In-depth iPhone 15 Pro Max camera review: native 24MP capture and 5x lens represent one of the biggest camera upgrades in iPhone's history for everyday users
Later coverage of the iPhone 16 Pro’s camera and capture controls suggests Apple continued to build the Pro camera proposition through both image quality and shooting workflow improvements.
First-order effects
iPhone 15 Pro Max users gain higher-resolution native 24MP capture for routine photos and a 5x lens for more distant subjects, changing the phone’s default photographic range rather than adding a niche mode.
The camera becomes a more concrete differentiator for the Pro Max tier, with the review framing these two features as a major practical upgrade.
Second-order effects
Competing premium phones face a higher bar on the combination of default image detail and long-lens usability, rather than on isolated camera specifications.
Apple’s next camera iterations can build on this baseline through usability and capture controls, as reflected in the later 16 Pro camera review.
Third-order effects
If this progression persists, premium-phone camera competition will increasingly be decided by how well hardware improvements work in everyday defaults, not simply by the number of lenses or headline modes.
The Pro tier may become more closely defined by end-to-end capture capability—image quality, reach, and controls—while standard models retain a narrower camera proposition.
The trend: Smartphone makers are turning flagship cameras into integrated everyday capture systems, combining higher-quality defaults with more specialized optics and controls.
It's here, folks: the annual iPhone camera review. — Most say it's an evolutionary step — my experiences were a bit more complicated than that. https://www.lux.camera/...
Alongside a big Halide update that takes full advantage of the Action Button, we have a long, detailed review of the iPhone 15 Pro! https://www.lux.camera/...
It's that time of the year again: here's @sdw's iPhone 15 Pro Max camera review. Is it a minor update, or actually a rather big change? — Dig in: https://www.lux.camera/...
I've added a few more photos to the review. Some correctly pointed out the lack of Portrait mode comparisons — I will be doing a separate post about that later this year, when I can use it side-by-side with iPhone 15 Pro.
The new 5x camera on the iPhone 15 Pro max is REALLY impressive. This is at 15x zoom on both of them. You can easily see the difference, even without further pixel peeping. I also added a photo with additional crop in post. HUGE difference in detail! Bravo, Apple! [image]
This is a fantastic review. IMO these new phones are KILLER for street photography, the new 5X zoom looks great. But for nature & night shots, it just SCREAMS “phone camera” to me still. That being said, arial shots were incredible. It has an iPhone look while being stunning
@SiddB04 You lose a tremendous amount of information if you do not shoot in RAW unfortunately. Whether or not it's worth upgrading really depends on your own personal situation. Would I? Hard to say yet, which makes me lean towards no.
@halidecamera And that's coming from an iPhone 14 Pro, mind you. Nobody upgrades their phone every year. You'd get an iPhone that suddenly does all things camera WAY better. Not just on paper — in practice. Zoom out of an airplane window? Here, individual trees. [image]
I'm a big camera nerd. I shoot @halidecamera, ProRAW, the works. I was snapping 48MP shots for a year. Most users didn't. What they'll see: - Going from 12 to 24 megapixel for all their shots - Effectively doubling their zoom range - Portrait mode is basically always-on [image]
I think the iPhone 15 Pro is probably the biggest step forward in iPhone photography for most users since the addition of a second camera in the iPhone 7 Plus. [image]
@halidecamera Me? I'm left a bit frustrated: Apple doesn't let us devs use what makes this phone so great (24MP capture, special binning modes, night mode). I'm really being humbled by the creative challenge of a 120mm lens. But I'm cheering for how meaningful the progress is thi…