One year on: is the iPhone 16 Pro Max still worth buying in 2026? · Doxlore

One year on: is the iPhone 16 Pro Max still worth buying in 2026?

Posted 17h ago

With the 17 Pro Max out, last year’s flagship has quietly become the value pick of the Pro line.

At a glance

Spec	Detail
Display	6.9-inch LTPO OLED, 120Hz, 2000 nits
Chip	A18 Pro
Telephoto	5x tetraprism (120mm)
Extras	Camera Control button

The 5x lens Apple walked back

The headline argument for the 16 Pro Max in 2026 is the 5x telephoto. The 17 Pro Max replaced it with a shorter, sharper 4x, which is the right call for most people, but if you photograph wildlife, stages or sports from the stands, the extra reach here still matters.

Everything else holds up

The A18 Pro is still quick, the titanium build still feels great, and the battery still clears a heavy day. iOS support runs for years yet. The Camera Control button remains divisive, but you can largely ignore it.

Who it’s for

Buy it if you want a Pro iPhone, do not need the newest chip, and value the longer 5x zoom.

Skip it if you want the aluminium redesign, the cooler-running A19 Pro or the two-day battery of the 17 Pro Max.

Alternatives worth a look

iPhone 17 Pro, newer, cooler, better everyday telephoto, similar money after trade-ins.

The verdict: Still an excellent phone, and now the smart-money choice in Apple’s Pro range.

Sources

GSMArena specifications

0 comments

iPhone 16 Pro Max review: the Camera Control button, one month in

The headline feature of the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a physical button, which tells you how incremental this generation is. The Camera Control sits where your index finger lands in landscape, opens the camera from anywhere, and takes a half-press to lock focus and exposure. After a month it is genuinely useful for launching the camera fast, and genuinely fiddly for the slide-to-zoom gesture Apple keeps demoing. Everything else is a steady step forward. The 5x tetraprism telephoto from last year's 15 Pro Max is now paired with a 48MP ultrawide, so the whole system finally feels consistent. The A18 Pro runs cool under sustained 4K120 capture, battery comfortably clears a heavy day, and the 6.9-inch panel hits 2000 nits outdoors. If you have a 15 Pro Max there is no reason to upgrade. From a 13 Pro or older, this is the most complete iPhone Apple has shipped.

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Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: which flagship camera actually wins?

Two 200MP-and-5x versus 48MP-and-5x systems, two very different philosophies. Samsung's S24 Ultra leans on resolution and reach: the 200MP main bins to bright, detailed 12MP shots, and the dedicated 5x periscope plus a 3x lens covers portrait ranges cleanly. Apple's 16 Pro Max shoots flatter, more color-accurate files and pulls ahead on video, where Dolby Vision, ProRes and log recording are still a category of their own. In daylight it is a wash and comes down to whether you like Samsung's contrastier processing or Apple's neutral look. At night the iPhone holds highlights better; the S24 Ultra brightens shadows more aggressively. For zoom past 10x, Samsung wins outright. For anyone who records more than they photograph, the iPhone is still the safer pick.

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Buying guidesiPhone 16 Pro Max Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Apple Samsung Google+1

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We asked for better cameras. We did not ask for phones that rock on a table like a see-saw. Look at what we are carrying The iPhone 17 Pro has a plateau spanning its top third. The S26 Ultra and the Xiaomi 15 Ultra are worse. Every flagship now ships with a case recommendation effectively baked into the industrial design, because the raw phone will not sit flat. Bigger sensors are real, but there is a limit Larger sensors genuinely take better photos; that trade-off is honest. But there is a point where the tail wags the dog, and a phone that cannot lie flat on a desk without wobbling has passed it. A modest, even bump across the whole back, the direction the iPhone 17 line went, is the sane compromise. The towering islands are not. The verdict: Give us the sensor. Just find a way to fit it that does not turn every phone into a novelty rocking chair. Sources GSMArena specifications

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17h agoRead discussion

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One year on: is the iPhone 16 Pro Max still worth buying in 2026?

At a glance

The 5x lens Apple walked back

Everything else holds up

Who it’s for

Alternatives worth a look

Sources

0 comments

Similar topics

iPhone 16 Pro Max review: the Camera Control button, one month in

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Similar topics

iPhone 16 Pro Max review: the Camera Control button, one month in

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The M5 MacBook Pro and the end of the yearly upgrade