The iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to launch this fall, and rumors and leaks are beginning to paint a picture of Apple's next flagship. But are the new features compelling enough to convince you to upgrade?

So far, we've heard about hardware changes like a larger display, a new A18 Pro chip, and new capture buttons. And there are even more rumors about the iPhone 16 Pro Max, including some that will be included in iOS 18 and a generative AI feature that seems to be exclusive to the new iPhone.

The seven major features that have been rumored so far as upgrades for the iPhone 16 Pro Max are.

The iPhone Pro Max series has featured a 6.7-inch display since the iPhone 12 Pro Max was introduced in 2020. However, the iPhone 16 Pro Max appears to be the largest model to date. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will have a 6.9-inch display. That would make it even larger than the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Interestingly, the regular iPhone 16 Pro is also said to have a larger screen size, 6.1" to 6.3". This means that if 6.9 inches is too big for you, there is a medium-sized option. The good news is that the iPhone 16 Pro Max bezels are also expected to be thinner.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max offered the first iPhone with a customizable Action button, as both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro are reported to get new Capture buttons as well, Apple is apparently not done. The same goes for the regular iPhone 16.

The button is said to feature a solid-state capacitive design with tactile feedback and will be placed below the power button. The capture button will presumably be used to activate the camera and take a quick photo, but its "force sensor functionality" may open up other possibilities. For example, it could be pressed with more force to record video.

Weibo's leaker also stated that the capture button could be used for focusing the iPhone 16's camera, similar to the way focusing is done on some of the best mirrorless cameras.

Apple needs an encore with the addition of a tetra prism 5x optical zoom lens to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and apparently the iPhone 16 Pro series will be upgraded to an ultra-wide angle lens. both the Pro and Pro Max will have a 12 MP to 48 MP ultra-wide cameras are expected.

This ultrawide sensor should also be larger, growing from a 1/3.6" sensor to a 1/2.6" sensor. In addition, the main 48MP sensor is said to go from a 1/1.28" to a 1/1.4" sensor. This should allow it to capture even more light.

Another leak claims that only the iPhone 16 Pro Max will feature a 48MP main camera based on Sony's new IMX903 sensor and will use a combination of one glass and seven plastic lens parts for better performance. This would be a surprise.

The A17 Pro chip was powerful, but Apple will need to speed it up with the A18 Pro if it wants to make the iPhone 16 Pro Max the fastest phone. If the leaked Geekbench scores are any guide, the A18 Pro could reach 3,570 single-core and 9,310 multi-core results. This is higher than the iPhone 15 Pro series (2,890/7,914), but Qualcomm is not standing still.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra scored 2,300 and 7,249 on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, but the leaked single-core result of 3,500 on the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip should give Apple enough competition

We are not surprised to hear that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip is the first to be released.

We are most interested in the machine learning performance of the A18 Pro's Neural Engine (useful for generative AI tasks), but have yet to see any leaks on that.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max should receive a large number of generative AI upgrades from iOS 18, which is expected to launch with the new iPhone this fall and be announced at WWDC 2024 in June.

Apple appears to be investing heavily in multiple generative AI tools for the iPhone, including automating tasks that would normally take many steps using voice and a new version of Siri based on Apple's Large Language Model (LLM).

Apple is said to be potentially enhancing the AI of its apps, including Music, Pages, and Keynote. We would be shocked if Apple does not offer generative AI features in apps like Photos, such as removing objects from an image or filling in the background.

Apple is also said to be in conversation with Google about possibly licensing Gemini products for generative AI. The question is which AI features will be included only in the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro, or whether the new iPhones may simply offer better performance with a more advanced Neural Engine.

If you haven't heard of Wi-Fi 7, we don't blame you, as that technology is still fairly new and the best Wi-Fi 7 routers are quite expensive. But over time it will make a big difference; Wi-Fi 7 offers faster speeds, more channels, and more bandwidth to your devices. Multi-Link Operation will also allow the iPhone 16 Pro Max to send and receive data on different bands and channels at once.

The battery life of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is already phenomenal according to our tests, with an impressive 14 hours and 2 minutes when surfing the web on 5G. This is due to the 4,422 mAh battery, and according to Weibo leakers, the iPhone 16 Pro Max battery will be even larger at 4,676 mAh. [This is because there are devices on the list that last longer than 16 hours, such as the Galaxy S24 Ultra (16:45) and OnePlus 12 (18:42). Both of these devices have even larger batteries combined with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips, so it will be very interesting to see if the iPhone 16 Pro Max can top our list.

Recent leaks suggest that the iPhone 16 Pro Max could offer up to 30 hours of battery life, but we will have to test that for ourselves to see what Apple claims.