The iPhone 13 Pro Max is the largest and most expensive model in Apple’s 2021 smartphone lineup and features a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display with a resolution of 1284 x 2778 pixels. Like the smaller iPhone 13 Pro, it is powered by Apple’s latest A15 Bionic chipset and includes up to 1TB of internal storage.
Both models also use the same camera setup which now comes with a larger sensor and faster aperture in the main cam, compared to last year’s 12 Pro and Pro Max models. On the ultra wide-angle sensor, the dimensions remain unchanged, but there is also a faster aperture and PDAF autofocus system than the fixed focus lens of the iPhone 12 series. On the camera, Apple has increased the range and the models now offer 3x optical magnification compared to the main camera.
Read on to find out how the brand new iPhone 13 Pro Max camera fared in our SBMARK camera tests.
Overview
Key Camera Specifications:
- Primary: 12MP sensor, 1.9µm pixels, 26mm equivalent f / 1.5 aperture lens, OIS with sensor shift, Dual Pixel AF
- Ultra Wide: 12MP sensor, 13mm equivalent f / 1.8 aperture lens, PDAF, 2cm macro
- Telephoto: 12MP sensor, 77mm equivalent f / 2.8 aperture lens, OIS
- 3D sensor
- 4K at 24/25/30/60 fps, 1080p at 25/30/60 fps, HDR video recording with Dolby Vision
- Cinematic mode for recording videos with shallow depth of field (1080p at 30 fps)
Pros
- Accurate and repeatable target exposure
- Nice color and white balance
- Beautiful skin tones in most lighting conditions, even in complex backlit scenes
- Fast, accurate and repeatable autofocus
- Good detail in internal and external conditions
- Precise and stable target exposure with a fairly wide dynamic range in the video
- Well managed texture / noise compromise in the video
- Accurate white balance indoors and outdoors, smooth transitions in scene changes
- Good autofocus tracking and smooth refocus
versus
- Luminance noise on primary, ultra-wide and tele, especially in low light conditions
- Limited dynamic range in demanding high-contrast scenes
- Artifacts including glow, subtle ringing, and color quantization
- Limited detail in long-range zoom shots
- The occasional pink white balance is reflected in some conditions and some white balance variations in videos
- Lens flare and ghosting, especially in low-light videos
- Some loss of texture in the video, especially on faces in daylight and indoor conditions
- Differences in sharpness between video frames and strong residual motion in recorded video while playing
With the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro sharing the same rear camera and processor specs, it’s safe to assume that the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max’s results are very close to those of the iPhone 13 Pro in all. The conditions. We confirmed this by subjecting the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max to the complete SBMARK camera test protocol. Let’s take a look at some examples.
In this backlit indoor scene, you can see that the image results of the 13 Pro Max and 13 Pro are just as identical. Both cameras handle good exposure on subjects, but limited dynamic range means the sky in the background is cut quite heavily. Detail is good on the front subject, but the larger sensor in the new models has a slightly more limited depth of field. As a result, the subject in the back is blurred.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, backlit indoor scene, good subject exposure but limited dynamic range
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, crop: good detail, limited depth of field
Apple iPhone 13 Pro, virtually identical exposure
Apple iPhone 13 Pro, crop: virtually identical details and depth of field
The situation is very similar for this medium range telescope that was captured in low light conditions. The two images are virtually indistinguishable, with the same amount of noise and level of detail.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, medium range tele
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, crop: some noise, loss of detail
Apple iPhone 13 Pro, medium range tele
Apple iPhone 13 Pro, crop: virtually identical image quality
Like the 13 Pro, the 13 Pro Max is equipped with an excellent autofocus system. The camera focuses precisely and very quickly, thanks to a negative shutter lag; the image is captured even slightly before the shutter is activated.
Autofocus comparison (20 lux, 7EV, handheld): Same performance as iPhone 13 Pro
Our testers observed very similar video performance to the 13 Pro as well, with the same exposure and color rendition, as well as very similar video stabilization results.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, same residual motion and sharpness differences between frames
Apple iPhone 13 Pro, very similar video performance
Given the same results, we’re only publishing this short article for the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max. For the full set of sample images and measurements, plus a full analysis, click the link below and read the full Apple review. iPhone 13 Pro.
Go to the Apple iPhone 13 Pro camera review
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