iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: What’s different?

It might be tempting to pick up an older iPhone Pro model for a discounted price, or perhaps even second–hand. Buying the latest models at launch is an expensive proposition, after all, and you might not even need all the new features.

That said, if any of you are planning to buy an iPhone 14 Pro Max or iPhone 13 Pro Max to save a little money, considering how their prices have dropped, it’s important to weigh the differences between the two. And to help you with just that, we’ve put together this little comparison. Read on.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: Design

The most prominent difference between the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the iPhone 13 Pro Max is the Dynamic Island. Every phone from the iPhone X onwards has had a prominent notch on the front that houses the front camera and Face ID array. With the iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple replaced the notch with the Dynamic Island.

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This enables a new kind of interactive notification experience, which is now standard across the iPhone 15 line. If you want that experience, you’re going to want the 14 Pro Max. 

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: Performance

The 13 Pro Max is powered by Apple’s A15 Bionic chip while the 14 Pro Max is powered by a newer A16 Bionic. The A16 Bionic boasts of a significantly higher clock speed and memory bandwidth, which translates to about a 15per cent increase in performance.

This difference will not be noticeable to the average user, but gamers and creators might need the extra power that the A16 offers. RAM and storage configurations are similar so there’s no difference on that front.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: Cameras

The other major difference between these phones is the camera system. While the rest of the cameras are virtually identical, the primary camera on the iPhone 14 Pro Max features a significantly higher resolution of 48MP. This is binned down to the same 12MP you’ll find on the 13 Pro Max, but since there’s a lot more data to work with, the 14 Pro Max’s images are often sharper and cleaner.

The new camera system also allows the 14 Pro Max to offer a 2x optical zoom as well. This camera also supports Apple’s new Photonic Engine, which uses AI tech to further enhance images. Then there’s Action mode which adds cinematic stabilisation to shaky videos.

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If a good camera for stills or video is essential, we’d opt for the 14 Pro Max. If not, the 13 Pro Max’s camera is still a very good choice for most photographers.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: Display

The display size and resolution is similar across both devices, but the 14 Pro Max features an always-on display while the 13 Pro Max doesn’t. This feature can be very convenient when you want to monitor notifications or use the standby mode in the latest version of iOS. Again, this isn’t a critical difference and more a novelty that’s worth paying for if you like it.

Another difference is HDR performance. The 13 Pro Max can manage 1,000nits of sustained brightness and 1,200nits in HDR mode. However, the 14 Pro Max can go to 1,600nits in HDR, and boosts to 2,000nits for short periods when needed. If you use the phone a lot when outdoors, and/or consume a lot of multimedia content, you will prefer the 14 Pro Max’s display.

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The rest of the features on the devices are largely similar. The iPhone 13 Pro Max should be available for significantly less than the price of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and if the camera isn’t a priority, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is a good deal overall. That said however, at the same time, the iPhone 14’s increased procesisng power and always-on display, and not to mention the revamped notifications experience with Dynamic Island, do make it a worthy investment all the same.