iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 16 Plus: Battle of the Big Bois

Are you, like me, a fan of giant phones? Do you like your phone to be so large that it's a cruel mockery of pockets? Would your ideal phone be the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey? Fortunately, Apple has you covered.

This year, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is both Pro-ier and Max-ier, with a giant 6.9 inch screen. But perhaps you don't want to splash $2,149 on a new phone. You're in luck, because there's another chonky boi in Apple's stable: the iPhone 16 Plus. I received review units of both big chaps, and decided to compare the two models for all of us who dream of the day we can cram a full-sized iPad Pro in our pockets.

When it comes to choosing between the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Plus, there's a substantial difference in price. Of course, if you choose the Pro Max, you're paying for the "Pro", not the size. The Pro Max starts at $2,149 for the 256GB model, while the Plus starts at $1,599 for the 128GB model. To compare apples to apples (pardon the pun), a 256GB iPhone 16 Plus will set you back $1,799.

If you'd rather get either the Pro Max or the Plus on a plan, here's a look at the cost over 24 or 36 months with Vodafone, Optus and Telstra.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max sports a slightly larger display than the Plus, at 6.9 inches versus 6.7. Both have a Super Retina HDR OLED display, but the Pro Max features an always-on display that's absent on the Plus. It's also adaptive, with refresh rates up to 120Hz, which means you're likely to have a better gaming experience with fewer dropped frames. When it comes to screen size and performance, the 16 Pro Max is the clear winner here.

This year, both the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro lineups get the Action button, which was exclusive to the Pros in the iPhone 15 lineup. The Action button can be mapped to different shortcuts, and is a handy way to quickly perform actions like opening Shazam to identify a song or turning on your flashlight.

Both the 16 Pro Max and Plus also have the new Camera Control button, which I've found very useful in quickly opening my camera and zooming in and out.

From a pure aesthetics standpoint, I have to give the edge to the iPhone 16 Plus. The new vertical camera bump is streamlined and smart-looking, and its range of colour options outclasses the Pro Max. The 16 Plus is available in Ultramarine, Teal, Pink, White and Black. The 16 Pro Max is available in Black, White, Natural Titanium and Desert Titanium. Someone please tell Apple that vibrant colours and Pro model phones can coexist.

The most noticeable difference between the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Plus is in the camera specs. The 16 Plus has two rear lenses: a 48MP fusion lens and a 12MP ultrawide. The 16 Pro Max, meanwhile, bumps the ultrawide up to 48MP and adds a telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom. That means clearer macrophotography, and much better zoom capabilities.

As I mentioned before, both phones have the Camera Action button. This new button brings up the camera app with a press. A light press will bring up the zoom feature, and you can slide your finger back and forth to zoom in and out. A longer press will bring up more photo settings.

This button is my favourite addition on the iPhone 16 lineup. It's so intuitive and easy to use that it only took a couple days before it became second nature for me to default to the button rather than the touchscreen.

So, with the same new button but different lens specs, how wide is the photography gulf between the two phones? I'll let you judge below with a gallery of photos taken on the 16 Plus and the 16 Pro Max.

I'll admit that I find iPhone photography in general challenging at times. Apple has constructed their camera app so you get the best out of it if you really know what you're doing, versus the dummy-proof point and shoot ethos of Google's Pixel phones. So I usually have to take more shots with an iPhone to get a really good one.

I had an easier time getting the aforementioned really good shots with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but both phones produce really stunning photos. The biggest differences I noticed were in macro photography and low light photography. The Pro Max performs better in both. Again, both phones are some of the best smartphones on the market in terms of photography, but I'd give the Pro Max 16 the rather obvious edge. If great photography is the top of your priority list when selecting a phone, it's worth splashing the extra cash for the Pro Max.

The iPhone 16 Plus is powered by the new A18 chip, while the Pro Max is powered by the aptly named A18 Pro chip. So, what exactly does that mean? The A18 Pro chip adds an extra GPU core, for 6 GPU cores to the A18's 5. This means it's going to perform better for tasks such as gaming, video editing and machine learning. Given Apple's heavy focus on its upcoming Apple Intelligence features, it's likely the Pro Max will handle these features a bit quicker than the Plus. Of course, it's impossible to say that with certainty until Apple Intelligence is actually available in Australia (which is slated for December).

Benchmark tests show the A18 Pro, on average, runs about 10% faster than the A18. In actual use, I didn't find a significant difference in how the phones performed for daily tasks such as opening apps or running games. Games like Assassin's Creed Mirage and Resident Evil 4 might look a touch crisper and run marginally faster on the Pro, and you'll definitely get a higher frame rate.

If serious gaming is a high priority for you, the Pro Max is going to be a better choice. But for everyday use, the iPhone 16 Plus still runs lightning fast and is snappy and responsive. For most users, the A18 chip will more than satisfy their needs.

Battery life is a slightly different story. The iPhone 16 Pro Max claims to be capable of 33 hours of video playback between charges, and that sounds reasonable given my experience with the phone. I was able to easily go a day-and-a-half to two days between charges.

The iPhone 16 Plus, meanwhile, still gets excellent battery life, but there's a wide chasm between it and the Pro Max. Apple claims the 16 Plus will get 27 hours of video playback between charges. Again, this sounds reasonable. My experience showed I needed a charge at least once every 24 hours to avoid slipping into the low power zone.

If you're keen on a phone you can take on the longest of long haul flights without worrying about a place to plug in, the Pro Max is the best choice. The Plus gets decent battery life, but you'll need to top it up daily.

Since we're all big phone brethren here, let's assume the shamefully minuscule iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro aren't in your consideration set. I mean, they're so comparatively small, how could you even see them to consider them in the first place? So, like any god-fearing aficionado of smartphone Goliaths, you've narrowed it down to the 16 Pro Max or the 16 Plus. Which should you actually buy?

Well, if you plan on shooting high frame rate video, if you like macro photography, if you're a hardcore mobile gamer and dropped frames and lag send you into a rage, if plugging your phone in once a day feels like a hassle coupled with a burden, the Pro Max is the obvious choice. There's a reason "Pro" is right there in the name. It's built to be capable of professional photography, videography, video editing and seriously intense gaming, and it acquits itself well on all counts.

But if you just want a phone that runs quickly, takes great photos and looks great doing it, the iPhone 16 Plus is more than capable. Unlike previous year's lineups, Apple hasn't left its base models with a button deficit versus their Pro counterparts. You'll get all the same functions and features on the iPhone 16 Plus. More importantly, you'll pay a lot less. And most importantly, you'll have a phone so large it's an affront to society. And that's what really matters.