How the Pixel 8 Pro Stacks Up Against the iPhone 15 Pro Max

The iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Pixel 8 Pro are two of the biggest phones on the market right now, and both offer flagship experiences with impressive displays, solid designs, and fantastic performance. But if you’re trying to choose between two of the best phones on the market, how do you pick one over the other? Here’s how the Pixel 8 Pro stacks up against the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Design

The designs on both the Pixel 8 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max haven’t changed much from their predecessors. The iPhone 15 Pro Max still sports the same large rear camera bump, as well as the cutout on the front-facing camera that makes up Apple’s now-iconic Dynamic Island experience.

That’s not to say the 15 Pro Max is a 14 Pro Max copy. The edges are slightly more rounded, and the screen reaches almost all the way to the edge, giving it a curved look at the bezels. Further, Apple has replaced the stainless steel rails with titanium rails, much makes for a lighter device. The signature mute switch found on each and every iPhone has also been replaced with a new Action Button; you can still use it as a mute switch, but you can also program it to perform a variety of functions.

The Pixel 8 Pro, on the other hand, retains the aluminum-glass design seen on previous Pixel devices. The back on the glass has a soft matte feel, so it’s good at keeping fingerprints away. The Pixel 8 Pro also features a camera bump that spreads out across the entirety of the phone’s back, instead of the corner-based bump found on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Both devices sport a 6.7-inch display, so you aren’t losing any screen real estate choosing one over the other, and side-by-side, they both provide vivid and colourful displays. The Pixel is brighter, though, sporting a max of 2,400 nits compared to 2,000 nits on the iPhone. The Pixel also has a slightly higher display resolution, but it’s not a huge difference.

Performance and software

Software, obviously, is where you’ll really see where the phones differ, as the iPhone 15 Pro Max sports Apple’s iOS 17, while the Pixel 8 Pro is running the latest version of Android 14. Both operating systems offer similar features and functionality, like a quick-settings access area, notifications tucked away at the top of the display, and the option to customize the lock and home screens with widgets, folders, and app icons.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max runs on Apple’s A17 Pro chip, the most powerful mobile chipset the company has yet delivered. It’s also the world’s first 3nm mobile chip. The Pixel 8 Pro is also running a custom-made chip, the Google Tensor G3. It’s a 4nm chip, but was built using Samsung technologies. The A17 Pro technically offers better specs on paper, but Google backs up its lower specs with promises of improved machine learning capabilities. Google has done a lot to make machine learning work for it on the Pixel 8 Pro, but if you care more about raw performance, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has the best on-paper specs. While testing the Pixel 8 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max side-by-side, I didn’t notice much of a difference in how they pull up apps, videos, or games, so you aren’t likely to see much difference between the two in day-to-day usage.

The Pixel 8 Pro has 12GB of RAM compared to the 8GB RAM of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but again, it isn’t something you’ll really notice during normal daily usage. There’s also a lot depending on software here: Apple is known for being able to get a lot more performance out of less RAM, so time will tell whether the Pixel 8’s extra 4GB of RAM will make the difference in the long term.

Speaking of long term, it’s important to look at how long these manufacturers will support their devices. Google promises seven years of software support for the Pixel 8 Pro, which means it’ll last until 2030 before it receives its last update. The iPhone, on the other hand, doesn’t have a set number of years of support. Judging by recent history, we might expect five to six years of support, which would see its last update in late 2028 or 2029, most likely. It all depends on where Apple draws the line, though. At the end of the day, the Pixel and iPhone are the two most supported smartphone lines on the market.

Cameras

Cameras are a major part of your smartphone purchase, and for many, having the biggest and best camera is important. Luckily, both the Pixel 8 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro offer similar camera experiences, though the Pixel does pull ahead thanks to Google’s machine-learning systems.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max sports a 48MP rear camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 5X periscope camera. The main camera also features customizable focal lengths of 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm. The cameras here are solid, providing great pictures with tons of detail.

The Pixel 8 Pro offers a 50MP main camera as well as an ultra-wide camera with a 48MP sensor. Again, the cameras on both of these devices are going to offer great detail and photo quality, though the Pixel 8 Pro have Google’s special features like Magic Eraser, which lets you easily remove people or objects from your phones with ease.

You really can’t go wrong, though, and if you’re choosing a smartphone just for the camera, you’re going to have a difficult time choosing between the two.

Battery

The iPhone 15 Pro Max and Pixel 8 Pro both sport large batteries capable of offering more than a day’s worth of juice. The Pixel 8 Pro has a 5,050 mAh battery, and Google says it should last throughout the day before needing to be charged. Apple claims up to 29 hours of battery life on the iPhone 15 Pro Max when using video playback, but having used both devices in real-world situations, you’ll be putting both of them on the charger by the end of the day if you look at your phone a lot. (And who doesn’t?)

Bottom line: iPhone or Pixel?

So which you should pick, the iPhone 15 Pro Max or the Pixel 8 Pro? Ultimately, both devices offer very good performance and high quality cameras, as well as great software. If you’re stuck choosing between the two, then I’d recommend deciding whether you’d rather use Android or iOS for the next few years. If you already own a few Apple devices, then getting the iPhone 15 Pro Max makes the most sense. But if you’re more of an Android person, then the Pixel 8 Pro is a fantastic device that gives you the best Google has to offer, and it’s only going to get better as Android continues to receive new updates over the coming years.