iPhone 15 Pro Max camera: After 1,000 photos, it’s still missing something

What many people are calling a slow year of progress for the iPhone 15 lineup couldn’t be further from the truth for the iPhone 15 Pro Max camera. Aside from using the word “lenses” willy-nilly, there are more frame options this year thanks to additional digital lenses and a dedicated 5x telephoto lens. The video quality is now the best you can get on a smartphone, and it even offers ProRes record output. Photos of people at night have improved dramatically. One software trick allows you to add a blur effect in portrait mode after taking the photo. These are some small changes that make the photography experience better, but as a professional photographer, there is still a missing piece.

Every year, I set out to take 1,000 photos using the latest smartphone camera systems. This year, I had the opportunity to take my “Full Frame” YouTube series on the road to Southern California, where I tested the iPhone 15 Pro Max. I did everything they tell you not to do in the desert, including off-roading with a rental car, hiking in the middle of the day, and climbing sand dunes at night. But I went home with over 1,500 photos and videos from what is surely Apple’s best camera system yet.

Here are 10 favorite photos I took with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but check out the video for more samples and to see the one thing Apple left out of this system wrong.