Although it’s a bit older, the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max from 2021 still has a great value, which we’ve rated as The best camera phone in 2022. Apple’s steady cadence of launches means that this year we’re expecting the Apple iPhone 15 and its Pro variants, but if you’re looking for a new phone now, the Apple iPhone 14 Pro is a great option.
In all honesty, its newer sibling takes the lead with a 48MP image sensor and improved image processing, but the iPhone 13 Pro Max still manages to capture amazing levels of detail.
iPhone 13 Pro Max: key specifications
price: $1099.00
Screen Size: 6.7 inches
Weight: 8.39 ounces (238 grams)
memory: 6 GB
battery life: Up to 10 hours of wireless web surfing
storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB versions
Guarantee: One year extendable with AppleCare.
Operating System: iOS 16
an offer: Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion and a resolution of 2778×1284.
CPU: Apple A15 chip (octa-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine)
Ports: lightning port
It also has much of the same design, with a 6.7-inch OLED display dominating the front of the sleek chassis (albeit with a notch), and a Lightning port (Apple is expected to phase out its own connector in 2023).
Under the hood, the A15 may not have quite as much grunt as the A16, but it was already well ahead of Android flagships anyway. Whether it’s navigating multiple apps, playing the latest mobile game, or simply editing photos in Lightroom, the A15 gets the job done.
There’s 5G, too, for anyone with a carrier that supports the faster networking standard, which makes the iPhone 13 Pro Max a great alternative to Apple’s most expensive.
The problem you may encounter may be finding one. Apple still sells the iPhone 13, but not the iPhone 13 Pro or 13 Pro Max, but there are carrier deals to be had on the latter if you’re shopping around. Since it originally launched for $1,099, having the freedom to choose is definitely an improvement.
Want to take a look at our roundup of other smartphones? Read our guide to The best camera phone. But if you need something to photograph the night sky, give it a try The best telescopes And best binoculars guides too.
iPhone 13 Pro Max: Design
- Full front screen with notch
- 6.7 inch OLED screen
- Lightning port but no headphone jack
As you might expect from any iPhone since 2017, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has an all-glass front for its 6.7-inch display. Apple calls its display a Super Retina XDR display, but the term’s non-marketing description is that it’s an OLED panel with curved corners that blend with ultra-thin bezels. It’s also bright, with a maximum brightness rating of 1,200 nits — higher than previous iPhone displays but lower than the 14 Pro’s.
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It also offers a variable refresh rate (up to 120Hz) that Apple calls ProMotion. Many of the most popular applications work with this technology to adjust their refresh rate based on whether your screen is stationary or whether you are scrolling. This means it can be smooth when needed, or drop the refresh rate to save battery life.
The OLED nature of the screen also allows for deep blacks, which helps make the most of the 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio for vibrant colours.
iPhone 13 Pro Max: Camera and imaging
- Great performance all the time
- Large selection of applications and games
- Great battery life but no charger in the box
Apple may have moved on to the A16 chip but to put it in the simplest terms possible, there is nothing in the App Store that the iPhone 13 Pro Max can’t run.
Whether you’re running complex apps or the latest games, you won’t see any slowdowns. In our testing, we could run the iPhone League of Legends: Wild Rift at up to a full 120 FPS thanks to the ProMotion display we touched on earlier.
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Being able to flick from Marvel Snap to Messages and then to social media or the web browser without any noticeable slowdowns is nice and the battery life remains excellent throughout.
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iPhone 13 Pro Max, connected to the Apple Watch (and sometimes AirPods), used as a browser, music player, and gaming device all the time, gets about two days of battery life. Fast charging is also possible, but you’ll need an adapter that’s sold separately — there’s no charger at all in the box, just a USB-C to Lightning cable.
iPhone 13 Pro Max: user reviews
We looked for iPhone 13 Pro Max reviews on Best Buy (Opens in a new tab)And, customers are definitely happy—with an average rating of five stars.
Many note that it’s a huge upgrade over older iPhones with home buttons, while another compares it to a “laptop that fits in your pocket,” and that’s how great the performance is. Others have noted that it helped them leave Android behind — quite a compliment.
Should you buy the iPhone 13 Pro Max?
While the iPhone 14 Pro Max is a better phone, the differences in many areas are negligible. It has a better camera, a brighter display, and offers Dynamic Island, but outside of that, the iPhone 13 Pro Max almost matches it step by step. If you can find one at a knockdown price, it’s definitely worth a look.
If the iPhone 13 Pro Max isn’t for you
If you’re looking for a newer iPhone with a few more bells and whistles, this is the one iPhone 14 Pro Max (Opens in a new tab) is the obvious choice. It reduces the notch to a dynamic island, which blurs the line between software and hardware to provide a constantly refreshing section of the screen — and there’s an always-on display, too.
the iPhone 13 Pro (Opens in a new tab) It also puts the same components into a smaller chassis, so it’s worth looking for smaller hands or pockets. outside the Apple ecosystem, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Opens in a new tab) It is a great phone that offers Android and a huge 6.8 inch screen but with a huge 108 MP camera.