The biggest phone, the maximum upgrade
iPhone 14 Pro Max
The biggest phone, the maximum upgrade
The iPhone 14 line is fast approaching, and of the four rumored handsets the iPhone 14 Pro Max is expected to be the best, the most expensive, and arguably the most interesting.
With talk of a significantly different design, no more notch, and big camera upgrades, among other improvements, there’s a lot to get excited about here. In fact, if every promising leak pans out then the iPhone 14 Pro Max could be the most exciting upgrade Apple’s brought out in years.
Below we’ll talk you through everything we’ve heard about this super-phone so far, including the likely release date and price. We’ll also add to this article whenever we hear anything new, so check back soon to stay in the Pro Max loop.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max might be announced on September 7 and hit stores on September 16. Plus, we now have a clearer idea of the colors it might be available in.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The top iPhone of 2022
- When is it out? September 7 is the best guess yet
- How much will it cost? Expect well over $1,200 for the base model
iPhone 14 Pro Max release date and price
Despite our best efforts of trying to calculate when Apple would most likely introduce the iPhone 14 line – even encountering numerous leaks the echoed our expected launch date or September 13 – it now looks to be sooner.
Bloomberg writer and known Apple specialist Mark Gurman claims Apple's next iPhones will touch down as soon as September 7, including the iPhone 14 Pro Max. With the phone going on sale nine days later on September 16.
There was a time when it was thought to be later than expected, especially after reports of lockdowns in China apparently putting production a few weeks behind, however, the company was reportedly taking measures to get back on track and it looks like that's paid off, if this newest date is to be believed.
As for the price, one source suggests we might be looking at similar prices to the iPhone 13 line, which would mean a starting price of around $1,099 / £1,049 / AU$1,849 for the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
However, another source claims that the upcoming phone will start at $1,199 (around £955 / AU$1,665) – so $100 (roughly £80 / AU140) more than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. A price rise would certainly be believable given the number of upgrades expected on this phone, and it's something we've now heard a second time.
iPhone 14 Pro Max design
The iPhone 14 Pro Max might not look like any previous iPhone, as Apple is reportedly getting rid of the notch. We’ve heard this from a number of sources, with the earliest dating back to September 2021, and including the render you can see below.
This image points to there being a small camera cut-out in place of the notch, much like many Android phones have. There’s also much less of a camera bump on the rear here, with the phone apparently being made thicker to achieve this.
The source adds that the frame is apparently made of titanium in place of stainless steel – which is something we’ve heard more than once.
This original leak comes from Jon Prosser, but a number of other high-profile leakers such as Ming-Chi Kuo and Mark Gurman have since also said that the iPhone 14 Pro Max won’t have a notch.
However, some of the details in the render above now sound like they might be wrong, as rather than just having a single camera cut-out, a number of sources now suggest the iPhone 14 Pro Max will have two – a small punch-hole one and a larger pill-shaped one next to it. You can see how this might look in a leaked schematic and in the leaked CAD (computer-aided design) renders below.
One of those renders also shows a large camera bump on the rear, and this might be more accurate, as a leaked schematic suggests the rear camera block will actually be bigger than on the iPhone 13 Pro Max – not smaller as the initial leak above stated.
We also have an idea of the iPhone 14 Pro Max colors, with most leaks suggesting it will land in gold, purple, green, graphite, and silver shades. Though a case leak includes a selection of other possible - if less likely - colors.
iPhone 14 Pro Max display
While the iPhone 14 Pro Max sounds like it could be a big upgrade in a lot of ways, its screen might not be one of them, with Ross Young – a leaker with a good track record – claiming that it will have a 6.68-inch 1284 x 2778 OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and 458 pixels per inch. Those specs would make it identical to the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s display.
We’ve similarly heard from Ming-Chi Kuo that the upcoming phone will have a 6.7-inch screen, and we wouldn’t expect Apple to change the size, as that’s not something it does often.
It’s still possible that some display details will change, such as the brightness, but so far it sounds much like the screen on the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Except, of course, that this time there probably won’t be a notch jutting out of the top.
iPhone 14 Pro Max camera
The camera looks set for a big upgrade on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, as in place of the 12MP main (wide) sensor on its predecessor, this phone will reportedly get a 48MP one. That’s according to respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who has made the claim several times, but another analyst has also now echoed this claim.
According to another source, this camera will be "the best one in a smartphone if there’s enough light," but it's currently said to be a step down when there's not much light.
Apparently, this camera would be capable of recording 8K video (up from 4K on the iPhone 13 Pro Max) and would be joined by two other cameras. We’ve heard less about these other two, but they may well be the same as before, meaning a 12MP ultrawide one and a 12MP telephoto snapper offering 3x optical zoom.
There has been some talk of a periscope camera capable of 5x optical zoom, but the current consensus seems to be that this won’t land before the iPhone 15 line next year.
iPhone 14 Pro Max specs and features
The iPhone 14 Pro Max will reportedly have an A16 Bionic chipset, which is no surprise since the current model has an A15 Bionic.
How much of an upgrade this new chipset will be is less clear. While some sources suggest it could be made on a 4nm or even 3nm process – down from 5nm for the A15 Bionic – the most recent leak points to it sticking at 5nm.
Smaller numbers are better here and a move to a smaller number would typically suggest a significant bump in power and/or efficiency, but even if it sticks at 5nm it’s sure to see some improvements.
The RAM meanwhile could either be sticking at 6GB or increasing to 8GB depending on who you ask. We’ve heard the 6GB claim more than once though, so that’s looking more likely for now.
That said, even if the phone sticks with 6GB it could still be an upgrade, as one report points to this being faster and more energy efficient LPDDR5 RAM - up from LPDDR4X RAM in the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Storage could be getting a big boost though, potentially topping out at a mammoth 2TB. That’s double what you can get in the iPhone 13 Pro Max, though we've elsewhere heard it will top out at 1TB again.
Another possible but less likely change is the use of an eSIM in place of a physical SIM. Current iPhones have both, and if Apple does make this move there will probably also be versions of the iPhone 14 Pro Max that support physical SIM cards, as not all mobile networks even support eSIMs right now.
iPhone 14 Pro Max battery
The iPhone 14 Pro Max could have a bigger battery than its predecessor according to one source. This is a promising claim, as the iPhone 13 Pro Max already has excellent battery life.
That said, we've elsewhere heard - from a more suspect source - that its battery could be a tiny bit lower capacity at 4,323mAh - that's down from 4,352mAh in the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Charging could be getting an upgrade though, with 30W potentially planned according to leaker @Jioriku on Twitter.
In the realm of unlikely features meanwhile there have been rumblings of a move from Lightning to USB-C. This will probably happen eventually – especially now the EU has made it a requirement from 2024 – but we doubt we’ll see it happen on the iPhone 14 line.
There’s also been talk of a portless iPhone at some point in the future, one which would only support wireless charging, but it doesn’t look likely that Apple will go that far for the iPhone 14 Pro Max.