Apple's iPhone journey uniquely balances gradual advancements with moments of reinvention, where incremental changes add up to groundbreaking shifts. Some people argue that Apple's success lies in making small, evolutionary improvements seem revolutionary, but I believe these steps lead to tipping points, where tech enables us to do things unimaginable just years before. These aren’t small updates; they’re leaps forward, as seen with the iPhone X’s all-screen display and Face ID, the iPhone 7’s Portrait mode, and more recently, Dynamic Island and a 48-megapixel camera.
This year, the iPhone 15 Pro Max brings a leap in materials and processing power, with what looks like a subtler step in photography. Or is it?
Note: Why should you take my word for it? I am the design lead at Lux and a professional photographer who co-created Halide, the powerful iPhone camera app.
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Design Evolution
Apple’s Pro line has moved away from the jewel-like, reflective stainless steel design of last year, opting for a brushed titanium finish that’s softer and grippier in the hand. Rounded edges and contoured buttons make it more tactile, reminiscent of classic cameras like the Leica, which Steve Jobs once praised in comparison to the iPhone 4. This iPhone feels made for photographers.
Despite my usual preference for the smaller iPhone, the 15 Pro Max felt surprisingly comfortable, likely due to the titanium frame. The larger screen also allowed Apple to incorporate a 5× optical zoom lens, equivalent to a 120mm focal length, while the standard model keeps its excellent 3× zoom.
Ultra-Wide Lens
Starting with the ultra-wide camera, this lens hasn’t changed in hardware but now includes improved coatings to reduce flares and reflections in bright lighting. Processing improvements make it sharper in daylight and give an impressive close focus for macro shots. The ultra-wide field of view is so expansive that fingers or unintended objects can slip into the frame if you're not careful. One improvement I hope to see is an extra lens between this ultra-wide and the regular camera, which would allow for better framing without edge distortion.
Main Camera
Last year, I was thrilled with the 48-megapixel main camera on the iPhone 14 Pro, as it offered a dramatic shift in quality. For the 15 Pro Max, Apple’s new imaging pipeline combines a 48-megapixel frame with a 12-megapixel one to create a 24-megapixel shot, which is a big leap for users accustomed to 12-megapixel images. It allows for sharper, more detailed shots without the excessive file size of a full 48MP image.
While the 24MP setting isn’t available when shooting ProRAW, which is limited to either 12MP or 48MP, this added flexibility in standard modes is welcome. However, for ProRAW users like me, it’d be ideal to have a native 24MP capture in third-party apps.
Virtual Lenses and Optical 5× Telephoto
Apple introduced virtual 28mm and 35mm focal lengths alongside last year’s optical 50mm (2×) option. This year’s virtual lenses provide even more shooting options, creating a subtle but meaningful control over framing. While these virtual lenses are essentially crops from the higher-resolution sensor, they feel almost like distinct lenses, thanks to Apple’s capture pipeline improvements.
For many, the 2× lens works well for everyday shots, though it’s clear it’s more a crop of the main camera than a dedicated lens. Despite some trade-offs in depth of field, it still holds up impressively well.
The true star of this year’s update, however, is the 5× optical telephoto. At 120mm, it offers the longest reach ever on an iPhone. Using this telephoto shifts how you compose shots, focusing on details that would otherwise be lost at a shorter range. The results are impressively sharp, even in lower light, and show how much more reach this lens brings to the iPhone.
After shooting at 5× for some time, switching back to the main lens feels unexpectedly wide, which may be why Apple added the 28mm and 35mm options. Moving between extreme focal lengths creates a slightly disorienting shift, and these virtual lenses help bridge the gap, making it feel like you have more physical lenses than ever before.
Final Thoughts
The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 5× telephoto lens is easily the sharpest telephoto Apple has released. While technology advancements typically improve each generation, this longer lens length makes it remarkable how much detail it captures.
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