Apple iPhone XS vs iPhone 15 Pro Max
53 out of 100
VS
91 out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.8-inch Apple iPhone XS (with Apple A12 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2018, against the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A17 Pro and came out 5 years and 1 month after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XS
- Weighs 44 grams less
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.8 mm narrower
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
- Delivers 181% higher peak brightness (1780 against 633 nits)
- Shows 96% longer battery life (31:37 vs 16:06 hours)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Comes with 1783 mAh larger battery capacity: 4441 vs 2658 mAh
- 2.1x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1571K versus 738K)
- Has a 0.9 inch larger screen size
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A17 Pro
- The phone is 5 years and 1 month newer
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 5.8 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1125 x 2436 pixels | 1290 x 2796 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 458 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 625 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Touch sampling rate | 120 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 81.1% | 89.8% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 98.8% | 99.8% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 4.4 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 143.6 mm (5.65 inches) | 159.9 mm (6.3 inches) |
| Width | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) | 76.7 mm (3.02 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) | 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) |
| Weight | 177 g (6.24 oz) | 221 g (7.8 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Silver, Gold, Gray | White, Black, Silver, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A12 Bionic | Apple A17 Pro |
| Max clock | 2490 MHz | 3780 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest - 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex | - 4 cores at 2.11 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 3.78 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Apple A12 GPU | Apple A17 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 1100 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~576 GFLOPS | ~2147.2 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 207549 | 380664 |
| GPU | 203822 | 575404 |
| Memory | 121678 | 267719 |
| UX | 205143 | 347834 |
| Total score | 738192 | 1571621 |
| Samples | [21 tests] | [29 tests] |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 44.8 °C | 47.8 °C |
| Stability | 63% | - |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 59 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5698 | 10006 |
Memory
| RAM size | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 64, 256, 512 GB | 256, 512, 1024 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.2) | iOS 17 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.2) |
| OS size | 11.8 GB | 17.6 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 2658 mAh | 4441 mAh |
| Max charge power | 15 W | 23 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi (10 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 60 min) | Yes (46% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 2:40 hr | 1:49 hr |
| Web browsing | 05:44 hr | 12:36 hr |
| Watching video | 09:44 hr | 22:07 hr |
| Gaming | 03:54 hr | 06:58 hr |
| Standby | 84 hr | 139 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Optical, 5x |
| Flash | Quad LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP | 1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Apple iSight X | Sony IMX803 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" | 1/1.28" |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/1.78 - 2.8 |
| Focal length | 52 mm | 120 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX913 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.4" | 1/3.06" |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 12 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX633 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/2.55" |
| Pixel size | - | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 80 |
| Preview | - | 86 |
| Zoom | - | 142 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 7 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3088 x 2316 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 32 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | - | 145 |
| Video | - | 156 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE |
| USB type | No | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | - | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | eSIM |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 16 | 20 |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2018 | September 2023 |
| Release date | September 2018 | September 2023 |
| Launch price | $1000 | $1199 |
| SAR (head) | 0.99 W/kg | 0.98 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 0.99 W/kg | 0.98 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | - | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
