It has been at least a month since I have gotten the latest iPhone from Apple. I got myself a 512gb Natural Titanium iPhone 15 Pro Max from the Power Mac Center during its official country release. Coming from the iPhone 11 Pro Max, I'd say this new phone is a much needed upgrade.
DO NOTE: This is not a paid ad and these are my own thoughts, opinions and experience with the iPhone. You may have a experienced things differently compared to my first month, but this is to inform potential buyers what they can expect from the smartphone experience of someone upgrading their daily driver.
Without further ado... Here is my experience and review of the new iPhone 15 Pro Max!
Given the official release of the phone in the Philippines is later than most country, due to us not having an official Apple Store in the country, I got to see the first impression of other reviewers on the phone. To sum it up, it was plagued with a lot of negative comments due to durability issues and early software bugs. This worried me, because it was a big purchase and I wouldn't want to spend money on something with a short life expectancy. So the delayed release here in the country was a blessing in disguise, because as time went by, bugs were fixed and more testing was done to reassure me that the upgrade will be worth it.
Moving on from the pre-purchase experience, my first day with the iPhone was pretty eventful. My first hands-on experience with the phone was surprising, because you can actually feel the weight difference between the phone models. It wasn't just a buzz word during the Apple event, it was a tangible feeling. As soon as I got home, you know I had to put the phone in a case and apply a screen protector (Standard Operating Procedure). Aside from that, the phone setup took some time, because I encountered a few small errors that a reset was needed. But a chunk of the time was taken up by data transfer and account logins, since everything is on the mobile device nowadays. Other than that, the phone experience has been smooth.
Now that the setup is out of the way, how has the iPhone 15 Pro Max affected my day to day life?
Given it is the first month, I have been very careful with the new phone. I've been strict about the battery life and been extra careful with how I handle it. Though I have dropped the phone, protected by a case, on tiles at around a 5 ft drop and no scratches, so you may take that with a grain of salt. Aside from those things, I have been using the phone to the ground for most of my days.
First, I'd like to note the biggest changes: USB-C and 120hz ProMotion display. These are the 2 biggest factors that affected my day to day life. I'd say they affected my life, because these changes brought about more changes in my daily routine and that they made my phone experience "better".
One of the biggest announced, yet expected, change to the iPhone was the implementation of the USB-C port, which is now the world standard. This was a big change for me, a person hardstuck in the Apple ecosystem, because majority of my tech still charge via lightning cable (Airpod Pro and iPad). Luckily, I have a wireless charger, so charging my Airpod Pro on the go is no problem. The iPad, sadly, will be need an upgrade soon. Because if I want to only bring 1 cable while travelling, it means I need to upgrade my other Apple products to USB-C. On the bright side, at least I can borrow a cable from almost everyone! The USB-C change is costly for Apple users, but in the larger scale, eventually we can all unite under the USB-C banner.
*Though I have yet to try, the USB-C port offers faster data transfer speeds, because it is USB-C.
Being a mobile gamer, I was excited to experience the 120hz experience on the phone. Having experienced it on the iPad Pro, I was in some familiar territory. Right off the bat, you can notice the difference between a 60hz screen and 120hz screen with how smooth the swiping experience is. The transition from different screens is noticeable. It is nice to experience something Android has had for years (minus the Android lag). Personally, I feel less eye strain when I am looking at a 120hz screen, but that might be a preference thing. As for gaming, I wouldn't necessarily say you'd have an edge against other people, but I would say it would be a better gaming experience for you. With all that being said, the 120hz ProMotion display of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is a very welcomed change as it greatly improve my daily quality of life.
*Though I have yet to try, the A17 chip in tandem with the 120hz is said to deliver great heavy duty gaming performance.
I know there are more changes to the new iPhone than the ones I talked about, like the action button and camera. But these are not really standouts for me, because I have yet to fully utilize or experience these features. Personally, the action button has the potential of becoming better once developers maximize it and I'd say an iPhone camera has always been great for taking pictures and videos, now with more features. Again, I have yet to delve deeper into these features , so you can look at others' reviews on these.
Having talked about my experience with the new iPhone, let's compare it to my old daily driver, the 11 Pro Max. This part may be very subjective due to how I used my old phone and the comparison with be based on 2 phones which are years apart. Aside from the USB-C change and screen change experience mentioned previously, the blaring difference is the on-the-go usage.
With the world opening up and technology is improving at an exponentially. Our smartphones have to keep up with the times. With 5G become readily available in a lot more places, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 5G ready, unlike its predecessor the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Connectivity is much more convenient when you have access to the more mobile data signal around you. Speaking of going mobile, battery life is essential and having the Phone survive a whole day without charging should be a bare minimum. Given how well worn my iPhone 11 Pro Max is, I needed to carry around a powerbank to ensure it won't die on me during travels. Having Google Maps on for GPS purposes drain the life so much, that I worry I won't find my way to the places I need to go to. With the iPhone 15 Pro Max, I am reassured that my phone will survive a travel and still have battery to spare when I get home. Even if it wasn't fully charged before heading out, I know it will survive the journey. But if the phone does run low on me, finding a compatible charging cable is much easier. I know that it's subjective to compare an old used iPhone 11 Pro Max to my new iPhone 15 Pro Max, because of the difference in battery quality/age. But this is why I upgraded to a new phone, to refresh/upgrade that part of my daily life.
With all said and done, was the upgrade worth it? Personally, I'd say... Yes.
I am the type of person who plans ahead and I think future proofing my tech and gadgets is important. I personally believe that the life expectancy of the iPhone is around 4-5 years, because they usually stop rolling out updates for the older generations in that amount of time. With the big changes to the 15 Pro Max, coming from the 11 Pro Max, it was a no brainer. Upgrading to a phone with better battery life, better screen, better connectivity, and access to USB-C? Yes, please. Sure there were initial apprehension due to the initial reviews, but what big change doesn't? In the end of the day, my experience will be based on how I handle my own phone.
With that being said, I would recommend the upgrade to the iPhone 15 series if you are coming from the 11 or older series, because it was announced in the Apple Event that some updates won't be compatible to phone older than the X series. Aside from that, if you're coming from those generations, you will easily notice big changes and a lot of quality of life improvements when upgrading to the 15 series.
Give your old phones the rest they need and upgrade to a device you deserve!
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