Comprehensive iPhone 13 Pro Max Review – Design, Camera, Battery Life & Performance Guide
Introduction
Released in September 2021, the iPhone 13 Pro Max became Apple’s most feature‑packed smartphone at the time. With its 6.7 inch Super Retina XDR display, 120 Hz ProMotion refresh rate, A15 Bionic chip, triple‑camera system, massive 4352 mAh battery and up to 1 TB of storage, it was pitched as the ultimate iPhone for power users. In 2025, many shoppers still consider the 13 Pro Max for its lower price relative to newer flagships. Does this older model still hold its own?
This comprehensive review dives deep into the design, display, performance, battery life, cameras and software of the iPhone 13 Pro Max. We compare it with other iPhones and competing Android phones using data from reputable sources. We also provide real‑world examples, step‑by‑step explanations and links to related FrediTech articles to help you understand how the 13 Pro Max performs in daily use.
Looking for battery‑saving tips? Read our Ultimate Guide to Smartphone Battery Optimization. Want to master iOS features? Check out our iOS Tips & Tricks: Unlock Top iPhone and iPad Features.
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Design and Build Quality
Size, materials and ergonomics
The 13 Pro Max continues Apple’s flat‑edge design language introduced with the iPhone 12. Its dimensions—160.84 × 78.09 × 7.65 mm—make it slightly thicker than its predecessor, and it weighs 240 gphonearena.com. The body uses a surgical‑grade stainless steel frame with a textured matte glass back, which feels premium but adds heft. TechAdvisor notes that the 13 Pro Max is “slightly thicker and heavier than its predecessor” and has a 20 % smaller Face ID notch along with new colours.
Real‑world comfort depends on your hand size. If you often use two hands, the 13 Pro Max’s slab‑like design feels secure; if you prefer one‑handed use, the smaller iPhone 13 Pro may be more manageable. Despite the bulk, the 13 Pro Max’s wider frame is ideal for watching videos, gaming or reading. Many users pair the phone with a protective case to improve grip and protect the protruding camera housing.
Display: Bright, sharp and adaptive
The star of the 13 Pro Max is its 6.7 inch Super Retina XDR OLED display. PhoneArena measured an impressive 1,050 nit peak brightness, higher than Apple’s 1,000 nit claim, and praised its color accuracy with low Delta‑E valuesphonearena.com. The display offers crisp 2778 × 1284 resolution with 458 ppi density and support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
A big upgrade over the iPhone 12 series is ProMotion, Apple’s 120 Hz adaptive refresh technology. It dynamically adjusts the refresh rate between 10 Hz and 120 Hz depending on your content, delivering silky‑smooth scrolling and gameplay while conserving battery. For example, when reading static text, the refresh rate drops to 10 Hz; when playing a game like Genshin Impact, it ramps up to 120 Hz for smooth animations. This not only improves the user experience but also extends battery life.
Notch, Face ID and MagSafe
Apple shrunk the Face ID notch by 20 %, giving you slightly more screen real estate. Face ID remains fast and secure. The back of the phone supports MagSafe—a ring of magnets for wireless charging and accessories. A larger camera bump compared with the 12 Pro Max means the phone doesn’t sit flat on a table, but it also increases lens quality. The magnets align perfectly with Apple’s 15 W MagSafe charger, though the large camera module may make certain third‑party accessories wobble.phonearena.com.
Performance and Hardware
A15 Bionic chip and RAM
At the heart of the iPhone 13 Pro Max is Apple’s A15 Bionic chip with a 6‑core CPU (two high‑performance cores and four efficiency cores) and a 5‑core GPU. Although newer chips like the A17 Pro now exist, the A15 remains powerful for 2025 tasks. Benchmark tests show the 13 Pro Max outperforming many Android phones released in 2023. With 6 GB of LPDDR4X RAM, multitasking feels seamless. Demanding games like Call of Duty Mobile run at high frame rates, and editing 4K video is surprisingly smooth.
Storage options and 5G
Apple offered 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB storage tiers. Choosing the right capacity depends on your media habits; 4K ProRes videos consume roughly 6 GB per minute, so creators should look at 512 GB or 1 TB. The phone supports sub‑6 GHz and mmWave 5G, ensuring compatibility with 5G networks worldwide.
Battery capacity, endurance and charging
One of the 13 Pro Max’s defining features is its 4,352 mAh battery—the largest in any iPhone at launch. PhoneArena’s tests found the phone lasted 18 hours 52 minutes of web browsing, 10 hours 23 minutes of video streaming, and 10 hours 29 minutes of gamingphonearena.com. In their general “Battery life” benchmark, it scored 7 hours 38 minutes, beating Android flagships of the time. The site noted that the battery is 50 % bigger than the iPhone XS Max and reported that it’s almost impossible to drain in a day.
Tom’s Guide replicated those findings: in a continuous 5G web‑surfing test at 150 nit brightness, the 13 Pro Max lasted 12 hours 16 minutes, compared with 10:53 on the iPhone 12 Pro Max and 11:25 on Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultratomsguide.com. The publication added that the phone earned a spot on their best phone battery list and praised its all‑day endurance. Consumer Reports’ testers went even further, recording nearly 53 hours on a single charge, noting that the 13 Pro Max became the “undisputed champion of staying power,” surpassing the previous leader by eight hours.
These results mean you can comfortably go through a full day of heavy use—navigating, streaming, gaming and photographing—without battery anxiety. Light users can push the phone through two or even three days before reaching for the charger.
Charging speeds and wired vs wireless
Apple includes only a 20 W USB‑C power adapter, even though the 13 Pro Max supports 27 W peak charging. PhoneArena found that using a third‑party 45 W USB‑C charger topped the battery to 53 % in 30 minutes and reached full charge in 1 hour 40 minutes, compared with 2 hours 02 minutes using Apple’s 20 W brickphonearena.com. Tom’s Guide noted that the phone reaches 50 % in about 30 minutes and requires around 90 minutes for a full charge if you use a 30 W Apple charger.
For wireless charging, the 15 W MagSafe charger takes longer. Tom’s Guide observed that MagSafe is convenient but slower than wired charging and remains capped at 15 W. While many Android flagships now offer 45–65 W charging, the 13 Pro Max’s slower speeds are one of its few weaknesses.
Related link: Our article Smartphone Battery Technology Explained explores how lithium‑ion and emerging solid‑state batteries work and offers charging tips to extend longevity.
Camera System
Triple‑lens hardware
The 13 Pro Max shares its camera system with the 13 Pro: three 12 MP sensors for wide, ultra‑wide and telephoto shots. Apple kept the resolution the same but increased sensor size and widened the apertures, improving low‑light performancephonearena.com. The main 12 MP wide camera has an f/1.5 aperture and sensor‑shift optical image stabilization, while the ultra‑wide lens sports an f/1.8 aperture and delivers a 120° field of view. The new 3× telephoto lens (77 mm equivalent) offers tighter framing for portraits and distant subjects.
Thanks to a minimum focusing distance of 2 cm, the ultra‑wide lens doubles as a macro camera, allowing you to capture close‑ups of flowers, insects or textures. Photographic Styles give you granular control over tone and warmth, enabling you to create custom looks without post‑processing.
Low‑light and night performance
Apple improved Night mode on all cameras. Longer exposures are replaced by shorter, sharper frames with more realistic shadows. PhoneArena noted that Night mode photos retain natural darkness while preserving detail, making low‑light shots look less artificially brightphonearena.com. The bigger sensors, faster apertures and sensor‑shift stabilization result in less motion blur and noise.
Video recording and Cinematic mode
Video remains a strong suit for the 13 Pro Max. The phone records 4K at up to 60 fps, HDR Dolby Vision and 240 fps slow‑motion at 1080p. It also introduces Cinematic mode, which uses shallow depth of field and rack‑focus transitions to mimic professional filmmaking. However, TechAdvisor points out that Cinematic mode is limited to 1080p resolutiontechadvisor.com. For pro users, the phone supports ProRes video (at up to 4K/30 fps on 256 GB and above models), giving editors greater flexibility.
Software and User Experience
iOS 15 at launch and updates to iOS 18
The iPhone 13 Pro Max shipped with iOS 15, which introduced Focus modes to filter notifications, SharePlay for co‑watching content, Live Text for extracting text from photos, and upgrades to FaceTime and Safari. Tom’s Guide highlighted these improvements and suggested iOS 15 made the phone feel more personal and productivetomsguide.com.
Since then, Apple has released iOS 16, iOS 17 and iOS 18. These updates add customizable lock screens, new messaging features like editing/unsending iMessages, improved dictation and transcribed voicemail, and in iOS 18, generative AI features called Apple Intelligence. The 13 Pro Max supports all these updates, ensuring it stays current through at least 2027.
Ecosystem integration
One of the biggest advantages of owning an iPhone is its integration with other Apple devices. With AirPods, you get seamless switching between your phone, Mac and iPad. Apple Watch users can unlock the phone, track workouts, receive haptic notifications and use Apple Pay. AirDrop, Handoff and iCloud keep your photos, notes and documents synced across devices. For users with multiple Apple products, the synergy of the ecosystem is a compelling reason to choose the 13 Pro Max.
For tips on getting more from your iPhone and iPad, read iOS Tips & Tricks: Unlock Top iPhone and iPad Features.
Real‑World Use Cases
Multimedia powerhouse
The 13 Pro Max’s large OLED display and stereo speakers make it ideal for streaming movies and sports. HDR content on Netflix or Disney+ looks vibrant, with deep blacks and lifelike highlights. Gamers benefit from the 120 Hz refresh rate; titles like Asphalt 9 and PUBG Mobile feel responsive and immersive. The long battery life means you can binge‑watch shows or play games on long flights without fear of running out of power.
Photography and videography
Photographers appreciate the flexibility of the triple‑camera array. For example, a travel blogger can shoot sweeping landscapes with the ultra‑wide lens, switch to the wide lens for a street scene, and then zoom in on distant architecture using the 3× telephoto—all without changing lenses. Macro mode lets you capture the texture of a leaf or the details of a watch’s gears from mere centimetres awayphonearena.com. Videographers benefit from Dolby Vision HDR and ProRes; you can film a cinematic short, edit on your iPhone using iMovie or LumaFusion and publish directly to YouTube.
Productivity and remote work
With Apple’s productivity suite (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) and third‑party apps like Microsoft Office and Notion, the 13 Pro Max functions as a mini computer. The large screen accommodates split view and picture‑in‑picture. Battery longevity is excellent for conference calls on Zoom or Teams, and the three‑microphone array delivers clear audio. Combined with 5G connectivity, you can work from cafés or trains without worrying about performance or battery drain.
Pricing and Value
At launch, the iPhone 13 Pro Max started at US$1,099 for 128 GB and climbed to US$1,599 for the 1 TB versionphonearena.com. As of late 2025, Apple and carriers have discounted the phone to around $800–$900 in many markets, making it a strong value compared with the $1,199 price of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Buyers should also consider Apple’s extended software support; even after four years, the 13 Pro Max continues to receive updates, which is uncommon in the Android world.
If you prefer a smaller phone or want to save money, the iPhone 13 Pro offers similar performance and cameras with a smaller 6.1 inch display and battery. On the other hand, the iPhone 15 Pro Max adds a 5× tetraprism telephoto lens, a titanium frame and a USB‑C port, but costs significantly more. Check out our iPhone 15 Pro Max Review for more details.
Pros and Cons at a Glance
Pros
- Incredible battery life: lasts 12 hours 16 minutes in Tom’s Guide’s 5G test and nearly 53 hours in Consumer Reports’ testtomsguide.com.
- Ultra‑smooth 120 Hz ProMotion display with up to 1,050 nit brightness and excellent color accuracy.
- Powerful A15 Bionic chip delivers class‑leading performance and efficient battery use.
- Versatile triple‑camera system with improved low‑light performance, macro mode and ProRes videophonearena.com.
- Strong ecosystem integration with seamless connectivity to other Apple devices.
Cons
- Large and heavy: at 240 g, it may feel unwieldy for small handsphonearena.com.
- Slower charging: still limited to 27 W wired and 15 W MagSafe, lagging behind Android competitorstomsguide.com.
- Expensive at launch: though prices have fallen, it remains pricy compared with some Android flagships.
- No USB‑C port: uses Lightning connector, meaning you need separate cables compared with newer Apple devices.
- Cinematic mode limited to 1080p and some features like ProMotion aren’t supported by all apps.
Comparison with Other iPhone Models and Android Competitors
iPhone 13 Pro vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max
The 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max share the same A15 Bionic chip, camera system and storage options. The main differences are:
- Display size: 6.7 inches vs. 6.1 inches.
- Battery capacity: 4,352 mAh vs. 3,095 mAh; the Pro Max lasts several hours longer.
- Price: The Pro is typically $100 cheaper.
If you prioritise portability, choose the 13 Pro. If you value screen real estate and maximum battery life, the 13 Pro Max is worth the extra cost.
iPhone 13 Pro Max vs. iPhone 14 Pro Max
The iPhone 14 Pro Max introduced the Dynamic Island, a 48 MP main camera, crash detection and minor battery improvements. However, the overall experience is similar; the A16 chip is only marginally faster. Unless you need the 48 MP sensor or Dynamic Island, the 13 Pro Max offers better value.
iPhone 13 Pro Max vs. Android flagships (2023–2025)
Many Android flagships now offer faster charging, higher‑resolution cameras and USB‑C ports. For example, Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra charges at 45 W, has a 200 MP main sensor and includes an S Pen. Google’s Pixel 8 Pro excels in computational photography and features AI tools like Magic Eraser. However, these phones often receive only three years of OS updates, while Apple provides at least five. The choice comes down to priorities—battery life and ecosystem versus charging speed and customizable software.
For a comprehensive comparison of the latest Apple and Android flagships, see our iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. Android Flagships article.
Step‑by‑Step Guides and Tips
How to maximise battery life on the iPhone 13 Pro Max
- Enable Low Power Mode: Go to Settings → Battery and toggle Low Power Mode when battery drops below 20 %. This reduces background activity and screen refresh rate.
- Turn off 120 Hz temporarily: If you need to conserve power, go to Settings → Accessibility → Motion and disable Limit Frame Rate. This caps the refresh rate at 60 Hz.
- Manage background app refresh: In Settings → General → Background App Refresh, turn off refresh for non‑essential apps. Reducing background activity saves energy.
- Use Wi‑Fi when available: Wi‑Fi uses less power than cellular data. Connect to trusted Wi‑Fi networks whenever possible.
- Avoid extreme temperatures: Lithium‑ion batteries degrade faster when exposed to high heat or cold. Keep your phone between 0 °C and 35 °C.
- Optimise charging: Use Apple’s 20 W or higher‑rated charger. Stop charging at around 80 % if you don’t need a full battery to reduce wear.
For more detailed strategies, see our Ultimate Guide to Smartphone Battery Optimization, which covers calibration, charging habits and advanced settings.
Macro photography tips
- Activate macro mode automatically: Move your iPhone close to the subject; the camera switches to the ultra‑wide lens automatically. Look for the macro icon in the bottom left to confirm.
- Ensure adequate lighting: Macro shots require good light. Use natural daylight or a small LED ring light to reduce noise.
- Lock focus and exposure: Tap and hold on the screen to lock focus, then slide up or down to adjust exposure.
- Stabilise your shot: Rest your hands on a surface or use a small tripod. Even tiny movements are magnified when shooting at 2 cm.
- Experiment with angles: Move around your subject to capture different textures and backgrounds.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How long does the iPhone 13 Pro Max battery last in real-world use?
Independent tests report ~12h 16m of continuous 5G browsing and up to ~53 hours in mixed-use testing. In everyday use, many users comfortably get two days per charge.
Does the iPhone 13 Pro Max support 120 Hz refresh rate?
Yes. The Super Retina XDR display features ProMotion, dynamically scaling from 10 Hz to 120 Hz for smoother scrolling and efficiency.
Is the camera better than the iPhone 12 Pro Max?
Yes. It adds larger sensors, wider apertures, sensor-shift stabilization, a 3× telephoto, and macro focus (~2 cm) for stronger low-light shots and improved zoom.
Does the iPhone 13 Pro Max have USB-C?
No. It uses the Lightning connector. Charging tops out around 27 W wired and up to 15 W with MagSafe.
Is Cinematic mode available on this phone?
Yes. Cinematic mode enables rack-focus effects for video (on iPhone 13 Pro Max at up to 1080p resolution).
How does it compare with newer iPhones?
Newer models (e.g., 15 Pro Max) add a 5× tetraprism zoom, titanium frame, USB-C, and the A17 Pro chip. If you don’t need those upgrades, the 13 Pro Max remains excellent value.
Will the iPhone 13 Pro Max receive future iOS updates?
Yes. As of 2025 it runs iOS 18. Historically, iPhones receive ~5–6 years of major iOS updates, so support will likely extend through about 2027.
Conclusion
The iPhone 13 Pro Max remains one of the most well‑rounded smartphones available in 2025. Its combination of a bright 6.7 inch 120 Hz display, incredible battery life, versatile cameras and super‑fast A15 Bionic chip means it still outperforms many mid‑range and even some flagship devices. The phone’s two‑day battery life and record‑breaking endurance make it perfect for travelers, gamers and anyone who values longevitytomsguide.com.
However, the 13 Pro Max isn’t for everyone. Its large size and hefty weight may deter users with smaller hands. The lack of USB‑C and relatively slow charging show its age. If you need the latest features like a 5× telephoto lens or USB‑C, consider the 15 Pro Max or 16 Pro Max. For many buyers, though, the discounted price and proven reliability of the 13 Pro Max make it a smart buy.
For more insights into Apple’s ecosystem and other smartphone reviews, explore these FrediTech articles:
With its outstanding battery life, excellent display and reliable cameras, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is a great choice for users who want a premium iPhone experience without paying top dollar for the latest model. Whether you’re upgrading from an older device or considering the 13 Pro Max as your first iPhone, this flagship still delivers where it matters most.
Author: Written by Wiredu Fred — technology writer and founder of FrediTech. Wiredu Fred has reviewed smartphones, laptops and wearable technology for more years. His in‑depth guides combine hands‑on testing with insights from industry experts and reputable publications. His work has been published on FrediTech and other tech platforms.