This year for my iPhone upgrade, I ended up going with the iPhone 14 Pro Max. As I’ve mentioned in some other posts, I’ve been finding myself doing a little more long-form writing on my phone lately -including this post. Doing that writing, my hands felt slightly cramped on the standard iPhone. My fingers overlapped and my palms would get tight as I typed.

I wanted to have a larger phone in my hands. Plus, I’ve been watching a few more videos on my iPhone, so I wanted that slightly larger screen. So when I upgraded my iPhone this year, I jumped at the larger Pro Max version.

So, here are my impressions after using the iPhone 14 Pro Max for the last few days.

Not the Dynamic Island Vacation I was expecting

The Dynamic Island presentation had me pretty excited. Besides the size of the Max phone, the Dynamic Island was my next reason for wanting to upgrade. But having used it, I’m a bit let down.

The Dynamic Island is that little pill shape cutout at the top of the iPhone 14 Pro model’s screen that replaces the notch that used to drop into the screen. It houses all of the iPhone’s equipment for FaceID, like the flood illuminator, dot matrix, etc. Apple did what it does best; it designed user interactions around the cutout. It’s not just a blank space, but that little pill shape morphs and changes to provide information if you’re listening to music, setting a timer, using directions, or other things. It was a great way to embrace the change from the notch to this.

But in action, I’ve hardly noticed it.

It’s nice to see your music playing at the top of the screen, even when using another app. But I didn’t interact with it often, nor did I notice it. I think as more apps start to use it, and as I use it more myself, it might come in handy, but for now, I don’t. But it also might be because Dynamic Island is now further away from me since I’ve moved from the iPhone 13 Pro to the larger iPhone 14 Pro Max.

I do like that I see more information at the top of the screen instead of just the little cutout. It’s nice to see the music waveform or the timer counting down. But I’m usually not focusing on that part of my iPhone 14 Pro Max. And when watching a video, it becomes a little more obtrusive. With the notch, videos often crop the edges so you don’t notice anything. You’d have a black border on the sides of the video. Now, the Dynamic Island is lower on the screen, so videos just have a big dot on the side.

Also, right now, many apps haven’t been updated to adjust for the change in screen layout. There are buttons inside apps that can’t be pressed because they are hidden behind elements of the iPhone’s screen that have been moved around.

But I will say that it stays out of the way most of the time. And it’s fun. It is definitely the evolution of the iPhone for the next few years. Eventually, it will probably be gone before too long once Apple figures out how to hide it all under the screen.

iPhone 14 Pro’s Always-On-Display

The iPhone 14 Pro models now have an always-on screen. With these newest iPhone Pro models, the screen is nearly always illuminated, even when locked. So if you set up some new Lock Screen widgets, you will be able to see them when your phone is locked and on your screen. But some of these widgets must be authenticated by FaceID to show any data, so that feels like a counterintuitive element to the always-on-display. Still, with the display, you can see your notifications, time, and wallpaper.

Of course, if you put your iPhone 14 Pro Max in your pocket or face down on a table, the screen will turn off, saving a little battery. If you have an Apple Watch and you walk away from your iPhone 14 Pro Max, it will know and will also turn the screen off. And finally, if you just want to turn off the always-on-display, you can turn it off in settings.

So far, the always on screen has felt…weird.

Many reviews of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max have said that the screen is very bright when not in use. I disagree. I feel like the brightness level feels fine. The screen darkens while it maintains the look and feel of your lock screen. But there have been times when I put the phone on my desk, just like I would my iPhone 13 Pro, and I work on something else, but then I notice the screen of my iPhone 14 Pro Max, and I think I have a notification waiting for me. It’s over a decade of training that a lit-up lock screen means you have a notification, but that’s not true anymore.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, not all the lock screen widgets work when the iPhone sits on your desk. I have reorganized my lock screen a few times to provide information that doesn’t need to be locked behind a security check.

And in Apple’s way, iOS 16 didn’t give us many options to customize the actual always-on screen. The only option users have is Always-on on or off. It would be nice if the user could control the brightness or some of the other expected behaivors. You can’t even link it in Shortcuts yet to create an automation to turn it on or off.

While the always-on-screen and the Dynamic Island are both nice features to have, they don’t really change the way I use an iPhone. The Always-On-Screen had been rumored since WWDC and the announcement of Lock Screen Widgets, but I never really felt like I needed that on my iPhone. It felt the same as when the Apple Watch got its Always-On-Screen. It is nice, but not a feature that I really needed.

After a week or more of using the Always-On Display, I turned it off. I didn’t really use the lock screen widgets with an always-on screen any more than I did before, so I thought I’d save the battery life. I haven’t missed it at all since I turned it off.

A Camera Upgrade

For years, Apple kept the camera megapixels the same on all iPhones. While a new iPhone might get a bigger or quicker lens, the megapixels have stayed the same since the iPhone 6. It makes sense because having more megapixels doesn’t make photos better. Better photos are usually about light, and the iPhone cameras would get bigger sensors that let light in.

But the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max have quadrupled the megapixel count in the main camera. The main camera now has a 48-megapixel sensor, but 48 megapixels take up much more space in the storage of your phone. To combat this, Apple has brought in pixel-binning. Instead of taking a 48-megapixel shot, Apple combines pixels together to make a more detailed 12-megapixel image.

In real life, these photos look very similar to the iPhone 13 Pro camera. I didn’t take side-by-side comparison photos for my iPhone 14 Pro Max and my iPhone 13 Pro, but just taking photos didn’t seem to appear greatly different.

But if users go into camera settings and turn on ProRaw, they will get an option in your camera app to take a ProRaw 48-pixel image. These images have a much bigger file size but more detail when you zoom in.

Ben Lovejoy over at 9to5mac has a great piece about the iPhone 14 Pro camera system and why the 48-mega-pixel system is one of the iPhone 14 Pro Max features that needs a little more explanation. And if you want to dive deeper into the professional aspects of the camera, you can always check out Austin Mann’s iPhone 14 Pro review.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max size

I started out with a large iPhone fan. I moved to the iPhone 6 Plus when that device came out and stayed with it until the iPhone X. But with the iPhone X, I felt a little cramped. Video felt tight, and typing wasn’t my favorite. So when Apple brought out the iPhone XS Max, I moved back to the large-size iPhone. But I grew tired of the large size, and the iPhone 12 grew close to the same size. So for the first time, when given the choice between the normal and large iPhones, I picked the smaller of the two.

When I upgraded to the iPhone 13 Pro model, I stayed with the smaller size. While I liked the smaller size in my pocket, and I never really had a problem with the phone’s size for anything, I found myself creating more on my iPhone, whether typing or recording. When the iPhone 13 Pro Max came out, I went into the Apple store to hold it, which felt large. But after using my iPhone 13 Pro more, I wanted to return to the larger model with the new iPhone 14 Pro Max. The iPhone 14 Pro Max screen size comes to 6.7-inches, just like the last few models.

After using it for a week, I don’t have any problems with the size. It doesn’t feel as large as I remembered, probably because the standard iPhone Pro has gotten larger. It feels much better to type when I’m getting into an article or novel on my iPhone. My hands don’t feel so cramped.

But other than the size for typing, there isn’t much else going on with the size. I felt like with the iPhone 6 Plus, the large-screened phone came with some extra benefits. If the phone turned horizontal, you got a column view that wasn’t on the normal-sized iPhone. But since every iPhone has gotten larger, they all have the column view in apps that support it.

Using the larger screen just feels like it’s a larger screen. Even though there are a few options regarding how you use the space, neither of the options takes advantage of the screen size. It would be nice if Apple offered another row of apps or more space for widgets. When writing in the Scrivener app, you get a few more lines of text on the screen, which is nice.

Using the iPhone Max Size One Handed

Many people worry about using the iPhone Max size with one hand. I have fairly large hands, and I can use the iPhone 14 Pro Max one-handed – it requires me to adjust my hand on the phone, but I can do it. When I know that I have to reach one of the top corners – like to drag down control center – I have to adjust the device, so my hand holds the middle of the back a little more, and then I can reach the corners. It’s doable and not entirely too inconvenient for me. But if you have smaller hands, you might struggle with one-handed use.

Of course, you might find success with something like a pop socket on the back of your iPhone to help you hold it too.

If you’re considering moving from the Mini or regular-sized iPhone, you should try to get your hands on one to try. I could give my best estimation of moving between the two sizes, but it will be up to the user to decide for themselves.

Colors

I ordered the iPhone 14 Pro Max 256 GB in Space Black. I wish Apple would get a little more together with their colors and color names, but this is one of my favorite iPhone colors in a long time. The last iPhone I had that looked this deep black was the iPhone 5. After that, Apple brought out Space Grey, and the darker iPhone has never looked as good until now. The stainless steel frame is a deep black, while the back of the iPhone is a deep dark grey. I really like this color scheme.

My wife bought the iPhone 14 Pro Max 128 GB in Deep Purple. Just like others have said, it does look purple in certain lights, but often time it just looks like a deep grey. It reminds me of my iPhone 11 Pro Max in green that never looked green at all. Although this one sometimes looks purple, it isn’t consistent like my Space Black iPhone.

Battery Life

Battery life has been a tough gauge since jumping to the large iPhone. For the first few days, I felt like I was draining the battery on my iPhone. Things settled down after a few days of use, and I made it through the days with plenty of battery. With my iPhone 13 Pro, I could scrape by to the end of the day, but it would usually die on me while sitting on the couch at the end of the day. Some days, I would have to charge up to 50% battery or so just to ensure I could end the day.

So far, I haven’t had to manage the battery much. I haven’t made it down low enough to trigger my Low Power Mode automation on this phone. On the days I’ve turned off the always-on-screen, I get home with around 60% battery or more.

But there are things an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max user can do to extend the battery. Users struggling to make it through the day could turn off the always-on-display and 5G and get hours more battery.

Wrap Up

While I felt excited by the announcement of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, I’m let down a little by what we got. The iPhone 14 Pro line isn’t a bad line of phones. In fact, it is the wave of the future – I’m sure that more iPhones will have the Dynamic Island and higher megapixel cameras. But using my iPhone still feels like using an iPhone. That’s not a bad thing if you live in the Apple walled garden.

I just thought that using Dynamic Island would be more of a game-changer. But it doesn’t change the way I use my iPhone in the slightest. It’s cool, and I think that more will come to it, but for now, it’s a meh feature.

I thought the higher megapixel camera would break more ground. Photos look great, and you can take unaltered images with greater quality, but I don’t see much difference from the last few sets of iPhone cameras.

I am happy with the larger size of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, but it doesn’t thrill me either.

So anyone with an iPhone 12 or earlier model, I would recommend the upgrade. If you have an iPhone 12 or 13 Pro, I would recommend waiting for the next model unless your battery is already drained.

Is there anything else you’d like me to check on my iPhone before you decide to purchase one? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter, Instagram, tiktok, or facebook!