iPhone 11 Pro Max review

Two-minute review

The iPhone 11 Pro Max was the most important and strongest telephone Apple’s ever created, taking the easiest of its expertise and mixing it with an upgraded design that features a new matte again, three cameras designed to rival the very best from Samsung, Google and Huawei, and an enhanced battery for higher endurance.

The iPhone 11 Pro Max was, till the iPhone 12 Pro Max got here alongside in 2020, and now that is been outclassed by the iPhone 13 Pro Max launched alongside the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, and iPhone 13 Pro. The latest Pro Max telephone has some improved specs and cameras alongside a tweaked design from the iPhone 11 Pro Max, however 5G apart it is solely incremental updates and never a revolution.

Digging deeper into the iPhone 11 Pro Max digital camera, we’re impressed most with the Night mode: the iPhone 11 Pro Max is able to turning night time nearly into day, however doing so whereas preserving loads of element.

We discovered the newly-added ultra-wide digital camera to be helpful whenever you wish to squeeze in additional of a scene (though we didn’t discover we would have liked it that usually) and for enhancing the background defocus results… though it nonetheless wasn’t excellent in our testing.

The design of the iPhone 11 Pro Max will likely be acquainted to most, with the identical design language because the earlier two fashions (the iPhone X and iPhone XS), though the matte again feels good within the hand. The 'Max' dimension received’t attraction to all, nevertheless it does facilitate the big and spectacular 6.5-inch OLED show, which affords a superb cinematic expertise, each visually and thru the upgraded stereo audio system.

The digital camera bump on the rear of the telephone feels a little bit sharp and takes up lots of house, though in case you’re right-handed it stays out of the best way whenever you're going about your every day duties.

iPhone 11 Pro Max review

(Image credit score: SociallyKeeda)

Apple guarantees that the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s battery will final 5 hours longer than the XS Max from the earlier 12 months, and that declare is borne out in our assessments - it notably excelled when enjoying again HDR video on the telephone, and the 20-hour battery life for multimedia appears correct.

In day-to-day use we discovered that that is nearly a 24-hour smartphone (assuming you sleep for a portion of that point), and the quick charger that (lastly) comes within the field offers you round 20% in quarter-hour, and a full cost in simply an hour and a half.

With iOS 13 on board - and now an replace to iOS 14 - the Pro Max feels extra refined than earlier fashions, and tweaks to the accuracy and vary of Face ID make it less complicated to make use of on daily basis, with issues like opening a notification when the telephone is positioned flat on a desk made a lot simpler.

The uncooked efficiency of the iPhone 11 Pro Max additionally impressed, though we did encounter some slowdown within the digital camera app; nevertheless, in case you're trying to edit video on the go (and don’t overlook this telephone can shoot 4K at 60 frames per second, and do it nicely) you then’ll get pleasure from the additional grunt on provide.

Overall, the iPhone 11 Pro Max is an actual step ahead, and probably the most superior iPhone but. However, when eager about what’s really new right here, we weren’t capable of single out a lot past the improved digital camera (particularly Night mode) and the marginally upgraded cinematic expertise.

If you wish to avoid wasting cash, we’d counsel testing the iPhone 11 - whereas we continually discovered little nuggets of spectacular efficiency all through our testing of the 11 Pro Max, we could not shake the sensation that that is actually solely a telephone for the Apple fan who needs the very best of every little thing, with no compromises. And for these followers, there's now the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Want to know extra? Read on to see our in-depth testing of Apple’s high-end smartphone.

Update: Apple has confirmed the iPhone 11 Pro Max will obtain iOS 15 when it lands later this 12 months, so you may get all the newest options on this handset.

iPhone 11 Pro Max launch date and worth

iPhone 11 Pro Max was introduced on September 10, 2019
It got here out 10 days later
iPhone 11 Pro Max worth begins at $1,099 / £1,149 / AU$1,899

The iPhone 11 Pro Max was introduced on September 10, 2019 and it got here out on September 20 within the US, UK, Australia and quite a lot of different markets across the globe.

It's not offered straight by Apple now that the iPhone 13 vary is out, nevertheless it's nonetheless pretty simple to get from third-party shops. That mentioned, the value is likely to be a sticking level because it was the most costly iPhone on the market at launch and it is nonetheless among the many priciest now.

Yes, it rivals the price of some MacBooks in sure territories, however that’s probably not a good comparability - these are totally different merchandise with totally different specs, designed to do very various things. However, it does illustrate how costly the iPhone 11 Pro Max is.

The iPhone 11 Pro Max worth begins at $1,099 / £1,149 / AU$1,899 for the 64GB mannequin. Storage capability then jumps to 256GB, with an asking worth of $1,249 / £1,299 / AU$2,149.

It then goes all the best way as much as $1,449 / £1,499 / AU$2,499 for the most costly 512GB mannequin - so in case you're not wealthy sufficient to swim repeatedly in a pool of cash, it is most likely time to get saving.

Having mentioned that, many shops at the moment are promoting it for much less. For instance, on the time of writing we are able to see the iPhone 11 Pro Max on sale for £1,029 / AU1,699 (with most US offers being restricted to contracts).

You’ll have seen the distinction in value between the UK and US - the place beforehand Apple has been matching the {dollars} and kilos price ticket for its iPhones, this time it is a little bit totally different.

In the United States, the usual worth of the iPhone 11 Pro Max is similar as that of the telephone it succeeds, the iPhone XS Max, nevertheless it's risen within the United Kingdom, which is definitely going to irk some consumers there.

Looking for an amazing iPhone 11 Pro Max deal? Check out the {links} beneath for all the very best choices.

Camera

We don’t often get into assessing the digital camera so shortly in our opinions, however the principle change in 2019’s iPhone vary is to the imaging high quality on provide.

In phrases of {hardware}, the important thing distinction is the addition of the ultra-wide digital camera, making it three cameras on the rear of the telephone.

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(Image credit score: SociallyKeeda)

These sit proud from the again of the iPhone 11 Pro Max, with the glass sq. surrounding them matching the colour of the telephone itself, which helps to attenuate the visible influence of three distinguished black holes on the rear.

What you’ve bought listed below are a ‘normal’ wide-angle lens, a telephoto lens, and a brand new ultra-wide one. The telephoto possibility zooms you 2x nearer to your topic, and the ultra-wide-angle lens lets you cram twice as a lot of the scene in entrance of you into the body.

This is nice in case you’re attempting to get a shot of a bunch of buddies or an animal, however can’t transfer additional again or nearer - the iPhone 11 Pro Max will will let you crop in or pull again with out having to maneuver.

iPhone 11 operating system

(Image credit score: SociallyKeeda)

All three cameras pack 12MP sensors, which is fairly commonplace for many smartphones nowadays, permitting for a very good stability between pixel dimension (to seize extra gentle) and determination (for capturing loads of element).

Video recording has additionally been improved, with the Pro Max now capable of seize 4K at 60 frames per second (fps). This means you’re getting smoother footage due to extra info being captured, nevertheless it’s price remembering that this can refill the storage in your iPhone that a lot faster.

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iPhone 11 camera — (Image credit score: SociallyKeeda)

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There's loads that may be mentioned in regards to the iPhone's - or any trendy smartphone's - digital camera nowadays, as they pack in so many options, and on the entire you may battle to take a poor-quality snap with any of them.

That means any model attempting to make a market-leading cameraphone must fill it with options, and that is what Apple has tried to do right here.

Night mode

The first is Night mode - earlier fashions from Apple have didn't seize really spectacular photographs within the gloom, and different manufacturers have stolen a march right here, with Samsung, Huawei, and notably Google main the best way, providing telephone cameras that may nearly flip night time into day by way of superior post-processing of photographs.

Apple's new Night mode definitely brings it into the dialog - in our eyes, it is the one greatest cause to purchase a brand new iPhone. You'll want to carry the telephone regular, or brace it or mount it on a tripod, however in case you do you are rewarded with the power to take photos with element that even your eyes cannot see.

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Depending on the sunshine ranges (and whether or not you are utilizing a tripod or not) the iPhone will ask you to carry nonetheless for between 2-5 seconds usually – nevertheless, you'll be able to manually lengthen this as much as 30 seconds (if the iPhone is in a tripod or leant in opposition to a wall) to get ‘fully bright’ scenes.

The outcomes have been generally staggering - the degrees of sharpness and brightness the iPhone can obtain utilizing Night mode should be seen to be believed.

We say the outcomes have been generally staggering, as a result of in case you introduce any movement the entire image is ruined. This signifies that in case you're attempting to snap some buddies dancing, it isn't going to work in any respect, and you will want to show off Night mode to get any type of sharpness (though the images are nonetheless pretty vibrant).

Better portrait mode

The different improve to the static digital camera is to Portrait mode: not solely is it higher at determining the outlines of the particular person, animal or different topic that you simply wish to hold sharp, it is also now capable of work at a 'regular' distance, in addition to zoomed in as on earlier fashions, due to the additional sensor having the ability to decide up extra details about depth.

The outcomes are fairly good, particularly whenever you're snapping individuals in well-lit, contrasting scenes - in reality, get such pictures proper and the pictures may be beautiful. You can play with the totally different lighting modes on provide to cover blemishes, or use the brand new High Key Mono choice to create a extra ethereal, stylized image.

However, when taking some photographs, hair recognition was nonetheless an issue, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max struggled to get the pinnacle of a cat totally sharp. Taking photos of objects ought to work higher, however we discovered that usually these have been a little bit fuzzy across the edges too.

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However, the general high quality of photographs, particularly in comparison with the iPhone XS Max of final 12 months, is brighter and sharper as you'd count on. The ultra-wide digital camera is good to make use of in case you bear in mind it is there, however the outcomes have been barely distorted in areas, regardless of Apple's greatest efforts to resolve this with picture processing.

Snapping between the digital camera modes wasn't at all times easy, particularly with the ultra-wide-sensor juddering a little bit, and infrequently we would activate the digital camera and be met with a clean preview that just some mode-switching may repair.

We've truly left out a number of the 'regular' digital camera mode outcomes of the iPhone as a result of they're simply pretty much as good as final 12 months - photographs are usually vibrant, in focus and stuffed with element and colour. Apple's snaps are much less saturated than these from the cameras of some rival manufacturers, and blow up nicely, displaying pretty ranges of readability.