The iPhone XS Max has just had its 6-month
anniversary, and we’re gonna go in-depth
with which features and changes made our experience
with it really special, as well as some of
the features that turned out to be gimmicks.
Compared to the iPhone X, the regular XS isn’t
really much different, and to be honest, it’s
not worth the upgrade.
Now the XS Max is where things get pretty
interesting.
The 6.5” display is truly incredible.
It makes the UI wider and it’s so immersive
compared to the smaller size.
The notch did stay the exact same size, but
since the screen is much larger, it seems
so much smaller now and it’s not as distracting
anymore.
The display itself is pretty awesome.
It won DisplayMate’s best display of the
year award, but the Galaxy S10 is coming and
the display is probably better.
We’ll be doing a comparison as soon as we
get our S10 tomorrow so make sure to sub now
to see that!
After 6 months of using the XS Max without
a case, it’s now got a bunch of micro scratches
on the stainless steel band, especially on
the top, but you can easily polish them out.
I recommend using a tempered glass screen
protector since Max’s iPhone got a couple
of scratches on it within the first couple
of days.
I’ve had mine on since I bought it, and
it hasn’t chipped or cracked once.
I’ll have a link to it in the description
below.
It’s only been 6 months since I switched
from an iPhone 8 Plus, and I’m already used
to all of the gestures.
My absolute favorite is swiping left and right
on the home bar to switch between apps.
It’s so much quicker than using Touch ID.
I still use cable charging more than wireless,
since the battery life is so great that I
simply plug it into the wall every night before
bed.
The difference in battery life coming from
the iPhone X is massive.
The XS Max seems to last forever and anyone
hungry for extra battery life should buy the
Max instead of buying one of those silly battery
packs.
Back to wireless charging, it’s great if
you work in an office setting.
Just place your iPhone on a wireless charging
stand and you’ll be going home from work
every day with a completely full battery.
The most annoying thing with about the XS
is that you still get a slow 5W charger in
the box.
It doesn’t really matter for overnight charging,
but if you’re trying to get some quick juice,
it sucks to have to buy additional accessories
for fast-charging.
I’m fairly confident that the 2019 iPhones
will come with Apple’s 18W USB-C power adapter,
so I’m really excited for that!
The speakers are simply incredible, much louder
than the ones in my old 8 Plus, and the stereo
separation is so much better than on other
Android phones.
Face ID is awesome and it works so reliably
now that I don’t miss Touch ID one bit.
I have a friend who refused to upgrade because
of the lack of Touch ID, and when he eventually
did, he got used to it almost instantly and
is now really happy with it.
He only mentioned a couple of downsides where
Face ID won’t work when it’s laying flat
on a table, and it has issues when you’re
laying down.
The new iPad Pro has Face ID and it works
in any orientation, so hopefully, the next
iPhone will be getting this as well.
After a week or two with this phone, I basically
never used Animoji again.
It’s honestly a gimmick, so don’t count
that in your decision-making process.
It’s been over a year since the iPhone X
was released, and there are now tons of apps
that use Face ID for logging in, and I’ve
gotta say it’s so convenient that it changes
the way you’ll use your phone forever.
Onto the cameras, portrait selfies are amazing.
They make selfies look countless times better.
However, I basically never use any of the
portrait lighting filters.
They honestly don’t turn out that well.
What I really enjoy is the new adjustable
bokeh feature.
This is an absolute game-changer and I use
this all the time!
This feature alone helps the XS be a significant
step up from the X.
Now the rear cameras are insane.
The dynamic range is incredible and the quality
looks amazing.
I bought my wife an iPhone XS and she’s
been taking awesome-looking photos for her
business.
With a little bit of editing, they can look
somewhat like professional DSLR photos, so
it’s a great investment for any business.
However, there is a problem with it, and that’s
the whole beautygate dilemma.
Photos just look a bit flat and they lack
contrast.
Unfortunately, it’s also the main reason
why the dynamic range is so good, so you can’t
really have the best of both worlds without
editing each photo.
Now let’s talk about performance.
The new 7nm A12 processor gives us a decent
boost in processor performance over the X,
and a massive boost in graphics performance.
This makes playing demanding games like Fortnite
incredibly detailed and smooth, even at 60
frames per second.
However, in basic day-to-day tasks, I honestly
didn’t notice much of a difference coming
from my iPhone 8 Plus.
Both phones are already so powerful that the
UI is perfectly smooth on either phone.
We’ve finally reached the day where we’re
no longer limited by hardware, and any extra
performance is used for shooting better quality
video at higher frame rates and… basically
just flexing.
Realistically, the best part about the iPhone
XS Max is the size.
To be completely honest, if there was only
the smaller iPhone XS this year, I wouldn’t
have upgraded.
The size is really what makes this phone worth
it.
If you still haven’t upgraded and you’re
thinking of doing so, here’s my advice.
If you already have an iPhone X, don’t upgrade
to the iPhone XS.
You won’t feel much of a difference apart
from the camera features, and you’ll ultimately
be disappointed.
Instead, go for the XS Max and you’ll easily
feel where your cash went.
The iPhone XR is also a great option for the
budget-minded, but the display sucks and it’s
really thick compared to the XS.
Now if you’re still using an iPhone with
Touch ID, then the smaller iPhone XS will
be a great upgrade for you.
And if you’ve used and enjoyed the Plus
model of iPhones, then I recommend going with
the XS Max.
And finally, if your current iPhone works
fine, then I would honestly wait it out and
see what Apple’s got in store for us with
their 2019 iPhones.
You can check out that video to see some of
the features we can expect for this year’s
iPhones.
This has been Vadim with Max Tech, thanks
for watching and if you enjoyed this video,
make sure to hit that sub button before you
leave.
