iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max: Is it worth the upgrade?
Breaking down the differences between the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro Max is important for users who own a 13 Pro Max and are nearing the end of a two-year contract, or anyone trying to figure out whether or not it’s worth buying the latest flagship iPhone from two years ago. Whatever your motivations, we’re here to help you find the answers.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max hasn’t been released yet, but it probably won’t be long until we know what the rumors are true. We already know the iPhone 13 Pro Max is a good phone, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max is set to push things even further with a new titanium design, a powerful periscope zoom camera, the world’s first 3nm processor and other upgrades.
Here’s how the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro Max compare so far. For more, don’t forget to take a look at the all-out showdown between iPhone 15 and iPhone 13 as well.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max: Specifications
| iPhone 15 Pro Max (rumored) | iPhone 13 Pro Max | |
| an offer | 6.7 inches with a refresh rate of 120 Hz | 6.7 inches with a refresh rate of 120 Hz |
| Slices | A17 Bionic | A15 Bionic |
| storage options | 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB | 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB |
| rear cameras | 48 MP main, 12 MP ultra-wide, 12 MP telephoto (6x optical zoom) | 12MP main, 12MP ultra-wide, 12MP telephoto (3x optical zoom) |
| front camera | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| battery | 4,852 mAh | 4,352 mAh |
| Colors | Graphite/Black, Gold, Silver, Dark Red | Graphite, Gold, Silver, Sierra Blue |
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max: Price and Availability
Apple no longer sells the iPhone 13 Pro Max (except for refurbished models), but you can buy it now from many third-party retailers and carriers. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is likely not far from release, but we still have to wait until September 12th and Apple’s rumored September event to see it.
Even if you bought the iPhone 13 Pro Max at its launch price of $1,099, chances are you bought it for less than the iPhone 15 Pro Max cost. Rumor has it that it could cost up to $200 more, which would make a possible starting price of $1,299. However, you may get a higher base storage capacity from the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which when combined with the rumored big upgrades will probably mitigate the increased cost.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max: Design and Display
For iPhones launched two years apart, there might be a lot of design differences between iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro Max. The basic shape and size of 6.7 inches should be the same, but a lot has changed since the iPhone 13 Pro Max debuted in 2021.
iPhone 14 Pro Max replaced the notch with a dynamic island, providing more active screen space for alerts and live updates. We expect this on the iPhone 15 Pro Max (and all other iPhone 15s), too.
but this is not all. The 2023 iPhones are supposed to replace their Lightning connectors with USB-C ports, making it easier to charge them with all the other cables around. In addition, the frame of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is expected to be made of titanium (instead of stainless steel). And instead of a mute/ringer switch, the iPhone 15 Pro Max should have an action button with several possible shortcuts depending on how you want to use it.
What we don’t expect to change is the primary screen itself, which is a 6.7-inch ProMotion display with a 120Hz refresh rate. However, the iPhone 15 Pro Max could get smaller bezels, which increases the usable size of the screen, but that might be hard to notice if you don’t have the two phones side by side.
In terms of colors, iPhone 13 Pro Max is offered in graphite, gold, silver, or that year’s signature color, Sierra Blue. We’re expecting another gold, silver, and graphite/black color combination for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, along with a new deep red color. You can check out our iPhone 15 color rumor hub to learn more about it.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max: The cameras
All the cameras on the iPhone 13 Pro Max use 12MP sensors, covering main, ultra-wide, 3x telephoto, and selfie. These were great cameras at launch, but Apple has moved forward since then.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is expected to inherit a 48MP main camera from the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and will likely inherit the larger 12MP ultra-wide camera and the larger aperture selfie camera with auto focus as well. The number of megapixels is supposed to be the same, but we can see higher quality Sony-made sensors for the iPhone 15 Pro series.
More importantly, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is also said to have Apple’s first-ever Periscope telephoto camera that can manage up to 6x zoom. In theory, that would easily beat the 3x max optical zoom and 12MP main camera of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, but we’re interested to see how much optical zoom is when we have both phones in front of us for a camera test.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max: Performance
The power of the iPhone 13 Pro Max compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max will depend on the power of the A15 Bionic chip and the upcoming A17 Bionic chip. The A15 chip is still fast today, allowing the base iPhone 14 to outperform the majority of Android phones in benchmarks. But the new 3nm process that is supposed to be used to make the A17 chip should bring a huge leap in power and efficiency. And there are already impressive benchmarks for the iPhone 15 Pro that seem to prove the point.
Obviously, the iPhone 15 Pro Max will also benefit from having more RAM than previous iPhones, including the iPhone 13 Pro Max. The 2023 Pro Max will offer 8GB of RAM as an option for at least some models with higher storage capacity, according to some sources, which should help keep your apps open when you quickly switch between them.
We’ve also heard that Apple could ditch the current default 128GB storage for its iPhone Pro devices, and make 256GB the new default storage while adding a 2TB storage option on top, doubling the previous 1TB limit for older iPhones. Like the 13 Pro Max. That should mean that whichever iPhone 13 Pro Max you’re comparing it to, you’ll likely have more space in the equivalent iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max launched with iOS 15, which means it will likely drop Apple’s list of supported iPhones for future iOS updates. The iPhone 15 Pro will launch with iOS 17, which means an additional two years or so of updates after the iPhone 13 Pro Max stopped getting them.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max: Battery and Charging
The entire iPhone 15 series tends to have larger batteries, with the iPhone 15 Pro Max rumored to have a 4,852mAh cell. That would be much larger than the 4,352mAh battery offered by the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Additionally, the iPhone 15 Pro Max should get a boost from so-called stacked battery technology that crams more capacity into the same space, as well as the more efficient 3nm A17 Bionic chip.
However, while we should see the iPhone 15 Pro Max last longer on a single charge, it can have the same 20W and 15W MagSafe wired charging speeds as the iPhone 13 Pro Max. There are rumors of 27W wired charging and 15W wireless charging on non-MagSafe chargers, but we’re not getting our hopes up until there are more corroborating sources.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max: Predictions
Assuming all the major iPhone 15 Pro Max rumors turn out to be true, it will be a much more capable and sleeker phone than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. It might be worth upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro Max if you’re particularly interested in the superior zoom camera, faster performance, and larger battery, as well as the supposedly longer software support window.
However, the iPhone 13 Pro Max may still be worth buying if you’re looking to spend less on your next phone, or worth keeping for at least another year until the iPhone 16 series comes into focus.
All that’s left to do now is wait for Apple to announce its expected Apple event in September, then stay tuned to find out exactly what’s new with the new iPhone 15 Pro Max for 2023.
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