iPhone 15 Pro Max - Thoughts

  • The 15 Pro Max seems (as of iOS 17.2 Beta)to run more warm then my previous iPhones. Definitely more noticeable to me than I ever remember with the 14 Pro Max.
  • Titanium finish is fantastic. In fact, the feel of the device was so good, I decided to go case-less for a bit, and ended up dropping my phone on cement almost immediately after making this decision.1
  • The 15 Pro Max weight differences (and re-balancing of the device) are significant. The phone has a better balance in hand, and the albeit small differences in weight, do make a difference.
  • I went with the Natural Titanium finish, and its fine. I think it’s the best of the overall even more toned down color palette for the Pro series.
  • The fine woven cases are not great. I think if you are someone that enjoys the feel of suede this case may appeal to you.
  • The action button is a cool inclusion, but I still do not feel like I have found a great daily use case for it (much like the action button on the Ultra).2
  • The 15 Pro Max 5x lens is fantastic, and I am already getting a lot of use out of it for my kids soccer games.
  • USB-C is… fine? I am glad to have nearly all of my primary Apple hardware with a few exclusions3. I do worry about lint buildup in the port which has been an issue with USB-C ports in the past on the Pixel phones I have owned, and USB-C is still a messy spec.

Overall, minus the heat issue, the iPhone 15 Pro max has been my favorite iPhone to date, bumped specs aside, it was nice to see Apple focus on the materials (titanium is fantastic), and find ways to reduce the weight/feel of the device in hand.

  1. Of note, the titanium itself stayed 100% intact and scratch-less, but one corner of the phone glass has some minuscule chipping in the edge of the glass from where it hit the ground. ↩︎

  2. I think it is mostly a muscle memory change that I have not adjusted to yet, but I also have just not landed on that thing that will make it click for me. ↩︎

  3. I am holding out hope that Apple will be updating the AirPods Max, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, and Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse at the Oct. 30th event. ↩︎

Chris Hunsanger @hunsanger