Apple officially unveiled the Apple iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max as the top choices for the ultimate iPhone experience. Both pack Apple’s most powerful phone hardware yet, almost reaching the level of Apple’s M series Mac chips.
But the Apple iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have little to differentiate them apart from their size. Apple splits the Pro series into two classes: big Pro and little Pro models. With different-sized bodies, the aspects that obviously vary are the size of the screen, as wello as the phones’ heft, and battery capacities. But is there more to this than immediately meets the eye? Is there a reason to buy the Pro Max if you normally prefer smaller phones, or vice versa?
Below, we classify each of these differences and discuss how varying dimensions affect the user experience differently on the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and whether there’s one that comes out on top.
The iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max essentially have the same design but with one very obvious difference: the size. The standard iPhone 16 Pro has much smaller dimensions, similar to the smaller iPhone 16. The Pro Max, on the other hand, has a much larger footprint to facilitate the massive display. The larger size also leads to the iPhone 16 Pro Max weighing roughly 30 grams heavier than the standard Pro. However, despite these differences, the two phones are equally thick at 8.25mm, which is impressive.
Camera Control button on the iPhone 16 Pro.Joe Maring / Digital Trends
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is essentially a scaled-up version of the 16 Pro, though the camera is almost the same size. Both phones also identical buttons, including the new Camera Control button, but may have different placements according to the size. That means the distance your thumb needs to travel to access those buttons will vary. The ease with each of the phones will depend on your preferences and the size of your hands.
Other than that, there aren’t any other ways the two iPhones differ. They even get identical color options, including the new copper-ish Sand Titanium (initially rumored to be coffee). Other major differences between the phones lie in the display.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max.Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends
The difference between the displays on the two phones is highly apparent, with a clear distinction between the standard iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Simultaneously, both phones are getting a marginal increase in display sizes over the non-Pro iPhone 16 models, as well as the older iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, thanks to leaner bezels and slightly larger bodies.
The iPhone 16 Pro now gets a 6.3-inch display, up from the 6.1-inch on the previous generation. Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 Pro Max now goes up to 6.9 inches, taller than the iPhone 15 Pro Max as well as stalwarts, such as the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Pixel 9 Pro XL, in the Android ecosystem.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends
The size difference results in different screen resolutions as Apple aims to offer the same level of sharpness (same pixel density) on both displays. The two displays also get the same brightness of up to 2,000 nits and up to 120Hz variable refresh rate, and both come with Dynamic Island.
Apart from the size, there isn’t much to differ between the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max’s displays.
iOS 18’s new Control CenterJoe Maring / Digital Trends
Apple furnishes the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max with nearly the same hardware, and the same applies to the insides of the two phones as well. Both of them are powered by Apple’s latest A18 Pro chip with a new and more efficient design than the predecessor that powers the iPhone 15 Pro.
Without many differences to the numbers of cores on the CPU, GPU, and the Neural Engine, Apple says the new chipset now offers 15% faster performance than the last year’s A17 Pro. The CPU gets two dedicated units to run low-power AI applications off it instead of tossing them to the Neural Engine.
The GPU gets 20% better graphics capabilities and 2X faster ray tracing rendering. The Neural Engine doesn’t get a noticeable upgrade over the iPhone despite the event’s emphasis on Apple Intelligence. Nonetheless, it can still process up to 35 TOPS (trillion operations per second), which is nearly as good as the Neural Engine on the Mac’s M4 silicon.
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Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends
One minor difference between the iPhone 16 Pro and the Pro Max is the available storage options on both phones. While the iPhone 16 Pro comes with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options, the Pro Max lacks a 128GB variant, following the same pattern from the iPhone 15 Pro range. Storage of 128GB admittedly makes little sense for phones of this caliber, and would be filled quickly, especially if you record plenty of videos with the iPhone 16 Pro. At the same time, it would have helped make the larger iPhone 16 Pro Max more accessible and lowered the price by $100 or so. It would also make sense as Apple lets you upload practically all of your files, media, and even data from apps to iCloud.
Another difference between the iPhone 16 Pro and the Pro Max seems to be their ability to ward off heat. While testing, we found that the iPhone 16 Pro can get uncomfortably hot while juggling apps. Though Apple doesn’t specify, one can suspect the smaller phone forces Apple to reduce the size of the passive vapor cooling tech inside. Even if that’s not the case, the smaller surface area could contribute to the slower dispersion of heat during intensive scenarios such as gaming.
Another fundamental consequence of the smaller size of the iPhone 16 Pro versus the Pro Max is limited space for its battery pack. The iPhone 16 Pro Max boasts a 4,685mAh battery, which is much larger than the 3,582mAh iPhone 16 Pro battery. This isn’t surprising, considering the iPhone 15 Pro had a 25% smaller battery than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
In real use, this difference in capacity translates to a big disparity. The iPhone 16 Pro generally lasted less than a day with fairly normal use, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s larger cell meant it got a lot more juice out of single charge. How much more? A day-and-a-half to two days of use. That’s a much more acceptable result for a premium device, and it’s a big edge for the big phone.
When it comes to charging speeds, Apple eliminated any disparity between the two devices — and as a matter of fact, that’s the case with all iPhone 16 phones. While the entire series didn’t get the 45 watts of fast charging like we expected, all the iPhone 16 phones max out at 30W with a MagSafe Charger. They can also reach up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter or higher over a wired USB-C connection. In addition, the phones support up to 25W wireless charging with MagSafe and 15W wireless charging using accessories with the more common Qi2 protocol. Both phones can pump charge wirelessly into accessories, such as AirPods, though they won’t charge the Apple Watch.
Photographic Styles on the iPhone 16 Pro.Joe Maring / Digital Trends
With the iPhone 15 series, Apple introduced a new 5x telephoto camera but limited it to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. This year, both the iPhone 16 Pro and the 16 Pro Max get the exact same camera systems, including the 5X telephoto. The identical camera systems on both phones also include the new 48-megapixel primary camera that can now shoot images faster and an improved 48MP ultrawide-angle camera that can combine four pixels into one for brighter shots. The 12MP selfie camera remains unchanged from the previous year.
With the new primary camera, Apple also includes the ability to shoot 4K HDR videos at 120 frames per second, which can be slowed down to 24 fps for more gripping cinematic effects. As with other performance-intensive tasks, the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s larger body to give it an edge in thermal performance.
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Using the Camera Control on the iPhone 16 Pro.Joe Maring / Digital Trends
Both phones also get four microphones now that allow a more holistic sound capturing, especially tuning it for spatial use cases. Besides capturing sounds at different distances, the microphone array can also eliminate background noise using machine learning.
With identical cameras, both phones have the same performance while taking photos, though the iPhone 16 Pro Max has an advantage for videos — whether you consider its resilience against heat or the advantage of serving as a bigger viewfinder.
Apple’s iOS 18 boots right off the bat on all new iPhone 16 models. Apple Intelligence and Android-like customization features are central to the latest version of iOS, and we expect an undiluted experience across both the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. iOS 18 also brings one key addition to Messages, in the form of RCS support.
The only advantage of the iPhone 16 Pro Max would derive from its larger screen and its ability to edit icons for apps or in the Control Center more easily. However, considering Apple closely controls the experience across its phones — and not just the flagship models — we don’t foresee limitations with either of the models.
Once again, the varying usability of screens on both devices depends largely on your preferences more than any other factor.
The iPhone 16 Pro has a starting price of $999, which gets you the 128GB variant. Meanwhile, the 256GB variant goes up to $1,099. The iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 for its base 256GB variant.
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Both the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are currently available for preorders. Apple is expected to begin deliveries starting September 20, but you would likely have to wait a few more weeks because of high demand for the Pro models.
The iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are largely replicas of each other, with basic differences based on the size. The smaller iPhone 16 Pro is lighter and easier to wield. At 6.3 inches, it does not necessarily have a small screen, and should suffice unless you explicitly prefer larger displays.
The larger iPhone 16 Pro, despite the extra bulk, has certain advantages. Foremost, the larger area accounts for better cooling in more demanding tasks, such as gaming or videography. If you intend to use the iPhone for a few years, the advantage may become more apparent as the processing demands for iOS and apps intensify. The bigger screen also gives you more real estate for watching video content, gaming, or while recording videos. We also expect your thumb to rest at a more relaxing position while using Camera Control button on the iPhone 16 Pro Max compared to the smaller Pro.
Despite those minor trade-offs with each of the phones, none of them is a deal-breaker. Both are among the best phones you will be able to buy for the remaining part of the year through September next year. Most importantly, these are the best devices if you wish to be among the first to experience Apple Intelligence features that will be available in the coming months.
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Dream Lab is powered by Leonardo’s Phoenix model (not be be confused with Adobe’s Firefly AI) and allows users to generate images from descriptions in a variety of styles like “3D render” and “Illustration.”
Canva already has its own Stable Diffusion-based AI image generator and hosts several other third-party apps, but the new Dream Lab offering introduces some improvements to the platform. It’s seemingly better at producing photographic styles and multi-subject images, for example, and includes a feature that can reference an existing image to better control the output — similar to Photoshop’s Reference Image tool.
Canva has also made some updates to its wider “Magic” AI tool suit, such as improved accuracy and one-click autocomplete commands for the Magic Write text generation feature. Whiteboards now support AI-powered summarization and real-time reaction stickers for collaborative projects and video editing tools have been added that automatically generate captions and introduce new animation effects.
Users can now add interactive charts and graphs to their presentations to help better visualize data. The Canva asset library has also been expanded with new royalty-free music and cinematic videos courtesy of a licensing deal with the Artlist music platform.
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Canva announced last month that it’s planning to increase its subscription pricing for some business customers to reflect the “expanded product experience” and value that generative AI tools have added to the platform. The Leonardo.AI purchase was likely included in its investment plan, but users may be disappointed that they’re paying increased costs for incremental improvements rather than entirely new generative AI capabilities.
We might be getting another entry to our best Max shows list if the first trailer for Get Millie Black is anything to go by. I’m a huge fan of British crime thrillers and the new limited series looks like it’ll be a good one when it arrives on the streaming platform on November 25.
The series will air on HBO in the US and Channel 4 in the UK, joining the likes of Uzumaki and Smiling Friends, so we’ve really been spoiled with great new additions to both networks recently. Not only that, but Max recently teased a bunch of cool stuff at New York Comic Con – is it any wonder it’s one of the best streaming services?
Take a look at the gripping trailer for Get Millie Black below.
What do we know about Get Millie Black?
The series is the television debut for Marlon James, an author known for titles such as The Book of Night Women and Moon Witch, Spider King.It follows detective Millie-Jean Black (Tamara Lawrance), who is forced out of Scotland Yard and returns home to join the Jamaican Police Force. She investigates missing person cases alongside her partner Curtis (Gershwyn Eustache Jnr).
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However, things start to go awry when Scotland Yard detective Luke Holborn (Joe Dempsie) shows up in Kingston and their investigations cross paths. There’s plenty of drama already and I am personally thrilled to see Dempsie in this, as I loved him in Skins back in the day and also in HBO hit Game of Thrones, so it’ll be interesting to learn more about his new character. I’m definitely adding this one to my watchlist in November.
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There were riots across England in the summer, including in Sunderland
There was a “clear connection” between the violent disorder in England and Northern Ireland in the summer and posts on social media and messaging apps, Ofcom has concluded.
The government had asked the media regulator to consider how illegal content and disinformation spread during the unrest.
In an open letter setting out its findings, Ofcom boss Dame Melanie Dawes said such content spread “widely and quickly” online following the stabbings in Southport, in July, which preceded the disorder.
She added most online services took “rapid action”, but said the responses of some firms were “uneven”.
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“Misinformation appeared online almost immediately after the attacks, some of it appearing to have malicious intent and seeking to influence public opinion and reaction,” Dame Melanie wrote.
“Posts about the Southport incident and subsequent events from high-profile accounts reached millions of users, demonstrating the role that virality and algorithmic recommendations can play in driving divisive narratives in a crisis period,” she added.
Enhanced powers
At the time of the unrest, Ofcom faced criticism for not doing more to rein in the spread of untrue and inflammatory content.
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It urged tech firms to take action – but also pointed out the enhanced powers it is due to get under the Online Safety Act had not yet come into force.
The act will see the creation of codes of practice for big tech firms which will place new responsibilities on them for tackling disinformation.
“I am confident that, had the draft Codes been in force at the time, they would have provided a firm basis for urgent engagement with services on the steps they were taking to protect UK users from harm,” Dame Melanie wrote.
She said the new powers set “clear standards” for what Ofcom would expect to see in future from big tech firms, such as:
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Specifying in their terms of service provisions how individuals are to be protected from priority illegal content
Having systems designed to swiftly take down illegal content and having “adequately resourced” content moderation teams
Providing effective and accessible mechanisms for users to complain about illegal content, including on messaging platforms
The unrest which broke out in August 2024 was the worst that had been seen in the UK for a decade.
The prime minister also got dragged into a war of words with one of the highest profile people in tech – X owner Elon Musk.
The tech billionaire suggested that “civil war is inevitable” following the disorder.
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Sir Keir Starmer hit back saying there was “no justification” for Mr Musk’s comments, adding there was more that social media companies “can and should be doing”.
Personalizing your Spotify playlist by uploading your own covert art image is a great way to put a visual stamp on your audio mix, but now, you can design that cover art right in the app. Starting today as a beta feature in English in 65 markets, the “Create Cover Art” feature gives users the ability to pick backgrounds, create text effects, and add stickers to generate an original piece of cover art for their playlists. It’s available to both free and Spotify Premium users.
Accessing the new feature is as simple as opening a playlist you’ve created, selecting the context menu (the three dots … ) and choosing Create Cover Art. You’ll then be given the choice to change the cover image (by uploading) or to create covert art.
Selecting create covert art opens an editor view with your playlist’s name appearing over a default background. This default background is randomly chosen, so sometimes you’ll be given a solid color like blue or green, while other times you may see a gradient or a rainbow.
You don’t need to keep the name of the playlist — you can add or remove text, play with sizes and colors, and pick from several effects. The sticker list isn’t very big, but you can add as many as you like, and they can be resized to create interesting options. Once you’re satisfied with your creation and save it, it will automatically update on your playlist, which can be shared through all of the usual channels.
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Your creativity is limited only by your imagination — and by Spotify’s existing Platform Rules. According to the company:
“Spotify is monitoring for violating content in Cover Art, and users can always report playlists for potential violations of Spotify’s Platform Rules. Listeners can still upload their own images to use as part of their custom playlist cover art. For additional design elements, you can use those available within the beta feature including text, color and stickers for further customization. Note, users must own or have the right to post any images uploaded into the feature and follow Spotify’s Platform Rules.”
If Spotify removes your cover art for violating its rules, there’s not much you can do to get it back — unless you live in the EU. Apparently EU residents alone are able to appeal Spotify’s content moderation decisions.
Will folks rush to customize their playlists? It seems like a reasonable assumption given their massive popularity. According to the company, more than 8 billion playlists have been created to date.
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