What a busy week it has been. Besides iOS 13 and watchOS 6 coming out last Thursday, new iPhones Friday, those of us in Houston also dealt with a surprise visit from a Tropical Storm and Flooding.

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been running iOS 13 for a couple of weeks now. I also was able to procure myself a Midnight Green iPhone 11 Pro Max for preorder. When it came to picking it up though, I worried about getting to the Apple Store with all of the flooding. Luckily, the rain and flood held off that I could leave the house, but it took me almost twice as long to get to the Apple Store.

Still, I’ve now been rocking my new iPhone and the new Operating systems. Here are my first thoughts about the iPhone 11 Pro Max

iPhone XS Max

I loved my iPhone XS Max. It was everything that I wanted in a phone. For the first time in a while, I debated whether I should keep it or trade it in since I’m on the iPhone Upgrade Program.

I felt like the XS took great pictures and my battery was lasting me all day. I thought the phone was giant at first, but I grew to love the size. It just felt like there was more on the screen, and videos felt right.

Still, the pull of a new iPhone was strong. Then the reviews and the pictures that the reviewers were taking started to hit the internet. I was blown away. I knew that I was going to upgrade, I just wasn’t sure which one.

iPhone 11 Pro Max First Impressions

Color

I went with my gut and got the iPhone 11 Pro Max in Midnight Green. I had been worried and prepared to exchange it for the Silver version if possible. Once I got the device in my hand though, I was fine with the color.

I personally don’t really see it as green at all. It looks much closer to grey all the time. In pictures, it can look green, but it really doesn’t look that way at all to me. I’m content with it since I was really worried about having a bright green phone. I would call this more of a grey with a tint of green.

I would love to see Apple expand the color base for these Pro models, but I doubt that would happen. If you are really looking for color, you’d probably be best looking towards the iPhone 11.

The Feel

The back glass is matted on these phones, which brings at least a little different look than previous models. I love he matted glass and think that it looks really good on these phones. The white models of the iPhone X and iPhone XS looked very pearly since it was made to stand out. I think all the colors look much better than the previous versions and I hope they keep this style for another round of iPhones.

The matte glass also comes with a different texture that I really like. I can’t decide if it makes me feel like I have a better grip on the phone or the opposite, but I’ve been using it with a case for a couple of days and without a case for a day or two. I prefer going without a case. The iPhone 11 Pro Max hasn’t hit the ground yet regardless. Still, it is a device that you don’t want to drop even if Apple claims that the glass is the strongest yet.

When you pick up the phone, you can definitely feel the weight of the extra battery in the phone. I’d gladly trade a little extra heft for that extra 5 hours of battery (more on that in a bit). It feels like a very solid phone.

Using the iPhone 11 Pro Max

The iPhone 11 Pro Max feels zippy. The latest iPhones haven’t been struggling in the speed category and this one isn’t any different. The standard iPhone interface introduced with the iPhone X is still here. There’s no home button, but there’s swipes and presses all around.

Haptic Touch

Apple decided to cut 3D Touch from the iPhone this year. While I frequently used 3D touch on my iPhone XS Max, I’m okay with losing it. In iOS 13, 3D touch has been replaced by Haptic Touch which is really just long presses.

What I really like about Haptic Touch is that it’s pretty standard. You don’t have to guess when you can use it or how hard to press. I struggled with 3D touch beyond just using it on the lock screen to get to my camera or flashlight or on the keyboard to move the cursor. But trying to figure out the varying levels of force you needed to use to get something beyond that was tough unless you practiced.

Apple has also included Haptic Touch in iOS 13 and iPadOS. It is now universal to every device that can run iOS 13 or iPadOS. I think this will allow developers to really adopt it more since it will be on every device.

There are two issues that I’m having with Haptic Touch though.

1. Using it on the lock screen to get to the camera is slow. It takes a minute to register what you are doing to get the camera to open. It is much easier to just swipe from right-to-left to get to the camera. I wish Apple would let us pick a different quick start action for the Haptic Touch camera button.
2. Moving the cursor on the keyboard. This one is on me though. I’m so used to just pushing hard on the keyboard to turn it to a cursor. Now, you have to push on the keyboard and hold for it to turn into the cursor. It’s a smart solution that might make you relearn how you do it. I just keep pushing hard on the N key and it keeps trying to give me different options.

The Camera is crazy

Apple added another camera lens, the wide-angle lens. It’s a pretty cool, but not a lens that I really see myself using too often. Still it is nice to have. But I find myself zooming in on my subject more often than not, so I felt like the telephoto lens is what I really needed in a camera phone.

But man, that standard wide lens, the one in every iPhone since forever, has really taken photography to the next level. I feel like every picture that I take with it looks so much better than all the others. The colors are so vibrant, and the night shot mode is a game changer.

The best part is that to get all of these things to work, nothing really changed in the camera app. Everything is simple and easy to use (except changing the settings of your camera).

I’m going to post some of the photos that I’ve taken with the cameras for you to look at. There’s not much else that I can really say about the camera that hasn’t already been said. If you use your phone as a camera more often than anything, you’ll want to upgrade to the 11 Pro.

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The photos below are from a charity event that I was lucky enough to work. The room was amazing, but pretty dark. The Night time photos taken didn’t do anything different than when you take a normal photo other than displaying a timer.

This is the first camera I’ve used that really made my shots feel almost professional. I really can’t say enough about how great the camera is on these iPhones and there’s going to be an update that will bring even more detail to the photos soon.

Battery

The only thing more impressive then the photos has been the battery. I have had never had an iPhone battery last as long. Today for example, I woke up and got on my phone around 5Am. I did plug my phone in on my way to and from work (about 25 minutes). Other than that I have watched videos, surfed the internet, played games, checked email, and streamed music. It is currently over twelve hours later and my battery is still at 70%.

This battery is as claimed, it last all day. I’m sure if you’re watching videos for hours, the battery will drain.

My Thoughts

I thought my iPhone XS Max was my favorite phone, until I spent a weekend with my iPhone 11 Pro Max.

I do miss a couple of uses from 3D Touch, but I’ll live. The photos that this camera takes are out of this world and the battery is amazing.

If you’re thinking of getting an iPhone, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the iPhone 11 models. Check out my guide to make sure you are choosing the best iPhone 11 for your buck.

Make sure you check out my full review for the iPhone 11 Pro Max and whether I think it’s worth the upgrade.