Apple iPhone XS Max vs iPhone 11

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.5-inch Apple iPhone XS Max (with Apple A12 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2018, against the Apple iPhone 11, which is powered by Apple A13 Bionic and came out 12 months after. 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 XS Max
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • 40% higher pixel density (456 vs 326 PPI)
  • Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
  • OLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
  • Thinner bezels – 6.41% more screen real estate
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 11
  • Shows 37% longer battery life (34:47 vs 25:24 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • 18% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (636K versus 539K)
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
  • The phone is 1-year newer
  • 20% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1340 and 1117 points
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
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Review

Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

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

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED IPS LCD
Size 6.5 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1242 x 2688 pixels 828 x 1792 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.4:9 19.5:9
PPI 456 ppi 326 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 625 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 85.41% 79%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 98.8% 99.8%
PWM 240 Hz Not detected
Response time 11.2 ms 24.8 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity 999:1
Peak brightness test (auto)
660 nits
iPhone 11 +2%
674 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 157.5 mm (6.2 inches) 150.9 mm (5.94 inches)
Width 77.4 mm (3.05 inches) 75.7 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) 8.3 mm (0.33 inches)
Weight 208 g (7.34 oz) 194 g (6.84 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Gold, Gray White, Black, Green, Red, Purple, Yellow
Fingerprint scanner No No
Screen-to-body ratio
85.41%
79%

Performance

Tests of Apple iPhone XS Max and Apple iPhone 11 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Apple A12 Bionic Apple A13 Bionic
Max clock 2490 MHz 2650 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex
- 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Thunder
- 2 cores at 2.66 GHz: Lightning
Lithography process 7 nanometers 7 nanometers
Graphics Apple A12 Bionic GPU Apple A13 Bionic GPU
GPU clock 1100 MHz -
FLOPS ~560 GFLOPS ~736 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
iPhone 11 +20%
1340
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
iPhone 11 +21%
3515
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
539693
iPhone 11 +18%
636831
CPU 145567 166647
GPU 170450 257833
Memory 100025 92114
UX 112820 118385
Total score 539693 636831
3DMark Wild Life Performance
iPhone 11 +32%
7549
Max surface temperature 45.2 °C 43.6 °C
Stability 66% 72%
Graphics test 34 FPS 45 FPS
Graphics score 5720 7549
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64, 256, 512 GB 64, 128, 256 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.4) iOS 13 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.4)
OS size 16 GB -

Battery

Specifications
Capacity 3174 mAh 3110 mAh
Charge power 18 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes, Qi (10 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full charging time 03:29 hr 1:45 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:13 hr 11:39 hr
Watching video 10:50 hr 15:16 hr
Gaming 04:41 hr 05:09 hr
Standby 80 hr 121 hr
General battery life
25:24 hr
iPhone 11 +37%
34:47 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 2x Digital
Flash Quad LED Quad 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°
Lenses 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) 2 (12 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 28 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.5", Apple iSight X (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Apple iSight Camera (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 52 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4" (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
-
Ultra-wide lens - - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 13 mm
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Samples Photo samples of Apple iPhone XS Max from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 11 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 7 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 3088 x 2316 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 32 mm 23 mm
Sensor type BSI CMOS BSI CMOS
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
iPhone 11 +17%
129
Video quality
iPhone 11 +14%
109
Generic camera score
iPhone 11 +13%
119

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) 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 Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type No No
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 16 18
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
77.2 dB
iPhone 11 +8%
83.4 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2018 September 2019
Release date September 2018 September 2019
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg 0.95 W/kg
SAR (body) 0.99 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the performance, battery life, camera, and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 11. But if the display is more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone XS Max.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
1641 (53.9%)
1401 (46.1%)
Total votes: 3042

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