What’s the Difference Between Apple’s 2 Biggest iPhones?

It’s 2024 and there are four different iPhone 15 models to choose from. There are two medium-sized models, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro; there are also two large-sized models, the iPhone 15 Plus and the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

As you probably know, big phones are in these days. All four iPhone 15s are relatively large, with 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays, and for the second year running Apple hasn’t come out with a new miniature iPhone.

(If you’re looking for a “small” iPhone, Apple unfortunately stopped selling the iPhone 13 mini last fall. The 2022-released iPhone SE, which has a 4.7-inch display and some pretty hefty bezels, is the smallest and most affordable iPhone that Apple currently sells.)

If you know that you want a new iPhone with the biggest screen possible, you have two options. The iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro Max have the same size screens — both are 6.7 inches across the diagonal — and actually have a lot of other things in common, too. But of course, the “Pro” model is going to come with higher-end features and a pretty significant price bump. Are those differences worth it? Well, that’s what we’re here to help you figure out.

Below, we break down the key differences — and similarities — between the iPhone 15 Plus and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Which big screen iPhone is right for you? Let’s find out.

iPhone 15 Plus Vs. iPhone 15 Pro Max: What We Think

Photo by Tucker Bowe

Apple’s current crop of big-screen smartphones, the iPhone 15 Plus and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, have more in common than in previous years. That’s because Apple has democratized a lot of premium features — such as the Dynamic Island and a 48-megapixel main camera — while also moving all its newest iPhones to USB-C charging.

Obviously, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the better all-around smartphone: it has a more powerful processor, a snappier display and a better, higher-grade camera system. But it’s also a good chunk more expensive. If you’re not dead-set on having the best camera or most premium iPhone out there, the iPhone 15 Plus is a better big-screen choice than you might think.

To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.

Apple’s 2 Biggest iPhones: What’s the Same?

Photo by Tucker Bowe

Both have the same size display

Photo by Tucker Bowe

The 6.7-inch displays of the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro Max are the same size, resolution and brightness, and they come with a lot of the same benefits — mainly, they allow you to see more stuff. You can see more text when reading an article or scrolling through various social media feeds. Apps on the Home Screen appear bigger. And the keys on your keyboard are a bit larger, too, so it’s a little easier to type.

Both now have the Dynamic Island

Photo by Tucker Bowe

Apple introduced the Dynamic Island last year, but it was exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max; the lesser iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus had the old notch of previous iPhones. This year, all iPhone 15 models have the Dynamic Island.

If you’re not familiar, the Dynamic Island is a little floating black pill that can act as a second display zone, showing you certain types of information (for calls, timers, directions, music, etc.) while you’re using your iPhone in other ways. You can also click on the Dynamic Island to quickly access those apps running in the background. It’s a neat new way to interact with your iPhone, and soon seems like second nature.

Both have USB-C and MagSafe charging

Photo by Tucker Bowe

All iPhone 15 models have abandoned the Lightning port in favor of USB-C. This means that you can use the same USB-C charging cable to power your iPhone 15, MacBook Air / MacBook Pro and iPad Air / iPad Pro / iPad Mini. It’s overall a good thing, but there will undoubtedly be an adjustment period. (On numerous occasions while working on this review, I’ve tried to use a Lightning cable on the iPhone 15 Plus and Pro Max and have been instantly embarrassed.)

Despite the switch to USB-C, the charging speeds of all iPhone 15 models haven’t improved and are the exact same across the board. It doesn’t matter if you have a Pro or a non-Pro iPhone 15, it can charge at up to 20 watts when using a USB-C wired connection. Both iPhone 15 models support MagSafe wireless charging, as well, powering up at up to 15 watts when using a compatible MagSafe wireless charger.

Apple’s 2 Biggest iPhones: What Are the Differences?

Photo by Tucker Bowe

Photo by Tucker Bowe

The displays are the same size … but they’re not the same.

Photo by Tucker Bowe

Despite being the same size, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 6.7-inch display is considerably more advanced than the iPhone 15 Plus. Specifically, it delivers two key improvements.

First, the Pro Max’s display has a 120Hz refresh rate (or ProMotion, as Apple calls it), which is twice as fast as the Plus’s 60Hz display. This means apps seem quicker to open, scrolling is way smoother and, if you’re a gamer or movie watcher, the Pro Max’s display is snappier and just looks better.

Second, the Pro Max has an always-on display. This means that when you’re not using the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the display doesn’t go completely black like it does on the 15 Plus. Instead, the screen goes really dim, but still shows some helpful information like the time and any notifications. You also customize this Lock Screen with various widgets, too. The idea is that you can still peep your iPhone and see information at a glance — and that’s something I find really helpful.

The Plus lacks the new Action button

Photo by Tucker Bowe

Photo by Tucker Bowe

The Action button is one of most notable hardware updates to the iPhone in years, and it’s exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Essentially, instead of the mute switch that’s been on basically every iPhone in recent memory, it’s been replaced on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max with a little button that can be customized in Settings.

By default, the Action button works just like the mute switch of old, but you can change it to perform one of seven other functions by default: you can have it open your camera, turn on/off your flashlight, open the Voice Memos app, turn on Focus mode and so on. (You can also tie it to the Shortcuts app to perform other tasks, but it takes a little finagling.) I wouldn’t say it’s a game-changer, as it still feels pretty limited, but it’s cool that Apple is finally giving us a customizable button.

Unfortunately, the iPhone 15 Plus doesn’t have an Action button.

The Pro Max goes big on camera zoom

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Per usual, one of the biggest things that separates the Pros from the non-Pros is their camera systems. Like previous years, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a triple camera system (wide, ultra-wide and telephoto) while the iPhone 15 Plus has a dual-camera system (wide, ultra-wide). But it’s not quite as straightforward this year.

The main reason is that both big iPhones have the 48-megapixel main camera. This is a particular upgrade for the non-Pro, as last year’s iPhone 14 Plus only had a 12-megapixel main camera (last year’s iPhone 14 Pro Max also had a 48-megapixel main camera). Now, the iPhone 15 Pro Max does have a larger sensor and significantly more advanced photo and video skills like night mode portraits, macro photos and ProRes recording, but if you’re just using the main camera on your phone, the difference isn’t huge.

Photo by Tucker Bowe

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

Of course, the other big thing that separates the camera systems of these two large iPhones is their zoom capabilities. The iPhone 15 Plus lacks a dedicated telephoto lens, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max has the most advanced zoom Apple has ever put in a smartphone. It offers up to 5x optical zoom (which is exclusive to it, as the smaller iPhone 15 Pro maxes out at 3x) and 25x digital zoom. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Plus maxes out at 10x digital zoom.

Only the iPhone 15 Pro Max (and 15 Pro) can capture spatial videos for the Vision Pro

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Thanks to their superior cameras, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are the only new iPhones that can capture spatial videos. These are the 3D videos that you can experience while wearing a Vision Pro headset and, because they have more depth, spatial videos feel super immersive and more personal.

The catch, obviously, is that you need to have Apple’s $3,500 headset to experience spatial videos — and that’s still a very niche product.

If you take a spatial video on your iPhone 15 Pro (or Pro Max), you can watch it back but it only appears 1080p (at 30fps) video, which is a way lower resolution than your iPhone can normally capture. Basically, there’s little reason to capture spatial videos unless you’re going to eventually watch them back on the Vision Pro.

The Pro Max has Apple’s most advanced smartphone chip

Photo by Tucker Bowe

Apple gave the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max an A17 Pro chip, which it claims is the most advanced processor it’s ever put in a smartphone. The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus pack the A16 Bionic chip, which is actually the same processor that was in last year’s iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, so they’re hardly a slouch.

Admittedly, it’s pretty difficult for me to tell you just how much of a difference the new A17 Pro chip will make — as I’m not that big of a “Pro” user. At its big keynote, Apple showed off the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max’s improved GPU and CPU capabilities (which now also supports software-based ray tracing) while playing some console-quality games, and it admittedly looks really smooth, fast and generally good. But if you’re not that big of a gamer, the improved processor might not be as big of a deal (at least, not yet).

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is a little bit heavier

Photo by Tucker Bowe

On the iPhone 15 Pro models, Apple has given them a new titanium body instead of the stainless steel used on past Pros. Titanium is a more premium, more durable material, sure, but maybe most importantly — it’s lighter. So despite being the same size as last year’s iPhone 14 Pro Max, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is a good chunk lighter: 240 grams versus 221. For contact, this difference of (almost) 20 grams is comparable to the weight of a pencil. It seems like a small difference, but it actually feels like a lot when holding the two side by side.

Of course, the iPhone 15 Plus is still the lighter of the two new big iPhones. It has an aluminum body that weighs 201 grams, making it nearly 20 grams lighter than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The Pro Max has a faster USB-C port for data transfer

Photo by Tucker Bowe

While the USB-C ports on both big iPhones deliver the same charging speeds, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s USB-C port is faster in terms of data transfer. It supports USB 3 transfer speeds of up to 10 Gb/s, while the iPhone 15 Plus maxes out at 480 Mbps. So if you’re somebody that frequently uploads large files (think lots of high-resolution photos or videos), the iPhone 15 Pro Max is going to be significantly snappier. That said, you’ll want to purchase a higher-end USB-C cable than the one that comes in the box with the iPhone 15 Pro Max to take advantage of this.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is more expensive

Photo by Tucker Bowe

Given all of its upgrades, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is obviously the most expensive smartphone. But in years past, the price gap between its two big-screen iPhones has been $200 — this year it’s $300. The iPhone 15 Plus starts at $899 while the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1,199.

The catch here is that Apple has also upped the base storage of the iPhone 15 Pro Max to 256GB, which is what you’d have to spend the extra $100 to upgrade the base storage of last year’s iPhone 14 Pro Max from 128GB to 256GB anyways. So Apple has simply removed the lesser storage option.

The iPhone 15 Plus starts at $899 and comes with 128GB of base storage. You can upgrade to 256GB (+$100) or 512GB (+$300) of storage.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is configurable with 256GB, 512GB (+$200) and 1TB (+$400) of storage.

Apple

iPhone 15 Plus

The iPhone 15 Plus is Apple’s more affordable big-screen iPhone. It has a 6.7-inch display with a Dynamic Island notch. It also has dual-camera system and support USB-C charging instead of Lightning.

Specs

Processor	A16 Bionic
Capacity	128GB, 256GB or 512GB
Finish	Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink

Pros

• The non-Pro models now have the Dynamic Island notch
• More affordable than the Pro models
• Cameras are excellent and almost as good as the Pros

Cons

• Display isn't as bright or snappy
• Lacks Action button

• $899 at Apple

Apple

iPhone 15 Pro Max

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is Apple’s higher-end big-screen iPhone. Compared to its non-Pro siblings, this model has a more powerful (A17 Pro) processor, a faster always-on display, a triple-camera system, an Action Button and a fancier titanium frame.

Specs

Processor	A17 Pro
Capacity	128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB
Finishes	Titanium, Blue, White, Black

Pros

• The best camera system of any iPhone
• Display is noticeably brighter and faster
• Customizable Action button is a nice upgrade
• More powerful A17 Pro chip

Cons

• More expensive than the non-Pros
• Titanium frame makes these Pro iPhones a little bit heavier

• $999 at Apple

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