It's easy to be on the fence when trying to decide between the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max — they're now more similar than ever. After all, the iPhone 16 Pro steals the 5x telephoto zoom lens from the Pro Max series. And you get the same A18 Pro chip on both models, the same Camera Control button and the same Apple Intelligence features.
As you'll see in our iPhone 16 Pro review, we really like the performance, camera quality and improved Siri, as well as the impressive Audio Mix feature for videos. But you'll also discover in our iPhone 16 Pro Max review that the phone's premium price is justified by the huge 6.9-inch display and insane battery life.
So which new iPhone should you buy? We have a video guide to help you make the right call and some quick advice below. And if you need more help we have an in-depth iPhone 16 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro Max comparison.
Size and weight
The easiest way to think about the iPhone 16 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro Max comparison is that the Pro is small enough to use in one hand and the iPhone 16 Pro Max is best used with two hands.
Obviously, your mileage may vary based on how big your hands are, but there's a clear difference in terms of size and weight. The 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Pro (up from 6.1 inches on the iPhone 15 Pro) measures 5.89 x 2.81 x 0.32 inches and weights 7.03 ounces. The iPhone 16 Pro Max packs a huge 6.9-inch display and measures 6.42 x 3.06 x 0.32 inches; it weighs about 8 ounces.
If you want a phone that will easily slip into your pocket, get the iPhone 16 Pro, but if you want the largest screen possible get the Pro Max.
Battery life
The battery life of the iPhone 16 Pro Max was so good in our lab testing that it delayed my review. Seriously, we're talking more than 18 hours on one run and more than 17 hours on two other runs. The average was a whopping 17 hours and 35 minutes, which puts the iPhone 16 Pro Max on our best phone battery life list.
The iPhone 16 Pro achieved an average endurance of 14 hours and 7 minutes. That's good but about 3.5 hours behind the Pro Max.
Price
Here's the rub. The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 for 128GB of storage. That's $200 less than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU $1,249 and comes with 256GB.
Note that you could still save $100 versus the iPhone 16 Pro Max if you jumped up to 256GB for the iPhone 16 Pro. So it really comes down to what are you willing to pay to have the biggest screen and longest battery life on an iPhone. I think for many the iPhone 16 Pro might be good enough.
