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iPhone 15 Pro Max: One Year Review

dadiy said:
Day 1 iPhone 15 pro max. Rarely get a day out of the battery without topping up.

Physically in great condition. No signs of wear in the frame etc


94% battery health with 474 charge count.


My only three gripes. Battery life, Screen dimming when hot and the wallet keeps deleting my passes weekly at random.
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You must be a very very intensive user then, all the people I know who have a 15 Pro have enough battery life for the entire day. Including colleagues who are project managers who are on their phone most of the day and take pictures on the construction sites. Let alone the 15 Pro Max users who have even more.

However most of them don't use the always on display, but what use is that anyway, it's completely useless.
 
15 Pro Max, heavy use every day. Bought it in early January. Charge it every night on an Apple MagSafe charger.
Max capacity: 99%
Cycle Count: 145
 
Didn't Apple update their battery life estimates because the battery in this new one was supposed to be so good? My 15 Pro Max battery health is at 90%, which doesn't seem great after a year, especially since I rarely get it below 30% before charging on normal weekdays when I'm working from home. I thought it was supposed to last twice as long above 80% now?

Only 30 more days until the iPhone 16 Pro comes out! Will probably be switching back to the standard Pro size unless there is some crazy camera feature that only the big one gets.
 
Launch day 15 Pro/512 GB.
Battery Health: Normal
Maximum Capacity: 98%
Cycle Count: 248

Typically, I pull it off the Qi charger at about 6 am and drop it back on at midnight. Most nights, I have plenty of battery remaining. When I've had a phone call-heavy day - which for me, is rare - there's no way I make it to midnight. Maybe not even 6 pm. Phone calls are the single most battery-intensive task I have experienced on iPhone.

That said, and depending on the final features of the 16 Pro, I see no real reason(s) why the typical user would "need" to upgrade from 15 Pro to 16 Pro. I'm on iUP, so I'll be upgrading (makes for a fun gift-to-myself every year for my end-of-Sept birthdate). But my 15 Pro is hands-down the best iPhone I have used to date - going back to the '07 launch day device. Super light (compared to recent Pros), responsive, capable. No complaints. For those not on iUP, that Capture button may be enough to see someone move from 15 Pro to 16 Pro. We'll see. As one who shoots a LOT of photos/videos, the Capture button is something I'm looking forward to seeing how it enhaces [or doesn't] my workflow.

Otherwise, these devices are refined af. The vast majority of users should easily expect a 2-3 year cycle - if not more. YMMV, obviously.
 
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day one. I’m cooked lol but I upgrade every year and constantly charge it.
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My 15PM, purchased at launch date, is awesome. As are the cameras, which are very important to me.

Zero complaints. 100% battery life.
 
Launch day 15PM. Health is at 94%. Haven't noticed any stand-by or screen life decrease. Not worried cause I upgrade every 1 to 2 years. But this is the worst I've experienced an iPhone battery degrade within a year. I mostly charge at home on a 3rd party magsafe stand (Not a magsafe holder).
 
lazyrighteye said:
Launch day 15 Pro/512 GB.
Battery Health: Normal
Maximum Capacity: 98%
Cycle Count: 248

Typically, I pull it off the Qi charger at about 6 am and drop it back on at midnight. Most nights, I have plenty of battery remaining. When I've had a phone call-heavy day - which for me, is rare - there's no way I make it to midnight. Maybe not even 6 pm. Phone calls are the single most battery-intensive task I have experienced on iPhone.

That said, and depending on the final features of the 16 Pro, I see no real reason(s) why the typical user would "need" to upgrade from 15 Pro to 16 Pro. I'm on iUP, so I'll be upgrading (makes for a fun gift-to-myself every year for my end-of-Sept birthdate). But my 15 Pro is hands-down the best iPhone I have used to date - going back to the '07 launch day device. Super light (compared to recent Pros), responsive, capable. No complaints. For those not on iUP, that Capture button may be enough to see someone move from 15 Pro to 16 Pro. We'll see. As one who shoots a LOT of photos/videos, the Capture button is something I'm looking forward to seeing how it enhaces [or doesn't] my workflow.

Otherwise, these devices are refined af. The vast majority of users should easily expect a 2-3 year cycle - if not more. YMMV, obviously.
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That's crazy.. not sure what you're doing differently than me.
 
I bought my 15 Pro Max on day 1 and I have to say, out of all of the iPhones I've had, this one has held up the best. Battery health is down to 91% capacity, (279 cycles) but still gets through an entire day. Two tiny shallow scratches on the screen that are hard to find, even though I know they're there and I haven't used a case at all. I've only dropped it a few times and once it flew across a public restroom where it bounced off a stainless steel trashcan before skittering across the slate tile floor (on it's face) and it came away unscathed. It's been a fantastic device and I have been super happy with it. I'm still gonna get a 16.
 
I upgraded to the 15PM a few months ago and have been nothing but satisfied with its performance and battery life. I’ve run it case-free, though I do have a matte finish film screen protector on it, and have zero dings or scratches to the glass or natural titanium frame. I didn’t expect the 16 to offer any compelling update, which is why I swapped out my 14PM for the 15PM so close to the 16PM coming out. I’ll consider moving to the 17 thin/ultra, or 17PM, assuming a form-factor change happens.
 
Sportpoz said:
The battery health is horrible. 91% after 9 months
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Interesting. Just checked my iPhone 15 Pro Max and my battery health shows 96% right now. I hadn't looked until now and suspected it would be a lot worse because for some reason, I feel like it's often run down much lower than I thought it should be during the day.

But I've had mine for 11 months now (shows 163 charge cycles). I do wonder if it affects anything if people always charge via inductive charging vs using a USB-C cable plugged into it, or anything like that?
 
Aiii83 said:
Standard day-to-day use at 89% huh. 15 Pro Max must have a horrible battery if that’s the standard, I suppose, when my iPhone 13 Pro Max is still at 94% today?
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At 93% today on a 13PM bought 3/8/22 & looking hard @ a new 15PM then *maybe* a 17 in 2025
 
The battery health percentage seems to be a load of rubbish. Mine was 100% after around 9 months (I had it set to charge to 80% maximum). Then, on holiday, I charged it to 100% for four days in a row. The health then dropped to 96%. It clearly did not actually lose 4% due to that (presumably).
 
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Day 1 iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Battery at 94% with 303 cycles.

Did usually charge it to 80% only during workdays and 100% on weekends. Did degrade faster during the last summer months where I took more photos and videos especially during vacations..

Going nearly a year now as well without a case: One tiny noticeable scratch on the screen, no scratches on the titanium frame and a little one on the Apple logo on the back (this one I know where it came from: phone was one week old when I forgot I had my keys in the same pocket that I slid it in :rolleyes:)
 
MacRumors said:


It's been almost a year since the iPhone 15 models were released, so MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera decided to do a one-year check-in review on the iPhone 15 Pro Max to see how it's performed over the last 12 months.


Unsurprisingly, Dan has seen some iPhone battery degradation, and it's dropped to 89 percent. That's with regular CarPlay usage, running betas, and standard day-to-day use. Even at 89 percent, the battery can still last for a full day without needing a charge.

As for the titanium chassis, it's held up well. There are a few nicks due to minor drops, but the display has seen a lot more damage with several scratches, some of which are deep.

The transition to USB-C has been a little tough just because there are still people with Lightning iPhones. If someone wants to borrow your charger, you may not have the right cable if you've switched to USB-C and they're still on Lightning.

Dan uses the Action Button for opening up the Camera app, but there's so much more that the Action Button can do in iOS 18, and it's going to get a lot more useful in the future. You can set Control Center controls to the Action Button, and developers can make new controls for apps that you can use.

There's not too much to say about the triple-lens camera setup, which is great. The 5x zoom lens is excellent for taking portrait pictures of people, and it's been a solid improvement. Otherwise, the cameras are fantastic with a lot of focal length versatility thanks to the new zoom option.

Overall, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has held up well, and if you have one (or a Pro), there's no real need to upgrade to the iPhone 16 models. The A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro is incredibly fast and there's no way most people are even reaching the limits of its capabilities at this time, and Apple isn't adding too much more than an extra Capture Button and a slightly larger display in 2024. You can already use Apple Intelligence if you have an iPhone 15 Pro model, so there's not a lot to get out of a year-over-year upgrade.

If you have an older iPhone, it's worth looking at the iPhone 16 models, or even an iPhone 15 Pro when prices drop and they're discontinued. All of the iPhone 16 models will have a chip compatible with Apple Intelligence, a Capture Button, and an Action Button, so there's a lot to gain coming from an iPhone 14 or earlier.

How has your iPhone 15 held up if you have one? Let us know in the comments below.

Article Link: iPhone 15 Pro Max: One Year Review
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My 15 Pro (not Max) is great. Bought it in September 2023 and almost a year later I've got 98% battery health with 299 cycles. Never had any of the overheating issues, in fact it's been the most flawless iPhone I've owned to date. I've had a 3G, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13 mini, and now the 15 Pro. 13 mini is my second favorite, if it had the battery life, cameras and screen quality of the 15 Pro it would be the best iPhone possible.
 
CausticSoda said:
The battery health percentage seems to be a load of rubbish. Mine was 100% after around 9 months (I had it set to charge to 80% maximum). Then, on holiday, I charged it to 100% for four days in a row. The health then dropped to 96%. It clearly did not actually lose 4% due to that (presumably).
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Almost the same here. Was at 100% for more than half a year and then degraded quite quickly over the last (summer) months to now 94%… :confused:
 
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