I’ve been going around with the iPhone 14 Pro Max since it was launched in Malaysia (23 September) and I have some thoughts.

Before we begin, for an overview of Apple’s latest and greatest iPhone, visit its official website.

Smoke On The Water?

On its own, the iPhone 14 Pro Max looks and feel just like the iPhone 13 Pro Max. It’s a familiar large dimension is substantial in the hands of all sizes.

However their cases are not interchangeable. The size of the camera bump, the place meant of the buttons, and the exact dimensions of the devices are just different enough that they are incompatible.

I got the iPhone 14 Pro Max in Deep Purple. It’s a rich dark purple that says “sophisticated” instead of “yam” and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Pair it with the new Ink coloured Leather Case with Mag Safe and it is downright gorgeous.

Lovely To Look At

The display is beautiful as well. The improvement in brightness and resolution is noticeable. For me, the always on feature takes some getting used to.

In the first week or so, every time I saw the lit screen, I thought that I’ve missed a message. Once I got used to it, seeing the display turns off at night (bed time) feels strange, like something went wrong.

Still, without spotting the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, it is almost impossible to distinguish it from the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

To me the Dynamic Island is a novelty. What will make it superior to it’s many clones is integration, as in how it works with other features and apps.

It’s Faster I Guess?

When every iPhone runs well and each iteration claims to improve on performance, it’s just tough to tell.

From my experience, the iPhone 14 Pro Max takes any task from playing demanding games to editing high resolutions videos in strides. Most of us will never get to see the edge of the iPhone’s performance capabilities.

Where the majority of us will experience the benefits of the new A16 Bionic processor is in the camera and its features.

Buy It For The Camera

The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a plethora of camera features and you can read up on them all on its official website.

To my eyes, the photo and video performance of the iPhone 14 Pro Max is better than it’s predecessors.

Photos shows improvements in general. It is most noticeable when shooting in in RAW at 48MP (post processing required) and in low light — as long as I remember to take my time. This is possible not only because of the larger sensors and the superior lenses, but also because of the A16 Bionic chip.

As for videos, I don’t think any other smartphone does it better. Cinematic mode is still a lot of fun and the Action mode is both fun and useful.

The Experience So Far

I had no issues with the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s battery life. I usually don’t see a big dent in the battery meter unless I’ve been using the iPhone as a GPS.

I also thought that I’d be used to its size by now, but a Pro Max still feels large in my hand. I did however notice that the phone does run cooler especially during the initial setup. Placebo or the new cooling solution Apple talked about, I am not sure.

The Depth Effect on the Lock Screen is still a mystery to me as well. It works on some images, better on others too. No one really knows the secret formula on how it works. Which is strange.

My wish list of features on the iPhone 15 Pro Max would include a dedicated shutter button, USB-C port, and the option to automatically organise icons in the Home Screen alphabetically without unravelling the folders.

Maybe a way to use all that processing to find bad pictures and remove them as well. The opposite of the daily album view.

To Buy Or Not To Buy

The iPhone 14 Pro Max and in turn the iPhone 14 Pro are, as it says on the tin, meant for professionals. Only those who edit their videos and photos would fully appreciate iPhone 14 Pro series’ capabilities.

If you’re not a photographer or a movie maker, the iPhone 14 is more than good enough. And if you’re coming from the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro series, that accident detection safety feature may be worth the upgrade (or trade in).