If you want an iPhone, you can choose between the smaller or bigger models. In the case of the former, we’ve already covered the differences between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, but if you want the bigger iPhone screens, should you go with the iPhone 16 Plus or the iPhone 16 Pro Max?
Both feature the latest generation of processors and offer similar camera experiences, albeit with a few key differences in both areas. Both also feature the same Action Button and Camera Control features.
Do you go for the bigger non-Pro iPhone or the best Apple offers in the iPhone 16 Pro Max? Let’s dive into the differences to find out.
Apple iPhone 16 Plus vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: specs
| iPhone 16 Plus | iPhone 16 Pro Max | |
| Dimensions | 160.9 x 77.8 x 7.8 mm (6.33 x 3.06 x 0.31 inches) | 163 x 77.6 x 8.3 mm (6.42 x 3.06 x 0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 7.02 ounces (199 grams) | 8.01 ounces (227 grams) |
| Display | 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display 1290 x 2796 pixels 460 ppi pixel density 60Hz refresh rate 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio 1,000 nits max brightness (typical); 1,600 nits peak brightness (HDR); 2,000 nits peak brightness (outdoor) Ceramic Shield | 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display 1320 x 2868 pixels 460 ppi pixel density 1-120Hz refresh rate 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio 1,000 nits max brightness (typical); 1,600 nits peak brightness (HDR); 2,000 nits peak brightness (outdoor) Ceramic Shield Always-On display |
| Durability | IP68 (maximum depth of six meters up to 30 minutes) | IP68 (maximum depth of six meters up to 30 minutes) |
| Colors | Black, white, pink, teal, ultramarine | Black, white, pink, teal, ultramarine |
| Processor | A18 Two performance and four efficiency cores Five-core GPU 16-core Neural Engine | A18 Pro Two performance and four efficiency cores Six-core GPU 16-core Neural Engine |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Software | iOS 18 | iOS 18 |
| Updates | Seven years of expected upgrades | Seven years of expected upgrades |
| Rear cameras | Fusion: 48-megapixel, f/1.6 aperture Ultra Wide: 12MP, f/2.2 aperture, 120° field of view | Fusion: 48MP, f/1.78 aperture Ultra Wide: 48MP, f/2.2 aperture Telephoto: 12MP, f/2.8 aperture (5x optical zoom) |
| Front camera | 12MP, f/1.9 aperture | 12MP, f/1.9 aperture |
| New camera features | Anti-reflective lens coating 4K Dolby Vision video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps 1080p Dolby Vision video recording at 25 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps | Anti-reflective lens coating 4K Dolby Vision video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps 1080p Dolby Vision video recording at 25 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps ProRes video recording at up to 4K at 120fps Log video recording Studio-quality four-mic array |
| Battery | Up to 22 hours of video playback | Up to 27 hours of video playback |
| Charging | Up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with 20W adapter 25W with MagSafe ChargerMagSafe, Qi2 and Qi wireless charging support | Up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with 20W adapter 25W with MagSafe ChargerMagSafe, Qi2 and Qi wireless charging support |
| Connectivity | 5G, Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth 5.3, VoLTE, NFC | 5G, Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth 5.3, VoLTE, NFC |
| Price | Starting at $899 | Starting at $1,199 |
iPhone 16 Plus vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: design
The iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro Max share similar designs, but the changes are smaller than in previous years. Crucially, the iPhone 16 Plus offers most of the iPhone 16 Pro Max experience at a significantly lower price.
The iPhone 16 Plus gained the Action Button that was exclusive to the Pro phones last year, and both phones get the Camera Control button, which is new to all of the iPhone 16 series. To further differentiate the ranges, Apple has opted for a redesigned vertical camera array instead of the diagonal array found on the iPhone 15 Pro range.
The iPhone 16 Plus is 0.5mm thinner and 2.1 mm shorter than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but both phones have similar widths at 77.8 and 77.6mm, respectively. The iPhone 16 Plus weighs significantly less at 199 grams than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which weighs 28 grams more at 227 grams.
The bottom right of both phones houses the Camera Control button. This physical button sits flush with the housing and features a capacitive sensor underneath that lets you swipe, press, and half-press to enable specific camera features. It will also be necessary for the Vision Intelligence features when they launch later this year.
The iPhone 16 Plus features a Corning Gorilla Glass back with an aluminum frame and comes in five vibrant colors: black, white, pink, teal, and the hero color, ultramarine. The iPhone 16 Pro Max retains the same titanium build from the iPhone 15 Pro range and comes in four colors: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, and this year’s new color, Desert Titanium.
These two offer the same design, but if we had to pick a winner, the titanium build on the iPhone 16 Pro Max is better than the aluminum build on the iPhone 16 Plus. We’re still going to call this a tie.
Winner: Tie
iPhone 16 Plus vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: display
Until this year, the Plus and Pro Max phones shared very similar display sizes; last year, they were even identical. This year, Apple has made the Pro phones 0.2 inches larger than the non-Pro equivalents. At 6.9 inches, the iPhone 16 Pro Max features the biggest iPhone display ever.
For some people, this may be too large, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max features the thinnest bezels of any iPhone, which helps increase the ergonomic friendliness of the larger display. The 6.9-inch display on the iPhone 16 Pro Max is also the largest of any flagship smartphone in the U.S., even larger than the 6.8-inch display on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, and OnePlus 12.
Both phones feature a Super Retina XDR OLED display with a typical brightness of 1,000 nits, 1,600 nits for HDR content, and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. They can both also dim down to just 1 nit in dark conditions, which helps prevent them from blinding you in a dark room or environment. Both displays are protected by Ceramic Shield, which Apple claims is the strongest glass of any iPhone. Based on previous generations, these displays will handle most bumps and drops, but scratch protection will likely differ.
Both displays feature many similarities, but there is a big difference between them. The iPhone 16 Plus features a fixed 60Hz refresh rate and lacks an Always-On display (AOD), while the iPhone 16 Pro Max gains an AOD thanks to the ProMotion display, which uses LTPO technology to enable a variable refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz. However, the iPhone 16 Plus gained the Dynamic Island that was exclusive to the Pro iPhones last year.
The iPhone 16 Plus’ 6.7-inch display is no slouch, but the ProMotion features on the iPhone 16 Pro Max make it better.
Winner: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 16 Plus vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: cameras
Cameras were a big part of the iPhone 16 launch event, and for the first time, the non-Pro phones gained the same set of new camera features as their Pro siblings. Both phones feature updated cameras, but as in previous years, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a higher-grade camera for more professional photos and videos.
The iPhone 16 Plus features a new 48-megapixel Fusion camera and a 12MP ultrawide camera in its new vertical camera array. The Fusion camera uses pixel binning — a technology that combines pixels to make larger ones — to capture 24MP photos with better light capture. The iPhone 16 Plus also sports a 2x telephoto feature, but rather than a dedicated lens, Apple crops the middle 12MP of the image to enable the same effect. This cropped telephoto lens has a faster aperture than any previous dedicated 2x telephoto lens on an iPhone and lets in more light to vastly improve overall night photography. The 12MP ultrawide camera has many similarities to last year’s, but gains autofocus, enabling a new macro photography mode for non-Pro phones for the first time.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max features the same 48MP Fusion camera and has an improved 48MP ultrawide camera. This new ultrawide improves on the 12MP ultrawide in last year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max, although it features a much smaller 0.7µm pixel size, which may affect lowlight ultrawide photography. The iPhone 16 Pro Max also has the same 5x telephoto lens found in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with no notable year-on-year improvements.
Both cameras also have many new software-based features designed to take advantage of the camera capabilities. Audio Mix allows you to adjust the sound recorded during a video and change how the audio sounds in the final video. Both phones can also capture spatial video and photos, which is ideal for the Apple Vision Pro, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max can also capture Dolby Vision and 4K recording at 120 frames per second (fps).
The iPhone 16 Pro Max represents the best camera on an iPhone, but for once, the non-Pro iPhone offers much of the same experience. If you don’t need a telephoto lens or a better ultrawide camera, there’s little reason to buy the iPhone 16 Pro Max for its camera.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a slightly better camera than the iPhone 16 Plus — mostly thanks to the additional telephoto lens — but they offer very similar experiences otherwise.
Winner: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 16 Plus vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: software and performance
Apple says the iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro Max are designed with Apple Intelligence in mind. This means they feature the latest 3nm processors, which offer increases in memory bandwidth, neural processing unit (NPU) capabilities, and gaming performance.
The iPhone 16 Plus is the first non-Pro big-screen iPhone to feature the same latest-generation processor as its Pro counterpart. In previous years, Apple opted for a year-old processor, but with Apple Intelligence in mind, it picked the A18 processor for the entire iPhone 16 lineup.
The A18 processor in the iPhone 16 Plus features a six-core CPU with two performance cores and four efficiency cores. This latest-generation processor is up to twice as fast as the iPhone 15 series for machine learning tasks and up to 30% faster in general tasks. It also features a desktop-class five-core CPU that is up to 40% faster than the iPhone 15’s. The iPhone 16 Pro Max features the A18 Pro chipset, which has the same feature set and one additional core in its GPU. Ultimately, this means there should be little difference between the performance of both devices.
The iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro Max run iOS 18 out of the box, and Apple Intelligence is expected to launch later this year. Apple doesn’t guarantee a specific number of updates for its devices, but based on its track record, it’s likely that both phones will receive between six and eight years of updates and support.
This is an easy one: they’re effectively the same phone.
Winner: Tie
iPhone 16 Plus vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: battery life and charging
Apple doesn’t reveal individual battery capacities for its phones, but the Pro Max range is widely recognized as having the best battery life of any iPhone. With a virtually identical battery capacity, the iPhone 16 Plus should deliver similar battery life, but is rated lower by Apple.
We haven’t had much time with the iPhone 16 Plus’ battery yet, but Apple claims it delivers up to 27 hours of video playback or 100 hours of audio playback. Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 Pro Max provides excellent battery life, lasting two days between charges during our review period.
This year’s biggest improvements are in charging, with Apple vastly bolstering the charging experience across the entire iPhone 16 lineup. Regardless of which iPhone 16 model you buy, you’ll get enhanced charging speeds, whether using a cable, Qi-wireless charging, or a MagSafe charger.
MagSafe wireless charging has been boosted to 25 watts with Apple’s new MagSafe cable and a 30W charging puck. Qi-wireless charging has been increased to 15W using a first-generation or second-generation Qi charger. If you plug in to charge, both phones support up to 45W charging via USB-C.
They’re very similar, so this is a tie. It’s possible the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a longer lasting-battery, but we won’t know for sure until we’ve had more time with the iPhone 16 Plus. It’s a tie, for now.
Winner: Tie
iPhone 16 Plus vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: availability and price
The iPhone 16 Plus starts at $899 and is available in five colors: black, white, pink, ultramarine, and the one in photos in this guide, teal. Tt comes with 128GB of base storage, with other options available: 256GB costs an additional $100, while the version with the maximum 512GB costs $1,199.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is significantly more expensive at $1,199, but this isn’t the full story. This base model for the Pro Max comes with 256GB of storage, and if you want more storage, 512GB will cost you $200 more, while the maximum 1TB model is $1,599. The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes in four titanium colors: natural, black, white, and Desert.
iPhone 16 Plus vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: verdict
The iPhone 16 Pro Max delivers the best iPhone experience you can buy, but at $1,199, it costs $300 more than the iPhone 16 Plus. With so few differences between the two phones and a substantial price difference, it’s hard to recommend the iPhone 16 Pro Max. For the first time, the iPhone 16 Plus may be the better big-screen iPhone for most people.
If you want the telephoto lens, an improved ultrawide camera, or slightly better battery life, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is worth the additional premium. However, as we covered in our iPhone 16 vs. iPhone 16 Pro comparison, there’s little that separates the non-Pro and Pro phones this year, and those two devices only have a $200 price difference. The differences between the iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro Max are identical, but the price difference is higher.
Regardless of which big-screen iPhone you buy, you’ll get one of the best iPhones that Apple has ever made. One is the biggest, the other is the best Plus phone to grace the iPhone lineup, and both feature the same range of features that make this year’s lineup so special. Both phones are nearly identical to their smaller counterparts.