4 the explanation why I by no means purchase an iPhone Professional Max (and why it may not be best for you, both)

An more and more frequent tactic in a whole lot of industries, not simply smartphones, is to create an “ultra-premium” product. Most of your clients will not be capable of afford it, however the ones who can will greater than make up for it. Within the free-to-play recreation business, these individuals are often known as “whales.” You may not be spending something by yourself Fortnite account, however the household subsequent door is retaining the lights on at Epic by shopping for lots of of {dollars} in character skins.

Apple has just a few ultra-premium merchandise, none extra necessary in the intervening time than the iPhone 17 Pro Max. I will allow you to in on a secret, nevertheless — I’ve by no means purchased a Professional Max, regardless of being each a long-term iPhone person and a tech journalist. There are just a few the explanation why, all of which ought to most likely level you in the direction of a 17 or 17 Professional except cash is not any object.

The batteries in different iPhones are adequate

For many customers, anyway

There are two key promoting factors to Max fashions: the largest display and the largest battery. I will get to the display tech in a minute, however as for battery life, I’ve by no means had an incident the place different iPhones could not make the minimize. I would’ve needed to put my telephone into Low Energy Mode for some time, or use a transportable battery pack, however that was sufficient to make it to a charger with a little bit of juice to spare.

Let us take a look at the exhausting numbers for the present technology. The iPhone Air has the weakest battery life, rated for 27 hours of continuous video playback — in sensible actuality, sufficient to get most individuals to the tip of the day, albeit working on fumes generally. The iPhone 17 does higher at 30 hours, whereas the 17 Professional and Professional Max ship 33 and 39 hours, respectively. Likelihood is that the bottom iPhone 17 can be greater than sufficient, since even my 16 Professional is supposedly no higher than the Air.

There are solely a handful of instances the place a Max’s battery life may legitimately be mandatory. One is in the event you’re a world traveler who can go a whole day with out significant time to cost. Alternately, you could be a service technician (or different skilled) utilizing their machine for work, or a resident of a disaster-prone space who cannot assure how lengthy the facility can be out. Even beneath these circumstances, a MagSafe battery could be essentially the most sensible strategy.

A wierd middle-ground

The massive show on a Max is clearly the very first thing you discover, and I am not resistant to its enchantment. It makes some text-based duties simpler, equivalent to typing, internet shopping, or checking electronic mail and social media. When you watch video frequently, extra actual property is all the time welcome — though you may by no means appease the spirit of David Lynch.

My problem is that it is usually a marginal acquire, based mostly on my hands-on time. You are still properly in need of the room on an 8.3-inch iPad mini, not to mention a full-sized iPad, so it is not such as you’ll be cranking out work assignments with nothing greater than your telephone and a Bluetooth keyboard. Apple would not even assist a number of app home windows on Maxes, which you’d assume could be pure provided that it has been an possibility for years on similarly-sized Samsung units. Who is aware of, perhaps that may change after iOS 27 and the primary foldable iPhone.

There could be one thing to be mentioned for individuals who discover telephones exhausting to learn and sort on usually, however iPhones have been rising in dimension for a very long time. You may’t purchase a brand new one which measures lower than 6.1 inches, and most at the moment are 6.3. When you’re nonetheless having bother, you may most likely be higher served by tweaking iOS’s accessibility settings.

The scale could be a downside

Holy gigantic telephone, Batman

Often, I am not one to complain in regards to the dimension of telephones, tablets, or laptops. I’ve bought reasonably-sized fingers, and provided that my foremost pastime is weightlifting, it might be ridiculous if I could not deal with a cellular machine for a couple of minutes. With a Max, nevertheless, pocketability is a legit concern. I generally fumble a bit placing my 16 Professional into my pocket and taking it out — one thing the scale of a 17 Professional Max would be certain that occurs much more. And I am a person, fortunate sufficient to have massive pockets on most of my garments. Ladies generally get tiny pockets, if any. Solidarity, sisters.

I truly ought to take a second to acknowledge the importance of weight for different individuals. A 17 Professional Max may solely be 8.22 ounces (233 grams), but for some, that is nonetheless going to be sufficient to make it uncomfortable to carry for lengthy stretches of time. When you’ve had points with the size of different smartphones prior to now, I strongly suggest testing the Max for a couple of minutes the following time you are at an Apple Retailer or different electronics retailer. Belief your instincts if it feels awkward.

It is about what you are able to do, not simply the way you do it

One thing which may shock a few of you is that, in a means, I remorse shopping for a 16 Professional. Not for its specs — the telephone is nice, the usefulness of its telephoto camera apart. Relatively, it is that the common iPhone 16 is nice sufficient that I would’ve bought extra out of spending the financial savings elsewhere, like a set of AirPods Professionals, or a second MagSafe charger. The primary factor I get pleasure from in regards to the 16 Professional is its always-on show, which is not that particular now that AOD tech is inventory on each iPhone 17.

A working theme of each level I’ve made right here is that you must contemplate a Max’s worth to you in real-world conditions. Sure, it is nice to stare at an enormous show and by no means fear about battery life, however which may not make you a lot happier or extra productive. Conversely, you’ll discover an adjunct that allows you to do one thing you were not capable of earlier than, or which removes some type of ache level.

I would argue that a whole lot of 17 Professional Max consumers could be higher off getting the bottom 17 and placing the remainder of the money in the direction of an Apple Watch SE or Sequence 11, if they do not have already got a smartwatch. Having the ability to test notifications out of your wrist is liberating, and I’ve heard too many anecdotes of individuals efficiently utilizing an Apple Watch to get in form. You may really feel lots higher about your self in a yr for closing your rings on daily basis than you’ll for having one thing barely larger to observe TikTok on.