The most highly anticipated smartphone series of the year has arrived, with the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16 Plus, the iPhone 16 Pro, and – at the top of the heap – the iPhone 16 Pro Max all having hit store shelves on September 20.
We've already put Apple's newest, biggest and potentially best iPhone to the test, so for our full impressions of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, check out our iPhone 16 Pro Max review (spoiler: it's "the big-screen smartphone of your dreams").
As mentioned, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is available now, so if you're in the market for Apple's latest – and largest – flagship iPhone, be sure to check out our iPhone 16 deals roundup to find the best price.
However, if you're simply looking for an overview of the iPhone 16 Pro Max's price, specs, and key features (e.g. Apple Intelligence), check out the below guide.
iPhone 16 Pro Max: what you need to know
- The iPhone 16 Pro Max released on September 20
- It was announced at Apple's "It's Glowtime" event on September 9
- The iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149
- It has a larger 6.9-inch display
- It includes a new Camera Control button for taking photos
- The iPhone 16 Pro Max uses the new A18 Pro chipset
- It's equipped with a new 48MP ultra-wide camera
- It ships with iOS 18
- Comes with between 256GB and 1TB of storage
- Comes in black, white, natural titanium, and Desert Titanium
Price and release date
- Starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149
- Pre-orders opened on September 13, and it ships from September 20
The iPhone 16 Pro Max was announced at the Apple 'Glowtime' event on Monday, September 9, and the first units shipped and hit store shelves simultaneously on September 20 – though wait times may be longer for those who didn't order early due to the expected popularity of Apple's new flagship.
Indeed, this appears to be the most in demand of the iPhone 16 models, and delivery dates for the iPhone 16 Pro Max have started to slip.
It's also a very expensive phone, starting at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149, for which you get 256GB of storage. Full pricing can be seen in the chart below.
iPhone 16 Pro Max specs
We'll take a closer look at the iPhone 16 Pro Max's main upgrades further down. But first, the chart below gives you an at-a-glance overview of the phone's key specs.
All the big iPhone 16 Pro Max upgrades
- A 6.9-inch 120Hz OLED screen
- A new Camera Control button
- A 48MP main, 48MP ultra-wide, and 12MP telephoto camera
- An A18 Pro chipset
The iPhone 16 Pro Max looks a lot like the iPhone 15 Pro Max at first glance, complete with a glass back, a titanium frame, and a Dynamic Island at the top of the display. But it actually has a significantly larger screen than its predecessor, at 6.9 inches rather than 6.7 inches.
The other major design change is the addition of a Camera Control button, which can be used to take photos, record videos, switch modes, and if you swipe across it even zoom and adjust settings. This button also powers Apple's new Visual Intelligence feature, which can tell you more about whatever you point the camera at.
There are smaller changes too though, with some new colors. The full selection of options being Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, and Desert Titanium.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max also has smaller bezels than the previous model, and comes in at 163 x 77.6 x 8.25mm, and 227g.
Beyond the design, the cameras have also had some upgrades, most notably the 48MP ultra-wide camera, which replaces a 12MP sensor on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. That's joined by a 48MP main camera with a new sensor and a 12MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, similar to last year. There's also a 12MP selfie camera on the front, and the phone can shoot video in 4K quality at 120fps.
Of course, this phone is also more powerful than its predecessor, thanks to an A18 Pro chipset. This has a CPU that's up to 15% faster than the A17 Pro and a GPU that's up to 20% faster, and it should help smoothly deliver the various AI features that will be added soon as part of Apple Intelligence.
On day one there's no Apple Intelligence here, with that expected in a software update next month. But you do get iOS 18, so the core software has been freshened up.
Apple hasn't said how big the battery is in the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but we do know it can last for up to 33 hours of video playback or up to 105 hours of audio playback, which amounts to up to 4 hours more life than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It also supports wireless charging at up to 25W with MagSafe, and up to 45W wired charging, which is over 50% faster than the iPhone 15 Pro Max's wired charging speeds.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes with up to 1TB of storage, and with 8GB of RAM, which is the same as last year.
My analysis
Having now published our iPhone 16 Pro Max review, we can confidently say that this is a "bigger and more powerful" iPhone than last year's iPhone 15 Pro Max, and a phone that can confidently go toe-to-toe with any other high-end smartphone.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is power-packed, has a superb screen, and its new Camera Control button (which isn't strictly a button, according to Apple) "could change how you approach iPhone photography."
Beyond its photography credentials, though, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is quite simply the biggest and best possible iPhone (we called it the "big-screen smartphone of your dreams" in our review) – just as long as you can stomach the price tag.
