Apple is a conservative manufacturer. They often offer new things in the form of inserts in each of their new products. However, what happened to the iPhone 14 Pro Max seems a bit different.
There’s so much new you’ve never seen on iPhones before. One of the new things is Dynamic Island, which makes the iPhone 14 Pro Max a conversation. This one feature is also owned by the iPhone 14 Pro.
Thanks to Dynamic Island, the bangs – which used to be just a place to house the front camera and a few sensors – are now a “living” component. The shape of the bangs is also different. Smaller and no longer perched under the top bezel of the phone screen.
Through this article on the advantages and disadvantages of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, Signalpk will try to explain something new and interesting from the cellphone. We also include a number of notes that could be a drawback for this Apple Phone. You can see the summary in the following table.
For those of you who want to read the discussion in detail, see the reviews in this article to the end! The following are attached specifications of the iPhone 14 Pro Max that you can see first before entering the discussion.
iPhone 14 Pro Max short Specs
| Screen | LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED 6.7 inch |
| Chipset | Apple A16 Bionic |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Internal Memory | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Camera | 48 MP (wide) 12 MP (telephoto) 12 MP (ultrawide) MP (ToF Lidar) |
| Battery | Li-Ion 4323 mAh |
Pros of iPhone 14 Pro Max
The seven points below explain the advantages of the iPhone 14 Pro Max. These advantages are the factors that make this phone able to steal the attention of potential buyers. Here’s the explanation.
1. Steady Build Quality
The design changes on the iPhone 14 Pro Max are not extreme. Apart from the bangs, camera module (which enlarges), and dimensions, there is no visually noticeable change in shape. The rest of the construction of this cellphone is still similar to the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
However, Apple offers really fresh color options. There are four color options on offer: Deep Purple Gold, Silver, and Space Black. All of them have a matte character. Deep Purple aka purple is the variant that grabs the most attention, especially for fashionistas.
The premium impression of this mobile phone still radiates through the flat frame with stainless steel material. Then the glass material on the front and back cover. Especially on the front, Apple added ceramic glass to increase the durability of the phone during an impact.
Interestingly, the glass back cover of the iPhone 14 Pro Max is now removable. You can replace it yourself in the event of a breakage incident. However, if you are not proficient, you should leave the replacement of the back cover glass to the staff at an Apple service center.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max also has IP68 certification. This means that this cellphone is 360-degree dustproof and water resistant to a depth of 6 meters for 30 minutes.
For those of you who are worried about the news that the iPhone 14 Pro Max comes without a SIM slot, stay calm. Outside the United States market, this cellphone still has a SIM slot.
Some testers gave a positive note to the design of the iPhone 14 Pro Max. For example Mark Spoonauer from Tom’s Guide. Spoonauer was pleased with the color polish on the frame which is now in harmony with the color of the back cover.
Still a matter of color, Stan Schroeder from Mashable assesses that the Space Black variant might be the favourite. The reason is because the combination of a jet black frame with a dark gray back cover seems to match.
Even so, Schroeder will still choose Deep Purple because it has a calmer impression. Especially if the phone with the color variant is used in dimly lit places.
2. Bright Screen with AOD
The display sector of the iPhone 14 Pro Max is still reinforced by a 6.7-inch OLED screen. Apple calls the screen that has a resolution of 2796 x 1290 pixels the Super Retina XDR display. What looks new from this Phone screen is clearly the bangs.
However, we will explain the bangs and Dynamic Island features in a separate point. Now we focus on the screen capabilities of the iPhone 14 Pro Max. One new feature that Apple has highlighted on the screen of the phone is the presence of the Always-on Display (AOD).
Finally, this feature that has long been owned by Android phones has stopped on the iPhone. AOD allows you to view various notifications without having to tap on the screen of the phone. Notifications are like time, date, and weather.
Well, usually AOD is associated with wasteful power consumption. This is true because the screen is “forced” to always be on (partially) to display certain information. However, Apple guarantees that the power consumption of the iPhone 14 Pro Max remains efficient even though AOD is enabled.
The system on this phone is designed so that the screen dims the display brightness if you are in an environment with minimal lighting ( low power mode ). Even the screen display automatically darkens when the screen is faced down (eg placed on a table) or when the phone is in a trouser pocket.
The second feature that Apple highlighted on the iPhone 14 Pro Max screen is the brightness level. In outdoor conditions, this Phone screen is claimed to be able to reach a brightness level of 2000 nits! This brightness level is twice as high as the previous generation iPhone.
For normal use, this Phone screen can reach a typical brightness of 1000 nits. Meanwhile, when displaying HDR photos and video content, the brightness level can penetrate 1600 nits.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max screen also still supports a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. This ability is called Apple with ProMotion. The 120 Hz refresh rate of this screen is adaptive to keep power consumption efficient.
Adaptive in this case is to make adjustments based on activity in the 10 Hz to 120 Hz range. This can be done because the Phone OLED panel is supported by the LTPO back plane. Even so, Apple did not explicitly mention the existence of an LTPO backplane.
Other information you need to know about the iPhone 14 Pro Max screen is that it has a pixel density of 460 ppi, has a DCI-P3 color gamut, and is capable of producing colors with a contrast ratio of 2 million:1.
In tests conducted by Mark Spoonauer and the Tom’s Guide team, the iPhone 14 Pro Max screen was able to achieve 1565 nits of brightness when playing HDR content. These results are very close to Apple’s claims.
Then the screen of the phone is called translucent 117.5% sRGB color space and 83.2% DCI-P3. As for the degree of color deviation, which is indicated by the Delta-E value, it is only 0.26. Delta-E 0 means perfect aka no color aberration.
Referring to the capabilities and test results above the iPhone 14 Pro Max screen is suitable for various activities. Starting from watching movies, playing games, editing photos and videos, or just scrolling fast on social media applications.
Oh yes, the beautiful screen is also accompanied by stereo configured speakers. The sound output of this Phone speaker is quite loud (up to 85 decibels) according to Lance Ulanoff of Tech Radar.
3. Innovative Dynamic Island
the term feature sounds funny. Perhaps a more pleasing translation would be “Dynamic Space” instead of “Dynamic Island.”
Either way, Dynamic Island is a completely new and innovative feature of Apple’s creation. This feature visually allows the screen bangs to lengthen, shorten, or create two separate bubbles, according to the command given.
Dynamic Island also makes the previously static bangs come alive. The reason is, the bangs of the iPhone 14 Pro Max no longer function to disguise the presence of the face scanner sensor and front camera.
In short, Dynamic Island is a system that displays brief information about what the application is currently working on. Nilay Patel of The Verge calls Dynamic Island a state system viewer widget.
As an illustration, when you play music, the bangs of this Phone screen will extend and display the title, album, and tone visualization. Tapping the bangs will get you into the song player app. Meanwhile, when you press the bangs for a long time, you will be able to access the play, pause, forward, and rewind buttons.
The song player is just one of many examples of applications compatible with Dynamic Island. You can also feel the Dynamic Island -style visualization while navigating with the Apple Maps application, timer, and even third-party applications such as WhatsApp and Spotify.
In the future, there will be more third-party applications that are compatible with Dynamic Island. What may be your question is, how will Dynamic Island look if there are more than one application running?
Dynamic Island has three views, namely the main view, the expanded view, and the view with small icons. The third screen is what you will see if there are two apps running in the background. The system will automatically select the two most important applications if there are more than two applications running.
4. Impressive Performance
New product, new chipset. That’s the formula when Apple launches a new cell phone, specifically the number series iPhone. iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are also equipped with a chipset or SoC called Apple A16 Bionic.
This SoC has 6 CPU cores and 5 GPU cores. There is also an ISP as an image processor and a 16- core Neural Engine as an artificial intelligence processor. There are two clusters on the A16 Bionic CPU, consisting of 2 performance cores and four efficiency cores.
Apple does not explain the clockspeed of each. However, according to GSM Arena, the performance core named “Everest” is tuned at 3.46 GHz. Meanwhile, the “Sawtooth” efficiency core has a clockspeed of 2.02 GHz.
Overall the Apple A16 Bionic contains about 16 million transistors. This SoC is also designed with a new manufacturing process that is 4 nm. It is more sophisticated than the A15 Bionic which is 5 nm. Apple also claims that the GPU SoC is faster than the previous generation.
The A16 Bionic is then combined with 6 GB of RAM and storage of various capacities. There are 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB. So how is the performance that can be produced by this one SoC?
In short, the A16 Bionic is able to make the iPhone 14 Pro Max complete various tasks swiftly. The speed is clearly higher than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. However, in everyday use, the speed of both phones may feel the same.
Improved performance is more pronounced when the phone is used to play games. This is because the improvement of the A16 Bionic SoC emphasizes the GPU, which has 50% more memory bandwidth than its predecessor Apple Silicon SoC.
Journalist for The Wired, Julian Chokkattu, admitted that this cellphone was not hot at all when playing the games Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm and Rocket League Sideswipe. Each game he played for 45 minutes.
Mark Spoonauer also feels happy when playing the game Asphalt 9 Legends on this cellphone. The visualization of the game created is very smooth, even in scenes where several cars are jostling for first place.
As an illustration, here are the results of the GeekBench 5 and 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited tests conducted by Mark Spoonauer. iPhone 14 Pro Max with its A16 Bionic SoC outperformed iPhone 13 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G, and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5G.
imag-Source: Tom’s Guide
However, comparing the iPhone with an Android phone doesn’t feel right. Because they both run on different operating systems. As for another test, which is converting 4K video to 1080p with the Adobe Premiere Rush application, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is even a little slower.
It takes 30 seconds to complete the task, five seconds slower than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. This could be due to the application optimization for the new SoC that went wrong. Even so, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is still faster than the Galaxy S22 Ultra (47 seconds) and the Galaxy Z Fold4 (45 seconds).
5. Excellent Camera Capture
Pixel binning technology or pixel merging has actually been around for a long time. The first phone to implement this technology was the Nokia 808 which was released in 2012. However, many Phone manufacturers have only recently realized its usefulness.
Samsung, for example, only implemented it in 2020 through the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Two years later, Apple then joined in implementing a similar feature on the iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro. Yes, the main Phone camera that is being discussed has a resolution of 48 MP from pixel binning.
A resolution of 48 MP is generated when four pixels are combined into one large pixel. Apple believes that the pixel binning method can make the phone’s main camera capture more light. This ability is also supported by the size of the camera sensor which is now larger.
A large resolution not only serves to get more light. The reason is, on this cellphone, Apple also uses it for the magnification feature, aka zooming up to 2x. The trick is to do cropping on photos that have a large resolution.
That’s a glimpse of the pixel binning technology on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Let’s continue to discuss the technical specifications of the rear camera and front camera of the phone.
In the back row there is a 48 MP camera with an aperture of f/1.8. This camera with a 24mm lens has a sensor measuring 1/1.28 inches and produces individual pixels of 1.22µm (micrometers). For comparison, the size of the main camera sensor of the iPhone 13 Pro Max is smaller, which is 1/1.7 inches.
The main camera of this phone, of course, has autofocus and is reinforced by a sensor-shift OIS stabilizer component. Next there is an f/2.8 telephoto camera and an ultrawide camera with an f/2.2 aperture. Both have 12 MP resolution and autofocus.
However, only telephoto cameras have OIS stabilizer. The telephoto camera can perform optical magnification up to 2x. Finally in the back row there is a ToF 3D LiDAR camera as a depth sensor.
Turning to the front side, there is a 12 MP selfie camera whose aperture is f/1.9, larger than the iPhone 13 Pro Max selfie camera (f/2.2). The selfie camera is now equipped with autofocus, so users are more flexible in determining the focus point.
The previous technology that was already okay was maintained. Starting from video recording capabilities up to 4K 60 fps on all cameras, Cinematic Mode, and ProRes.
The following is an example of an iPhone 14 Pro Max camera capture taken by Julian Chokkattu. You can judge for yourself.
Main camera – portrait mode
Main camera – 48 MP low light mode
Ultrawide camera – low light
Selfie camera
However, to be honest, Chokkattu hardly sees anything new from the phone’s camera capture, when comparing it to the iPhone 13 Pro. It’s true that the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s camera can capture slightly sharper and brighter images than its predecessor.
Only, Chokkattu must pay close attention to where the differences in the photos captured by each cellphone are. Sometimes the iPhone 13 Pro camera captures are even slightly better with minimal noise. After all, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is still one of the best camera phones.
6. Battery Life Really Good
From the old days until the iPhone 14 Pro Max appeared, Apple never explicitly stated how much battery capacity its cellphone had. Apple just said that the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a lithium ion battery that can last for 29 hours for local video playback.
This ability is increased by one hour compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max. When referring to the GSM Arena, the iPhone 14 Pro Max contains a battery with a capacity of 4323 mAh. The capacity is similar to its predecessor which was 4352 mAh
The phone’s battery is also supported by 20W fast charging, which is said to be 50% charged in 30 minutes. Other charging methods are also compatible to charge this Phone battery. Namely 15W MagSafe wireless charging and 7.5W Qi wireless charging.
In tests conducted by Mark Spoonauer, the iPhone 14 Pro Max can last for 13 hours 39 minutes. These results, according to Spoonauer and the Tom’s Guide team, are quite good. At least it has surpassed the iPhone 13 Pro Max which only lasted 12 hours and 16 minutes.
The test scenario applied by Spoonauer is browsing on web pages continuously until the phone’s battery runs out. In addition, the brightness level of the phone is set at 150 nits.
In another test, Lance Ulanoff and the Tech Radar team got 26 hours of battery life in a video streaming scenario. The result is an hour longer than Apple claims.
If used to support daily activities, with various types of use, approximately the iPhone 14 Pro Max can last up to one and a half days. That’s how Stan Schroeder felt.
7. Special Features, Including Security
Apple introduced several new features to increase user comfort when using the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The two new features that were mentioned were related to security, namely the sending of SOS emergency messages and accident detection sensors.
For SOS emergency calls, this is a feature provided when you are in a remote place. A place where there is no cellular network and WiFi. That’s when this feature can be used by utilizing satellite.
You just go into open space and connect to an orbiting satellite and send the message. Sending a message may take a little longer than sending a message via a cellular network.
For the record, Apple recommends making an emergency call (911) before using the satellite messaging feature. Then, this feature is available for iPhone 14 Series with iOS 16 and rolled out starting November 2022.
The next note is that this feature is only available for the United States and Canada. Sending emergency messages via satellite is free of charge for 2 years from the time the phone is purchased.
Continue to the crash detection sensor. The way this feature works is by detecting the presence of severe shocks when you are driving a car, truck, and the like.
This feature makes use of accelerometer, gyroscope, and barometer sensors, as well as voice recordings during events to obtain data. The data is then processed, so that the system can determine whether the user is really having an accident.
Through the display on the phone screen, the system will ask the user whether he is in an accident or not. If there is no response for 20 seconds, the system will automatically make an emergency call for help.
At the same time, the system also sends the approximate coordinates of where you experienced the incident. To note, this feature is available on the iPhone 14 Series with the latest iOS.
Users of Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and Apple Watch Ultra with watchOS 9 can also take advantage of it. This accident detection plus emergency phone feature takes advantage of a WiFi internet connection or a cellular network.
Another feature that is no less interesting to discuss is display customization. Those of you who are old iPhone users certainly know that the iPhone display cannot be tampered with. Except changing the background and arrangement of application icons.
However, iOS 16 now gives users extra space to be creative. You can tweak your phone’s lockscreen by installing widgets and photos. You can also specify the font used.
Cons of iPhone 14 Pro Max
There are many new things offered by the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The whole thing looks interesting. Even so, this cellphone is not a perfect smartphone. The following notes could be a drawback.
1. Body Feels Thick and Heavy
The dimensions of the iPhone 14 Pro Max have not changed significantly when compared to its predecessor. This cellphone has dimensions of 160.7 x 77.6 x 7.85 mm and weighs 240 grams. Meanwhile, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has dimensions of 160.8 x 78.1 x 7.65 mm and weighs 238 grams.
Mathematically, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is not too thick compared to today’s phones. It’s just that, the flat shape of the frame makes the sensation that the phone has a thick body.
Since the last time they launched the iPhone 11 in 2019, Apple has never again used curved frames for its line of phones. Ergonomics problems do not stop there.
Weighing 240 grams of course can not be considered light for a smartphone. However, today’s flagship phones rarely weigh under 200 grams. Especially flagship phones with screens of 6.5 inches and above. You need to get used to when you decide to buy a flagship phone.
2. Not yet USB C either, just normal charging
The European Union has asked phone manufacturers to standardize charging ports. In this case, manufacturers are required to use the USB C port. This policy has been approved as of June 2022 by the European Union Commission through a Law.
The reason behind this policy is clear, namely to reduce e-waste and provide convenience for consumers. Consumers do not need to have all kinds of chargers for every electronic device they have.
Apple, which has always built its own ports, has indicated it is complying with the rules. The new MacBook and iPad Pro lines already use the universal USB C port. However, the iPhone 14 Series (including the iPhone 14 Pro Max) has not switched and is still sticking with the old Lightning port.
It is deeply regretted. The next note that is still related to the charging port is the power delivery. The charging technology supported by the iPhone 14 Pro Max is only limited to 20W.
Apple seems stingy to provide faster charging technology. 20W fast charging is not very slow. Apple claims, charging for 30 minutes can make the phone battery charged 50%. However, 20W fast charging is less competitive than other brand flagships.
3. Minor Dynamic Island side
Dynamic Island makes the interaction experience of users with their devices even more fun. Even so, this feature will never replace the main application that is currently open.
Sometimes, due to limited command options, testers have to log into the app instead of going through Dynamic Island. Therefore, this feature still needs improvement. Apple should engage application developers to optimize the functionality of Dynamic Island.
One other note about Dynamic Island is the risk of the front camera being stained by the user’s finger. The presence of smudges on the front camera lens can affect the quality of selfie photos. You should often wipe the front camera lens if you often use Dynamic Island.
4. The battery can drain quickly, if…
Apple claims that the battery life of the iPhone 14 Pro Max is slightly better than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. The Always-on Display (AOD) feature doesn’t seem to have any effect on the phone.
However, Apple’s claim is contrary to the experience felt by Nilay Patel and the team of The Verge. The reason is, Patel says that the iPhone 14 Pro Max battery runs out a little faster than its predecessor, even though it can last up to a full day.
Patel suspects, this has something to do with the active AOD feature. Lance Ulanoff also has a similar view regarding AOD. In addition, Ulanoff also felt that the phone’s battery also runs out faster when used outdoors.
Outdoor use is common to make the battery run out faster, considering the screen will automatically increase the brightness level. The brighter the screen, the more power it consumes.
Conclusion
Apple’s efforts to refresh the design for the iPhone 14 Pro Max should be appreciated. The refreshment provided cannot be said to be extreme. The reason is, only the bangs are now turned into Dynamic Island.
However, the Dynamic Island is not just a new model of bangs. Because its existence makes users have a new way of interacting with an iPhone. Outside Dynamic Island. Apple also offers a variety of upgrades.
