The iPhone 11 Pro Max has a bad name but it’s a fantastic phone
In each of the past 12 years, Apple has, without fail, released a new iPhone. Some have been massive upgrades that show a clear step-change over what the company—and the industry—has produced. Others have spotlighted internal upgrades without changing much on the outside, and some have seemed to just be a fresh coat of paint.
I expected the iPhone 11 Pro Max to mainly be external changes, plus a new camera. Apple has quietly slipped to overhauling the design and feel of its iPhones every three years—having previously released a new design every two years. It felt like an admission, as evidenced in earnings reports, that Apple’s flagship product had lost a little of its luster. The 11 Pro Max, aside from its massive camera bump, looked quite similar to the last two phones Apple has produced. It didn’t seem clear that there would be a reason to buy this very expensive smartphone over other recent iPhones.
And then I spent a week with it.
What’s good about the iPhone 11 Pro Max
Excellent cameras
You can argue that having three cameras on the back of your top-of-the-line smartphone is table stakes in 2019. And just having a lot of cameras doesn’t lead to the phone being able to take good pictures. Apple always has very good cameras in its phones. For this one, chief marketing officer Phil Schiller doubled down on the quality of the camera by declaring that the “Pro” part of the name relates to how good its cameras are.
Excellent battery life
One of the most common complaints with each new iPhone launch is that Apple has traded thinness for battery life. Not this time.
The iPhone 11, about as thick as last year’s models, has dramatically improved battery life. Apple claims the iPhone 11 Pro Max will get five more hours battery life over the iPhone Xs Max. I was pretty shocked at how true this appears to be. In the past, on days I had to rely on my phone for hours on end, I would’ve been nervously checking the battery status every few minutes. Now, with the 11 Pro Max, I was able to get an amazing amount of work done on a single charge. At Amazon’s press event last week, the wifi wasn’t working so I was on my phone for the better part of nine hours, posting photos and taking notes. After all that time, I still had more than 50% of my charge left. I expected to have about 10% to 20% left.
Faster charging
Apple includes a large 18W charging brick in the box with the iPhone 11 Pro Max, along with a Lightning-to-USB-C cable. Combined, the phone charges very rapidly. Apple says the phone can get about 50% charge in 30 minutes when using this setup.
Seems more durable
It’s a weird thing to say about a phone that has a glass front and back: The 11 Pro Max feels sturdier than other recent iPhones. Apple is running an ad campaign highlighting just how strong the new Corning glass on the iPhone is. Yes, it seems to say this every year. Yet a few early drop tests seem to show this phone is coated in a glass like no other. It’s also water resistant up to 4 meters for 30 minutes, and apparently dust proof. That just about makes me feel comfortable taking this phone to the beach without a plastic baggie.
Dark mode!
More a feature of the iPhone’s new operating system, iOS 13, rather than the 11 Pro itself, dark mode looks excellent here, and in most instances, is easy on the eyes. Apps that haven’t updated to include a dark mode yet now feel like an assault on your senses.