First Impressions of the iPhone 16 Pro Max

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Welcome to October! Here’s what I have for you in this edition:

• First Impressions of the iPhone 16 Pro Max

• New Basic AF show

• The News Feed

Let's get into it!

📱 IPHONE 16 PRO MAX

I fully intended to use my iPhone 14 Pro for another year. Then Apple announced Apple Intelligence at WWDC, which requires an iPhone 15 Pro or later. Because I want to be able to talk and write about Apple’s AI tools, I decided to upgrade.

Phone Model and Specs

I upgraded to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, opting for the Natural Titanium finish with 256GB of storage. Although I considered the 512GB version, I decided against it since my storage needs are well-managed with iCloud.

It's nice to have USB-C on my phone, and I'm now 100% USB-C across all my devices, which is excellent. I did have to pick up a new cable for the car to use for CarPlay.

Design and Handling

Natural Titanium looks really good and the overall design is quite nice, especially the reduced bezels around the display. It looks great!

I was a bit concerned the Pro Max would be too big. While it's considerably larger than my iPhone 14 Pro, I think the weight difference is minimal due to the difference in materials.

Camera Control Button

The new Camera Control button has received mixed reactions from users, with some finding it awkward to use, myself included. In portrait orientation, the placement feels a bit low on the side, but in landscape, I've found that flipping the phone upside down so that Camera Control is on the bottom and then using my thumb for clicking and swiping makes it more comfortable and easier to use. Verdict: Undecided. I’m not sure if there’s enough value in it or not.

Photographic Styles

I've been enjoying the new Photographic Styles, which I'm finding to be a lot of fun creatively. Photographic Styles are available on the iPhone 16 series phones and are similar to filters. The styles can be adjusted in real-time as you’re framing your shot using a touchpad that appears in the Camera app. You can also adjust the styles later in the Photos app on iPhone, and on other devices, such as an iPad. Below are a few example shots that turned out surprisingly well with minimal setup.

Performance and Battery Life

The phone's performance has been excellent, and the battery life is phenomenal. Even when charging the battery to only 80-85%, it easily lasts through the day, often with over 50% remaining by the evening.

Action Button

This is the first phone I've had with the Action button, and I'm still experimenting. By default, it's set to act as a mute switch, but I always leave my phone muted so that wasn’t very useful. I now have it set to activate a Shortcuts folder with a few simple shortcuts to choose from.

I posted on Threads asking what others are doing with the Action button and received hundreds of comments with ideas and recommendations! If you have a new iPhone 16 series phone (or 15 Pro) and have the Action button for the first time, you may find the post helpful so here’s a link.

Case

I decided to go with Apple's silicone case (Ultramarine looks great) because it has a button designed for Camera Control. So far, third-party cases have been using cutouts, and that seems less than optimal.

I wasn't a fan of the silicone case I had for my iPhone 14 Pro, but I've noticed this version is not as “sticky” and has been far easier to get in and out of my pockets. It's also picking up considerably less lint.

Wrap-Up

While I was hesitant to upgrade to the Pro Max because of its size, I'm really happy I did. The size isn't a problem. The big, beautiful display is a delight to use, and Apple wasn't exaggerating—the battery life is crazy good!

The camera system is a very nice step up from the iPhone 14 Pro, and having the 5x zoom is already proving to be a nice addition. The Photographic Styles are so good that they have me wanting to shoot more. 

Should you upgrade this year? If you have a 15-series phone, probably not. But if you're coming from a 14-series or older phone, then it becomes more compelling. Phones are mature products, and we're not seeing massive yearly improvements. But over two, three, or four years, the incremental changes add up for a very nice upgrade.

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🎙️ BASIC AF SHOW: IPHONE 16 PRO MAX & NEW OPERATING SYSTEMS

There's plenty of in-depth discussion on my iPhone 16 Pro Max in this episode, plus Jeff picked up a couple of new accessories, and we spend a few minutes with some early thoughts on the new operating systems.

Listen and follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, all the other podcast apps, as well as on YouTube and YouTube Music.

🚨 Apple Still Hasn’t Re-Released iPadOS 18 for M4 iPad Pro

If you recall from the last newsletter, Apple pulled iPadOS 18 for the M4 iPad Pro after users reported that the update was bricking their devices. Still no official word from Apple that I’ve seen, but I would expect either iPadOS 18.0.1 or 18.1 will correct this. Both of these versions are expected to be released this month. Odd situation.

🗓️ Apple May Launch First iPad-Like Smart Home Accessory Next Year

Smart Home accessories have been rumored for a while, so we'll see. And it sounds like this thing will support Apple Intelligence.

📊 Office 2024 Now Available

If you want to use Office but not pay the subscription for Microsoft 365, you can pick up Office 2024. There's no Copilot and limited updates. Office Home 2024 is $149.99 and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. Office Home & Business 2024 is $249.99 and includes everything in Home plus Outlook. More info at microsoft.com.

🤖 Microsoft gives Copilot its biggest redesign yet

While we wait for Apple to slowly roll out Apple Intelligence, Microsoft continues working on its Copilot AI assistant. This week, Copilot received a new design and voice and vision features, including a news headline reader.

💍 Which Smart Ring is the Best Right Now?

While my co-host on Basic AF is pining for an Apple Ring, other options are on the market now. Victoria Song at The Verge tested Oura Ring, Ultrahuman Ring Air, Circular Slim, Samsung Galaxy Ring, RingConn, and Evie Ring. If you're interested in smart ring products, have a look.