18 Pro Max 1 Week Review
I’ve had this phone for over a week at this point, and despite how short that sounds, there’s a lot under the hood that I want to discuss! But first and foremost, I’ve upgraded from a 16 Pro Max. As dumb as that may sound, I mostly did it due to performance and thermals. As happy as I was with the 16 Pro Max, the 8GB of RAM and poor thermals really ticked me off. Especially when you live in the south of the US where temperatures regularly go over 100 degrees during the summer combined with the terror of iOS 26, it heavily limited what I was capable of doing. Once they announced the changes during the event, I said screw it and ordered it.
Performance: Despite how speedy the processor on the 16PM already felt, I wasn’t ready for this. This thing flies through anything I throw at it, and those 12GB of RAM make a pretty big difference when it comes to multitasking and general smoothness. Absolutely no complaints here.
Thermals: The addition of an actual vapor chamber has been a night & day difference. Despite the hot temperatures down here in Texas, this thing remains cool to the touch. Despite the fact that Aluminum is inferior in terms of durability, I always wear a case, so functionality > aesthetics imo.
Cellular Speeds: I dunno why, but the 16PM occasionally struggled with cellular connectivity, even when I had a decent amount of bars. But I’ve noticed a big jump in speeds. I do wish the 18 Pro Max got that C2 Modem though.
Battery Life: My previous 16PM had already stellar better life. But to put it simply, I had it charged to 100% yesterday morning. I put over 7 hours of SOT with half the day on cellular only (went on WiFi later in the day), and I went to bed at 12AM with 66% battery left. Battery life is insane.
Cameras: I wish I could say more, but I haven’t gotten many good opportunities to fully utilize the camera system. I will say though, I’m loving the new telephoto. Miles better than the 5x on the 16PM which only had a 12MP sensor, which had a lot of noise most of the time.
Overall, I could not be happier with this phone. Could I have waited another year for the supposed iPhone 20? Yeah. But I’m impatient, so I’ll leave it at that. If you’re upgrading from the 16 Pro Max or older, I think you’ll enjoy this upgrade. I hope this review was useful in any way, so please feel free to share your experience if you’d like!