The iPhone Pro Max is getting all the attention this year, which makes sense.
As usual, it’s the biggest, slickest phone, with the best camera, and it’s got the newest
marquee feature: The Dynamic Island.
It’s also got a newly stabilized selfie camera, an always-on display, and it’s capable
of satellite connectivity.
Plus, for the first time, Apple has ditched a physical SIM card—in the US.
But there’s an old saying: No man is an island, and maybe he should hold off on buying
the fancy phone if he wants one that will actually last.
As we reported earlier, the iPhone 14, thanks to its secretly redesigned interior—it now
opens from both the back and the front, making both the back glass and screen accessible.
It is far and away more repairable.
That said, there are plenty of questions to answer about the Pro Max.
How has the always-on display affected the hardware, for example.
And what’s with the camera bees?
Join us as we tear down Apple’s most hyped phone of the year, and find out.
Speaking of always on, Creative Electron has come through with some incredible imagery,
giving us a peek at that hefty stainless frame, embarrassingly empty SIM reader socket, and
some new front-facing camera magnets.
First up as always, the friendly “do-not-enter” pentalobes.
Heat things up, grab your favorite suction cups and crank this puppy open.
Gotta love a gentle opening, I’m not expecting much new in here, but it’s always good to
watch for surprise cables.
Unlike the vanilla 14 this is exactly the same ol’ process as the iPhones 13.
It’s interesting that Apple left their amazingly innovative new design off of their flagship
phone.
Is it just me or is sliding this pick a bit easier than I remember?
Before long, the Pro Max is an open book.
Well sorta.
You’ve got to remove oodles of screws from this extra large shield—don’t lose track
of them—then the battery and screen cables are safely disconnected.
And here’s what’s behind the fabled Dynamic Island.
Despite the liberated notch and always-on display, there’s not a ton of new on here—most
of the extra tech has already migrated to the phone body—This guy, however, this guy
might be the rumored light folding projector.
I’m sure we’re all desperate to see what’s behind the mysterious plastic block where
the SIM reader should be.
But it seems either adhered or soldered so let’s try to pop the logic board out and
investigate.
The board is tightly paved with connector after connector, and no matter how many screws
I remove we’re getting nowhere fast.
So out comes the upper speaker and the front-facing camera.
Quick detour to admire that newly stabilized selfie cam (ooh ahh) that uses the magnets
we saw in our X-ray.
More screws and...
Yeah still no connector under there, we’re gonna need to go spelunking.
A few more screws and bye bye camera shield.
Out pops the massive camera assembly, these things are even thicker than last year and
give the non-Pro models some serious tilt.
We were also curious about the crazy shaking and rattling flooding social media from these
1500 dollar phones.
We downloaded TikTok and flipped the camera a few times—sure enough, we angered the
bees inside.
It doesn’t happen every time but it’s pretty intense, and with folks watching more
videos than ever on social media this isn’t a great look, by the way the most recent update
doesn’t solve it.
Underneath those cameras, there’s still a big ol’ well in here—that’s not going
to make battery removal any easier than last year.
Speaking of battery, to tackle that let’s first remove the taptic engine and lower speaker.
Man, as much as I love reusable fasteners, this layer cake of hidden screws is a heck
of a puzzle.
Cross your fingers and toes, time to pull out the four battery strips!
Ready?
Oops Oops
Yeahhhh Annnnd close enough.
The 16.68 Wh battery is free, and just as L-shaped as ever.
Finally we can free the mmWave antenna and get this logic board out.
Uh, yep it’s… it’s a box.
These solder points are empty so I’m not likely to damage anything if I just go for
it, so… pop goes the Lego.
This is literally just a plastic spacer to keep the screen supported.
Looking at how dense the logic board is, you’d think Apple would come up with a use for it
beyond a gram of nothing.
How about this pitch: Maybe a little extra storage?
A micro-SD card reader looks right at home.
I for one could use a serious storage bump and I don’t have these memory-hungry 48
MP cameras.
Then again, iCloud is probably too big a money maker…
Okay okay, so what about this whole satellite thing?
Well, first go watch our Satellite Explainer if you haven’t and second, brace yourself,
there’s not a ton to see here in the Pro Max.
Apple’s Satellite functions operate on 2.4 Ghz and since Wi-Fi operates in a similar
range, the antennas haven’t changed much.
The logic board is about the same with two notable exceptions: As expected, the A16 is
here!
And Qualcomm’s much-rumored X65 5G and Satellite chip is also in the house—enabling GlobalStar
SOS.
Only one question remains: What’s the score?
Well, unfortunately for the Pros the vanilla 14 has the best feature: repairability.
Since the 14 Pro line continues with iPhone 13-era construction, their score is stuck
in the past, too.
At 6/10 these Pros aren’t terrible, but being the flashy feature line has left them
stuck with the old layout.
The workhorse 14 is sure to shine with its new design and the Pros of next year will
hopefully benefit from the more advanced design.
Who knows, maybe it’ll even be a feature worth bragging about on stage!