Seven months into using the iPhone 15 Pro Max, one of the biggest surprises — which, unfortunately, I can confirm through personal experience — is that it can survive drops. Many, many drops.
It’s fallen off the arm of my couch onto my living room hardwood floor multiple times. It dropped from my pocket onto the sidewalk twice as I fumbled to pull it out. And then there were numerous instances where the 15 Pro Max hit the floor of CNET’s San Francisco studio during video shoots. I frequently use the iPhone as a teleprompter with an accessory that clips onto a Panasonic S1H camera and lens. Sometimes my camera operator or I will accidentally knock “the rig” while adjusting the Panasonic, which causes the phone to dislodge and smack the ground. Luckily, my 15 Pro Max’s screen and back haven’t cracked.
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And, it’s worth noting: I don’t use a case. I know, I’m a horrible, soulless monster, but I’m just not a case guy. But, maybe I should be.
Over my seven months with an iPhone 15 Pro Max, I’ve traveled across the country with it, watched TV and movies on it, played games and even taken it to a surf rock show. It’s become my rectangular, half-pound friend that does everything I need it to.
I’ve become dependent on features like StandBy Mode at home and at the office, Check In during long bike rides, and that incredible 5x zoom on the camera. There have been lows, like the overheating software bug that arrived on iPhones running iOS 17 last fall, but luckily, my phone wasn’t affected, and Apple has since resolved the issue.
Here’s why, more than half a year later, I’m still glued to my iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Wear and tear
Let’s start with how my iPhone 15 Pro Max looks, especially after all those falls. The titanium sides are in good shape, but there is a small knick on the side of the top-left corner — no comment! The back glass looks good. My phone is the natural titanium color, or what a friend jokingly calls “not quite beige.” But that drab color, along with the matte finish, hides fingerprints and dust quite well. Upon closer inspection, I don’t see any marks or scuffs on the back.
Here are the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, all close and friendly.
My 15 Pro Max’s battery health is normal, though the max capacity has dropped from 100% to 99%. The battery cycle count sits at 111 and my 10-day average for screen-on time is eight hours and 41 minutes. In terms of battery life, not much has changed. It still lasts a full day on a single charge and can get through a day and a half when I’m not using the phone heavily.
There are times, like during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and Samsung Unpacked in January, when I pushed the phone by taking hundreds of photos and videos and calling in for CNET’s live video stream over 5G. On days like that, using low-power mode has helped to offset battery drain, but I’m still impressed with how the phone holds up, even in those scenarios. Because the 15 Pro Max has a larger battery than the 15 Pro, it can last noticeably longer.
The iPhone’s display looks so good. Whether I’m watching The Bear, reading an article, laughing at New Yorker cartoons or taking a photo, images and graphics are rich and detailed and text is easy to read, even when the brightness is dim.
If you read my iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera test story, you might know where I’m going next. The 15 Pro Max’s screen falls short for me in one way: reflections. After using the Galaxy S24 Ultra and its low-reflection display, I can’t unsee the reflective mess that is the iPhone’s display — and the majority of smartphone screens out there. I hope Apple adds the coating, or whatever Samsung is doing, to the rumored iPhone 16’s display.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max and iOS 17
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a trio of lenses: wide, ultrawide and 5x telephoto.
Cameras are always a huge deal on the iPhone, and the 15 Pro Max is no different. Essentially, the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max both have the same cameras, but the 15 Pro has a 3x telephoto lens and the 15 Pro Max a 5x telephoto lens. It makes me wonder what an iPhone 15 Pro Ultra would have been like with both the 3x and the 5x — think Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Photos from the 15 Pro Max are great and on par with those from the S24 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro, especially with that 5x lens! Take a look at the gallery below featuring snaps I took with the phone.
On the left is a video from unedited Apple ProRes Log footage. On the right is the same frame after the exposure was balanced and color graded.
In fact, the video that accompanies this article was filmed by CNET’s John Kim on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The main shot of me in the video talking to the camera directly was captured using the 15 Pro Max’s 5x camera and recorded in ProRes Log. Here is a before and after composite of the same frame from the video: one unedited the way it looks in Log and the other after it was graded and balanced.
One of my other favorite parts of iPhone 15 Pro Max video capture is being able to record video straight to an external hard drive, thanks to the USB-C port which supports USB 3 speeds. With this method I can quickly transfer videos I shot from the iPhone to my computer for edits by simply unplugging the drive from my iPhone and plugging it into my laptop. I don’t have to wait for the videos to upload and download or for them to AirDrop. To make the recording process even better, I use several accessories.
My go-to iPhone 15 Pro Max accessories
Here is the iPhone 15 Pro Max on the Peak Design mobile tripod.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has been my everyday carry for the past 7 months, and that’s the best approval I can give a phone. If you’re thinking about getting one, I definitely recommend it, and as we get closer to summer, keep an eye out for trade-in deals and sales. Also, I’m going to start shopping around for an iPhone 15 Pro Max phone case.
