Allow me to address the two elephants in the room from the jump.
In my nearly three weeks testing the new iPhone 15 Pro Max—a blue review unit provided to me by Apple—never once have I encountered any abnormal warmth during usage. Likewise, the blue FineWoven case the company also gave me is as new today as it was the day I took it out of the box and put it on my phone. Contrary to many friends and peers in the reviewer racket, I kinda like Apple’s new replacement for leather.
With those important disclaimers established, it’s worth noting Apple also sent me a green regular iPhone 15. However monogamous I may be to the Max-sized phone for its large screen and better cameras, I will admit to experiencing more than a few moments of desire for the smaller 15 model due to its more pocketable and lightweight physique. As is my wont, however, consistency and continuity ultimately won out and I’ve adopted the 15 Pro Max as my daily driver for nearly the last month.
Coming from my year-old 14 Pro Max, there isn’t much different between the two devices at first blush. Take a minute to dig deeper, though, and there’s lots of noteworthy, highly appreciable changes.
However trite, the 15 Pro Max truly is the most accessible iPhone yet.
There are two primary reasons: the titanium body and the Action button.
As to the former, the 15 Pro Max’s titanium body has a substantial effect on overall heft. Compared to the stainless steel build of my personal 14 Pro Max, the 15 Pro Max feels considerably lighter in hand. Although both objects’ volume is similar in that they both feel like miniature aircraft carriers in my pocket, the weight offsets it such that it’s much less of an unwieldy experience overall. In my last few reviews, I’ve compared to choosing the iPhone Plus/Max models to a Faustian bargain of sorts: you can have the bigger screen and better cameras, but you must incur the cost of manipulating a relatively huge object. That comparison remains apt here for the most part, but the 15 Pro Max’s noticeable weight loss makes the bargain much more palatable. As someone with both significant visual and motor disabilities, that the 15 Pro Max is so much lighter than its predecessors is delightful. I’ve long since grown accustomed to the size disparity between the Max and regular models, but now I really can have my cake and eat it too.
Regarding the latter, the Action button is arguably the reason to upgrade this year—even from the 14 series. In my brief time with the iPhone 15 Pro phones in the hands-on area following last month’s event, it quickly became clear to me that the Action button would be so compelling, especially to many in the disability community, an otherwise unnecessary year-over-year upgrade could be easily justified. I remember saying that to a slew of reporter friends and peers, as well as Apple employees, following the event, with the majority of the feedback concurring with my sentiment. The Action button is a really big deal.
For many years, I’ve had the side button on previous iPhones mapped to open the system Magnifier app as part of iOS’s Accessibility Shortcut feature. A triple-press of the button launches the magnifier, which I use all the time for everything from reading food labels to restaurant menus to my paper mail and more. It’s worked well for me, although the need to click thrice sometimes is an adventure even with my dominant hand. With the Action button on the 15 Pro Max, the Magnifier app launches with ease and with more urgency too. A firm press on the button launches the Magnifier, which I find vastly preferable to the high-tech version of Dorothy clicking her heels together three times. The end result—launching the Magnifier app—is the same, but it’s the process of getting there that’s been markedly improved. Many iOS power users in the Apple community are excited for the Action button’s ability to launch shortcuts, multiple ones even, which is admirable. For me personally, that Apple gives the option to launch the Magnifier app with the button is worth its weight in gold for someone with low vision. People often talk about how many bespoke electronics the modern smartphone has subsumed; the iPhone 15 (or Pixel 8, for that matter) has replaced tape recorders and digital cameras and calculators and so much more. In a disability context, the effect is that much more profound considering discrete assistive tech like magnifiers can be exorbitantly expensive, not to mention burdensome to carry around, and even unaffordable.
Finally, some cursory thoughts on USB-C and ProMotion. As someone all-in on MagSafe charging, the change from Lightning to USB-C has thus far had no measurable effect on my daily usage. I admit to being tickled last week when I discovered, on a whim, my iPad mini can send power to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Otherwise, the op-ed pieces I’ve posted in recent weeks on USB-C remain as relevant and unflinching as ever. Anyone who reads this column with normal frequency knows I’ve often made the highly nuanced point that convenience and accessibility aren’t the same things. They’re close cousins conceptually, but there is a discernible gulf between them. It’s one thing to have one cable charge all of one’s devices—which, in cognitive terms, is an accessibility aid unto itself—but it’s quite another to struggle with attaining cable oneness because your visual and fine-motor skills lag far behind those of every reviewer and tech YouTuber out there. If you fight to plug your phone in, the mass nerd hysteria over said precious oneness matters not one bit.
Not everyone has the same level of hand-eye coordination.
Which brings me to ProMotion. Like USB-C, I’ve long felt the general tech community, Apple and beyond, has grossly over-indexed the importance of devices having high refresh rate displays. It oftentimes feels like the pundits of the world are more consumed with a spec sheet and defining the “pro” nomenclature rather than consider the actual human effect of, say, ProMotion on iPhones and iPads and MacBooks. Again, this is a nuanced point: I’m not against 120hz displays at a philosophical level, nor do I believe technological progress in this realm should be impeded. What I’m saying is, people need to realize the so-called “need” for ProMotion on, say, the regular iPhone 15 series is overwrought and ignores pragmatism. To my severely impaired eyes, the iPhone 15’s 60hz screen and the 15 Pro Max’s 120hz screen look exactly the same to me. I accept the difference at an intellectual level, but the experience of it is completely lost. The able-bodied tech commentariat should be more empathetic of this beyond shrugging at the notion that “not everyone will notice.” There’s a difference between can’t and won’t.
USB-C and ProMotion notwithstanding, I feel confident in wholeheartedly recommending the iPhone 15 Pro Max. If you’re a disabled person who can cope with the ergonomic requirements—and the price tag, of course—the titanium frame and Action button make this year’s highest-end iPhones Apple’s best and most accessible phones yet.
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