It's the best iPhone Apple has ever made in every way. It has a massive, gorgeous screen, a mind-blowing camera system, great battery life, and it looks beautiful. It's expensive, which may prevent some buyers from wanting to take one home, but as long as you can budget for the $1,099 starting price, I have no problem recommending this phone.

Key Features
  • Apple's largest iPhone to date
  • A14 Bionic chip
  • Best iPhone camera so far
Specifications
  • Brand: Apple
  • SoC: A14 Bionic
  • Display: 6.7 inch, 1284 x 2778
  • RAM: 6GB RAM
  • Storage: 128GB
  • Battery: 3687mAh
  • Ports: Lightning
  • Operating System: iOS
  • Camera (Rear, Front): Quad Rear: 12 MP, f/1.6, (wide) 12 MP, f/2.2 (telephoto), 12 MP, f/2.4, 120˚ (ultrawide), TOF 3D LiDAR scanner. Front: 12 MP, f/2.2,
Pros
  • High-end display
  • Incredible camera system
  • MagSafe offers incredible accessory potential
  • Fast performance with A14
Cons
  • Expensive
  • Large
Buy This Product
iPhone 12 Pro Max

Apple describes 2020 as a leap year. Obviously, the company is referring to the leaps the iPhone 12 has made over the iPhone 11. However, If there's one thing Apple is known for, it's hyperbole. And while the leap from iPhone 11 to iPhone 12 may not be as massive as the company would want you to think, it is pretty substantial.

With that in mind, we're going to jump in and take a look at the top-of-the-line version of the iPhone 12, which Apple has dubbed the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The hulking phone comes with a large screen, the best camera Apple has ever included on an iPhone, and the speedy A14 chip.

I've owned iPhones since the iPhone 3G, so I've seen the evolution of the device from tiny pocket-sized smartphones to plus-sized borderline phablets. Most recently, I owned an iPhone XR, so the jump to the iPhone 12 Pro Max is a substantial one for me.

With all that out of the way, let's jump in and figure out precisely who the iPhone 12 Pro Max is for and whether it's worth the reasonably high cost of admission.

iPhone 12 Pro Max Specs: Apple's Most Powerful iPhone

Whenever Apple releases a new iPhone, the company is quick to hype that it's the most powerful iPhone ever. This one is no exception. Coming from the iPhone XR, I can feel the difference in speed. That speed boost comes from the jump to the A14 Bionic chip and 6GB of RAM Apple has loaded up in the iPhone 12 line.

iPhone 12 Pro Max side camera

Two primary things make the iPhone 12 Pro Max stand out from the other iPhone 12 models. First, there's the camera, which we will get to later. Second, there's a larger screen. Apple went with a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display made with OLED tech. That screen boasts a 2778‑by‑1284-pixel resolution, which equates to a 458 PPI pixel density. The display has HDR, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and True Tone technology.

The phone is available in three different memory sizes. You can snag the cheapest model for $1,099 with 128GB. From there, you can spend $1,199 to get 256GB of internal storage. The most expensive iPhone 12 Pro Max features 512GB and will set you back a whopping $1,300.

iPhone 12 Pro Max bottom

The other big thing about the new iPhones is 5G. It supports 5G NR and 5G NR mmWave. The latter is the faster 5G that's only available in certain big cities. Unless you live in one of those few spots, you'll probably connect to 5G NR, which will only net you a marginal speed increase over LTE.

Apple didn't waste the extra space provided by the large iPhone 12 Pro Max. The company included a large battery. According to a report from MacRumors, it's 3,687 mAh, which is slightly smaller than the battery in the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Despite that, the battery life ratings are the same as the previous-generation phone. Apple says you should get up to 20 hours of video playback and up to 80 hours of audio playback on a single charge.

iPhone 12 Pro Max notch

That battery works with FastCharge up to 20W (though a charger isn't included in the box). That should get you about half a charge in 30 minutes. It also works with 15W power via MagSafe and 7.5W with Qi wireless charging.

All in all, the iPhone 12 Pro Max specs are pretty comparable to many other flagships on the market, and they fall in line with what we'd expect from the jump from iPhone 11 to iPhone 12.

iPhone 12 Pro Max Design: It's Big and Pretty

While the specs are pretty good, the design is where Apple knocked it out of the park with the iPhone 12 Pro Max. I have a couple of small gripes with the design, but there's nothing about how this phone is made that would make me recommend against getting it.

Apple has switched back to a design with sharp edges in recent years, doing away with the rounded phone. The iPhone 12 Pro Max pushes that design even further, creating a truly stunning phone that you'll love to look at. The sides are so flat that you can easily balance the phone on its edges. I'm not sure why you'd want to, but I tried it, and it worked.

As far as materials, Apple uses what it calls Ceramic Shield glass on the front of the phone. That's marketing speak for ceramic-hardened front glass. It uses Dual-Ion Exchange strengthened glass on the back of the device and stainless steel along the edges. The materials all look and feel great, and they seem durable. I've dropped the phone at least twice during testing (not on purpose), and it held up just fine. Granted, I had the official Apple clear case on it both times, which helped to soften the blow.

If you've ever seen an iPhone, you probably know a lot about the design already. On the left side sits the silent switch, volume buttons, and sim card slot. The do-it-all button is on the right side of the phone. The bottom is adorned with speakers and a Lightning port. The top is free of any buttons.

Unfortunately, the iPhone 12 Pro Max (and all devices with the iPhone 12 name) still features the notch design for the selfie camera. It'll always be a terrible design, but until in-display cameras become more readily available, it's either the notch or a hole-punch, neither of which is ideal.

iPhone 12 Pro Max ports

Typically, the lack of a fingerprint scanner would mean nothing to me, as FaceID is an entirely secure and functional way to unlock a phone. But we live in a time where everyone is (or at least should be) wearing masks everywhere they go. That renders FaceID almost useless. Presumably, Apple was already far along in the design process for the iPhone 12 phones when COVID hit, but it would have been nice to see the company make a swerve and include a fingerprint scanner.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max is a fairly heavy smartphone, tipping the scales at 8 ounces. It's also massive. Its height is 6.33 inches, its width stretches out to a hulking 3.07 inches, and it's 0.29 inches thick. It's the biggest iPhone Apple has ever made, and if you have small hands, you're going to feel that size big time. For me, the size is perfect, as I have long fingers. I find that it fits quite well in my hands, and it just barely fits in the pocket of every pair of pants I own.

iPhone 12 Pro Max side

Small gripes aside, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is a well-designed phone. And that's really what we've come to expect from Apple. Say what you will about iPhone devices over the years, but they've always been a frontrunner for the nicest looking and best-designed phones.

iPhone 12 Pro Max Performance and Benchmarks

One of the critical considerations with a smartphone is the power it offers. We've already talked about the specs of the phone, but how do those specs perform? We've put the phone through the available benchmarks, and as you might expect from a $1,100 flagship, it performs exceptionally well.

Starting with the visuals, we used the 3DMark Wild Life test on Unlimited Mode to see how the iPhone 12 Pro Max scored. It scored a 9120 with an average framerate of 54FPS. Currently, the top-performing smartphone on 3DMark is the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel with a 9881, so the iPhone 12 Pro Max is pretty solid.

iPhone 12 Pro Max front

We also used the AnTuTu benchmark to test the performance of the phone. It scored 624,361 across all the tests. To put that into perspective, the best performing phone overall at the time of writing is the ASUS ROG Phone 3, which scored 647,919. That puts the iPhone Pro Max as the second-highest scoring phone, just nudging out the OPPO Find X2 Pro, at 614,425.

In terms of benchmarks, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is a beast. It's not the best performing phone on the market, but it's right up there with the high-end Android phones that are tuned specifically for gaming.

iPhone 12 Pro Max Camera System

Where the iPhone 12 Pro Max shines is with the camera. Apple knocked it out of the park in quite a few different ways with the sensors on its top of the line phone.

iPhone 12 Pro Max camera

There are three sensors on the back of the camera: an ultra-wide, wide, and telephoto lens. That ultra-wide lens features a 12MP resolution, ƒ/2.4 aperture, and a 120-degree field of view. The wide lens creates some staggering depth effects with its ƒ/1.6 aperture. The telephoto lens features a ƒ/2.2 aperture and a 2.5X optical zoom.

photo taken with iPhone 12 Pro Max

That 2.5X zoom is the main thing that separates the camera system on the iPhone 12 Pro Max from the iPhone 12 Pro, as the Pro features a 2.0X zoom. It's a small difference, but if you're the type of person who cares about macro photography, it might be worth upgrading for that alone.

shot with iPhone 12 Pro Max

Apple's camera software is also among the best. The portrait mode offers a degree of control that's enough to satisfy skilled photographers, but not so much that it'll become confusing for more casual users. It's a delicate balance, but Apple pulls it off wonderfully. And when ProRAW comes out, photographers will have even more options to play with.

iphone 12 pro max photo

I've never been a big smartphone photographer as I have plenty of other cameras available. However, I'm going to start using the iPhone 12 Pro Max as part of my photography and videography workflow. Between the incredible sensor-shift stabilization and the quality of sensors themselves, this is among the best smartphone cameras ever made and easily the best in an iPhone.

Is the iPhone 12 Pro Max Worth Buying?

Yes, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is worth buying. It's the best iPhone Apple has ever made in every way. It has a massive, gorgeous screen, a mind-blowing camera system, great battery life, and it looks beautiful. It's expensive, which may prevent some buyers from wanting to take one home, but as long as you can budget for the $1,099 starting price, I have no problem recommending this phone.

One thing to note, though, is the iPhone 12 Pro is only marginally worse than the iPhone 12 Pro Max, and for some users, the smaller size might be more appealing. Sure, you don't get the 2.5X zoom, but you save $100. Not only that, but the Pro will fit in your pocket more comfortably than the larger Pro Max.

For anyone who isn't concerned with the larger size, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the iPhone to buy this year.