iPhone 14 Pro Max teardown shows the battery is smaller than last year — but that’s not all

iPhone 14 Pro Max
(Image credit: PBKReviews)

The iPhone 14 Pro Max is the new top-tier big phone in Apple’s lineup, but what lies behind the screen? PBKreviews has just posted a full teardown of the slab and, well, there are some things you need to know about.

While things look similar inside to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, this teardown answers two key questions: how does the Dynamic Island work, and has the battery taken a hit to make room for the new tech?

Taking an L?

The biggest takeaway from this teardown is that L-shaped battery, which shares the same outline as last year’s iPhone 13 Pro Max, but as MacRumors previously reported, the capacity is slightly smaller.

(Image credit: PBKReviews)

Not by much though, as the 13 Pro Max packed a 4,352 mAh battery and the 14 Pro Max takes it down to 4,323 mAh. But when the rest of the lineup sees a small increase in capacity, it’s a little disappointing to see the biggest, most expensive model in the lineup take a hit.

What’s new on Dynamic Island?

This early teardown shows an eerily similar setup to the 13 Pro Max, but there are some important internal design chances that you can note in here. Namely, the tech behind the Dynamic Island.

(Image credit: PBKReviews)

Previously, the proximity sensor was placed next to the TrueDepth camera and other sensors to form the notch. Now, for the first time in an iPhone, the proximity sensor is placed beneath the display, which enables this smaller pill-shaped cut-out.

Other small changes we’ve seen are some better heat dissipation methods including a graphite film on the back of the display and a metal plate that shields the main motherboard. All of this should help with sustained performance.

Outlook

The difference of 29 mAh is barely noticeable when it comes to battery life, so there should be no concerns about the longevity of the beasty iPhone 14 Pro Max.

But while we wait for the inevitable iFixit teardown, it is interesting to see how little Apple had to change under the hood, to make some of its more new fascinating features work.

If you’re keen to buy one, go check out the best iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max deals.

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Jason England
Content Editor

Jason brought a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a writer at Laptop Mag, and he is now the Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He takes a particular interest in writing articles and creating videos about laptops, headphones and games. He has previously written for Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.