Comparing the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, I'm the battery king right now

Now that it's official, Apple's newest flagship phone for 2024 is the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which unavoidably positions itself as the leader of the iPhone dynasty going forward.

About three years have passed since Apple unveiled the iPhone 13 Pro Max, coinciding with the release of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. In addition to being the final jumbo-sized iPhone with a conventional notch, this model also introduced the ProMotion display to the iPhone range. The iPhone 13 Pro Max is still a fantastic device, but it is beginning to show some signs of ageing.

From the standpoint of an owner of an iPhone 13 Pro Max, the iPhone 16 Pro Max may as well be a prime candidate for an upgrade, given the clear increase in additional features. However, one might argue that the iPhone 13 Pro Max is still a very good phone that has held up rather well over time.

Style and Dimensions

How much has changed in three years

How much has changed in just three years! There is a win-win situation here as the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a noticeably larger 6.9-inch screen without being noticeably larger in size.

It's always amazing to see how small the bezels on Apple devices are, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max is no exception. Its futuristic design makes for a very noticeable advancement from its predecessor.

Overall, the new phone has certain advantages over the iPhone 13 Pro Max, like being lighter, thinner, and taller than the latter. However, the main distinction in this case is the weight. Regardless of how you look at it, that's a win-win situation because it makes it possible for the new phone to have a larger display and battery, and you end up with a lot lighter phone!

The iPhone 13 Pro Max, meanwhile, represents Apple's final attempt at its previous design language. It has a traditional ring switch, a bottom-mounted Lightning port, and a stainless-steel frame that is flat on all sides. The FaceTime camera and other Face ID accessories are housed in a conventional notch located here as well.

Here are some noteworthy side-by-side changes between the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro Max (Image via PhoneArena): See me, I'm the battery king now!

There are also some noticeable variations on the sides (Image by PhoneArena)

Reintroduced with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the titanium body with a slightly curved frame is made of stronger Ceramic Shield glass, a match for the sturdy titanium frame. Tests on the iPhone 15 Pro Max revealed that the glass could break because titanium does not flex as much as aluminium or stainless steel, making it incapable of withstanding significant pressure.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max retains the customisable Action Button, but with the iPhone 16 generation, Apple debuted a new capacitive hardware button dubbed Camera Control that allowed users to interact with the camera app and take pictures and videos. It's a physical button that responds to touch, so you can swipe between the camera app's various settings.

Both variants share the IP68 water and dust resistance. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a USB-C port on the bottom, while the older model has a Lightning port.

Show Disparities

Bigger, brighter, and more elegant (Photo courtesy of PhoneArena) - Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max against iPhone 13 Pro Max: See me, I'm the battery king right now!

Brighter, bigger, and nicer (Photo courtesy of PhoneArena)

Although we've previously stated it, let us say it again: Steve Jobs would have never approved of the iPhone 16 Pro Max's massive 6.9-inch display! This is a big and noticeable improvement over the 6.7-inch screen of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which was made possible by using significantly narrower bezels and a somewhat higher body.

Additionally, Apple has added a more sophisticated Ceramic Shield layer that should shield the screen from scratches.

With a maximum brightness rating of 2,000 nits and a Super Retina XDR OLED display with a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a new feature: support for a 1-nit minimum brightness, which should come in handy when using the phone at night.

The 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen on the iPhone 13 Pro Max, on the other hand, has slightly less spectacular display qualities. It features 120Hz ProMotion and a "lower" maximum brightness of up to 1,200 nits in HDR mode—low by today's flagship standards. However, before you dismiss that one too quickly, remember that the iPhone 13 Pro Max still boasts a gorgeous screen that is both easy to use and aesthetically pleasing.

It's also noteworthy to note that the results of our testing show something somewhat unexpected: the iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn't actually have a better display. While the new iPhone has a better minimum brightness than the 13 Pro Max, we measured a slightly lower maximum screen brightness.

But in terms of overall colour accuracy, the iPhone 13 Pro Max performs better in our testing, obtaining significantly higher gamma and accuracy.

Display Dimensions:

Screen dimensions

Charts in colour

Maximum brightness: More brightness is preferable.

Lowest brightness measured in nits

Less is more advantageous.

Temperature of colour in Kelvins

Alpha

Delta E rgbcmy

Less is more advantageous.

Grayscale Delta E

Less is more advantageous.

Apple's 16 Pro Max 1046 iPhone

(Excellent) 0.93

(Outstanding) 6174

(Outstanding) 2.21

2.28

(Excellent) 5.66

(Mean)

Apple's 13 Pro Max iPhone 1051

(Excellent) 1.9

(Excellent) 6445

(Outstanding) 2.23

1.02

(Outstanding) 1.56

(Superb)

See all

There is nothing new here; the two iPhones can only be authenticated via Face ID. Some have expressed confusion as to why Apple hasn't considered reintroducing Touch ID to the new Camera Control button; however, if they had wanted to, they would have long since placed that one inside the power button.

Both Software and Performance

All in the name of artificial intelligence

Performance revamped - Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max: See me, I'm the battery king now! (Image courtesy of PhoneArena)

Redesigned performance (Photo courtesy of PhoneArena)

Apple's A18 Pro, a second-generation 3nm chipset, powers the iPhone 16 Pro Max. It is comprised of a 16-core Neural Engine unit that is actively involved in all things Apple Intelligence related, a hexacore GPU, and dual performance and quad efficiency cores.

Additionally, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has an updated internal architecture that, according to reports, improves the phone's thermal management by a significant 20% and passively lowers the likelihood of thermal throttling. As a result, the iPhone 16 Pro Max should operate more consistently than it did previously.

An easy way to improve on-device AI and ML processing is to have a dedicated unit; the iPhone 16 Pro Max's increased memory bandwidth is also intended to improve AI performance.

The Apple A15 Bionic chip, which is now three years old, was included with the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Even for heavy users, it has more than enough performance to provide a wonderful everyday experience, even if it lags somewhat behind synthetic benchmarks.

Nevertheless, the outcomes of our benchmark tests are very obvious: the Geekbench 6 single- and multi-core tests are won by the more recent iPhone 16 Pro Max. This also holds true for the GPU-focused 3DMark Extreme tests, where the more recent iPhone performs noticeably better.

Benchmarks for Performance:

Benchmark Six Geek

Better is SingleHigher.

iPhone 16 Pro Max 3331 from Apple

iPhone 13 Pro Max 2409 from Apple

Benchmark Six Geek

MultiHigher is superior.

iPhone 16 Pro Max 8106 from Apple

Apple 13 Pro Max 5941-2941

3DMark Extreme (High): More is preferable

Max4567, the Apple iPhone 16 Pro

iPhone 13 Pro Max 2990 from Apple

3DMark

Extreme (Low): Better is higher

iPhone 16 Pro Max 3009 from Apple

Apple's 13 Pro Max 2266 iPhone

See all

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is the first device of its sort to include 8GB of RAM, which is reportedly the minimum required for Apple Intelligence to operate correctly. As a result, the model that comes out next year may have more RAM. In contrast, the slightly less powerful older iPhone 13 Pro Max has 6GB of RAM.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max has 256GB of RAM out of the box, but it also has 512GB and 1TB of storage available. Starting with 128GB of capacity, the older iPhone is also available with 256, 512, and 1TB of on-board storage.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max allows for higher internet speeds. With the Snapdragon X75 5G modem and Wi-Fi 7, the new phone may be able to support substantially faster data transmission rates. The iPhone 13 Pro Max is compatible with both Wi-Fi 6 and the older Snapdragon X60 5G modem, which may result in slower data speeds but should still be adequate.

Considering how long current iPhones have been supported, we estimate that the iPhone 13 Pro Max will receive support until 2028 or 2029. That's not all—support for the iPhone 16 Pro Max will last far into the 2030s.

Utilising the iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 18,

Utilising the iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 18,

Utilising the iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 18,

Utilising the iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 18,

iOS 18 is presently available for both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro Max.

The centrepiece of the next software upgrade, Apple Intelligence, will only work with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, in addition to the fact that most of its functions will only be available with iOS 18.1, which will be followed in early 2025 by a redesigned Siri. The iPhone 13 Pro Max does not include Apple Intelligence.

iOS 18 improves customisation with movable icons, a multi-page Control Centre, and more adaptable dark mode settings. Innovations that serve a wider spectrum of users, such as Eye Tracking, Music Haptics, and Vocal Shortcuts, enhance accessibility features.

With the help of these enhancements and Apple's partnership with OpenAI for the integration of ChatGPT, iOS 18 advances mobile AI technology and provides consumers with more personalised and intuitive interactions. Nevertheless, owners of the iPhone 16 Pro Max are presently unable to access any of those.

Snapshot

Three cameras that are incredibly unique from one another

Since the release of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, the iPhone camera has undergone numerous upgrades. Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max: Take a look at me, I'm the battery king now!

From the iPhone 13 Pro Max, a lot has changed with the iPhone camera.

Compared to its prior model, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a far better and more flexible camera. Simply have a look at the specs: a 48MP primary camera featuring an upgraded sensor, a newly designed 48MP ultra-wide camera (an improvement over the 12MP one), and a 12MP telephoto lens with a 5X optical zoom constitute, in all cases, a far superior hardware configuration than the one seen on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Comparatively speaking, the earlier iPhone appears far more modest, with three 12MP sensors hiding behind each camera and a telephoto lens providing a "mere" 3X optical zoom. In terms of overall throw, it is much less impressive, but it is still rather good for close-ups and portraiture. The iPhone 16 Pro Max features a sensor-cropping 2X zoom option in the app, however the iPhone 13 Pro Max does not due to the lower megapixel count of the main camera.

Additionally, the iPhone 16 Pro Max receives updated and more adaptable photographic styles. In fact, they made their debut alongside the iPhone 13 generation; nevertheless, the initial version of the function offers only basic customisation.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max boasts a unique function that allows you to make beautiful cinematic clips: 4K@120fps video recording. The iPhone 16 Pro Max features enhanced wind noise isolation and sophisticated noise reduction with Audio Mix, thanks to a redesigned four-mic array.

An entirely new method of managing the camera is made possible by the iPhone 16 Pro Max's new Camera Control button. With your finger never leaving the new button, you may open the app, adjust the exposure, depth, zoom, explore style, and shoot a picture or record a video. Although it takes some getting accustomed to, you still have a lot of control over your photography experience.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max naturally scores far higher than the iPhone 13 Pro Max in the PhoneArena Camera Score test. The new phone routinely takes better pictures and records videos. Given that there has been a three-year difference, we would be shocked if circumstances were any different.

Score for PhoneArena Camera:

picture

Watch Video

Camera on Phone

Score Image

Main Score

(broad) Ultra

Extensive Selfie Zoom

154, 158, 82, 24, 28, 25, Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Apple 13 Pro Max 135, 138, 72, 20, 27, 19.

Visit our PhoneArena Camera Score page to learn more about the picture and video ratings for every phone we've tested.

Life of Batteries and Charging

The iPhone 13 Pro Max is not looking good.

Distinct ports and varying rates of charging (Photo courtesy of PhoneArena) - Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max against iPhone 13 Pro Max: Presently, I'm the leader in battery life!

Various ports, varying rates of charge (Photo courtesy of PhoneArena)

It is certainly impressive to witness the iPhone 16 Pro Max trotting around with the largest 4,685mAh battery ever installed on an iPhone. Because of this, the new iPhone 16 Pro Max is a strong contender to take over the illustrious title of battery champion from the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

The latter had a 4,352mAh battery, however the iPhone 13 Pro Max achieved unprecedented results in our bespoke battery tests during its peak thanks to the efficiency of the A15 chip back then.

For the most part, the new iPhone 16 Pro Max performs better than its predecessor. The iPhone 16 Pro Max achieves a respectable improvement of over four hours over the iPhone 13 Pro Max in our custom browsing test, which attempts to mimic a typical browsing workflow. In our unique 3D gaming test, the newer device outlasts the older one by an hour and a half. Ultimately, neither phone performs differently in the video streaming test.

Results of the PhoneArena Battery and Charging Tests:

Life of a Battery

Adding Charge

Phone Life of the Battery

approximation of video gaming

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

4685 milliampere-hour

8 hours, 30 minutes, 22 hours, 39 minutes, 10 hours, 24 minutes, and 12 hours, 4 minutes

The Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

4352 milliampere-hour

10h 23min ~10h 29min ~7h 38min ~18h 52min

Visit our PhoneArena Battery Score page to learn more about the battery and charging specifications of every phone we've tested.

The cable charging speeds don't differ significantly in terms of charging. It takes about an hour and forty minutes for both phones to charge.

While the iPhone 13 Pro Max features standard MagSafe and 20W wired charging, the new iPhone 16 Pro Max supports Qi2 and MagSafe up to 25W.

Comparison of Specifications

Though primarily predicated on the anticipated specifications of the next handset, the iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max specs comparison chart is currently active.

In brief

Comparing the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, I'm the battery king right now!

The three-year-old iPhone 13 Pro Max is clearly outclassed by the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is the phone you should acquire if you want to upgrade from the previous iPhone flagship. It looks like the latter will further improve the sophisticated iPhone experience.

With a bigger screen, improved performance, a better camera, and future-proofing for artificial intelligence (which is still a ways off), the big new iPhone is unquestionably the suggested upgrade for owners of the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

With numerous new features that will make the game feel quite fresh even for seasoned Pro Max veterans, there should be a noticeable change in the overall experience.

However, the iPhone 13 Pro Max continues to function. It's an ageing device, but it's by no means slow, lagging, or lacking anything that should force you to switch to the current model. Its timeless and intransitive design still looks good.

Use your phone till its wheels come off if you're happy with it!