iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 7 Pro: Which premium phone should you buy?

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Deciding between Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max and Google's Pixel 7 Pro is part of a larger question: Should I switch ecosystems?

Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max and Google's Pixel 7 Pro are each company's flagship phone and their best foot forward in representing their respective ecosystems.

After using both phones, it's clear that it would be wrong to compare them on hardware alone, including core aspects like performance, battery life, and cameras. Both companies have different ideas as to what makes a good phone, and both phones excel in different areas.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 7 Pro: Specs

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 7 Pro: Design and screen

You can take one look at the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Pixel 7 Pro to decide whether you like their designs. Both phones offer the premium design and materials you'd expect from a phone in their price range.

One of the biggest differences is each phone's weight, and after some quality time with each phone, it's clear that weight makes a big impact on how comfortable the phone is to use, especially one-handed.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max with its 6.7-inch screen weighs in at 8.47 ounces, and it's one of the heaviest phones I've ever used. It's so heavy, in fact, that I compromise on my preference for larger screens — when I use iPhones as my primary phone, I "downgrade" to the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro for its lighter weight and comfort.

Google's Pixel 7 Pro also has a 6.7-inch screen, and it weighs in at a much lighter 7.5 ounces. It feels more manageable for everyday use while offering a large screen experience.

As for their screens, both phones offer a nearly identical experience with their size, high-quality OLED panels, and 120Hz refresh rates that provide a smooth look when navigating around the phones and apps.

The Pixel 7 Pro offers the option to set its display to 1440p resolution, which is sharper than its default 1080p resolution setting, and sharper than the iPhone 14 Pro Max's 1290p resolution. However, I wouldn't recommend anyone set the Pixel 7 Pro's display to 1440p, as the 1080p default setting is more than sharp enough and it doesn't use up battery life as quickly.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 7 Pro: Performance and longevity

Side by side, the iPhone 14 Pro Max running on Apple's A16 Bionic processor and the Pixel 7 Pro running on Google's Tensor G2 processor generally open and run apps as quickly and smoothly as each other.

However, the iPhone 14 Pro Max scores dramatically higher than the Pixel 7 Pro in benchmark results using the Geekbench 6 and 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test benchmarking apps.

This massive discrepancy makes me concerned for the Pixel 7 Pro's longevity — the number of years the phone will feel snappy and smooth — at least compared to the proven longevity Apple has established with its iPhones.

The Pixel 7 Pro might perform well now. However, based on the benchmark results, its performance will likely become noticeably sluggish much sooner than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

My concerns are exacerbated by Google's comparatively short support window for the Pixel 7 Pro. The company promises to deliver Android version upgrades until October 2025 (three years from release), and security updates until October 2027 (five years from release).

Meanwhile, Apple has shown that it supports iPhones with new versions of the iOS operating system, as well as security updates, for six years. Such a long support window is a testament to the longevity and continued relevance of iPhone models, even when many upgrade iPhones long before they're no longer supported by Apple.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 7 Pro: Cameras

Both the iPhone 14 Pro Max and Pixel 7 Pro sport triple-lens camera systems, including main, ultrawide, and zoom cameras.

Phone makers have different takes on what a good photo should look like, and you can check out some samples below to get a good idea of what kind of photos each phone takes.

Apple's iPhones tend to enhance photo brightness for a pleasing result overall. Meanwhile, Google's Pixel photos have a more natural look with rich, realistic colors and contrast, but at the risk of some photos appearing dark.

The Pixel 7 Pro stuns with its amazing zooming abilities. With its 48-megapixel telephoto lens and 5x optical zoom, the Pixel 7 Pro can take some impressively sharp and detailed photos from a distance. It also offers significantly greater zoom than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which has a 12-megapixel telephoto lens and 3x optical zoom.

As a result of its extra zooming abilities and some clever software tricks from Google, the Pixel 7 Pro can still produce a sharp and detailed photo at higher magnifications, like 10x.

Check out the examples below showing the Pixel 7 Pro's 10x zooming and the iPhone 14 Pro's 10x zooming.

Overall, while both phones take great photos with different styles, I found that the iPhone 14 Pro series delivers more consistent results, and that the Pixel 7 Pro could deliver some disappointing results at times.

The occasionally poor photos from the Pixel 7 Pro aren't enough for me to write it off, but it did show that I could better rely on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 7 Pro: Battery life

The iPhone 14 Pro Max has one of the best results we've seen in our battery life test at 67% remaining. The Pixel 7 Pro didn't impress with its 58% result — we'd expect this kind of result on a smaller phone, like the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, which also ended our test with 58% remaining.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max and Pixel 7 Pro have similar charging speeds between 20 and 30 watts. It's not as fast as Samsung's Galaxy S23 Plus or Galaxy S23 Ultra with their 45W charging speeds, or the stunning 80W charging speeds on the OnePlus 11.

Both phones support wireless charging, which is to be expected. The iPhone 14 Pro Max supports up to 15W wireless charging speeds with MagSafe chargers, and 7.5W with the common Qi wireless charging standard. The Pixel 7 Pro supports up to 23W wireless charging with Google's second generation Pixel Stand, and up to 12W with Qi wireless chargers.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 7 Pro: Special features

This is where Google's Pixel 7 Pro comes into its own when compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Google's Pixel phones come with a variety of software-based features that users could find genuinely useful, and which have the potential to offset concerns with the Pixel 7 Pro's performance, battery life, and occasionally unreliable camera performance.

Many of the Pixel's smart features are based on Google's Assistant. Not only is it far superior to Apple's Siri for basic question-answering and performing simple tasks on your phone, like sending a text, Google Assistant enables surprisingly useful features that fix problems you didn't know could be fixed.

For example, through a "Call Screen" feature, Google Assistant can answer a phone call from an unknown number to check whether it's a legitimate call or spam. "Hold For Me" lets Google Assistant take your place while you're on hold with a business's customer service and notifies you when your turn is up.

Google places a lot of focus on voice-enabled features on Pixel phones. The company's voice recorder app is second-to-none with its incredibly accurate real-time transcriptions of your voice notes and memos — a feature that the Voice Memos app on the iPhone notably lacks.

Smart camera features are also a big focus on Pixel phones. Some of the features you'll find on a Pixel phone and not an iPhone include "Face and Photo Unblur," which can sometimes save a photo that came out blurry due to excessive motion or focusing issues, and "Magic Eraser," which is surprisingly good at removing unwanted objects or subjects from a photo.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 7 Pro: Price

Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max costs $200 more than Google's Pixel 7 Pro at each of the three storage tiers available to both phones.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max offers a fourth storage tier with one terabyte, while 512GB is the most storage you can get on the Pixel 7 Pro.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 7 Pro: Which should you buy?

If Google's smart features on the Pixel 7 Pro don't appeal to you as much as the core pillars of performance, battery life, and camera reliability, your best bet is to spend $200 more on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

The Pixel 7 Pro simply doesn't compete with the iPhone 14 Pro Max in performance and battery life. And while the Pixel 7 Pro can take great photos, its quality is not as consistent as the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Still, if you're actively looking to switch to Android, Google's Pixel 7 Pro isn't your only option. Samsung's Galaxy S23 Plus is the closest competitor to the Pixel 7 Pro, and it's more similar to the iPhone in its prioritization of performance, battery life, and camera reliability.