iPhone 15 Professional Max, 7 Months Later: Nonetheless Going Robust Regardless of Drops and Scratches

Seven months into utilizing the iPhone 15 Pro Max, one of many largest surprises — which, sadly, I can affirm by private expertise — is that it will probably survive drops. Many, many drops.

It is fallen off the arm of my sofa onto my lounge hardwood ground a number of instances. It dropped from my pocket onto the sidewalk twice as I fumbled to tug it out. After which there have been quite a few cases the place the 15 Professional Max hit the ground of CNET’s San Francisco studio throughout video shoots. I continuously use the iPhone as a teleprompter with an adjunct that clips onto a Panasonic S1H digicam and lens. Generally my digicam operator or I’ll unintentionally knock “the rig” whereas adjusting the Panasonic, which causes the cellphone to dislodge and smack the bottom. Fortunately, my 15 Professional Max’s display and again have not cracked.

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And, it is price noting: I do not use a case. I do know, I am a horrible, soulless monster, however I am simply not a case man. However, possibly I must be. 

Over my seven months with an iPhone 15 Professional Max, I’ve traveled throughout the nation with it, watched TV and films on it, performed video games and even taken it to a surf rock present. It is change into my rectangular, half-pound good friend that does the whole lot I want it to.

I’ve change into depending on options like StandBy Mode at house and on the workplace, Test In throughout lengthy bike rides, and that unimaginable 5x zoom on the digicam. There have been lows, just like the overheating software program bug that arrived on iPhones working iOS 17 final fall, however fortunately, my cellphone wasn’t affected, and Apple has since resolved the issue.

This is why, greater than half a yr later, I am nonetheless glued to my iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Put on and tear

Let’s begin with how my iPhone 15 Professional Max seems, particularly in any case these falls. The titanium sides are in fine condition, however there’s a small knick on the aspect of the top-left nook — no remark! The again glass seems good. My cellphone is the pure titanium colour, or what a good friend jokingly calls “not fairly beige.” However that drab colour, together with the matte end, hides fingerprints and mud fairly properly. Upon nearer inspection, I do not see any marks or scuffs on the again.

The Ceramic Protect show hasn’t fared as properly. There are some tiny scratches on it, particularly within the lower-left nook, and the oleophobic coating appears to be carrying down in a few spots. I’m undoubtedly not complaining, particularly since I do not child the cellphone. But it surely’s good to see the 15 Professional Max principally holds as much as the on a regular basis Patrick Holland expertise.

Battery life and show

My 15 Professional Max’s battery well being is regular, although the max capability has dropped from 100% to 99%. The battery cycle depend sits at 111 and my 10-day common for screen-on time is eight hours and 41 minutes. By way of battery life, not a lot has modified. It nonetheless lasts a full day on a single cost and may get by a day and a half after I’m not utilizing the cellphone closely.

There are occasions, like throughout the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and Samsung Unpacked in January, after I pushed the cellphone by taking a whole bunch of photographs and movies and calling in for CNET’s reside video stream over 5G. On days like that, utilizing low-power mode has helped to offset battery drain, however I am nonetheless impressed with how the cellphone holds up, even in these eventualities. As a result of the 15 Professional Max has a bigger battery than the 15 Professional, it will probably final noticeably longer.

The iPhone’s show seems so good. Whether or not I am watching The Bear, studying an article, laughing at New Yorker cartoons or taking a photograph, photos and graphics are wealthy and detailed and textual content is straightforward to learn, even when the brightness is dim.

In the event you learn my iPhone 15 Professional Max vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely camera test story, you may know the place I am going subsequent. The 15 Professional Max’s display falls quick for me in a technique: reflections. After utilizing the Galaxy S24 Extremely and its low-reflection show, I can not unsee the reflective mess that’s the iPhone’s show — and nearly all of smartphone screens on the market. I hope Apple provides the coating, or no matter Samsung is doing, to the rumored iPhone 16’s display.

The iPhone 15 Professional Max and iOS 17

Maybe the largest change to the cellphone, apart from the digicam, is iOS 17. We’re 19 months from when the Dynamic Island debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, and it nonetheless feels underutilized by third-party apps. Sure, it is nice for Uber, music controls and system alerts for Apple’s apps, however it appears like there’s extra that may be executed with it. I am unsure that is on Apple, because the firm cannot power builders to make use of the Dynamic Island. But it surely nonetheless feels prefer it’s early days for the Dynamic Island, regardless that it isn’t.

We additionally now have Stolen Device Protection, which protects your accounts and private data in case your iPhone will get stolen. If you have not, flip it on. In iOS 17.3 or later, go into Settings, faucet Face ID & Passcode and you may allow it there.

In my earlier iPhone 15 Pro check-in, I famous a number of iOS 17 software program bugs I skilled, like having Safari freeze and change into unresponsive. I’m pleased to say I have not had that concern in months.

And the very last thing I will say about iOS 17 is there are a ton of small enhancements which have been pretty, just like the Catch Up arrow in Messages. However the characteristic that I see extra individuals embracing is StandBy mode, which turns the iPhone right into a mini-hub when it is charging. StandBy Mode reveals widgets, the time or photographs and is not restricted to the iPhone 15 collection. It is enjoyable being over at a good friend’s home and seeing them have a stand for his or her iPhone within the kitchen or house workplace for StandBy. And I am curious if and the way Apple may increase StandBy Mode in iOS 18.

Cameras and video

Cameras are at all times an enormous deal on the iPhone, and the 15 Professional Max is not any completely different. Basically, the iPhone 15 Professional and 15 Professional Max each have the identical cameras, however the 15 Professional has a 3x telephoto lens and the 15 Professional Max a 5x telephoto lens. It makes me marvel what an iPhone 15 Professional Extremely would have been like with each the 3x and the 5x — assume Galaxy S24 Extremely.

Images from the 15 Professional Max are nice and on par with these from the S24 Extremely and Pixel 8 Professional, particularly with that 5x lens! Check out the gallery under that includes snaps I took with the cellphone.

However I need to give the iPhone’s video capabilities a second to shine. The 15 Professional and 15 Professional Max have the power to report ProRes video and even save information as SDR, HDR and Log. The Log information may look odd: the colour is desaturated and the publicity seems darkish. The information are designed to seize extra picture data than a non-ProRes video and be colour graded and balanced for publicity later to get the look you need – or match video footage recorded with one other digicam. 

In actual fact, the video that accompanies this text was filmed by CNET’s John Kim on an iPhone 15 Professional Max. The principle shot of me within the video speaking to the digicam immediately was captured utilizing the 15 Professional Max’s 5x digicam and recorded in ProRes Log. Here’s a earlier than and after composite of the identical body from the video: one unedited the way in which it seems in Log and the opposite after it was graded and balanced.

One in every of my different favourite components of iPhone 15 Professional Max video seize is with the ability to report video straight to an exterior exhausting drive, due to the USB-C port which helps USB 3 speeds. With this methodology I can rapidly switch movies I shot from the iPhone to my laptop for edits by merely unplugging the drive from my iPhone and plugging it into my laptop computer. I haven’t got to attend for the movies to add and obtain or for them to AirDrop. To make the recording course of even higher, I exploit a number of equipment.

My go-to iPhone 15 Professional Max equipment

I exploit two fundamental equipment to report footage for CNET movies: the Blackmagic Cam app and a Samsung T9 SSD. Take into account for informal movies and social posts, I principally maintain my iPhone and use the default Apple Digital camera app.

The Blackmagic Cam app is mainly the professional digicam mode I’ve needed from Apple for years. It is only for video, however offers waveforms for balancing publicity, zebras to indicate the place the picture’s vivid components are clipping to white, controls for shutter velocity, ISO and extra. I can choose completely different video codecs, audio codecs and, heck, there’s even a mini-slate! Maybe my favourite factor concerning the Blackmagic Cam app is it is free.

The Samsung T9 SDD is each tiny and huge. It is concerning the measurement of a tin of Altoids, and but comes with storage configurations as much as 4TB. I’ve used Samsung T drives for years simply due to their worth and portability. However not like the earlier ones I had, this T9 drive is rugged. Samsung claims it will probably deal with a drop from 9.8 ft. After studying about my propensity for dropping my iPhone, it’d come as a shock to know that I’ve not examined this declare. The Samsung T9 SSD is $175 for 1TB however on the time I am scripting this, Best Buy sells it for $130 ($45 off).

I additionally need to spotlight Peak Design’s cellular tripod. It is manufactured from aluminum and has MagSafe-compatible magnets to connect to the again of the iPhone. The tripod’s tiny legs fold flat to make it moveable. There’s even a tiny allen wrench key that magnetically shops within the physique to tighten the ball-joint! I preserve the cellular tripod in my backpack with me, and it is useful on a regular basis not only for recording video, but in addition for watching them. The Peak Design mobile tripod costs $80, which is rather a lot, however it’s price each penny.

Closing ideas

The iPhone 15 Professional Max has been my on a regular basis carry for the previous 7 months, and that is one of the best approval I may give a cellphone. In the event you’re enthusiastic about getting one, I undoubtedly suggest it, and as we get nearer to summer time, preserve an eye fixed out for trade-in offers and gross sales. Additionally, I’ll begin procuring round for an iPhone 15 Pro Max phone case.