We put the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max through our rigorous SBMARK Display test suite to measure its performance across four criteria. In the results of this test, we will analyze how it performed in a series of tests and in several common use cases.
Overview
Key display specifications
- 6.9-inch OLED (screen-to-body ratio ~92.3%)
- Dimensions: 163.0 x 77.6 x 8.25 mm (6.42 x 3.06 x 0.32 inches)
- Resolution: 1320 x 2868 pixels, (density ~460 ppi)
- Aspect ratio: 19.5:9
- Refresh rate: 120Hz
Pro
- Colors are pleasing and accurate both inside and out
- Videos are well rendered indoors, in both HDR and SDR
- Readable in indoor and outdoor conditions
Against
- Luminance and contrast are low under certain conditions, affecting readability
- The average brightness of HDR10 and SDR videos is not consistent
- Unwanted palm touches are common when holding the device in landscape orientation
The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max display showed impressive all-round performance in our protocol.
One of the most impressive features of the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max display was its color accuracy. Whether you’re inside or outside, the colors stayed true to life. This makes it a great choice for anyone who values precise color representation, especially when the True Tone option is disabled.
The device offered adequate brightness levels in both indoor and outdoor environments, and achieved a peak luminance in sunlight of 2,268 cd/m2 (high brightness mode). While the iPhone 16 Pro Max may not reach the peak brightness of some of its competitors, it still performed well in challenging conditions.
Watching videos on the iPhone 16 Pro Max in indoor conditions was particularly comfortable, with exceptional rendering of SDR and HDR video content, vibrant and well detailed.
One downside of the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max was the automatic brightness adjustment in low light conditions. Compared to previous models and competitors, brightness levels were lower, which can negatively impact the experience of viewing web content, photos, and videos. In these situations, contrasts appeared flat and colors appeared washed out, despite an increase in color saturation. Users may want to manually adjust the brightness level to improve rendering based on their preferences.
While the device generally offered a smooth and responsive touch experience, it had some issues. Accidental touches from the palm occurred while holding the phone in landscape mode, which could be frustrating during video playback. Additionally, when you hold the phone with one hand and tap the Camera Control button, the touchscreen occasionally becomes unresponsive.
Overall, the screen quality of the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max was impressive, especially in terms of color accuracy and video playback. Despite some minor drawbacks, the device remains a strong contender in the ultra-premium category.
Additionally, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has earned the SBMARK Eye Comfort label, meaning the display’s flicker-free, well-controlled luminance, as well as color consistency and effective blue light filtering make it visually comfortable for use in low light conditions.
Test summary
About SBMARK display tests: For scoring and analysis, a device is subjected to a series of objective and perceptual tests under controlled laboratory and real-life conditions. The SBMARK Display Score takes into account the overall user experience provided by the screen, considering hardware capability and software optimization. Only factory-installed video and photo apps are used during testing. More in-depth details on how SBMARK tests displays can be found in the article “A Closer Look at SBMARK Display Testing.”
The following section focuses on the key elements of our comprehensive testing and analysis performed in SBMARK laboratories. Comprehensive reports with detailed performance evaluations are available upon request. To order a copy, contact us.
How the display readability score is composed
Readability evaluates the user’s ease and comfort in viewing stationary content, such as photos or a web page, on the display under different lighting conditions. Our measurements performed in laboratories are complemented by perceptual tests and analyses.
Skin tone rendering in an indoor environment (1000 lux).
From left to right: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, Honor Magic6 Pro
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
Skin tone rendering in a solar environment (>90,000 lux).
From left to right: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, Honor Magic6 Pro
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
SCI stands for Specular Component Included, which measures both diffuse reflection and specular reflection. The reflectance of a simple glass plate is around 4%, while it reaches around 6% for a plastic plate. Although the first surface of smartphones is glass, their total reflectance (uncoated) is usually around 5% due to multiple reflections created by the complex optical stack.
The average reflectance is calculated based on the spectral reflectance in the visible spectrum range (see graph below) and human spectral sensitivity.
Uniformity
This graph shows the luminance distribution across the entire display panel. Uniformity is measured with a 20% gray pattern, with bright green indicating ideal luminance. An evenly distributed bright green color across the screen indicates that the display brightness is uniform. Other colors indicate a loss of uniformity.
Displays flicker for 2 main reasons: refresh rate and pulse width modulation. Pulse width modulation is a modulation technique that generates pulses of variable width to represent the amplitude of an analog input signal. This measurement is important for comfort because low-frequency flickering can be perceived by some individuals and, in more extreme cases, can induce seizures. Some experiments show that discomfort can occur more frequently. A high PWM frequency (> 1500 Hz) tends to disturb users less.
How the display color score is composed
Color evaluations are performed under different lighting conditions to see how well the device handles color with its surroundings. The devices are tested with sRGB and Display-P3 image models. Both faithful mode and default mode are used for our evaluation. Our measurements performed in laboratories are complemented by perceptual tests and analyses.
Circadian action factor is a metric that defines the impact of light on the human sleep cycle. It is the ratio between the light energy that contributes to sleep disturbances (centered around 450 nm, representing blue light) and the light energy that contributes to our perception (covering 400 nm to 700 nm and centered at 550 nm, which is green light). A high circadian action factor means that the ambient light contains strong blue light energy and is likely to affect the body’s sleep cycle, while a low circadian action factor means that the light has weak blue light energy and is less likely to affect sleep patterns.
How the Display Video score is composed
The video attribute evaluates the handling of Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) and High Dynamic Range (HDR10) video in indoor and low-light conditions. Our measurements performed in laboratories are complemented by perceptual tests and analyses.
HDR video rendering in a low light environment (0 lux).
Clockwise from top left: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, Honor Magic6 Pro
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
HDR video rendering indoors (1000 lux).
Clockwise from top left: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, Honor Magic6 Pro
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
These indicators present the percentage of frame irregularity in a 30-second video. These irregularities are not necessarily perceived by users (unless they are all with the same timestamp) but are an indicator of performance.
How the Display Touch score is composed
We evaluate touch attributes in many types of content where touch is critical and requires different behaviors such as gaming (fast touch and response times), web (smooth page scrolling), and images (accurate and smooth navigation from image to image). other ).
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