iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera SUCKS! TESTED

Tony & Chelsea Northrup test the crap out of the newest iPhone's camera to determine whether you should get it... and you probably shouldn't! See, Apple didn't make many changes to the camera's on their iPhone 15 Pro launch, but they did at a 120mm equivalent tetraprism 5X camera to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The problem is, they REPLACED the 77mm equivalent 3X camera that was on the iPhone 14 Pro Max and that the iPhone 14 Pro still has.

That left a HUGE gap from 77mm-120mm where the iPhone 15 Pro Max just crops ALL THE WAY DOWN from 24mm... meaning by the time you get to 115mm, you have only about 0.5 megapixels of sensor data to create an image. Predictably, the images in this range absolutely SUCK.

But don't take our word for it... Tony & Chelsea take real-world photos with the new iPhone cameras and then analyze the results using CHARTS and VOICEOVERS! So fancy.

They also test flaring and ProRes Log video, which really are improved on the new camera.

0:00 Introduction
3:11 3X (77mm) vs 5X (120mm) telephoto lens sharpness test
5:08 Sharpness test from 13mm to 120mm
7:01 Megapixel chart for nerds
8:40 Portraits test
9:42 Flaring test
10:34 Log Prores Video test
11:08 Summary

[djutsum]

There are some areas that it would be nice to hear more about in future testing if you choose to do it. 
- I would like to see more about the "24" megapixel modes. How much difference is there in files? 
- All of the comparisons for telephoto in this video were zoomed in to 300 percent. How does it look at a 100% view? 
- Some people have noticed weird machine learning artifacts when zoomed all the way in on the 5x. True?
- The other "lens" options are supposedly using scaled images from the 48 megapixel sensor to mitigate resolution loss. What do the pixels look like compared to iPhone 14 or earlier at 28 and 35?
- How about the parallax "bump" when you zoom to 5x. How noticeable is it in video?
- HDR video processing has historically been awesome on HDR displays (iPad/Mac/IPhone/XDR. Does it make any sense to shoot LOG when the file sizes are so massive? What kind of battery life hit do you take when using external drives? Drives or cards, which are better? How about the BlackMagic app and Prores LT? Worth it?
- Year over year the camera systems are identical other than the coating and 5x lens on the Pro Max, so I don't expect much difference. How about for older iPhone models (where upgrades might make more sense)? 
- How useful is the always-on portrait mode? What kind of bursts can we get? 
- What is the difference in shutter lag (if any)? 
- What about video stabilization? Does a gimbal make sense? How about action mode? Telephoto stabilization?
- How does cinematic mode compare to a dedicated video camera? 
- How about the HDR editing in Lightroom?

[varunsatbhai]

1400$ is a lot of money. 5 minutes later just a casual shot of driving a Porsche

[trumani]

I actually found a very photographer-centric use case for the action button. The camera button on the Lock Screen is set to default to photo mode, and the action button will go to whatever type of photography I plan on doing for that event, in my case, it was video, for going straight to capturing a quick video during the Chicago marathon. What would put it over the top is if I can set it to automatically start taking the video. It can be set up to open up at selfie for other examples. So I essentially have two shortcuts. One to photo mode and one to video mode.

[PolarBlairTech]

I never use the constant zoom on phone cameras, I just pick a focal length and use my legs to frame the shot. I hope the majority of users do this as well, it's how to get the best image quality.

[bobbyroberts]

Apple. The king of minimum upgrade at the maximum prices.

[Hodenkat]

The cell phone manufacturers have long ago reached the limits of what they can put into these cameras and have started trying to use software to stretch the features and abilities of these tiny cameras. My old Samsung s10e developed a bad battery, so I "upgraded" to an s23. Disappointed would be a kind term for how I felt about what I received. I look at photos side by side from the s10e and s23 and wonder "Where's the improvement?" I know I lost the micro-SD slot, so what did I get that's better?... Nothing. In fact I lost features and got nothing improved at all! the camera being that one thing I hoped would compensate for all of non-upgrades!

[IsParkCir]

I’m a portrait photographer, and have pro gear for work. I find that I only use the iPhone for documenting life in a causal way. I’m so much more often wanting that greater reach when I’m hiking, or at events. I’d much rather have the main camera be offered with a higher focal length. My ideal would be a 18mm ultra wide, 40mm main, and 120mm tele. Thought?

[Pronellyllon]

I am really glad that I have the 15 Pro and not the Pro Max. I prefer the smaller phone, but was bummed that I didn't get the better lens... until I learned it wasn't better afterall because I don't snap shots from that far so often

[xintophotography]

I got the iPhone 15 Pro because 120mm is a weirdly uninteresting focal length and the lack of a roughly 80mm focal length just seems idiotic.

As a criticism of the video, the chart is correct for the 48mm and up zoom ranges, but ignores that between 24mm and 48mm the sensor is 48 megapixels not 12. Yes, this is quad bayer pixels, but this is only rarely noticeable. I particularly enjoy ProRAW with the 35mm focal length that yields 24 megapixel raw files that look really good.

[jmolin]

iPhone 12 Pro to iPhone 15 Pro Max. The 5x has been awesome. I've always craved more zoom (over a simple 2-3x) and love the compression the 120mm lens provides. I have no problem stepping back 2-3 more steps. Don't get me started on that sweet sweet LOG for video. If someone could only figure out a micro USBC Y plug for Audio and SSD, this would be the next ultimate vlogging camera.

[ninerlives]

Some guy told me “my iPhone is better than that” when I was out shooting with an R5. I was completely lost for words. How do you even respond to that?

[kbarrett]

There is no technical reason for the 14MAX not to get Apple log. I understand that HDR5 is loaded in ROM and that wouldn't be able to be upgraded without a ROM swap. In my opinion, Apple still processes their RAW files a bit too much. Coming from a 12MAX I am overall happy for the change to the 15MAX, but do miss the 3X lens but not enough to want to go back. A four lens (.5X, 1X, 3X, and 5X ) camera module would have been ideal. IMO - We're at peak phone development now - There is little reason for me to upgrade more frequently than every three years.

[kaival]

I am a jeweller and bought iphone 15 PM for photography
It’s sucks

Grainy out of focus fotos

My 12 pro takes far more better pictures

[valentinbusuioc]

How dare you!!! you just destroyed the careful marketing and a lot of the other reviews ... loved every second of the intro! thank you! :)

[nafnaf]

7:02 So I think what we learned here is buy the iPhone 15 Pro and not the iPhone 15 Pro Max (11:43). For reference here are the 3 lenses on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max:

iPhone 15 Pro:
1. Ultra-wide: 12MP sensor, 13mm equivalent, f/2.2-aperture lens, Dual Pixel AF
2. Primary: 48MP sensor, 2.44µm quad pixels, 24mm equivalent f/1.78-aperture lens, Dual Pixel AF, OIS
3. Tele: 12MP sensor, 1.0µm pixels, 77mm equivalent f/2.8-aperture lens

iPhone 15 Pro Max:
1. Ultra-wide: 12MP sensor, 13mm equivalent f/2.2-aperture lens, Dual Pixel AF
2. Primary: 48MP sensor, 2.44µm quad pixels, 24mm equivalent f/1.78-aperture lens, Dual Pixel AF, OIS
3. Tele: 12MP sensor, 1.12µm pixels, 120 mm equivalent f/2.8-aperture lens, Dual Pixel AF

As shown by the chart (iPhone 15 Pro (the non-max version) has the similar 77mm as the iPhone 14 Pro Max had), for general use the 77mm telephoto lens on the 15 Pro is more useful than the 120mm telephoto lens on the 15 Pro Max. Certainly the one I would get. Thank you Tony and Chelsea for going in depth on this, I have been reading your book too, about half way through.

[TheCrimsonPope]

This is so detailed and I finally see some of the nuances. Are there nuances to video as well? I need it to record video tutorials for YouTube, overhead shot, 10 to 15 inches distance, artificial neutral led lights on 4 sides (3 sides + top)... I'm on the verge of getting the 15 pro max but I seriously am battling myself at this point, what if I spend the most money on tech in my life and get crap?

[weekendwarrior]

That focal length chart is fantastic. Can you do the same comparison against the S 23 ultra and the pixel eight pro. That would be interesting.

[NamIess]

This is exactly why I got the 15 Pro instead of the Pro Max:

1, I hate huge phones
2, the 5x telephoto is too short for birds/wildlife and I barely used the 2x on my 11 Pro anyways. Now I have a dedicated 3x camera which is more useful to me than the 5x on the Pro max.

Tony could You please compare the astro capabilities of the 15 line with the 14 or 13 line or maybe even with Samsung, because I saw on another channel that Apple much improved star trailing.

[MikeAzul]

Appreciate the testing and honesty. It’s a breath of fresh air you guys don’t depend on their sponsorship. As much as I love some of these other reviewers, it’s clear they just market every darn piece of tech they make a video about. The iPhone 15 is a step in the right direction, but as usual too small a step. And no idea why they compromised the camera. Seems obvious they’re going to need 4 sensors/cameras considering what Samsung did.

Their files app still needs an overhaul to be more compatible with PC’s too. A pain getting any files or backups off their phones to a pc.

[colinmunro]

What I'd like to see when you do a comparison between the s23 ultra and the iphone 15 pro max is where each of them shines.

For me the iphone takes more detailed close up photos of faces - the s23 ultra looks too soft even with softening turned off, as if out of focus.

Also sometimes the S23 photos look a bit washed out - that becomes apparent when comparing the 200mp mode output with the regular photos output.

Taking pictures of moving people is frustrating, especially in low light on the s23 ultra.

The 200mp photos have a fantastic level of detail. Though I suspect there is a lot of junk information in the huge files, as I have compressed the jpeg quality to 1/3 of the size with the same resolution and barely any hit in quality.