The most powerful smartphone on the planet, Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is a joy to use thanks to the clever new Dynamic Island for displaying notifications and live activities.
Apple’s Pro Max model also delivers incredible cameras — including the firm’s first 48MP primary shooter — along with a unique Always On display, a compelling Action mode for video and outstanding battery life.
It’s expensive – starting at €1489 for the 128GB model – but it’s also the best phone money can buy.
READ MORE: Apple MacBook Air M2 review: the most powerful everyday laptop you can currently buy
Everything in the full iPhone 14 Pro Max review applies also to the iPhone 14 Pro except the price (it starts at €1339), the display size (it is 6.1in) and battery size and battery life (not quite as large or long lasting).
Pros
Superb 48MP camera
Dynamic Island
Fantastic battery life
Always-on display
Action mode for video
Fastest processor in a smartphone
Cons
Slow 27W wired charging
Still no USB-C port
Big price jump in Ireland compared to no price rise in U.S.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max full review: it's all about Dynamic Island
Exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro models, Dynamic Island delivers alerts and live activities such as your music, turn-by-turn directions, timers and Face ID animations.
To create the island, Apple didn’t just shrink iPhone’s notch into a pill-shaped version; it made this area useful and fun.
In addition to housing the TrueDepth camera and Face ID sensors, Dynamic Island acts like a mini dashboard, providing access to information in compatible apps and functions.
If you open Apple Music, for example, and then swipe back to the home screen, you’ll see the album art displayed on the left side of the Dynamic Island and a mini waveform animation on the right which is always in the same colour as the album art.
Press and hold on the Dynamic Island and a larger window pops up to show the track progress and playback controls. Press once to launch the full app. (This seems counter intuitive, however. I’d have thought it makes more sense to press once to open the small window and press and hold to open the full app.)
Other examples of Dynamic Island in action are seeing the status of your timer, the next direction to take in Maps, battery indicators for AirPods, when your personal hotspot is active and the status of incoming and outgoing calls.
When in a call the waveform changes colour depending on who is talking – I love the attention to detail.
It extends to other activities such as Face ID too, and the animations are always fluid and never intrusive.
And two things can be shown at once so if you’re playing Apple Music and are running a timer, they will both appear in the Island.
This killer feature is a big reason to choose a Pro model over the iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus.
Later this year, Apple will make its Live Activities API available to third party developers to deliver experiences like sports scores, food delivery status, ride sharing info and more.
Performance
As is now traditional, Apple has crafted the fastest phone around with the A16 Bionic chip in this device.
It’s the firm’s first chip built using the 4-nanometer process.
In benchmark tests, the scores easily surpassed all Android devices including the blazing fast Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 phones such as RedMagic 7S Pro, Galaxy Z Fold 4 and OnePlus 10T. (So did last year’s iPhone 13 Pro Max and its A15 chip, incidentally.)
It’s not just about the benchmark test scores.
It’s also about everyday use and what this chip enables, from the always-on display to the powerful 48MP camera and functions such as Action Mode.
Incidentally, the CPU is rated to be only 10 per cent faster than the A15 Bionic, but it offers 50 per cent more memory bandwidth, which aids gameplay.
The phone breezes through graphically intensive AAA games such as Asphalt 9: Legends and Genshin Impact.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max runs iOS 16 by default, and there’s a lot to like in this new software update.
Highlights include the ability to unsend texts and edit them, improvements to the Notes and Photos apps, great haptic keyboard feedback and a battery percentage indicator.
My favourite feature is the ability to cut out subjects from photos with a single tap and easily share the cutouts.
And it’s worth mentioning that through all of my intense testing, the back of the handset never got warm.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max display
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max sports a 6.7in Super Retina XDR display that is extra bright and vivid and seems sharper than the already excellent 13 Pro Max. It is one of the best features on the new handset.
The new panel is rated for up to 1,600 nits of brightness with HDR content and 2,000 nits when outdoors in bright sunlight.
Colour accuracy is superb, and the wide colour gamut is supported. Resolution is 2796 x 1290 pixels, aspect ratio is 19:5:9 and pixel density is 460ppi (pixels per inch).
The fluid iOS animations and the 120Hz refresh rate combine for a stellar experience.
The ProMotion adaptive display technology is now able to shift from 120Hz to as little as 1Hz.
This means you can enjoy the super-smooth 120Hz refresh rate when browsing and scrolling while saving battery life on static screens such as the Home screen.
Apple’s implementation of the Always On display is superior to any Android version of the same.
It’s a classic case of Apple making users wait for a feature but then introducing the best version of that feature.
Because iPhone 14 Pro Max’s display refresh rate can scale all the way down to 1Hz, Apple has designed the Always On display to essentially mirror the lock screen in colour but at a much lower brightness level.
This means you can still see your wallpaper, lock screen widgets like weather, calendar and activity ring and notifications coming through.
The display is customisable and is smart enough to turn itself off if you put the iPhone 14 Pro Max in your pocket or upside down on a table.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max cameras
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is the firm’s first handset to offer a 48MP main wide-angle sensor.
By default, the sensor uses a 4-in-1 pixel binning technique which means it groups every four pixels into a quad-pixel and optimises it for better light capture in 12MP photos.
But you can use the full 48MP in Pro RAW mode and this gives you the most detail possible, which is then ideal for cropping in.
This enables the new 2x optical zoom option that joins the 12MP 3x telephoto zoom lens. It does this by cropping into the centre of a high res 48MP image. The aperture is f/1.8, incidentally.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max also features a new 12MP ultrawide camera with autofocus and a fast f/2.2 aperture for better low-light photos.
The 120-degree angle is ideal for capturing landscapes, with improved anti-distortion tech that stops subjects near the edge curving.
And larger 1.4-micron pixels improve macro photography, with the ability to take the most impressively detailed shots from up to 2cm away. If you like taking macro photos, you will love iPhone 14 Pro Max.
While the new Photonic Engine that is powered by the A16 Bionic chip delivers brighter and more colourful photos for all the cameras.
And shots get a boost from the new Adaptive True Tone flash that features an array of nine LEDs that change pattern based on the focal length you are using.
The consistency of the camera system remains its greatest strength especially taking standard 1x photos on the main camera which come with superfast focus, rich detail and superb colour accuracy.
And in Night Mode, Portrait mode and zooming up to 3x, iPhone Pro Max also beats all the competition.
The front-facing 12MP f/1.9 selfie camera on iPhone 14 Pro Max has been updated with autofocus so it can now focus in on near or far objects. I appreciate this overdue upgrade.
Video
The overall video recording quality from the iPhone 14 Pro Max is as jaw-dropping as all other recent iPhone models.
Apple has led the way in smartphone video for some time and this year it has raised the bar again.
You can now capture 4K Dolby Vision video at up to 60 frames per second (fps).
You can also shoot in 4K Pro Res quality on any iPhone 14 Pro Max which has 256GB of storage or more.
This year, the Cinematic Mode can capture footage in 4K resolution.
Action mode
I got a kick out of using the new Action mode for capturing video.
Other smartphones have a similar feature, but the combination of the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s video quality and its super steady footage works wonders.
You just toggle a button in the camera app when recording to smooth out the action. This comes in extra handy when both the shooter and the subject are in motion.
The footage captured rivals the likes of DJI and GoPro action cams or phones using a gimbal such as DJI’s brilliant OM 6 or Zhiyun’s fantastic Smooth Q4.
But do note that the resolution is capped at 2.8K, as the system crops in on the footage to make the effect work.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max battery life
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is capable of the same best-in-class battery life as last year’s ground-breaking iPhone 13 Pro Max; both have more endurance than all other smartphones I have tested.
It took a couple of weeks of all-day use for this to become apparent as it does with most handsets.
I have at least 20 percent in the tank most days at midnight after an 8am start at 100 percent.
For all four iPhone 14 models, the firm said users can charge the devices from zero to 50 percent in 30 to 35 minutes using a supported 20W or higher power adapter. It takes me more than an hour to fully recharge the Pro Max using a 65w charger. The phone’s maximum charging speed is less than 30w, by the way.
You also get support for 7.5W Qi wireless charging and 15W MagSafe charging.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max design and build
In this regard, Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max looks almost identical to last year’s iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Which I concede means nothing if you don’t own last year’s model or are not familiar with it.
It measures 160.7mm x 77.6mm x 7.85mm and weighs 240g. It is IP68 rated for dust and water resistance and comes in four colours: deep purple, silver, gold, and space black.
It’s ultimately the most stylishly designed and elegant smartphone on the block or not, depending on your own personal taste.
I love how it looks and feels, especially the matte glass rear. The colour matched polished steel sides are smudge magnets, but you don’t encounter this if using a case.
And on the silver model at least you will see the silver frame create a lovely effect around the rim of your case.
All three camera lenses on the rear of the iPhone 14 Pro Max are larger, as is the flash, so the camera bump is bigger than previous models.
While around the four sides you will find the power/lock button, volume controls, silent switch, microphone ports, speaker grilles and the Lightning port for charging.
Crash detection
I haven’t thankfully had to test this new safety feature yet and hopefully never will have to.
But it’s nice to know it’s there.
Crash Detection leverages the iPhone 14’s improved accelerometer and gyroscope to detect whether you’re in a car crash.
If a crash occurs, your iPhone 14 Pro Max can automatically dial emergency services and notify any emergency contacts you have designated.
Other features
The stereo speakers support Dolby Atmos spatial audio which boosts your experience when watching shows such as Stranger Things.
But to get the most from Spatial Audio when watching video content, I would recommend using a pair of AirPods Max or AirPods Pro 2.
When it comes to connectivity, you get 5G, Wi-Fi 6 with 2×2 MIMO support, Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC for payments with Apple Pay.
The company’s proprietary U1 Ultra-Wideband chip is also supported to help you locate AirTags with precision finding.
Later this year, the firm's acclaimed Fitness+ subscription service is coming to iPhone for the first time - you no longer need to have an Apple Watch to use the service.
Apple devices last longer: you can expect at least five or six years of software and security updates.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max review: final verdict
This is a beast of a phone that’s Pro-level in power and a delight to use.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is the best large screen smartphone and justifies its high price by providing a stellar everyday experience.
The brightest and sharpest display with unique Always On capabilities, the best cameras in a phone and the awesome battery stamina.
The Dynamic Island is my favourite feature, and it will get even better as developers join the party.
The new Action mode for smoother footage and the sharper Cinematic mode improve the video capture that has long since been the best on a mobile phone.
This is the complete smartphone, the best you can buy.
But if you don’t like large phones or its undeniable heft, then you have the option to choose the lighter and more compact iPhone 14 Pro.
And if you only want an Android, then from my testing this year the two best models are Galaxy S22 Ultra (the complete Android handset) or Galaxy Z Fold 4 (the ultimate productivity smartphone).
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max pricing and availability
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max reviewed 1TB storage model costs €2139. It is also available with 512GB for €1879, 256GB for €1619 and with 128GB storage (which has no 4K Pro Res Video capture) for €1489. You can get up to €675 for a trade-in at Apple.com.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max key specs
Dimensions: 147.5 x 71.5 x 7.85mm
Weight: 206g
Display: 6.1in Super Retina XDR, OLED, 2556 x 1179 resolution, 460ppi, Dynamic Island, Always-on
Dust and water resistance: IP68-rated
Processor: A16 Bionic
RAM: 6GB
Rear cameras: 48MP f/1.78 wide angle with sensor-shift OIS; 12MP f/2.2, 120-degree ultrawide; 12MP f/2.8 telephoto with 3x optical zoom
Video: Up to 4K/60fps with Dolby Vision HDR support
Front camera: 12MP f/1.9 with autofocus
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6 with 2xMIMO, NFC
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