Hands-on: Unboxing the new iPhone 15 Pro Max in Natural Titanium [Gallery]

The iPhone 15 lineup is officially here, and my friendly UPS driver just left my iPhone 15 Pro Max on my doorstep. I opted for the Natural Titanium with 512 GB of storage, and my first impressions of the new design are very positive, with a couple of small quibbles.

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I’ll have a lot more to say about the iPhone 15 Pro Max in the coming weeks once I get some more hands-on time with it. I’m particularly interested in putting the new camera to the test, as well as seeing just how big of a lifestyle change USB-C really is.

In the meantime, here are some quick and random first impressions after a few hours.

• I’m a big fan of the Natural Titanium finish. I walked away from my hands-on at the Steve Jobs Theater debating between the White and Natural options, and I think I made the right call opting for Natural.
• That being said, the Natural Titanium still attracts fingerprints. It’s not as noticeable as the Black Titanium or Blue Titanium, nor is it as bad as the space black iPhone 14 Pro, but it’s worth pointing out. And it’s also slightly disappointing after years of fingerprint-y stainless steel.
• The weight difference is very noticeable. The difference on paper is 19 grams, which may not sound like a lot, but trust me when I say that you’ll notice it as soon as you pick it up.

• The smaller bezels are certainly noticeable, but I don’t think they’re quite as noticeable as we were expecting.
• The iPhone 15 Pro Max in Natural Titanium pairs perfectly with the Apple Watch Ultra.
• This is the first year in a very long time that I’ve opted to set up a new iPhone from scratch. It feels good to start fresh.
• The Action button feels a bit easier to press than the volume button, which likely explains Apple’s decision to require a press-and-hold rather than just a press.

• Weirdly enough, one of the things I’m most excited about is having 512 GB of storage. My iPhone 14 Pro Max was a 128 GB model, and I was completely out of space. This should give me plenty of headroom, especially when starting from scratch.
• USB-C is glorious, and the braided USB-C to USB-C included in the box is top-notch quality.
• The rounded edges of the iPhone 15 Pro Max may look subtle in pictures, but it does make a noticeable difference in how the phone feels in your hand.
• As I wrote on Twitter this week, I am not a fan of Apple’s new FineWoven cases. They feel cheap and fragile, and they’re expensive.

That’s about all for now. Like I said, I’ll have many more thoughts to come over the next week. You can also check out my colleague Ben Lovejoy’s first impressions as well.

Do you have any questions that you want us to address over the coming days? Let me know in the comments below.

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