Review: Four Months With the iPhone 16 Pro Max

Four months have passed since Apple released the iPhone 16 lineup. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been using an ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro Max since launch, and over on our YouTube channel, he did a multi-month review to provide his thoughts on durability, battery life, Camera Control, and other features.


The titanium chassis has held up well, with just minor scratches and scuffs on the edges. Battery health remains at 100 percent at 101 cycles and battery life has been impressive, but this is the ‌iPhone 16‌ with the biggest battery.

Camera Control has been a hit or miss feature. It's useful for opening the camera quickly to snap photos, but digging into the extra menus with swipes and gestures is clunky and takes too long.

Apple Intelligence is about the same, and it's not always super useful. One of the better features is Clean Up, which removes unwanted images from photos. Clean Up has improved over time since it was first introduced in iOS 18.1, and it's more useful than it was initially. Genmoji is fun, but it needs improvement because a lot of simple requests just don't pan out.

Unsurprisingly, the camera has been great, especially the improved 48-megapixel Ultra Wide lens that Apple added. Photographic Styles adds useful customization options, and it's easier to make quick edits that give your images a uniform look.

Have an ‌iPhone 16‌? Let us know what you think of it after using it for a few months.

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Top Rated Comments

0186279 Avatar
9 months ago
Review: It's another iPhone.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LoveToMacRumors Avatar
9 months ago
Camera control button might be already gone on the iPhone 17 air. It’s a flop
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WilliamG Avatar
9 months ago

Camera control button might be already gone on the iPhone 17 air. It’s a flop
Agreed. Absolute waste of time and space and money.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FoxyKaye Avatar
9 months ago
Apple Intelligence as, "...not always super useful," is the understatement of the year, so far.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DunedinD Avatar
9 months ago

Agreed. Absolute waste of time and space and money.
Except for every time I quickly need to take a picture. Way more effective than having to long press the Lock Screen camera button.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
marinersaptcomplex Avatar
9 months ago
AI is for shareholders not consumers. This trend of adding it to everything needlessly needs to end.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)