iPhone XS Max Does the iPhone XS MAX show more content or is it just bigger?

[EugW]

Really, the Verge review said that? Wow.

Not quite. He said that early on most apps haven't been updated to take advantage of the new size properly so for those they'll just be bigger or else won't display properly.

The XS Max also doesn’t really do a ton in software to take advantage of that big display: there’s no extra row of home screen icons or picture-in-picture for video. Some apps that haven’t been updated look a little broken right now, particularly Instagram. Everything else is mostly just bigger; apps like Slack, Gmail, and Twitter show you the exact same amount of information as the smaller XS. If you think big things are funny (they are) check out the size of the status bar when you pull Control Center down.

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Personally I think that while his statement is technically correct, it's kind of misleading, because he glossed over the apps like Safari that have been updated to take advantage of the extra screen real estate.

It's the same thing that happened with the iPhone 6 Plus vs. the iPhone 6.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Not quite. He said that early on most apps haven't been updated to take advantage of the new size properly so for those they'll just be bigger or else won't display properly.

The XS Max also doesn’t really do a ton in software to take advantage of that big display: there’s no extra row of home screen icons or picture-in-picture for video. Some apps that haven’t been updated look a little broken right now, particularly Instagram. Everything else is mostly just bigger; apps like Slack, Gmail, and Twitter show you the exact same amount of information as the smaller XS. If you think big things are funny (they are) check out the size of the status bar when you pull Control Center down.

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Personally I think that while his statement is technically correct, it's kind of misleading, because he glossed over the apps like Safari that have been updated to take advantage of the extra screen real estate.

It's the same thing that happened with the iPhone 6 Plus vs. the iPhone 6.

Yes he said you were getting the exact same information as on the Xs in a lot of apps which gives the impression that that’s how it is across the board.

 

[Lyrical]

Loving my new Max but I do wish they would make better use of the space on the screen.

 

[profets]

Not quite. He said that early on most apps haven't been updated to take advantage of the new size properly so for those they'll just be bigger or else won't display properly.

The XS Max also doesn’t really do a ton in software to take advantage of that big display: there’s no extra row of home screen icons or picture-in-picture for video. Some apps that haven’t been updated look a little broken right now, particularly Instagram. Everything else is mostly just bigger; apps like Slack, Gmail, and Twitter show you the exact same amount of information as the smaller XS. If you think big things are funny (they are) check out the size of the status bar when you pull Control Center down.

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Personally I think that while his statement is technically correct, it's kind of misleading, because he glossed over the apps like Safari that have been updated to take advantage of the extra screen real estate.

It's the same thing that happened with the iPhone 6 Plus vs. the iPhone 6.

You’re right - he definitely could have been more clear about it.

 

[EugW]

Display Zoom setting, present on Xs Max, but not present on Xs:

Xs Max not zoomed. Has more data on screen both in terms of width and in terms of height:

Xs Max zoomed. Looks exactly the same as Xs, but with everything bigger:

iPhone 8 and 8 Plus side by side:

The aliasing can be seen more easily on the iPhone 8, but only if you blow up the picture:

Click on the last pic to zoom in, and then look at the letter "w" in the smaller black text. I find with the picture zoomed out the text looks very similar, but you can see more jaggies when zoomed in on this picture.

Similarly, if you held the iPhone 8 (326 ppi) 16 inches away, it'd look similar to the 8 Plus (401 ppi), but if you hold it closer then it's easier to see the differences in text quality. The Xr's text should look just like the iPhone 8's, as they are both 326 ppi LCD screens. However, in terms of width, the Xr should show as much text as the 8 Plus.

BTW, I thought I had turned off True Tone for both the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and for the X and Xs, but there is a definite yellow shift to the 8 Plus in that particular one. The iPhone 8 is closer to the Xs and Max.

I had complained about this yellow tint for the X I had checked out the other day (again with True Tone off), but I suspect its (and this 8 Plus') yellow tint may be due to imperfect calibration and individual unit variability. The colour balance of the Xs, Xs Max, and iPhone 8 were pleasing to me.

 

[profets]

^Excellent post @EugW, thanks for sharing.

The Display Zoom kind of makes sense to me on the Max and XR only since it can be based not eh XS with the same aspect ratio.

 

[blulegend]

From the apple store. XS and XS Max.

 

[wineandcarbs]

Display Zoom setting, present on Xs Max, but not present on Xs:

View attachment 787642

Xs Max not zoomed. Has more data on screen both in terms of width and in terms of height:

View attachment 787643

Xs Max zoomed. Looks exactly the same as Xs, but with everything bigger:

View attachment 787644

iPhone 8 and 8 Plus side by side:

View attachment 787645

The aliasing can be seen more easily on the iPhone 8, but only if you blow up the picture:

View attachment 787646

Click on the last pic to zoom in, and then look at the letter "w" in the smaller black text. I find with the picture zoomed out the text looks very similar, but you can see more jaggies when zoomed in on this picture.

Similarly, if you held the iPhone 8 (326 ppi) 16 inches away, it'd look similar to the 8 Plus (401 ppi), but if you hold it closer then it's easier to see the differences in text quality. The Xr's text should look just like the iPhone 8's, as they are both 326 ppi LCD screens. However, in terms of width, the Xr should show as much text as the 8 Plus.

BTW, I thought I had turned off True Tone for both the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and for the X and Xs, but there is a definite yellow shift to the 8 Plus in that particular one. The iPhone 8 is closer to the Xs and Max.

I had complained about this yellow tint for the X I had checked out the other day (again with True Tone off), but I suspect its (and this 8 Plus') yellow tint may be due to imperfect calibration and individual unit variability. The colour balance of the Xs, Xs Max, and iPhone 8 were pleasing to me.

Thank you so much for this post! It was incredibly helpful!

 

[RamGuy]

It seems like a lot of apps needs to be updated, but some apps are already scaling as intended like Telegram X has the same font size etc as on my iPhone X so I get much more information on the screen at once on the iPhone Xs Max. Other apps like Snapchat seems to just make everything bigger so it depends.

 

[840quadra]

I actually put in a feature request with Apple to include the Scaling control panel like we can use on a Retina MacBook Pro.



The max actually shows less on a single screen than my normal 7 does in some cases, and both show far less than my standard sized Pixel 2. Granted I have my Pixel 2 scaled down to show more on the screen globally, but that is the feature I want on my iPhone too. They give us the option on a Retina Mac, so why not our phones?


Xs Max


iPhone 7



Pixel 2

 

[UnifiedMelody]

its just a larger iPhone XS rpedominantly. i think the benefit is viewing textbooks and stuff but in terms of actual apps space on the home screen they just spaced it out more.

i came from an 8 Plus and the differences are very minimal if not negligible. You'll be fine with either, it depends on whether you're ballsy or budget conscious.

 

[EugW]

its just a larger iPhone XS rpedominantly. i think the benefit is viewing textbooks and stuff but in terms of actual apps space on the home screen they just spaced it out more.

i came from an 8 Plus and the differences are very minimal if not negligible. You'll be fine with either, it depends on whether you're ballsy or budget conscious.

If you're looking at text in Safari, the Max (and XR) show quite a bit more than the 8 Plus. Not necessarily a must have though, since you can just scroll of course.

 

[UnifiedMelody]

If you're looking at text in Safari, the Max (and XR) show quite a bit more than the 8 Plus. Not necessarily a must have though, since you can just scroll of course.

That's what i thought also.. in terms of left to right when holding in landscape mode, top to bottom [may] show a bit less or equal due to the elongated screen ratios.

 

[Diorama]

My first 3rd party app to be updated for the Max screen size is Apollo, a reddit browser.
Before and after shots:

 

[EugW]

9to5mac.com did a comparison of Display Zoom vs. Standard mode on the XS Max.

https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/26/iphone-xs-max-display-zoom/

 

[bpeeps]

I was just at the Apple Store, and unless I've mistaken it seems like the XS MAX mostly seems to show the same content - just bigger.

Maybe I am wrong? Please correct me.

I was under the impression you would see MORE content.

THE. APPS. NEED. TO. BE. UPDATED.

It's the same thing every time a new phone size gets released. It happened with iPhone 5, it happened with the iPhone 6, ithappened with iPhone 6 Plus, it happened with iPhone X, and now again with the XS Max. This is nothing new.