So, there are two camps of people – on one side are the people who love the new iPhone 14 Pro models, and the other camp are the ones who say that there is not much of an upgrade and also that iOS is taking ideas from Android. Well, here is my in-depth review of this phone after using it daily for a month.
Build Quality & Design
Overall, the design seems to be sticking to the tried-and-true design from last year’s iPhone 13 series.
As mentioned in my first impressions video, I decided to go with this Silver color variant instead of the signature Deep Purple, and I have no regrets!
The clean and minimalist color fits my aesthetic perfectly, and with Apple’s official clear case with MagSafe, I get to show off and see the original finish of the phone and also worth mentioning is that this clear phone case actually helped me to protect the phone when I accidentally dropped it off the table, well not exactly a table, but the treatment bed when I was in pain while getting some dry needling done on my wrist.
While the overall design did look extremely close to the iPhone 13 series, the biggest change – pun intended – is the thicker camera bump – which we’ll talk about it later.
What’s interesting is that while the camera bump was thicker, the phone isn’t heavier than last year. In fact, it is the exact weight as the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which means that it has the familiar size and weight for me since I was using the iPhone 13 Pro Max as my daily driver. So I had no complaints using the phone daily.
Display
Next, let’s talk about the most important part of the phone for any user, which is the display. The iPhone 14 Pro Max comes with a Super Retina XDR display.
On the Pro variant, you get a smaller 6.1-inch display, but with this hunk of hardware over here, you get a total of 6.7 inches with a resolution of 2796×1290 pixels.
Now, this means you have 460 PPI making this one of the sharpest displays in the market right now. It also supports HDR10 and has a dynamic refresh rate ranging from 1Hz to 120Hz, thanks to the new LTPO technology used here as well.
The screen has about 1000 nits of brightness when using it daily, but there is a peak brightness of about 2000 nits, which is currently the brightest screen on any smartphone. This made the phone screen to be easy to see, even in very harsh afternoon sun. What’s nice is that it didn’t feel any warmer than usual.
And one thing to note is the fact that it was extremely easy to take pictures on a bright sunny day. Now what’s interesting is that I actually came to a point where I needed to reduce the brightness manually, even though it was very nice and visible when I was looking at the viewfinder when I was taking photos. This sounds like I’m over-exaggerating but I’m not.
Now the media experience on the iPhone 14 Pro Max is just flawless. Watching videos on Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, especially on Apple TV+ was an enjoyable experience. And by the way, I know I’m totally late to the game but Ted Lasso… “Football is life”! So watch it if you haven’t done so.
Then thanks to HDR support, I can better appreciate the dynamic contrasts and details in darker scenes.
Now a common complaint when it comes to the display is the presence of the wider pill-shaped cutout. To be very honest, the cutout, like a notch, was barely visible, especially if you don’t really stretch the screen, as it never took me out from the viewing experience.
And of course, speaking of the cutout, let’s talk about the new Dynamic Island.
Dynamic Island
This is one of the best features that Apple has brought into the iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro Max, and I wouldn’t be surprised if any other iPhone 14 Pro Max users say that this is their favorite feature because it is certainly mine, and here is how it has benefited me.
Firstly, I usually take phone calls with the speaker phone, mainly because I’m working at my desk, and the Dynamic Island allows me the freedom to pull up relevant chats or documents while I’m still being aware that there is a phone call. In fact, the Dynamic Island actually shows the waveforms when you are talking to the person, or when they are talking back. Then I can easily go to the call screen with a simple tab on the waveform as well.
Then it also brings a new progress bar that pops up when you have an AirDrop items between your Apple devices, especially transferring files from the MacBook Pro to my iPhone which I do A LOT.
Then the ability to use both the timer and music app at the same time with Dynamic Island is one of the most useful features that I’ve used for workouts in between my sets.
So with that, I think it goes without saying that the Dynamic Island is not just a “gimmick” because from a real-time experience, it is one of the most useful features on the iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro Max variant.
Always-On Display
So remember I mentioned about the camp of people who say that iOS is following Android? Well, they were referring mainly to this Always-On Display.
Now while the word Always-On display is the same, but on the iPhone 14 Pro models, it is nowhere the same as what you get on an Android phone because it’s way better and fully functional.
This is mainly because the new always-on display uses the same wallpaper but it dims down until the essential details are viewable. Keep in mind that since this is an OLED panel. The LEDs are switched off to give a deeper shade of blacks.
Then you might ask, but Adam, does the Always-On display affect the battery life? Well, we’ll go into that later when I talk about the phone’s battery.
Cameras
As for the cameras, the new iPhone 14 Pro Max comes with a 48MP main camera, which is complemented by a 12MP telephoto and a 12MP ultrawide sensor, and of course the LiDAR sensor as well.
As expected, all of the images coming out from the phone did not disappoint, especially with the new Photonic Engine image processing.
High Megapixel
By default, the 48MP lens will be pixel-binned to a 12MP image, so if you would like to shoot that high resolution of 8064 x 6048 pictures, then you will need to toggle the ProRAW function in the camera app.
Here is where you will indeed get some super crisp and sharp images with excellent dynamic range, but I would only use it for certain situations since the file size is ranging between 40MB to even 100MB per image.
Main Lens
The images on the main lens were still one of the best in the market, even against the sun, as the iPhone has always been a phone that lets you take photos effortlessly, and the image quality was just flawless, and it was extremely true to life, which I did see a difference indeed, maybe not major but a minor difference, especially on the contrast area compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Zoom
Since there is a dedicated Telephoto Lens, you can zoom up to 3x optically, and thanks to the 48MP sensor, there is now an option to zoom to 2x as well, giving you easy scaling for your pictures without losing any quality.
Portrait Mode
Portrait Mode on the phone was yet again one of the best in the smartphone industry, once again with an easy point-and-shoot way, and it works great with pets as well.
Macro Mode
Now here’s the thing, whenever I hear that a phone has a dedicated Macro Lens, it annoys the living hell out of me because even though the iPhone 14 Pro does not have a dedicated Macro Lens, it takes the BEST macro shots since the OPPO Find X3 Pro microscope camera, hands down!
So for those smartphone makers who keep putting on these so-called “dedicated macro lenses” just for the sake of having more lenses on their phone and in return, looking like crap, please stop!
Night Mode
Then while taking shots at night was previously a hit or miss on the iPhone 11, since then, the Night Mode algorithm has improved a lot to give you the best shots according to the lighting conditions, even though there is no dedicated Night Mode on the camera app. So the images look more real and not overly exposed, especially on the highlights, without having any noise in the shadows area.
And also worth mentioning is the fact that I did see a significant improvement in the night shots for the ultrawide lenses during at night too.
Day Selfies
Like the main lenses, the selfie shots looked terrific even though it was against the light with fantastic dynamic range.
The Portrait Selfie also had flawless subject-to-background blur and yet another point-and-shoot experience, especially with the new autofocus feature for the front camera as well.
Video Recording
As for the video recording, it can record up to 4K 60 frames per second, and here is where there were complaints on why it does not have 8K recording since it technically can with a 48MP sensor.
Well, I have to say that I agree with Apple not allowing for all of us to do so. Because firstly, the file size will be just MASSIVE; secondly, transferring that huge file size through AirDrop or even the Lightning cable would take ages; and thirdly, if you want to shoot in 8K just go out and buy a RED Cinema Camera instead ok?
Now, what’s also new with the latest iOS 16 update, is the fact that the Cinematic Mode allows recording up to 4K 30 frames per second, yeap 30 frames per second, the right frame rate to use.
Not only that the Cinematic Mode can go up to 4K for the rear cameras, but also for the front camera, which is perfect for any situation to get that nice and smooth cinematic subject-to-background blur. 
Then finally, the iPhone 14 also brings the new Action Mode. Now yes, the negative complaint camp would argue that Apple isn’t the first one to feature a “gimbal-like” stabilization for the camera. But you know what? As usual, they got it right.
The stabilization in the shots was amazing, nearly motionless in most cases, especially in really good lighting. It also records up to 2.8K resolution compared to a lot of other smartphones which goes down to only 1080p.
Software
When it comes to the software, we all know that Apple has been the most iterative. They tend to tweak and perfect their features before jumping into the next big thing, and iOS 16 is no different. iOS 16 is feature packed, and if I went through one by one, we will be in Christmas by the time this video finishes.
There are few most impactful features in my time using the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Apple has the most personalized lock screen, where you have everything you need at a glance, and if something’s missing, you can always simply add a widget to the lock screen to complete it.
Notifications have moved to the bottom of the screen instead of being on top. This allows you to interact with the phone in a more natural way, and also worth mentioning is the fact that Face ID has been updated to function in landscape mode, giving you an easier unlocking feature when you are watching videos on the phone.
iOS 16 also brings in activity tracking without having an Apple Watch. You can even add haptic feedback to have a more realistic typing experience and even toggle the battery percentage in your notifications.
Then Spotlight search is also available on the home screen itself. And of course, there are tons of added features in apps like the Messages App, where you can now edit and unsend messages, and do conversions natively, and you can even mark unread conversations to return to it later.
And also worth mentioning is that Siri has improved a lot when it comes to dictation, with included punctuation as well.
So yes, I have to say that compared to the upgrade from iOS 14 to iOS 15, this new iOS 16 update is the best update yet!
Gaming
So if anyone asks me, they want a really powerful gaming smartphone without having those typical dedicated trigger buttons and looking like a laptop, I always tell them just to save up and get an iPhone instead, and here’s why.
This is because there is no Android phone that I have tested that can go up to maximum settings on Genshin Impact without having any lag or jittering, with no signs of overheating at all, where it was overall warm to the touch. And I am still mind-blown at how it performs exceptionally with motion blur turned on.
Now with the huge screen, you will surely get the best experience on other games like Asphalt 9, COD Mobile, and PUBG Mobile as well.
And that’s the reason why I totally recommend the iPhone if you’re really serious in gaming too.
Battery
Then finally, let’s talk about the battery, shall we? It comes with 4323 mAh, and even though it was slightly smaller compared to the size of the previous iPhone 13 Pro Max of 4352 mAh, I was totally impressed with the battery life.
And yes, if you are wondering what are the differences in battery life, when it comes to turning on the Always-On Display on and off, here it is!
So, with the Always-On Display turned on, I got an average battery life of 7.5 hours of screen-on time at 8% battery.
And with turning the Always-On Display off, I got an average of 8 hours of screen-on time when I was 4% battery, which was about 7 hours and 50 minutes when it was about 8% battery.
So what is my take on this? Well, ever since I turned on the Always-On Display, I just can’t live without it, and since the battery life isn’t a huge difference, I will be using the phone WITH the Always-On Display, even with me not charging the phone overnight as I’ve gotten used to only charging the phone when it is about 10% where I got roughly about 50% in just 28 minutes.
And of course there is wireless charging with Qi-certified as well, together with the MagSafe.
And I have to say that I am in love with Belkin’s 3-in-1 charger, which is my favorite accessory for the iPhone 14 Series! (Check out my review of it here)
Conclusion
So what do I think of the iPhone 14 Pro Max after using it for a month every single day? Well, from an outsider’s perspective, the naysayers may say things like how there isn’t much of an upgrade compared to the previous iPhone 13 Pro Max. Now while I do agree with that, that it is not much of an upgrade…
…BUT I would argue that the iPhone 14 Pro lineup got the upgrade on where it matters the most – from the image quality, the amazing screen and all the enhancements of the software features, which overall has made this iPhone 14 Pro Max, my overall choice for my daily smartphone as of now.
Get the iPhone 14 Pro Max at the link below:-
https://www.apple.com/my/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-14-pro
