The iPhone 17 Pro Max is the biggest, baddest  iPhone Apple has ever made. But 6 Months Later, is this really the best iPhone to get? I'll take  you through that, plus some changes I'd like to see Apple make. First, let's talk about what's  really stood out with this iPhone. First up is the camera system. Apple has for years claimed  that their camera systems are professional tools.

You get six, eight lenses in your pocket. You  could be the next Spielberg with this thing.

Even though Spielberg wouldn't be caught dead  using an iPhone over a traditional camera lens, but this is the iPhone where even if you don't  use it as a pro tool in your business like I have, even if you don't use Genlock or Apple Log or  ProRes RAW for video, use the Final Cut Camera app to preview your LUTs and have way more control  over the footage that you're shooting. Even if you don't use all of those pro features, you just  want to take good photos and videos with your iPhone. Yes, it does a fantastic job of doing  that. You just get excellent image quality for a phone. Not just with the main camera, though.  I've been pretty blown away by the quality of that particular lens and sensor combo. Close-up  shots look great, and in good lighting conditions, I genuinely struggle to tell if some of these  shots came from an iPhone. In near total darkness, that's where you'll start to see the smaller  sensor hit its limits and show noticeable noise. Now, for video quality, that continues to  be outstanding. It's crisp, has excellent color, and pretty low noise in all but the darkest  conditions. Honestly, if somebody just forced me to only use a smartphone camera for all of my work  and documenting life events, I'd be pretty okay with this camera system from Apple. For example,  I went to our annual Chinese Lantern Festival this past holiday, and I was really impressed at how  the camera performed. There's a lot of dynamic range, intense colors coming from the LEDs and the  lanterns, and the phone handled all of that pretty well. You can see how good the wide camera is in  particular. Though, when you switch to something like the ultrawide, it definitely doesn't look as  good, and the telephoto is a bit hit or miss. This camera system in particular does really well with  LED lights and smoke effects. Something that's pretty common for other smartphones to get wrong.  Here it just looks right, capturing pretty much what the Downtown Cary Park looked like when it  was lit up for Halloween last year. Now, for both of those events, because I knew there would be a  lot of dynamic range, I did use the ProRAW mode on the camera. The reason I shoot in this mode in  these situations is this mode allows the camera system to capture more data that you can play  around with in post. But straight out of camera, which all of these photos that you have seen are,  these raw files just look amazing. Now, for this event for video, I should have used Apple Log or  ProRes so the phone could capture more image data, but I just used the regular video mode. And you  can see here that the videos don't come out quite as clean as the photos. There's a bit more noise  and you also do get some light reflections in the lenses, but it's not nearly as bad as what I've  seen with the Pixel 10 Pro XL that I reviewed. So, am I happy with this camera system overall? Yes.  I think it's probably the best one Apple has ever shipped. Now, has it caused me to ditch all of my  dedicated cameras to just shoot on my iPhone? No.

While NASA may have sent this phone to space,  I do think it's telling that almost all of the jaw-dropping images that came out of the  Artemis 2 mission were shot from Nikon cameras with really nice lenses. Now, part of this is  because of the optical lens, but part of it is also because dedicated cameras typically have  a larger image sensor, which can net you better low-light and higher resolution images. You  put those two things together and that's why you'll still see me shooting with a dedicated  camera. As far as smartphone cameras go though, I haven't noticed this phone producing those kind  of bad blown-out photos that iPhones have produced for me in the past. Plus, this iPhone got the new  18-megapixel Center Stage selfie camera, which can automatically crop your photo in and out depending  on how many people are actually in your selfie, all without you having to change how you're  holding the phone, which is pretty cool. Now, with iPhones and accessories, one thing that  has always bothered me a little bit is how many separate things people often buy for their  phones. They'll buy a wallet to slap on the back, a tracker for that wallet, and then some sort of  tripod or stand. And why couldn't you just combine all of those things into one thing? Well, it turns  out you can. Meet the trackable tripod wallet from today's sponsor, MOFT. It's a MagSafe wallet  that holds two cards, has built-in Apple Find My tracking, a hidden Bluetooth camera button,  and a built-in tripod. All in something that sits this thin on the back of your phone. I was really  surprised at how nice the build quality is here, especially this hinge. It's quite sturdy. And when  the tripod snaps into place, there's this really satisfying click. The built-in Find My tracking  with a battery that lasts up to six months, that's truly a game-changer. Snap-on wallets can  get separated from your phone, left on a table, in your car. If that happens, you can locate it right  from the native Find My app. And if you still can't track it down, hit play sound and it fires  a loud 70 dB alert. To charge it, you simply place it down on a wireless charger and the Bluetooth  button can double as a camera shutter remote, which is super convenient. Three tripod modes  let you use it however you need. So if you want to simplify your carry without giving up anything,  check out the MOFT trackable tripod wallet using the link in the description below. Now, in  order to keep iPhones like this continuously recording video in various conditions, something  many smartphones and even professional cameras struggle with due to overheating. You need a fast  chip, but also one that cools efficiently. And that's exactly what you get with this phone's A19  Pro chip, which is my second highlight. It's the best performance you'll get in any current iPhone,  and it's one of the best chips in any smartphone, thanks to not only its impressive single-core  dominant performance, but its new cooling setup, which combines a vapor chamber with the new  aluminum unibody chassis for far greater heat dissipation than previous iPhones had. And you  can actually see how much of a difference that vapor chamber and aluminum chassis make when you  benchmark this phone against the iPhone Air, which has the same A19 Pro chip, though with a slightly  lower GPU core count and slower RAM. The Pro Max is noticeably better, especially for graphics and  gaming tasks. Now, have I utilized this phone to its fullest potential with a chip inside? No. And  I doubt most people will even need this level of performance. But if you have a chip that is this  high-performing and a camera system that can shoot high-quality footage for extended periods  like this one, the next thing you'll likely want is great battery life. And the iPhone 17 Pro  Max definitely delivers there. And I've seen the battery level hit in the upper 60% to lower  70% range on normal days, meaning this phone can realistically last me two days on a single charge  and has multiple times throughout my six-month testing period. I'm a light to moderate phone  user with one to 2½ hours of screen time and one to two hours of background playback for music and  podcasts on a typical day. Now, on heavier days, like when I was doing a lot of B-roll shooting or  running a lot of graphics-intensive video tasks, uh, I've seen the battery life get to around  the mid 40% range by the end of the day. If this video, by the way, has been useful so  far with some of my long-term anecdotes. Let me know by giving it a thumbs up. That does  really help out the channel. And of course, if you want to see more long-term reviews  like this one, make sure you're subscribed.

Another highlight with this phone is Ceramic  Shield 2. As I mentioned in my iPhone Air review, which you can get to by clicking here if you want  to learn more about that phone, this glass is the reason I decided not to put a screen protector  on this phone. And going forward, I probably won't be putting one on any iPhone. Not only is  this display harder and better against drops, but critically in my case, it's significantly  more resistant to micro-scratches. 6 Months Later, like with the iPhone Air's display, I haven't  noticed any micro-scratches or abrasions on this display. It also significantly reduces glare  and reflections thanks to a new anti-reflective coating, making it way easier to see outside. Now,  the last big highlight I've had using this iPhone is iOS. And of course, I'm talking about Liquid  Glass. Just kidding. It, it's, it's fine honestly, but it's definitely a bit more form over function.  That said, iOS does have some real benefits, especially with this latest version. New phone  call features have been genuinely useful. Being able to screen unknown callers or stay on hold  for me has been really great. There are also just a lot of nice quality-of-life things that you  get with iOS. Not only does it make things easy to integrate with other Apple products with features  like AirDrop, AirPlay, continuity features and so on, but even for smaller things like passwords  or automatically pasting in verification codes.

There are just a lot of little nice things that  you miss when you're not using iOS. And I really like Apple's push to put search boxes at the  bottom closer to where your thumb actually is.

Another iOS benefit is apps just run better on iOS  than Android in general. Plus, you often see apps launch first exclusively on iOS, like Acme Weather  from the creators of Dark Sky or Google's new AI Edge Eloquent app, which is kind of crazy given  that Google runs Android. Now, let's talk about what I didn't use with this phone. First up is  most Apple Intelligence features. As I said in my iPhone Air video, I do use notification summaries  and especially priority notifications. Those are actually pretty useful for when I have a focus  mode enabled. Visual Intelligence is another one I tried recently, but was laughably bad. Like,  it couldn't even identify the correct app being shown on Apple's own website, and it was Apple's  own app. Now, another thing I haven't really used all that much is speakers. In fact, they're not  as good as you might think. At higher volume, I hear audible distortion, just like I  noticed with the iPhone Air's top speaker, and that distortion overall was not present in my  16 Pro Max. All right, now let's talk downsides.

By far the biggest downside for this iPhone and  most iPhone Pro Maxes over the past few years is weight. And this Max is one of the heavier ones.  It weighs 233 g, which puts it right in line with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, but it is a good bit heavier  than the new S26 Ultra that I'm reviewing, which comes in at 214 g. Make sure you're subscribed to  the channel if you want to see the review of this phone. Now, some — I can already see it in the  YouTube comments now — you're going to argue my obsession with phone weight is stupid and that  people prefer heavier phones because they feel more premium, which for a device designed to be  held in your hand for long periods of time to look at and scroll on. I think that's just a crazy  take. Like, nobody ever asked Steve Jobs, "Wow, that MacBook Air, it's so light and thin." You  know what I wish? I wish it was heavier cuz then it would feel more premium. Let me know in the  comments if you agree or disagree with this take.

But this does lead me to my second downside with  this phone, which is that it is not the iPhone Air. 6 Months Later, switching back and forth  between these two phones has really made me want Apple to create a pro iPhone with the thinness and  weight benefits that you get with the Air. That would make the Pro a bit more modular in a way.  For everyday use, you'd have a lighter phone with all of the Pro cameras and features. And then for  long shooting days, travel, or just heavier use, you could attach a battery pack to add that extra  capacity. And that would honestly be my ideal pro iPhone. Another downside, or potential downside,  as I haven't run into this one personally, but I've seen so many reports on it, is the anodized  aluminum finish can be scratched off, especially around the edges of the plateau. Now, because I've  kept this phone in a case for almost the entire 6-month period, this isn't really something  I've personally noticed or had an issue with, even with the cosmic orange color that I got. Oh,  and speaking of cases, not a segue to a sponsor, but I absolutely love the material of Apple's  new tech-woven case. The case I got has held up really well and seems to hold up better than  the fabric-woven cases that Google made for their Pixel line a few years back. Apple's case is more  grippy than those and I actually think it holds up better over time than the Apple silicone cases  I got for previous iPhones. Now, another downside is Siri actually. While in my experience, it's  still great for playing music and setting timers, 6 Months Later, it's increasingly felt dated  as Gemini has not only gotten faster and more reliable, but also comes with expanded  capabilities. Another downside of this iPhone and really all iPhones is the App Store.  It's the only place you can download apps from, which inherently makes the iPhone less versatile  than if you could download apps from the web like you can on the Mac. All right, the last downside  with a Pro Max is price. I don't think it should necessarily cost $1,200 to get a three-camera-lens  iPhone. You'll see reviews later in the year on the channel of phones like the Nothing Phone (4a)  that has three lenses. We should have an iPhone that has three camera lenses on it that isn't  necessarily a pro iPhone in 2026. And you can check the current prices here in this video or  via our blog post linked here where we've got links to multiple retailers. So, is this the best  iPhone that you can get today? Technically, yes.

But is it the one that everyone should get? Well,  first, given we're at the 6-month mark, if you can wait, it probably makes sense to hold out until  September for new iPhones or even the new iPhone Fold, Apple's rumored to be working on for later  this year. And make sure you're subscribed to the channel and follow us at 6monthslater.net for  all of the updates on that and more Apple stuff.

But in general, yes, I do recommend the iPhone 17  Pro Max for a select group of people. You should get this phone if you want the biggest display in  a current iPhone, a triple camera system on the back with all of the pro camera features, the A19  Pro chip with better sustained performance than the Air, the LiDAR sensor for scanning 3D objects  and helping with virtual furniture placement, a highly underrated feature, by the way, and  you want the best battery life and capacity of any current iPhone and can deal with the weight.  But if you don't need all of that, or you could compromise on one or two of those things,  especially if you don't need the pro camera features, if you already have a dedicated camera  for important stuff like I do, but you still want a big-screen iPhone that feels great in your hand  and is a joy to use, then I would actually look at getting the iPhone Air. It's been my favorite  iPhone to use over the past 6 months, even with the smaller battery and single camera on the back.  And if you want to see more of my thoughts on it, you can click here to get to my iPhone Air review,  as well as my in-depth comparison video between the 17 Pro Max and the iPhone Air. And for more 6  Months Later reviews, like my review of the Pixel 10 Pro XL, you can click here to get to all of  those. For 6 Months Later, I'm Josh Teder. And if you made it all the way to the end here, let  me know by commenting 233 g. Thanks for watching.