iPhone 15 Pro Max vs OnePlus 11: Does the Android juggernaut stand a chance?

Apple's wildly anticipated "Wonderlust" event concluded with the crown jewel iPhone 15 Pro Max being showcased at the event. With a fresh new titanium design and contoured edges, a USB Type-C port, a new 5X periscope camera, and a customizable Action Button, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is a major upgrade in comparison with previous large iPhones. Without the shadow of a doubt, it's shaping up to be one of the best phones of 2023.

Can the OnePlus 11, the latest flagship by the 'never-settling' company, hold a candle to the top iPhone? It's a notable Android phone, for sure, but lacks the big-brand name of, say, Samsung and Google. Still, it offers tremendous value and could be a very decent buy, but… How does it compare to the iPhone?

iPhone 15 Pro at Walmart: preorder and save with a Verizon subscription

If you're looking for more power, we suggest you consider Walmart's preorder offer on the incredible iPhone 15 Pro. This smartphone can be bought with a carrier subscription to Verizon for just $26.37/mo, saving you a total of $100.

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AT&T-locked iPhone 15 Pro: preorder and save at Walmart

The incredible iPhone 15 Pro is also available with a subscription to AT&T. The device is available for $26.37 a month over 36 installments. In total, your savings amount to $100. This is the 128GB version of the device.

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The iPhone 15 Pro Max is available for preorder at Walmart with a Verizon subscription

Don't miss out on the chance to preorder Apple's newest and most capable smartphone yet for just $31.92/mo at Walmart. To get the iPhone 15 Pro Max at that price, you just need to subscribe to Verizon or upgrade. Your total savings through this preorder deal amount to $100.

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AT&T-locked iPhone 15 Pro Max is available for preorder at Walmart

An AT&T-locked version of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is available for preorder at Walmart. The device sells for $31.92/mo over 36 installments, saving you as much as $100 in total. This is the 256GB configuration of the Apple smartphone. Currently, all colors are available.

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The iPhone 15 Pro Max retains the 6.7-inch display size of most of its predecessors, but is actually slightly smaller than its immediate predecessors. The new device is slightly narrower, slightly shorter, but thicker than its predecessor. Not a major difference that you might notice, but enough to render your iPhone 14 Pro Max cases obsolete. 

The OnePlus 11 is taller, and but narrower and thinner, not to mention that its more rounded corners make for an even more ergonomic experience.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a titanium frame, which is lighter but more robust than a stainless steel one. As another plus, titanium wouldn't hold any grimy fingerprints that will make your premium phone feel, well, 'un-premium'. The edges are slightly sloped and contoured, making for an ergonomic usage. Aside from this major change of build materials, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the same ol' candy-bar phone.

Two 'firsts' for Apple, though: the mute switch, a signature iPhone feature, is getting substituted for a customizable Action Button, probably quite similar to the one on the Apple Watch Ultra. Although uncertain, we suppose that this Action Button could be used to switch between iOS Focus modes, like enabling or disabling various iPhone features and possibly even your custom shortcuts. Great for customization freaks!

Another change that's coming is the willy-nilly move to USB Type-C at the bottom, which was commanded by EU legislation in 2022. The new port will succeed the Lightning port of old on all iPhone 15 models, but rumors claim that the iPhone 15 Pro Max will have an edge when it comes to data throughput speeds. 

Meanwhile, the OnePlus 11 employs a similar 6.7-inch display, but thanks to its slightly curved and svelte design, it feels more compact than its large display would suggest. Yes, despite its large footprint, using the OnePlus 11 is a joy, as it leaves the impression of a much smaller device. 

This aluminum/Gorilla Glass 5 sandwich employs a signature OnePlus hardware feature, the three-way ring switcher, which is a favorite of ours. Sadly, you can't customize it, but it's a fool-proof feature anyways. The OnePlus 11 also comes with a USB Type-C port at the bottom, but it's limited to merely USB 2.0 speeds, which is slow as per 2023 standards.  

Тhe iPhone 15 Pro Max is an IP68-rated device, making it fully resistant to prolonged exposure to dust and water. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 11 is an IP64-rated phone. This means that it will survive occasional splashes, but you should do your best to keep it as far away from water as possible. 

Colors-wise, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is coming in Natural Titanium, Black Titanium, Blue Titanium, and White Titanium, all of which are extremely classy and have that premium metal finish. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 11 comes in just two colors: Eternal Green and Titan Black. 

The iPhone 15 Pro Max comes with what we perceive as the same display as the one on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. No issues with that, as this one was among the best displays on a phone, with superb colors, excellent contrast, and humbling maximum brightness, potentially hitting levels above 2,000 nits. We are talking about a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with HDR capabilities, a super-smooth 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, and finally, the Dynamic Island punch-hole on top. 

Meanwhile, the OnePlus 11 also harbors a 6.7-inch OLED display, which has equally vibrant and nice-to-look-at colors. With its LTPO 3.0 display that can automatically switch between 1Hz and 120Hz refresh rates, making on-screen content feel extremely pleasing to interact with thanks to the smoothness. One aspect of the display that's not up to par with its flagship status is the relative low maximum brightness of the display. You will probably have to squint your eyes at high noon while outside. 

While the iPhone 15 Pro Max will be coming along with Face ID neatly hidden within the Dynamic Island punch-hole. The OnePlus 11 comes with both a 2D picture-based face unlock as well as an optical fingerprint scanner embedded right into the display. It works great, fast and accurate!

The iPhone 15 Pro Max comes with the 3nm Apple A17 Pro chipset, which delivers a 10% uptick in performance in comparison with the Apple A16 Bionic. In terms of graphics, however, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has scored a very decent improvement in graphics crunching, with the added support of hardware ray-tracing.

At the same time, the denser 3nm manufacturing process will most certainly require less power to do its mojo. This means slightly better battery life, though Apple is conservative and gives the same battery life estimates as the iPhone 14 Pro Max! The iPhone 15 Pro Max will also come with 8GB of RAM, and either 256, 512GB of storage, or the range-topping 1TB version. 

On the other hand, the OnePlus 11 comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 on board, the best chip available to Android phones right now. It performs admirably, especially when paired up with OnePlus' lightweight OxygenOS interface, which is based on Android 13. However, during more intensive and power-hungry tasks, the OnePlus 11 might get a little hot and throttle its processor down to cut off the heat.

The OnePlus 11 comes with either 8 or 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and either 128 or 256GB of storage on board. With no hardware expansion options, you are better off considering a cloud-based storage service for extra space. 

The iPhone 15 Pro Max will ship with iOS 17. The phone will be supported for at least five years, so at least till 2028. The OnePlus 11 will be getting four years of major Android updates, as well as five years of security support. 

Apple hosted their very fascinating and intriguing WWDC 2023 developer meeting in early June 2023. As with every year, all of the new software goods and functions that will be making their way to an Apple device near you this autumn were showcased, including some fascinating additions that will be making their way to Apple's software in the fall.

In case you’ve missed the news, iOS 17 will include significant improvements to the essential Phone, Messages, and FaceTime apps, as well as new features such as StandBy, which displays useful information while your phone is charging (both wired and wirelessly), interactive widgets, AirDrop improvements, a new Journal app that will serve as your digital diary, and enhanced keyboard autocorrect.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max comes with a 48MP camera with lots of improvements, including new Photonic Engine and Smart HDR that should deliver better-looking photos. Improved low-light photography, as well as automatic portraiture also improve the iPhone 15 Pro Max's image-capturing capabilities. 

The OnePlus 11 boasts a 50MP wide-angle camera with a Sony IMX890 sensor with f/1.8 aperture and tuned by legendary camera company Hasselblad. It produces very decent photos, with great saturation, contrast-y look, and very decent low-light performance. 

The big difference, however, stems in the telephoto cameras of the two phones. The iPhone 15 Pro Max arrives with a 5X periscope camera, which allows you to zoom further than what the 32MP 2X telephoto of the OnePlus 11. 

The ultra-wide camera of the iPhone 15 Pro Max remains the same as the 12MP unit we found on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, but it has scored better autofocus. The same applies to the FaceTime camera up front. 

In terms of video-recording, the OnePlus 11 supports 8K video at 24fps. Apple hasn't added such a high-res video-recording to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but has improved video recording by allowing you to take 4K@60fps ProRES video. 

The iPhone 15 Pro Max will likely be another exceptional device when it comes to audio playback from the built-in speakers, similarly to its predecessors. We expect rich bass and great depth from the bottom-firing loudspeaker and the earpiece. 

The OnePlus 11 comes with dual sub-magnets and the NLC low-frequency algorithm, which are some pretty fancy words that depict a very capable stereo sound system. The OnePlus 11 sounds great, with noticeably improved audio quality in comparison with its OnePlus 10 Pro predecessor. 

When it comes to haptic feedback, the OnePlus 11 has one of the largest vibrator motors around, and it would be understatement to say that it delivers excellent haptic feedback. It has precise vibrations that feel exceptionally pleasing. 

iPhones traditionally have excellent haptic feedback, and we expect the iPhone 15 Pro Max to be no different.

Coming with a 4,422mAh battery, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a larger battery than its predecessor, but is far from the 5,000mAh battery units that Android's finest carry around. That's the exact battery size that the OnePlus 11 boasts. s

In our dedicated battery tests, which aim to recreate different usage scenarios and are done in a controlled environment with the displays manually set to 200 nits, the OnePlus 11 is already losing to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, so it's only logical for us to assume an undisputed victory for the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max as well. Remains to be seen by how much exactly.  

The iPhone 15 Pro Max supports up to 20W wired charging speeds as well as MagSafe wireless charging, which caps up at 15W. There are rumors that Apple might actually allow third-party chargers to deliver the same 15W wireless charging speeds that MagSafe is capable of.

Meanwhile, the OnePlus 11 comes with a super-fast 100W charger that allows its battery to fully charge in less than 30 minutes. There's no way the iPhone 15 Pro Max beats that. However, the OnePlus 11 does not support wireless charging. 

How do the iPhone 15 Pro Max vs OnePlus 11 specs compare? Well, we've summed up the essential differences for you in the table right below.

So, with possibly better performance, battery life, and camera performance, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is shaping up to be quite the tough nut for the OnePlus 11 to crack. The upcoming iPhone will definitely be the yardstick that all upcoming (and previous) Android flagships will measure themselves against, so edging a victory for the OnePlus device here would be priceless.

Speaking of price, however, there will seemingly be a very wide rift between the two phones. The OnePlus 11 starts at $699 for its entry-level variation with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. At the same time, the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1199 for the new entry-level 256GB version, which is significantly more expensive than the aggressively-priced Android flagship phone. 

Surely, if you're already locked into the Apple ecosystem, getting this good but foreign device might not be optimal. Although quite more expensive, the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max could be an important new chapter for Apple that will pave the road for multiple important releases in the near future. 

At the same time, the OnePlus 11 is a superb take on a modern Android flagship, with all the essential and with no extraneous stuff. 

Which one should you get? Tough to say. To me, you should shortlist the OnePlus 11 if you fancy Androids, and probably prepare to pay the Apple tax this fall if you're entrenched in the iOS ecosystem.