I’ve been using the iPhone 14 Pro Max for nearly a month now and today I wanted to give you my updated thoughts on it, a hands-on review of the features, pros and cons. So there are some new features, such as the dynamic island and brighter screen improved cameras for photos and videos.
And that new action load. But are these changes significant enough to justify an upgrade to the 14 Pro or Pro Max? As I shoot all the videos on my channel with an iPhone, So it’s been a good opportunity to really see how the 14 Pro Max performs as my daily phone, so if you were thinking of buying one of the latest iPhone 14 Pros, hopefully this article will give you an idea of what to expect.
Design
So if you’re shooting loads of content in 4k and taking photos in Pro raw, you’re probably going to need loads of storage. And that is the main reason that I’ve gone for the one terabyte option. It does seem like overkill, especially as I also use the two terabyte. I have cloud storage, but it means I can take as many photos and videos as I need without really worrying.
I would say if you were creating content or you planned a film in 4k and taking photos in Pro Raw, you’ll probably want to go for at least the 512 GB option. One terabyte is too much for most. But then, if you think you’re going to keep the phone for the next two to three years, it’s probably worth upgrading now, as you can never have too much storage.
- 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display featuring Always-On & ProMotion.
Is the Max too BIG?
So, as I mentioned, I’ve gone for the Pro Max this year and when it comes to the size and portability, there are definitely some pros and cons. The advantage is the screen is bigger, so it’s perfect for editing photos, watching videos, or playing games. But it also has a bigger battery, so fewer worries about charging it. But if you’ve got smaller hands or you struggle to use one one-handed, it can be a problem.
So, for example, trying to tap the dynamic island to answer a call, you’re probably going to need two hands to use it comfortably. For me, the pros do outweigh the cons now. I don’t mind a slightly larger phone if it means I can enjoy editing or watching content on here and not really worry about the battery life. But if I’m being honest, I have picked up my wife’s 14 pro a couple of times and questioned whether I should have gone smaller, but overall I am happy with the 14 pro Max.
Dynamic Island
The 14 Pro iPhone features a dynamic island at the top, which is a more visually appealing and functional feature than the previous notch. This adaptive notification area is limited to apps that do well with it, such as face ID and incoming calls. Other apps like screen recording timers, music charging, and airdropping files also benefit from this area. Over time, more apps will integrate with this area, making it easier to use the iPhone on a daily basis.
The screen now has a brightness boost of 2,000 nits compared to the 13 Pro last year. Although the screen is still reflective, the brighter screen does help in direct sunlight. The pro motion display, which has a 120 hertz adaptive screen, ensures smooth scrolling through apps and pages. Although this feature may not be the main reason to buy a 14 Pro, it is a nice feature that makes using the iPhone easier on a day-to-day basis. The screen is still reflective, so it may struggle to see what’s on the screen in direct sunlight.
Videos Recording Improvement
Now this isn’t a secret, but I do use an iPhone to record all of the videos for this channel, and that’s the one and only reason that I upgrade every single year. I want the best camera that I can get for an iPhone, so the fact that the cameras have been upgraded once again is a huge advantage for me.
But do they make that much of a difference? Well, starting with the article, I shot in 4K 30, although it will do up to 4K 60, and I can tell you now that within the first few minutes of using it. I could tell this was noticeably better quality than the 13 Pro; it’s brighter, less noisy, and definitely has a bump in overall video quality.
Last week’s article on the Sony headset review, well, that was filmed entirely on the 14 Pro Max. Everything before this video was then filmed on either the 13 Pro Max or the 13 Mini. And even while editing this video, I could see just how good the quality looked, and that’s filming inside Today’s article is shot between the 14 Pro and the 13 Pro, and it still amazes me just how good the iPhone footage is.
All of this camera capability is packed into a mobile phone that’s in your pocket. So that means if you want to create content, which is something I often encourage, you can use the phone that’s in your pocket.
The iPhone 14 pro is a perfect phone for that. We now have four focal lengths ranging from 0.5 up to three times and I’d say all four have seen a noticeable upgrade in quality. Even the ultra wide lens looks a lot cleaner than what we’ve seen before.
Action Mode and Stabilization
There’s the stabilization and the standard motion handling, which are incredibly good You could easily use the 14 pro without a gimbal while walking through town. It is super smooth, but last weekend I had to try out the new action mode that we’ve seen recently added to the 14 pro, and this thing is ridiculous.
So what I did was I asked my son to run down the street and I would follow him as best as I could without the action mode. which is still very good, bearing in mind I am running sideways here while holding two phones to try and get that shot. And now I’ve switched over to action mode and started running again, and considering how fast we’re both running with no gimbal, this is effortlessly stable.
It’s worth mentioning that it does reduce the resolution to 2.7K instead of 4K, but it’s not really noticeable even when showing the footage side by side. So I think if you need to make use of the action mode, don’t really worry about the resolution, but generally speaking, the standard stabilization really is good enough and you don’t really need a gimbal.
Battery Life Day-to-day
The larger battery means you’re going to see a few extra hours now. Apple says you’ll get up to 29 hours of use, but realistically I’ve seen anywhere between 10 to 15 hours now. That is more than enough of my daily needs and that includes checking social media, filming videos, watching YouTube, and replying to emails.
If I can make it through 15 hours a day without a charge, I am happy with that. I normally take it off charge when I wake up in the morning around 7am and then I put it back on charge at 11 PM. I don’t really need more than that. But the pro, on the other hand, that my wife uses is borderline flat by the late evening.
There is a reason why I believe that I’ve managed to get a decent battery life out of mine and that’s because almost immediately I disabled the always-on display I know this is a new feature this year, but I just don’t like it. I found myself constantly looking over and getting distracted, so I can only assume this has helped slightly towards my battery.
Photos in Pro RAW
so I’ve talked about how I use the iPhone for creating my YouTube videos, but I’ve also taken all of my Instagram and Twitter photos with an iPhone as well. I often shoot in raw and then edit them in Lightroom mobile. However, this gives you an idea of what is possible with just an iPhone on the back. We still have the three lenses; we’ve got the ultra wide, the wide and the telephoto, but we now have four different zoom modes.
We have 0.5, 1, 2, and 3. But the biggest change here is the fact that when shooting in Pro Raw, you can make use of the 48 megapixel camera. I have always been impressed with the iPhone camera, but being able to shoot at 48 megapixels in raw and then edit in Lightroom mobile is incredible.
The detail and the information stored in these files take edits and pictures to a whole new level. Of course, you don’t need to shoot in Pro Raw. You can use the normal photo mode and you’ll get some awesome photos from it, but it’s just going to be a compressed photo. And another thing, the files are huge. We’re talking 15 to 20 times bigger than the jpeg equivalent. You won’t want to be shooting every single photo in raw, just the ones you know need editing or correcting. Most of the photos will be worth it.
I’ve taken floats around 50 to 80 megabytes, so your space could very quickly fill up. I’m not sure if it’s because the files are so huge, but when you take multiple photos, I have noticed that the phone massively slows down. So let me show you a very quick example of the 13 Pro Max and the 14 Pro Max, both taking Pro Raw photos and just for comparison. The same again, but both taken in normal jpeg photos.
I’m not sure if this can be improved upon, but hopefully. We’ll see how this is optimised by Apple via an update that’s like eight to nine seconds delayed, which is painfully slow, but the photos I have taken over the last few weeks have been awesome. It’s easy to say these are better than what I could have taken on the 13 Pro, but I do feel this is more than just a placebo effect; the images really are noticeably better.
Storage
So if you’re shooting loads of content in 4k and taking photos in Pro raw, you’re probably going to need loads of storage. And that is the main reason that I’ve gone for the one terabyte option. It does seem like overkill, especially as I also use the two terabyte. I have cloud storage, but it means I can take as many photos and videos as I need without really worrying.
I would say if you were creating content or you planned a film in 4k and taking photos in Pro Raw, you’ll probably want to go for at least the 512 GB option. One terabyte is too much for most. But then, if you think you’re going to keep the phone for the next two to three years, it’s probably worth upgrading now, as you can never have too much storage.
Is it worthwhile to get the iPhone 14 Pro Max?
If you’ve already got a 13 Pro, this feels more like a 13 Pro rather than the whole new model this year. And the same could be said for the normal 14, but I’ll just say that if you want the best iPhone available right now and you’ll make use of those new features, you cannot go wrong with the 14 pro.
So yeah, the camera upgrade alone will make a noticeable difference in any photo or video that you take, so yeah, overall I’m really happy with the 14 Pro Max. I’m looking forward to seeing what my future videos and articles will look like on the channel and whether you’ve noticed any improvement already.
What do you think about the quality of this article? Let me know if you’ve got an iPhone already or what features you would like to see added next time to make you upgrade. Drop a shot on your iPhone in the comments.
