iPhone 14 Pro Review: Dynamic Island iPhone 14 Pro Max’s smart, powerful, always-on cameras and long battery life make it the best phone money can buy. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is the iPhone I would recommend for power users. For what? Well, you get the best cameras on the phone based on my testing, a new always-on display, and a smart dynamic island that replaces the notch with a smaller area that brings alerts and live activity as you go. time. I also enjoyed using the camera’s new Action mode for video capture. Other smartphones have the same functionality, but the combination of the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s video quality and its strong image seems magical.
iPhone 14 Pro Max review
Also magical is the ease with which you can switch between multiple phone numbers using this flagship’s eSIM functionality, though some will lament the utter lack of a physical SIM card tray. The ease with which you can switch between multiple phone numbers using the company’s eSIM feature is magical too, though some will lament the complete lack of a SIM card tray.
Design
When I picked up the iPhone 14 Pro Max for this review, I immediately noticed two things. The first is that the notch has been replaced with a pill-shaped cutout (more on Dynamic Island below), and the second is that the camera bump is much larger. The camera on the back of the iPhone 14 Pro Max is bigger, as is the light, so that area takes up a lot of space. It’s also a heavier and thicker phone than its predecessor: the iPhone 14 Pro Max measures 6.33 x 3.05 x 0.31 inches and weighs 8.47 ounces, compared to 6.33 x 3.07 x 0.3 inches and 8.46 ounces the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Discover the Dynamic Island
Now, that is being established. Apple didn’t just shrink the notch on the iPhone and move it to the bottom; found a way to make this site useful and fun. As well as building a TrueDepth camera, Dynamic Island acts as a small dashboard, providing access to the information you need no matter what app you’re in. If you open Apple Music or Spotify, for example, and return to the home screen, you’ll see album art displayed on the left and a mini waveform animation on the right. And if you press and hold on Dynamic Island, a larger window will appear showing track progress and playback controls. Or you can just tap once to launch the app.
iPhone 14 Pro Max Review: Always-on Display and Screen Quality
Apple is catching Android phones when it comes to the iPhone 14 Pro’s new always-on display, but Apple’s implementation delivers a solid experience if you’re willing to take the time to set it up. Because the iPhone 14 Pro Max screen refresh rate can go down to 1Hz, Apple designed its AOD to display the lock screen (in color) but at a very low brightness level. To be able to see your wallpaper, lock screen widgets like weather, calendar and activity ring, and incoming notifications. The always-on display is smart enough to turn off when you put the iPhone 14 Pro Max in your pocket or face down on a table. I liked that the screen was always on just showing the time without having to fully illuminate the screen, as my dogs often see this as a sign to get out anytime.
iPhone 14 Pro review: Cameras
Apple has shaken things up with its cameras on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, offering a 48MP wide-angle sensor for the first time. By default, the sensor collects all four pixels into a quad-pixel and optimizes for better light capture in 12MP images. But you can jump to 48MP with Pro-RAW mode if you want the most detail possible, perfect for cropping.
The 48MP camera also enables a new 2x zoom option that joins the 12MP 3x telephoto zoom, but you don’t get the maximum zoom that the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s dual 10x optical setup offers.
The iPhone Pro Max also has a new 12MP ultrawide camera that’s almost twice as big and the 12MP TrueDepth camera now offers autofocus and a faster f/1.9 aperture for better photos in low light. Better low-light performance is an important theme across the board with this phone, as there’s a picture engine powered by the A16 Bionic chip designed to deliver brighter, more colorful images on all cameras.
iPhone 14 Pro Max review: Video
There are two major upgrades to the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s video capture. The first is Action mode, and the second is bumped-up 4K resolution in Cinema Mode. With Action mode, you just toggle a button in the camera app when recording to smooth out the action. This especially comes in handy when both the shooter and subject are in motion. To test out Action mode I first recorded a clip running up a small incline on a trail.
With Action mode off, the camera shook back and forth so much it was dizzying, but with the effect on my ascent looks silky smooth — almost like I was using a gimbal. Just note that the resolution is capped at 2.8K, as Apple crops in on the footage to make the effect work.