The 15 Pro Max was the lightest Pro Max yet at 221 grams. Three years later the 18 Pro Max weighs 249, and the video's case for upgrading rests on where those 28 grams went: a bigger battery and a vapor chamber, the same pair behind the separate iPhone 18 Pro Max battery test.
Three years apart
| Spec | 15 Pro Max | 18 Pro Max |
|---|---|---|
| Frame | Titanium | Aluminum unibody |
| Display | 6.7 in, 2,000 nits outdoors | 6.9 in, 3,000 nits outdoors |
| Video playback, Apple's rating | Up to 29 hours | Up to 45 hours |
| Rear cameras | 48MP main, 12MP ultra wide, 12MP 5x | 48MP main with variable aperture, 48MP ultra wide, 48MP 4x |
| MagSafe | 15W | 25W |
What you notice in the first week
- Heat. The titanium 15 Pro Max runs hot and dims sooner outdoors; the 18 Pro Max stays cool even under Florida sun, per the video.
- Ceramic Shield 2. The front glass adds an anti-reflective coating, and the video says it has held up without a screen protector.
- Charging. 0 to 50% took 15 minutes on a 60W charger against 30 on the 15 Pro Max, in the video's test.
- The island. It's smaller and holds three Live Activities, and Face ID unlocks as reliably as the 15's, by the video's account.
- Speakers and radios. The speakers sound louder and clearer to the video, and Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 come along.
Camera and audio
- Variable aperture. The main lens opens to f/1.48 and stops down to f/4, and the video's low-light shots need less ISO and less motion blur.
- 48MP ultra wide. It fixes the 15's weak macro and 0.5x shots.
- Telephoto. A 48MP 4x lens with an 8x optical-quality crop replaces the old 5x.
- Front camera. The 18MP Center Stage camera takes horizontal selfies while held upright.
- Video and sound. 4K at 120 fps, Dual Capture, and four studio-quality mics with Audio Mix and wind reduction, which the video calls the biggest change of all.
Speed is where the 15 holds up. The A20 Pro with 12GB of memory beats the A17 Pro with 8GB in heavy editing and on-device AI, but in the video's daily use social apps and Safari feel the same until the older phone throttles from heat. The 15 Pro Max still gets Siri AI in iOS 27, minus Siri voice customization, and the video expects future features to need 12GB.
The video's 15 Pro Max sits at 88% battery health. A new battery fixes that, not the heat or the cameras, so I'd count this as the upgrade year for iPhoners still on one.
