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 2025 | September 2023 |
| Release date | September 2025 | September 2023 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $799 | $1199 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.98 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 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
If the performance, gaming, and design are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 17. But if the battery life and sound are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 658
