David Bridges
Ah, I really like a very good face-off, and we’ve bought a doozy for you this time. In a single nook, you’ve bought the iPhone 15 Professional Max. A confirmed prizefighter, the 15 Professional Max sits atop many a greatest smartphone record whereas we await the arrival of its successor, the iPhone 16. Armed with Apple’s A17 Professional chip, the telephone is agile and highly effective sufficient to run console-quality graphics, which isn’t any small feat.
The Titanium chassis turns what would normally be a heavy brick into a light-weight marvel. Plus, you get all-day battery life and the cameras, which at this level have been touted as a number of the greatest available on the market. And we are able to’t neglect that this marks the primary time the iPhone ditched Lightning in favor of USB-C charging.
The most important complaints the telephone has acquired are in regards to the value. However we’re firmly rooted within the period of over-$1,000 telephones, and there’s no signal of stopping. The Motion Button is polarizing as many have reported not utilizing the nascent button a lot. Lastly, the display screen, the place Apple crowed in regards to the new Ceramic Defend, positively exhibits put on and tear after months of use.
After which you may have the Google Pixel 9 Professional XL. Though it’s the underdog on this battle, you’d be silly to depend it out –– particularly since Google is leaning closely into its AI bag to degree the taking part in area. Google Gemini is a marvel, significantly on the picture entrance, the place it effortlessly performs Photoshop-esque edits in mere seconds. And Google’s Pixel line has grow to be famend for its wonderful digital camera.
Nonetheless, the extra Google embraces synthetic intelligence, the extra it asks shoppers to belief it with delicate data, which is a giant ask.
Past AI and images, the Pixel 9 Professional XL is receiving overwhelming reward for its new design, which has the appear and feel of a flagship smartphone. The show can be greater and extra vivid than its predecessor. And also you get a whopping seven years of OS upgrades. The telephone additionally helps quick charging by way of a 45W charger, which it doesn’t embrace. It seems like a rip-off that Google can’t spare a charger after you’ve plopped down over $1,000 for his or her smartphone.
Like its Apple counterpart, the largest grievance is pricing. Then, there may be the ever-present specter of nefarious AI and the necessity to pay for the pleasure down the road.
So there you may have it. That is shaping into an thrilling match, however who will emerge on prime on this battle of premium smartphones?
Google Pixel 9 Professional XL Vs. iPhone 15 Professional Max: Worth
What do you get with every dear telephone?
Let’s simply rip the band-aid off right here. I really feel your ache as somebody who’s bought their justifiable share of $1,000+ smartphones. The bottom mannequin of the iPhone prices $1,199 sans any trade-ins or provider specials. That will get you 8GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. The 512GB mannequin prices $1,399, whereas the 1TB model will set you again $1,599.
Onto the Google facet of issues. The Pixel 9 XL Professional’s base mannequin is available in at $1,099. Nonetheless, that mannequin solely provides you 128GB of onboard storage. Nonetheless, each Pixel mannequin comes with a wild 16GB of RAM. The 256GB mannequin shortly involves parity at $1,199, whereas the 512GB unit is barely cheaper than its iPhone counterpart at $1,319. Lastly, the 1TB mannequin of the Pixel 9 Professional XL prices $1,549, which is $50 extra reasonably priced than the iPhone 15 Professional Max.
Total, dollar-to-dollar, the Pixel 9 Professional XL is the higher possibility. Not solely does it offer you 4 mannequin choices, apart from the 512GB mannequin, the Pixel is cheaper than the iPhone.
Google Pixel 9 Professional XL Vs. iPhone 15 Professional Max: Design
Will the actual iPhone please rise up?
Sure, as many reviewers famous, together with our personal Florence Ion, the Pixel 9 Professional XL appears just like the iPhone 15 Professional Max. If imitation is certainly the sincerest type of flattery, Google likes Apple loads. You could possibly simply mistake one for the opposite, from the rounded corners on the shiny steel siding to the matte glass end on the rear panels with the shiny emblem within the heart. I imply, even the matte strains alongside the edges are comparable.
There are some clear variations, nevertheless. Specifically, the Pixel lacks an Motion button on the facet that holds the ability and quantity buttons, which, in accordance with some reviewers, is one thing they, too, can do with out. There are additionally the rear modules that home the telephone’s respective digital camera sensors. The iPhone’s module is a rounded sq. within the higher left nook of the rear panel. In the meantime, the Pixel’s sensor is ovular and runs throughout nearly all of the highest of the rear panel.
For those who take a look at the Pixel’s backside, you’ll see a USB-C port, a nano-SIM slot, and a speaker, which, at a look, appears frustratingly like a microSD slot. I felt sheer disappointment on the realization. Apart from its USB-C port on the backside, the Professional Max has a pair of audio system on the backside with nothing on the highest.
Relating to colour schemes, Google is the clear winner right here. The corporate isn’t afraid to play with colour, providing hues of Porcelain, Rose Quartz, Hazel, and Obsidian. Apple has taken a extra enterprise informal strategy with Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, and Pure Titanium. Geez, Apple, we get it. You integrated titanium into the design; you don’t should beat us over the top with it.
Or not. As a result of titanium is a giant deal, it permits Apple to shave some weight off the Professional whereas including sturdiness. At 7.81 ounces, the 6.3 x 3 x 0.32-inch slab feels virtually insubstantial in comparison with its 8.47-ounce predecessor. However not so quick! To not be outdone, the Professional XL is a scooch lighter at 7.8 ounces and thinner (6.4 x 3 x 0.3 inches).
Magnificence, and design, by proxy, is within the eye of the beholder. And it is likely to be controversial, however I’m going to provide this spherical to Google. It’s thinner and lighter, and hey, I like pink.
Google Pixel 9 Professional XL Vs. iPhone 15 Professional Max: Efficiency
A slobberknocker if I’ve ever seen one
The iPhone 15 Professional Max is probably the most highly effective smartphone available on the market till the iPhone 16 Professional Max launches in a number of weeks. Then, all bets are off. However for now, the iPhone 15 is dusting all challengers because of that A17 Professional chip, which is an absolute beast. Truthfully, it makes me yearn for the times of lap docks the place you would plug a telephone right into a laptop computer shell and have a functioning laptop computer, utilizing the telephone because the trackpad. However I digress.
It’s onerous to place a dent within the iPhone’s efficiency, and I couldn’t institute any actual chugging regardless of opening an inordinate variety of apps and net browser tabs. I even began taking part in by way of Resident Evil 4 Remake, which, if you happen to advised me I’d be typing that sentence even a yr in the past, I’d counter with a suggestion for a gently used bridge on the market in Brooklyn. However exterior of some dropped frames, right here and there ran with none points, and the telephone didn’t flip right into a blazing slab of steel.
The Pixel 9 Professional XL and its Google Tensor G4 processor carried out simply as with the a number of apps and net browsers. I even did gentle picture modifying in Adobe Photoshop Categorical and Google Images with no sick results. Sadly, Resident Evil 4 Remake isn’t on Android, so I resorted to getting my thrills with Alien Isolation. And regardless of being brutally murdered by the Xenomorph a number of instances, the sport performed fairly easily and didn’t get uncomfortably scorching.
We ran Geekbench 6 on each units and as anticipated, the iPhone 15 Professional Max blew it out of the body with scores of two,975 and seven,438 on the only and multithread checks, in comparison with the Pixel 9 Professional XL’s scores of 1,932 and 4,631. However needless to say the iPhone has crushed each smartphone debuted this yr by a big margin. Nonetheless, relating to efficiency, the iPhone 15 Professional Max is king.
Google Pixel 9 Professional XL Vs. iPhone 15 Professional Max: AI
Cool options, however at what price?
Whereas Microsoft, Samsung, and different OEMs have been beating us in regards to the head with their fancy AI buzzwords, Google is definitely giving us one thing totally different than chatbots, noise canceling, and background blurring. The secret right here is generative AI. Reimagine is without doubt one of the breakout stars in Google’s photo-editing arsenal. A characteristic in Google’s retooled Magic Editor, Reimagine makes use of AI to change your image as you see match. Simply sort what you need and let Reimagine do its factor. It took a photograph of my boyfriend’s cute daughter in entrance of our entrance gate and changed it with a photorealistic ocean setting. It was wild to see in actual time.
Then you definately’ve bought options like Add Me that actually helps you to add your self to a bunch shot after the preliminary picture’s been taken. Zoom Improve is that characteristic you at all times see in crime exhibits in your smartphone. As an alternative of shedding picture high quality once you zoom in, the magic of generative AI will fill within the lacking pixels for sharp pictures. Better of all, the characteristic can be utilized earlier than or after taking the shot. Google additionally has some AI sauce for video, bringing the flexibility to upscale to 8K and decreasing or enhancing audio as you see match.
And that’s earlier than we get to Gemini correct, or ought to I say, Gemini Superior. You’ll get your regular AI abstract instruments and “Her”-inspired digital help, full with a soothing voice. Gemini can even set up and summarize your screenshots with Pixel Screenshots. Talking of group, Google Maintain can now make lists for you. The Name Notes characteristic permits Gemini to file your name, summarize, and create a dialog transcript. Simply make sure you inform the opposite occasion on the decision. Critically. Recording somebody with out their information is against the law in lots of locations. Don’t get caught on the market. This brings us to a significant level of rivalry for lots of potential Gemini customers. Do you belief Google to file your calls and stay conversations with Gemini?
When you ponder that, let’s transfer on to Apple Intelligence. At present, in Preview, there’s not a lot I can say about it exterior of the options revealed on Apple Newsroom. Like Gemini, you’ll be getting a heaping serving to of generative AI that can be there to put in writing and summarize textual content, create AI-generated pictures by way of Picture Playground, and even create Genmojis – generative AI emojis. Get it? Genmojis!
Shifting on, Siri may even grow to be extra conversationalist and can have the ability to chat realistically. You’ll additionally see your notifications summarized into simply scannable bites. Emails can be floated to the highest of your inbox by precedence, whereas longer ones will undergo the abstract machine. The brand new Focus mode will do one thing comparable, prioritizing necessary notifications and saving the remaining for later. Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence can file calls, create transcripts, and summarize the whole lot.
Tough sketches might be reworked into one thing extra professional-looking with Picture Wand. You may create customized reminiscence films out of your stills and movies. Apple Intelligence will even discover applicable music. And talking of images, Apple Intelligence will enable you to type by way of your ever-growing assortment of pictures by merely typing what you’re searching for. I can’t wait to see how imprecise or exact you have to be with that one. And eventually, you’ll have the ability to take away undesirable picture components just like Magic Erase with the brand new Clear Up characteristic.
Apple, like Google, desires you to belief them along with your calls, notes, and searches, stressing a rigorous privateness coverage. Once more, we’ll have to attend and see as soon as this goes stay.
Each AI options are at present free. And whereas Apple has but to announce plans to cost shoppers, Google desires of us to pay $20/month for the privilege.
For now, Google takes this spherical. However keep tuned for when Apple Intelligence totally launches.
Google Pixel 9 Professional XL Vs. iPhone 15 Professional Max: Digital camera
One of the best shooters within the recreation duke it out
Now, it is a battle for the ages. What Google lacks in blistering CPU efficiency, it’s traditionally made up for in its picture capabilities, significantly in low-light settings. And that is earlier than all of the AI razzmatazz. However Apple has no slouch on this division both, convincing some that they might not have to put money into an costly DSLR.
Apple comes out field swinging, equipping the Professional Max with a 48-megapixel major sensor with a ƒ/1.78 aperture. Each the ultrawide and telephoto have 12-MP sensors. The previous has a ƒ/2.2 aperture whereas the latter has a ƒ/2.8. As for the telephoto, you’ve bought a 5x digital zoom and a 25x digital zoom.
The Professional XL barely improved the digital camera, beginning with the 50-MP broad sensor, which has been enlarged ever so barely to seize extra gentle. The first digital camera lens has an f/1.68, which turns out to be useful for evening mode and depth results. The ultrawide digital camera sensor bought the largest bump, leaping as much as a full 48-MP sensor in comparison with its predecessor’s 12-MP. The telephoto digital camera is untouched at 48-MP, with final yr’s 5x optical zoom and 30x Tremendous Res Zoom.
Large
I took each telephones with me to stroll my canine and took some pictures across the neighborhood. Trying on the outcomes, it instantly turned clear that the iPhone is juicing its images as the colours produced in my check pictures have been far more vibrant than the precise topic. As an illustration, in a shot of a brownstone with a facade lined in vines, the precise constructing seemed extra brown, whereas the vines seemed lifeless. Nonetheless, within the Pixel picture, the vines seemed alive and properly. I by chance hit a filter, however this was the ultimate end result after retaking it a number of instances on the iPhone.
I had higher outcomes when on a flower shot. Whereas the iPhone’s picture had deeper colour (which I desire), the Pixel was as soon as once more the extra correct of the 2. Trying on the leaves in each pictures, the iPhone gave a greater take a look at the fragile veins working by way of the leaves and stems. I additionally had a transparent view of the flower’s stamen on the Professional Max.
In a shot of some significantly fluffy clouds taken at 0.5 magnification, the Pixel Professional gave me a wider shot than the iPhone. The Professional Max’s picture had a blue tint that accentuates the element within the clouds and simply makes for a extra melancholy shot. Nonetheless, it additionally washes out the colour of the constructing within the shot whereas the Pixel shows its true colour. The pink graffiti working down the facet additionally pops extra on the Professional XL. And zooming in on the development within the background, the Pixel had sharper element.
Ultrawide
The Pixel continued its wins on the colour accuracy and sharpness fronts. Whereas the iPhone continued serving up scrumptious colour. A view of the Manhattan skyline at 7.5x yielded a stunning shot on each telephones. Nonetheless, you may see the raindrops dripping from the steel railings on the constructing subsequent door clear as day on the Pixel, whereas it’s important to zoom in to see it on the iPhone. The Professional XL additionally confirmed off extra home windows. The constructing on the far left seemed very muddy on the iPhone.
By way of scope, the iPhone gained this second shootout because it merely captured extra topic space than the Pixel. The darker shadows make the signal stand out greater than on the Professional XL. Nonetheless, as a lot as I really like the iPhone’s vividness, it appears like I took the photographs at totally different instances of the day, which is much from the case. Whereas the iPhone produced the extra inventive picture, it’s nowhere close to as correct.
Low gentle
For the low gentle check, I organized a row of tchotchkes on my leisure heart on the second flooring of my condo as my check topics. I dimmed the lights as little as they’d go within the first shot and took a number of pictures. The Professional XL got here by way of with superior colour and minutia. You learn the lettering on the pink tin. And taking a look at my Michonne Funko Pop, Hulk, and Sully collectible figurines, that they had higher colour on the Pixel. There have been extra shadows within the iPhone check picture, which led to muted colours and obfuscated options within the determine. As an illustration, you may barely see Hulk’s enamel.
I turned the lights off through the subsequent check, leaving the tv on and a close-by gaming desktop with some mild RGB lighting pulsating. Trying on the Professional Mox picture, you may clearly see the golden dragon on the backside of the leisure console. Nonetheless, the Michonne Funko is sort of utterly submerged in shadow. You may barely see any element on the sport decoration subsequent to Hulk. Whereas the Pixel supplied richer colour, as evidenced by Sully’s shiny blue cover, Hulk’s kind was virtually utterly hidden within the shadow.
Selfie
And now for some true parity. The iPhone’s 12MP entrance sensor with its f/1.9-aperture lens gave pretty much as good because it bought in opposition to the Pixel’s 42MP entrance shooter and its f/2.2-aperture lens. In a shot taken on the canine park, each telephones captured the precise yellow of my gown, the pink of my boyfriend’s shirt, and the cavalcade of colour in my locs. Taking a better take a look at each pictures, I needed to give it to the Pixel because it’s simpler to see the person grays in my boyfriend’s beard.
One factor the iPhone goes to do is offer you some good bokeh. On this rooftop selfie, the buildings within the background are virtually completely blurred, permitting you to concentrate on the parents within the shot. My hoodie appears extra orange within the Professional Max picture, and our pores and skin tones look darker. That’s high quality, however that bokeh is a bit of aggressive, blurring a few of my locs out. Nonetheless, the telephone additionally confirmed my boyfriend’s beard greatest.
Panorama
This goes to the Pixel just because the telephone can seize a 360-degree panoramic picture. I actually like how the digital camera provides you information factors to satisfy as you slowly flip to seize the picture. The end result was a full shot of the world round my rooftop. That’s to not say the iPhone takes shabby pictures; it doesn’t. The rules aren’t as correct on the iPhone; you may solely seize 180 levels.
Digital Zoom
That is merely no contest. Though the iPhone’s 25x digital zoom is nice in most circumstances, it’s no match for the Pixel’s 30 Tremendous Res Zoom or digital zoom. In my first set of pictures, I captured the highest of a Manhattan skyscraper miles away from my rooftop. The iPhone did an admirable job for the space, nevertheless it’s considerably blurry. And whilst you can see some home windows, even the lighted ones appear like shapeless blobs. The Pixel’s picture is smoother and has extra element, permitting you to see probably the most home windows out of each pictures, lighted or not.
I wished one thing extra colourful for my second shot, so I seemed down into my yard and centered on the huge pile of canine toys on the desk. As soon as once more, the iPhone’s digital zoom produces a picture with severely fuzzy element. The desk’s cross-hatching is barely seen, and you’ll’t see the ridges on the stuffed pumpkin or the person fur on the duck. It’s the other of the Pixel, with crispy particulars and extra exact colour.
Total, I’m giving this spherical to the Pixel; whether or not it’s low-light, panoramic, broad, or ultrawide pictures or perhaps a selfie, the Pixel 9 Professional XL persistently delivers color-accurate pictures with clear, clear strains.
Google Pixel 9 Professional XL Vs. iPhone 15 Professional Max: Battery
A severe marathon
Nothing is worse than a smartphone whose battery dies in the midst of the day. You gained’t have that downside with the Professional XL or the Professional Max. With its 4,441mAh battery, the iPhone 15 lasted 25 hours on our battery check (taking part in by way of a 24-hour YouTube video with the brightness set to 200 nits. The Pixel’s 5,060mAh battery tapped out 22:58, which isn’t unhealthy, however I anticipated extra with the bigger battery.
Each smartphones have quick charging capabilities. The Pixel might be charged 70% in half-hour, and the iPhone 15 might be charged 50% in half-hour. Each units assist wi-fi charging.
With an extended two-hour runtime, this spherical goes to the iPhone 15 Professional Max.
Google Pixel 9 Professional XL Vs. iPhone 15 Professional Max: Verdict
We’ve gone by way of six grueling rounds with the Google Pixel 9 Professional XL and iPhone 15 Professional Max. Every smartphone has displayed its strengths and weaknesses to nice impact, and when the smoke is cleared, it might go both manner. Concerning efficiency and endurance, nobody does it higher than the iPhone. Truthfully, at this level, the one factor that may beat an iPhone is one other iPhone (I’m taking a look at you, 16 Professional Max). However these are just a few issues that make a flagship telephone nice.
So, let’s speak in regards to the Pixel 9 Professional XL. It copied Apple’s homework on the design piece. Nonetheless, it managed to do it a bit of higher with a barely thinner, lighter body. And a pop of pastel by no means harm anybody. Till we see what Apple Intelligence gives, Google would be the king of cell AI. Hell, it’s the AI to beat in terms of consumer-grade synthetic intelligence.
Lastly, there’s the digital camera. Google continues to create a number of the greatest smartphone cameras within the enterprise, and paired with its AI options, will probably be onerous to knock the Pixel off its pedestal. For these causes, the Google Pixel 9 Professional XL is the undisputed winner of this face-off.
Daniel Mercer
Brandon Fletcher
