5 impressive Things I have learned about the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

Hey, iPhone fans. Looking to get some cool behind-the-scenes insights into the iPhone 14 Max?

Having spent some time with this awesome Apple phone, I’m totally impressed with several top-notch features that make it what it is – a fantastic flagship of the 2020’s.

I am confident that after reading this blog, you’ll be a bigger fan than ever of this iPhone since I will be revealing some secret nuggets that you would miss otherwise.

Are you ready to fall in love with 14 Pro Max?

Let’s dive right in.

Fantastic 48MP Camera

The biggest breakthrough in terms of tech came in the form of the mighty 48 MP primary shooter. 

This was the first time Apple introduced a 48 MP lens in a flagship iPhone.

What it means is that you would be clicking non-stop wherever you go.

Why? Because the details are so brilliant in every shot that you will be compelled to continue pressing that camera button every now and then.

Interestingly enough, the default setting allows you to group four pixels into one with the quad-pixel technology, giving better-light photos. 

These pictures will not have 48 MP resolution, though. You will be getting 12 MP photos instead, but the details will be so impressive your that will leave your besties in awe.

Yes, you can take full 48 MP clicks. All you need to do is set the Pro Raw mode on and tap the camera button.

These photos will deliver the most details in the scene and it’s an ideal mode for taking photos that you want to crop in with.

In terms of zoom capacity, the 48 MP camera gets a new 2x zoom that together with the 3x zoom of the 12 MP telephoto lens delivers some awesome clicks. 

However, when compared to the 10x dual optical zoom setup you will find in the Galaxy S22 Ultra phone, you will feel let down a little. 

Alongside this snapper, there is also a 12 MP ultra-wide camera which comes with about twice the size.

Plus, there is a 12 MP TrueDepth camera in the front which brings autofocus and a faster f/1.9 aperture, resulting in improved low-light clicks. 

These special camera hardware talents are complimented by the powerful Photonic Engine. The beast-mode A16 Bionic processor teams up with this hardware to bring great details, beautiful colours, and much better lighting to every photo that you capture.

I strongly feel that the better low-light photography experience is the underlying concept Apple has tried to consolidate with this phone. 

Historically speaking, the iPhones have been equipped with better and cutting-edge camera hardware and software that triggered great hype in the tech industry.  

Even today, the camera brilliance of iPhones is considered one of the top reasons why so many Apple fans enthusiastically wait for the next iPhone family launch every year.

For taking 48 MP shots, you will have to first enable the ProRaw mode by setting the ProRaw resolution to 48 MP in the Settings application. The best practice is to activate this in the camera app. Once activated, you can easily toggle between normal and ProRaw modes with the camera app.

When taking the shot of a fire pit, I was able to zoom in without losing much of the juicy details in the photo. The pic turned out to be revealing more of the bricks and lights that were on the top of the circular wall. For best end results, however, you need to edit the photos.

Based on the photo comparison with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, the iPhone 14 Pro Max came out to be the best camera phone you will find.  

For the best iPhone 14 Pro Max price in Australia, you should see amazing offers at Skyphonez Australia.

Smart Dynamic Island

Another technologically bold move was the onboarding of the Dynamic Island – a smart interactive mini screen that replaced the ages-old notch from the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s design.

The notch has been seen as a boring section on the top that housed the selfie camera.

Apple fans have been voicing their wish that Apple should change this design that has been lingering for so many years.

With the introduction of Dynamic Island, Apple won the hearts of its fans by making this section more useful and innovative.

It not only houses the TrueDepth front-facing camera, but it will also reveal information about the apps. You will now be able to watch app notifications and information on live applications running in the background.

You can now see the delivery status of your food order without having to open the Uber Eats App. This will save you time and will make your life easier.

Let’s say you are listening to music inside the Apple Music app and then come back to the home screen. 

The Dynamic Island will show the album art on the left side along with an animated waveform on the right. 

And that’s not the end of it. Love to get more options? Simply press and hold on the screen, and it will reveal a list of more actions you can take. Alternatively, you can simply press once on the Dynamic Island and it will take you to the respective application. 

You can do a lot here like getting the status of incoming and outgoing calls, the next direction on the Maps, the status of your timer, etc. You can also see the information about the two live activities side by side. 

A fun fact is that developers have now the liberty to develop more experiences thanks to the Live Activities API. This will open a new world of creativity and fun-filled user experience that will surely make this little screen a cute adorable little star that everybody will cherish to hug and play with.

In case you are interested in getting to know more about this incredible Apple gadget, you can read our iPhone 14 Pro Max review.

Fantastic Battery Life

Battery performance is yet another awesome perk that 14 Pro Max users will be able to afford.

You should get past 13 hours on an average day with the battery completely charged. This is an excellent number for a flagship phone and can be termed as one of the battery lives for a smartphone.

This brilliant performance can be attributed to a more efficient processor along with a dynamic 1-120 Hz screen refresh rate. 

The screen can go way down to 1 Hz when the phone is in sleep mode. The refresh rate can go up as the running apps demand so.  

The battery stamina is very impressive. With the battery charged to 90%, it only went down to 60% as we played around for 5 hours. We downloaded the apps, played music, and shot pics and videos. 

There is one disappointment, though, that we feel should have been accommodated by Apple. The phone only comes with 20W charging which falls short of several flagship devices on the market. The Galaxy S22 Ultra ships with a 25W charger and the OnePlus 10 Pro comes with a 65W fast charger. 

Always-on Display

Apple never gets tired of bringing the next generation of features and specs to its flagship phones. 

It has done the same with the always-on display. While the 14 Pro Max embraces the feature with pride, you will actually get a faster on-screen experience once you have set it up.

Apple had made its always-on display clock down to 1 Hz, mirroring the lock screen. This saves battery with a much lower brightness level for the locked screen. You can still see the notifications and app icons on the screen. 

The display is smart enough to bring down the brightness to the lowest as you slide your phone into the pockets or place it down on a solid surface like a workstation or table.

One thing is debatable about the locked-screen experience. Some users might prefer the basic info on a locked screen like time, battery power, and app notifications. We are talking about the Google Pixel 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra here.

But, this is also true that you get more customization options with the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Thanks to iOS 16.2, you can customize your always-on screen by disabling the wallpaper, notifications, etc, if you want to.

The panel is awesomely bright and vivid. Its Super Retina XDR screen is rated for 1600 nits of brightness with HDR and can go up to 2000 nits in broad daylight. This makes the display easy to use with every pixel of the display easily viewable. 

For those Apple fans who want a comparison of this phone with Apple’s latest 15 Pro Max, check out our iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max comparison.

Impressive Action Mode for Video

And how we could forget about the videography magic the 14 Pro Max has been loved for since it was released a year before.

There are two significant upgrades in the video shooting space; the brilliant Action mode and a beefed-up 4K resolution in the Cinema Mode. 

Let’s be honest here. We’ve all struggled shooting amazingly-looking videos when either one or both the shooter and subject are moving. Right?

Comes in the Action mode for the rescue. You can now simply toggle a button in the camera app while recording a video and the feature will smooth the video. The video looks way better and less shaky versus if you shoot the video with the mode turned off. 

You can see the difference while walking up a hilly trail or jogging in the morning. The results are insanely impressive when both the shooter and the object are moving.

If you turn the mode off, the camera will shake back and forth and so will the footage. With the Action mode turned on, the video looks amazingly stable and it feels like you have used a gimbal for the recording. 

There is one limitation here, though. The resolution is capped at 2.8K since the phone crops the video to make the mode work. Nevertheless, the videos shot with the mode can easily compete with any flagship phone.

We have also seen similar video-stabilization features in other smartphones. The Galaxy S22 Ultra offers the Super Steady Mode which is equally impressive and powerful. 

When comparing the footage shot with the two devices with their respective modes turned on, the results were almost equally brilliant. The videos looked smooth while shooting and running up a hill.

On the return trip down the hill, however, the 14 Pro Max’s footage looked more stable while that of the Galaxy S22 Ultra was shakier.

There is a little problem to consider first. If you wish to shoot 4K videos with the ProRes feature, then you need to buy the 14 Pro Max with 256GB of storage, at least. Otherwise, you will only be able to shoot 1080p HD videos at 30 frames per second.

Conclusion

The Apple really levelled up the smartphone game with a fantastic Dynamic Island, a beast 48 MP main camera, and a top-notch always-on display. Thanks to the Action Mode shooting high-quality unshaky videos on the go is no longer a wish, it’s a reality. The possibilities are endless and utilities literally unimaginable.