An increasingly common tactic in a lot of industries, not just smartphones, is to create an “ultra-premium” product. Most of your customers won’t be able to afford it, but the ones who can will more than make up for it. In the free-to-play game industry, these people are known as “whales.” You might not be spending anything on your own Fortnite account, but the family next door is keeping the lights on at Epic by buying hundreds of dollars in character skins.
Apple has a few ultra-premium products, none more important at the moment than the iPhone 17 Pro Max. I’ll let you in on a secret, however — I’ve never bought a Pro Max, despite being both a long-term iPhone user and a tech journalist. There are a few reasons why, all of which should probably point you towards a 17 or 17 Pro unless money is no object.
The batteries in other iPhones are good enough
For most users, anyway
There are two key selling points to Max models: the biggest screen and the biggest battery. I’ll get to the screen tech in a minute, but as for battery life, I’ve never had an incident where other iPhones couldn’t make the cut. I might’ve had to put my phone into Low Power Mode for a while, or use a portable battery pack, but that was enough to make it to a charger with a bit of juice to spare.
Let’s look at the hard numbers for the current generation. The iPhone Air has the weakest battery life, rated for 27 hours of non-stop video playback — in practical reality, enough to get most people to the end of the day, albeit running on fumes sometimes. The iPhone 17 does better at 30 hours, while the 17 Pro and Pro Max deliver 33 and 39 hours, respectively. Chances are that the base iPhone 17 will be more than enough, since even my 16 Pro is supposedly no better than the Air.
There are only a handful of cases where a Max’s battery life might legitimately be necessary. One is if you’re an international traveler who can go an entire day without meaningful time to charge. Alternately, you might be a service technician (or other professional) using their device for work, or a resident of a disaster-prone area who can’t guarantee how long the power will be out. Even under those circumstances, a MagSafe battery might be the most practical approach.
A strange middle-ground
The huge display on a Max is obviously the first thing you notice, and I’m not immune to its appeal. It makes some text-based tasks easier, such as typing, web browsing, or checking email and social media. If you watch video on a regular basis, more real estate is always welcome — although you’ll never appease the spirit of David Lynch.
My issue is that it’s often a marginal gain, based on my hands-on time. You’re still well short of the room on an 8.3-inch iPad mini, let alone a full-sized iPad, so it’s not like you’ll be cranking out work assignments with nothing more than your phone and a Bluetooth keyboard. Apple doesn’t even support multiple app windows on Maxes, which you’d think would be natural given that it’s been an option for years on similarly-sized Samsung devices. Who knows, maybe that will change after iOS 27 and the first foldable iPhone.
There might be something to be said for people who find phones hard to read and type on in general, but iPhones have been growing in size for a long time. You can’t buy a new one that measures less than 6.1 inches, and most are now 6.3. If you’re still having trouble, you’ll probably be better served by tweaking iOS’s accessibility settings.
The size can be a drawback
Holy gigantic phone, Batman
Usually, I’m not one to complain about the size of phones, tablets, or laptops. I’ve got reasonably-sized hands, and given that my main hobby is weightlifting, it would be ridiculous if I couldn’t handle a mobile device for a few minutes. With a Max, however, pocketability is a legitimate concern. I sometimes fumble a bit putting my 16 Pro into my pocket and taking it out — something the size of a 17 Pro Max would ensure that happens a lot more. And I’m a man, lucky enough to have large pockets on most of my clothes. Women sometimes get tiny pockets, if any. Solidarity, sisters.
I actually should take a second to acknowledge the significance of weight for other people. A 17 Pro Max might only be 8.22 ounces (233 grams), yet for some, that’s still going to be enough to make it uncomfortable to hold for long stretches of time. If you’ve had issues with the dimensions of other smartphones in the past, I strongly recommend testing the Max for a few minutes the next time you’re at an Apple Store or other electronics retailer. Trust your instincts if it feels awkward.
It’s about what you can do, not just how you do it
Something that might surprise some of you is that, in a way, I regret buying a 16 Pro. Not for its specs — the phone is great, the usefulness of its telephoto camera aside. Rather, it’s that the regular iPhone 16 is good enough that I might’ve got more out of spending the savings elsewhere, like a set of AirPods Pros, or a second MagSafe charger. The main thing I enjoy about the 16 Pro is its always-on display, which isn’t that special now that AOD tech is stock on every iPhone 17.
Yes, it’s pleasant to stare at a big display and never worry about battery life, but that might not make you much happier or more productive.
A running theme of every point I’ve made here is that you need to consider a Max’s value to you in real-world situations. Yes, it’s pleasant to stare at a big display and never worry about battery life, but that might not make you much happier or more productive. Conversely, you will notice an accessory that lets you do something you weren’t able to before, or which removes some sort of pain point.
I’d argue that a lot of 17 Pro Max buyers would be better off getting the base 17 and putting the rest of the cash towards an Apple Watch SE or Series 11, if they don’t already have a smartwatch. Being able to check notifications from your wrist is liberating, and I’ve heard too many anecdotes of people successfully using an Apple Watch to get in shape. You’ll feel a lot better about yourself in a year for closing your rings every day than you will for having something slightly bigger to watch TikTok on.
