The iPhone 16 series is finally here, and if you're thinking about upgrading from one of the best iPhones to Apple's latest flagship model, there's a lot to consider Breaking down the differences and upgrades between the iPhone 16 Pro Max vs the iPhone 13 Pro Max is important for those out there who have the 13 Pro Max, which may be coming to the end of a two-year contract We at Tom's Guide can help you find the answers

Is the iPhone 16 Pro Max worth upgrading, and how does the iPhone 16 Pro Max compare to the iPhone 13 Pro Max?

Apple is no longer selling the iPhone 13 Pro Max (except for refurbished models), but you can still purchase it from third-party retailers and carriers iPhone 16 Pro Max was released on September 20, but like the rest of the iPhone 16 series, shipping suffered delays Most major retailers estimate that orders will not arrive until mid or late October

Even if you bought an iPhone 13 Pro Max at the launch price of $1,099, you would have paid less than the price tag of a new iPhone 16 Pro Max The iPhone 16 Pro Max will be priced at $1,199 at launch, about $100 more This price will only go up if you buy a model with more storage or AppleCare Plus It is worth noting, however, that the base storage capacity of the iPhone 16 Pro Max has been upgraded to 256GB from the iPhone 13 Pro Max's 128GB

It is surprising to see a three-year difference in iPhone design iPhone 16 Pro Max's screen size is up slightly to 69 inches from iPhone 13 Pro Max's 67 inches And since Apple accomplished this by shaving the 16 Pro Max's bezel to its thinnest ever, this jump does not dramatically increase the phone's footprint This is a win-win situation

In terms of dimensions, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is slightly taller (163mm vs 1608mm) and thicker (83mm vs 77mm) than the iPhone 13 Pro Max, but Apple has significantly reduced the weight (from 240g to 227g)

The iPhone 13 Pro Max design is definitely starting to look old at this point, as it still has many of the features of older iPhone models, including the Lightning port, traditional notch, classic ring switch, and flat stainless steel frame on all sides

It has a very similar appearance to the iPhone 30

By comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a more refined, almost futuristic design, with a titanium body, dynamic island, USB-C port, and slightly curved frame introduced in the iPhone 15 Pro Max In addition to the titanium band, Apple claims the improved Ceramic Shield display is 50% tougher than the previous generation, so you won't have to worry as much about a cracked screen

Apple has also added several new buttons since the iPhone 13 series: a customizable action button (which was also introduced in the iPhone 15 Pro line) and a new camera control button, launching the camera app, photo/video recessed capacitive buttons that can use haptics to take pictures and give feedback

The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max displays are not upgraded in terms of brightness or refresh rate compared to the previous generation, but still boast the best OLED panels in cell phones The 16 Pro Max's maximum brightness of 2,000 nits surpasses the iPhone 13 Pro Max's maximum brightness of 1,200 nits (in HDR mode), especially when compared to the previous model

When first released, the 12MP sensors on the iPhone 13 Pro Max's main camera, ultra-wide camera, 3x telephoto camera, and selfie camera were excellent However, in the years since its launch, Apple has greatly improved the iPhone's camera capabilities

For the iPhone 16 Pro Max, many camera upgrades were made, starting with a new 48 MP Fusion camera in the main shooter It has a 48 MP ultra-wide camera, up from the previous model's 12 MP, which upgrades macro photography to a higher resolution for truly beautiful photos Like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it also features a tetra prismatic zoom lens that allows up to 5x optical zoom

The video capabilities of the iPhone 16 Pro Max cannot be overstated either, and this generation includes 4K video capture, which can capture great footage at up to 120 frames per second One of the coolest iPhone 16 Pro Max video new features is audio mixing, which combines spatial audio capture and AI to minimize background noise in the video

The iPhone 16 Pro Max has 8GB of RAM and Apple's new A18 Pro chip made with second-generation 3-nanometer technology By comparison, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has the same A15 Bionic chip and 6GB of RAM as the standard iPhone 13 Apple says that 8GB of RAM is the minimum required for the device to run Apple Intelligence, so if you have an older phone and want to try out all of Apple's AI-powered features, we recommend upgrading [Wi-Fi 7 and Snapdragon [The iPhone 16 Pro Max, which supports Wi-Fi 7 and the Snapdragon X75 5G modem, has faster connection speeds than the 13 Pro Max, which supports the older Snapdragon X60 5G modem and Wi-Fi 6

Both models are currently running iOS 18, but if you're interested in trying out Apple Intelligence, a big selling point of Apple's latest update, when it comes out, you won't unless you have an iPhone 15 series or later

Apple claims that the iPhone 16 Pro Max has the best iPhone battery life ever, and we tend to agree based on test results With a 14,685mAh battery and a screen brightness of 150 nits, we were able to continue surfing the web with 5G communication for over 18 hours By comparison, the iPhone 13 Pro Max, with a smaller 4,352mAh, had a battery that lasted only 12 hours and 16 minutes under the same conditions

As for charging, both models charge at about the same rate, reaching 100% capacity in about 1 hour and 40 minutes iPhone 16 Pro Max supports Qi2 and MagSafe up to 25W, while iPhone 13 Pro Max supports regular MagSafe and 20W wired charging The iPhone 16 Pro Max also replaces the Lightning port on the iPhone 13 Pro Max with a USB-C port

At this point, the iPhone 13 series almost feels like a different era due to how many hardware improvements and upgrades Apple has brought to that device While there is still value to be extracted from these Pro handsets, there are plenty of compelling reasons to upgrade

The iPhone 16 Pro Max offers a larger display, better performance, a longer lasting battery, an upgraded camera setup, and most importantly, when Apple finally begins rolling out Apple Intelligence when it does, Apple's AI-powered features will be available

However, Apple Intelligence is not yet fully in the works, so it's pretty hard to give up hard-earned money for the promise of great new features And the iPhone 13 Pro Max, while undeniably old, is still going strong So it may be worth holding out until next year, when the iPhone 17 series starts getting some attention