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Hey, what's up, guys? Today we're going to compare the latest big boys from Apple, the new iPhone 18 Pro Max and last year's iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've tested out the important things you shouldn't sleep on before buying, like the battery life, the charging speed, the performance, and the cameras. So, let's get into it. These two phones look incredibly similar. In fact, besides the colors, they're really hard to tell apart. It's okay, though. The 17 Pro Max already brought a fresh look compared to its predecessors,
and the new model just keeps that going. There is a difference you'll notice when holding these two iPhones. They are both made of the same materials and have the same footprint, but the new Pro Max is about 15 g heavier. That's because it packs both a bigger battery and a larger heat sink. You get the same ingress protection on both devices. They're IP68-rated against dust and water submersion. And as typical for Apple, that's submersion to as deep as 6 m. Now, let's have a look at the displays. And these two panels have the same specs. They're both 6.9 inches with a high resolution and a 120 Hz refresh
rate. But on the new model, Apple has moved the front-facing IR camera to under the display. The result of this is that the 18 Pro Max has a smaller cutout for the front-facing cameras, so you effectively have more screen real estate. And the movement of the IR camera to under the display didn't affect Face ID. It works just as well on the new model. And the performance of these displays is just the same. In our test routine, we measured the same max brightness from both models. And both iPhone Pro Maxes have an anti-reflective coating as well
for fewer reflections and glare. So, the usability outdoors is just as good with either iPhone. Both phones have a pair of stereo speakers for audio, but the new model is slightly louder, and there's a bit more bass to be heard, too. You can listen for yourself through our comparison tool linked below. Or would you prefer us to play the audio samples directly here in the videos? Let us know down in the comments. Now, let's get into Apple's new chipset. The iPhone 18 Pro Max comes with an Apple A20 Pro and is considerably more powerful than the previous generation. The iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the other
hand, packs the previous Apple A19 Pro. Still no slouch at all when it comes to performance. In benchmarks, though, you can see that the new model outperforms the old one by a considerable amount, both in terms of CPU scores and graphics-based ones. In the end, though, we're comparing one powerhouse to another. So, whether or not you need that extra performance depends on how you're planning to use your phone. And when it comes to the thermals and sustained performance, both phones are on par and do a decent job in flagship terms.
So, we didn't measure a real improvement from the new model due to its bigger vapor chamber. Let's get into our battery results now, which do depend in part on the phone's chipset. The SIM model of the iPhone 18 Pro Max is powered by a 5,391 mAh battery. That's about 500 mAh more than the cell in the SIM-enabled iPhone 17 Pro Max. Our testing showed that the new model indeed had better battery life, but the difference in the overall active use score isn't huge, and the old model's battery life is still very good. In the
individual scores, the most notable improvements we saw were in the call and web browsing tests. Apple did also improve the wired charging on the new model. It went from 42 watts to 54 W. That might not seem like much of a difference, but it led to a pretty nice increase in charging speed, both when measured at the 30-minute mark and when charging to full. That's something you might want to consider if you often try to top up during the day instead of overnight. The MagSafe wireless charging hasn't changed, though. It's rated at 25 watts on both models.
You get the same storage options on either phone: 256 gigs, 512 gigs, a terabyte, or 2 TB. However, the 1 and 2 TB versions of the new model use QLC storage, which is known to slow down after getting over 60% full. The software experience of these two phones is just the same, as expected for recent Apple flagships. Both run the newest iOS 27. Now onto the cameras. These two phones have almost the same setup. The 18 Pro Max has a new brighter lens on its main cam, and it has a variable aperture, too. And besides that main cam, there's a 4x zoom and an ultrawide, all at 48 megapixels.
The setup of the iPhone 17 Pro Max isn't so different, though. In fact, it's identical besides that main cam's lens. One of the main benefits of this variable aperture is that you can control the depth of field behind your subject. But with sensors this small, you'd only really see a large difference in the depth of field in close-ups. On the 18 Pro Max, we didn't really see much benefit in photo sharpness or quality when the aperture was further opened or closed, regardless of lighting. There's another development worth mentioning, too. On the 18 Pro Max, you get the option to manually set shutter speed and white balance. You didn't get that on the old model.
Now, let's compare the quality. During the day, the main camera's photos are more similar than they are different. That said, the new model has a tendency for warmer colors in general. It also seems to have slightly better-defined detail. And at 2x digital zoom, the new Pro Max's shots can come out a bit sharper in some scenes. At 4x zoom, the 18 Pro Max's telephoto again produces the warmer colors. We wouldn't say there's much of a difference in sharpness or detail. And at 8x zoom, it's a bit more of the same. Comparing photos from the ultrawides, the new generation's warmer color rendition persists. And that's about all the difference we can spot.
In the dark, the iPhone 18 Pro Max's main camera should be able to take advantage of the brighter lens. But in reality, we didn't see much improvement over the 17 Pro Max. The 4x zoomed images at night are pretty grainy from either phone, and neither is that sharp either. The two ultrawides capture more or less the same photos at night, and they're not too exciting. They're pretty soft and noisy, not to mention dim and gloomy. Since last year, there have been no changes to the selfie camera hardware, and the selfies you'd be getting from both phones are essentially the same. And here's a look at 4K selfie videos taken with either phone.
Both of these iPhones have the same video recording capabilities. While shooting during the day, we struggled to spot a meaningful difference between the footage of these two phones. The clips are consistent and as good as identical. In a similar fashion, the nighttime videos are a toss-up. You can hardly tell the videos have been captured by different devices. So, there you have it. The new iPhone 18 Pro Max versus its predecessor, the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Either way, you get a well-built iPhone with the same design. The displays are sharp and bright
with an anti-reflective coating and adaptive refresh rate. The Apple software experience is just the same, and the results from the cameras are pretty much the same, too. But the new Pro Max has some notable upgrades. Its display is functionally larger thanks to a smaller cutout. There's a more powerful chipset, and the battery life is a bit better. The charging is faster, too. The speakers are a bit improved, and there are additional controls when shooting with the cameras, including the variable aperture. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is a bit lighter, and it provides a nearly identical user experience, cameras included. And since it's the older model, the price is lower. In the end, the new Pro Max is indeed the superior phone. But while it's really nice
to have those upgrades like longer battery life and higher performance, it's not like the previous model was really lacking there. You'd have to decide for yourself if those are worth it, since you'd probably be just as satisfied with last year's model and save some cash, too. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you on the next one.
