The iPhone 15 Pro Max is Apple’s new ultra-high-end smartphone. According to the firm, it is the best in photos. To confirm these words, we took our first photo samples of the iPhone 15 Pro Max in the studio. And we compared them with the same shots taken with the iPhone 14 Pro Max and with the Huawei P60 Pro, currently the highest rated smartphone in photos at DxO Mark. What is the result ? Answer.
Yesterday, the iPhone 15 and all its versions arrived in stores. Some models are certainly much more difficult to find on the shelves. We are thinking in particular of the iPhone 15 Pro Max in “natural titanium” or “white titanium” version. To find out more about all of its smartphones, we cannot recommend reading our complete file. And while waiting for the full tests which will be published next week, here is a taste from that on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Read also – iPhone 15: USB-C replaces the Lightning port, what consequences for users?
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is Apple’s most advanced smartphone. And it is the brand’s most expensive smartphone this year. During its presentation on September 12, the firm indicated that it had worked on several points, particularly in photography: portraitsthe photos in low light and the optical zoom. We obviously wanted to know if this is confirmed and we took a few shots with the iPhone 15 Pro Max: main sensor, portrait mode, ultra wide-angle and macro sensor, telephoto lens, etc.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has made big strides in detail and HDR
And objectively, the photos are excellent, especially if you like the natural side of Apple’s algorithms : Colors appear true, HDR helps brighten darker areas and there is no saturation. We also note excellent sharpness, very good sharpness and above all a lot of detail. Portraits are elegant, especially with the 2x digital zoom, whether in portrait mode or default mode. The macros are excellent, with lots of detail. In short, we are won over.
But we obviously wanted to compare with other smartphones to confirm (or not) this good impression. We have chosen two for this article. First the iPhone 14 Pro Max, in order to see the evolution of photo quality between the two generations. Then with the Huawei P60 Pro. Why this one and not a Galaxy S23 Ultra or a Magic5 Pro? Because the P60 Pro is, at the time of writing, number 1 in the DxO Mark ranking of photophones. So, you might as well compare yourself to the best when vying for a place on the podium, right?
The iPhone 15 Pro Max excels in portrait and macro, less so in zoom
You can find below some comparisons between the three smartphones. We first confirm some of our previous conclusions: the sharpness is great, the details are numerous and the colorimetry is natural. There is often more texture in iPhone 15 Pro Max photos. We can also see all the work done by Apple’s algorithms on faces and skin tones in portrait mode. Clipping is very good with all three smartphones, but not perfect.
We also compared smartphones on zoom. And we chose a ratio common to all three models: the 15x ratio. With this, the smoothing of the 14 Pro Max erases details, while the 15 Pro Max retains them, but also loses sharpness. At 15x zoom, the P60 Pro remains better, since it does not smooth, retains details and provides more texture. The ultra wide angle of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is better than that of the P60 Pro, especially for macros. But it makes sense: Huawei chose to use the optical zoom of the P60 Pro, equipped with a telephoto lens with a removable lens, to take macros. The ultra wide-angle is therefore less worked.
So here is our first photo comparison with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. We will do more over the weeks with other phones. In the meantime, head to the comments to share your opinion on the photos in this article.