The iPhone 15 Pro Max is still fairly new, and while a new model won’t be available for the better part of year, you might already be wondering whether to buy or hold off for next year’s purported iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
It’s early days for iPhone 16 Pro Max rumors, given the handset isn’t expected until September 2024, but a number of leaks have already hinted at the kind of upgrades we can expect.
There’s one important caveat to mention before we begin, however. Last year, Apple was tipped to be launching an ‘Ultra’ variant of its iPhone 15. It didn’t happen, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman thinks it might be in store in 2024. It’s possible that it will replace the Pro Max, or be an even more premium model.
Whether or not that turns out to be the case, just be aware that these features could be for the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the reported iPhone 16 Ultra or both.
Credit: PhoneArena
The Pro Max model is already Apple’s largest smartphone by some distance, measuring 6.7 inches across the diagonal. But the company is apparently planning to make the 2024 Pro Max even larger, with a 6.9-inch display tipped.
If true, it will be interesting to see how much larger the phone is in the hand. In the past, Apple has managed to limit footprint increases by slimming down the bezels, but with the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s frame coming in at just 1.55mm, it’s hard to see how much thinner they can get. Ross Young, the display analyst who first tipped the screen size increase suggests we may see an aspect ratio adjustment to compensate.
We also might get a bit more screen to play with thanks to a shrinking of the cut out used for Dynamic Island. A report from January suggested that 2024’s iPhone 16 Pro models would move Face ID under the screen, leaving just a single cut-out for the front-facing camera. Though that might be something to look forward to in 2025 instead.
iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: A brand-new button The current batch of Pro iPhones introduced a brand-new button to replace the Mute switch. Now Apple is reportedly looking to introduce a second button, referred to as the ‘Capture Button’ by leakers.
By the sounds of it, this will be a useful physical shutter button for the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s camera. What it will do outside the app remains to be seen, but it will apparently be capacitive rather than a physical button.
