Screen Brightness Test: iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max [Video]

Check out this test comparing the screen brightness of the iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max.

We performed the test in four different ways:
1. SDR, True Tone Off, Auto Brightness Off
2. SDR, True Tone Off, Auto Brightness On
3. HDR, True Tone Off, Auto Brightness Off
4. HDR, True Tone Off, Auto Brightness On


The iPhone will not reach peak brightness with its entire display white, so we used a centered white dot just large enough to cover our meter.

SDR Test
With Auto Brightness OFF, the iPhone 16 Pro Max reached a peak of 908 nits (cd/m2), compared to 932 nits for the iPhone 15 Pro Max. To get brighter than that, we needed to turn Auto Brightness ON. This can be irritating as the display will keep adjusting brightness as the light changes; however, it does result in a huge increase in maximum brightness. With Auto Brightness ON, the iPhone 16 Pro Max reaches an impressive 2740 nits vs 2521 nits for the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

HDR Test
Moving to the HDR test, we measured a peak brightness of 1648 nits for the iPhone 16 Pro Max and 1704 nits for the iPhone 15 Pro Max with Auto Brightness OFF. However, with Auto Brightness ON, the iPhone 16 Pro Max produced 2673 nits compared to 2462 nits for the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

For reference, Apple says the both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro Max deliver 1000 nits max brightness (typical), 1600 nits peak brightness (HDR), and 2000 nits peak brightness (outdoor).


Take a look at the video below. You may also be interested in watching some of our other iPhone 16 Pro Max test videos:
● Boot Speed Test: iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max [Video]
● Speaker Volume Test: iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max [Video]

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