Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

At Rs. 473,499, the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max sits at the very top of the Pakistani phone market, so it needs to justify a large premium.

Where it earns the price: the best battery life of any iPhone in its generation, a large and very bright 6.9-inch 120Hz display, stable sustained gaming performance from the A18 Pro, and class-leading video recording with 4K 120fps, ProRes and very clean audio.

Where it struggles: it is a small step over the iPhone 15 Pro Max, wired charging is slow, the Camera Control button divides opinion, and zoom and portrait shots trail the best Android cameras.

The competition is strong and cheaper. The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (Rs. 387,495) offers a 5000mAh battery, 60W charging, 12GB of RAM and seven major OS updates, while the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL (Rs. 349,799) brings a 5200mAh battery, 16GB of RAM and seven Android upgrades.

Verdict: worth it for video creators, mobile gamers and iPhone users coming from an iPhone 11, 12 or 13 series phone. Owners of a 15 Pro Max have little reason to upgrade, and Android buyers get more hardware for less money.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED screen with a 1320 x 2868 resolution, 120Hz ProMotion, HDR10 and Dolby Vision, plus an always-on display. It is rated at 1000 nits typical and 2000 nits in high brightness mode.

It is one of the best screens on any phone:

• Thinner bezels than before, slimmer even than the Galaxy S24 Ultra's, which makes the larger screen feel natural.
• Accurate colours and very responsive touch, with Dolby Vision streaming looking excellent, helped by loud stereo speakers.
• Outdoor and night use: it gets brighter than the S24 Ultra in sunlight and can also dim very low, which makes bedtime reading comfortable.

Limitation: the PWM dimming frequency is still relatively low. People who are sensitive to screen flicker may get slight headaches, especially at high brightness. The front uses the latest-generation Ceramic Shield (2024).

The Apple A18 Pro (3 nm) has a 6-core CPU, a 6-core GPU and 8GB of RAM. It is roughly 15 to 30% faster than the A17 Pro in CPU and GPU tests, but in everyday use you will not feel a difference against recent iPhones; an iPhone 13 Pro Max from 2021 remains quick in daily tasks.

The real gain is sustained performance:

• Stability: in long stress tests it holds performance much better than the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Galaxy S24 Ultra, helped by a larger graphite cooling sheet (though not a vapour chamber like many Android phones).
• Gaming: after 45 minutes of PUBG Mobile, the screen does not dim, while the 15 Pro Max dims after 20 to 30 minutes. It runs a little cooler, recovers faster and holds better 1% low frame rates in demanding games.

That makes it one of the most reliable gaming phones available, especially for long sessions.

The rear setup combines a 48MP main camera, a 48MP ultrawide and a 12MP 5x periscope telephoto, with a LiDAR scanner. The front camera is 12MP with autofocus.

• Photos: images have a natural, warm, slightly contrasty look with good detail. The default 24MP output is a real strength, and fast capture freezes moving subjects such as children or running water. Against the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it produces the better photo on average, though not every time.
• Ultrawide and macro: the new 48MP ultrawide is brighter and more detailed, especially in the high-resolution HEIF Max mode, and macro close-ups are noticeably sharper than Samsung's.
• Zoom and portraits: the 5x lens takes decent portraits, but Samsung's sharper 5x lens and extra 3x camera give it better zoom and portrait shots.
• Night: photos stay detailed but turn a little grainy rather than smoothed.
• Video: this is where it leads. 4K at 120fps slow motion, Cinematic mode, ProRes and Log recording, cleaner selfie video, and strong quality when streaming live on Instagram or TikTok. Four microphones with Audio Mix can isolate the voice of the person in frame or reduce background noise.

Camera Control opinions differ: it works for quick launching, zoom and capture, but its low placement is awkward for some hands, pressing it can shake the shot, and accidental presses happen. Overall it is a small step from the 15 Pro Max, with video as the clear highlight.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 4685mAh battery, and endurance is one of its biggest strengths. With heavy use, including camera work, gaming and benchmarks, it delivers 8 to 11 hours of screen-on time, and lighter use such as streaming and social media stretches it further. It is the best battery life on an iPhone of its generation, beating the Plus model this time.

Charging is the weak point:

• Wired: about 55% in 30 minutes, 80% in an hour and close to 2 hours for a full charge. That is far slower than rivals such as the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which reaches 75% in 30 minutes.
• Wireless: up to 25W with MagSafe, a useful upgrade over older iPhones.
• In the box: no charger, only a USB-C cable.
• Reverse wired: 4.5W for topping up earbuds or a watch.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max launched with iOS 18 and is upgradable to iOS 26.

• Apple Intelligence: supported, but it arrived after launch, first as a beta, with a slower rollout in Asia. The Clean Up photo tool removes unwanted objects, but it is less advanced than Samsung's generative editing features.
• Camera tools: the new Photographic Styles use a tone pad instead of the old filter list, letting you adjust colour tone and skin tones and set a default look.
• Audio Mix: choose between In-Frame, Studio and Cinematic sound after recording a video.
• Fast transfers: the USB-C port supports USB 3 speeds, useful for moving large ProRes video files.

Updates: Apple does not publish a fixed number of iOS upgrades per model. iPhones usually get many years of updates, but any exact figure is an estimate rather than a promise.