iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: I compared both phones, and it's a close one

Jason Hiner and Kerry Wan/ZDNET

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It feels similar yesterday erstwhile I sat successful a Brooklyn warehouse to ticker Jimmy Fallon present the Google Pixel 10 bid to the world. Since then, Apple has joined the fray with the caller iPhone 17, and present I've got a fewer excessively galore caller handsets connected my mind.

Between what Apple and Google announced, the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL basal retired arsenic the champion of the best. They're the models that tech enthusiasts drool about, fans hold successful lines for, and journalists similar maine itch to comparison earlier the year-end awards are due.

Also: Apple Events unrecorded updates: iPhone 17, iPhone Air, AirPods Pro 3, and reactions to caller wearables

If you're deciding connected which of the 2 phones to buy, I've laid retired the biggest differences below, based connected specs, hands-on experience, and years of investigating some iPhone and Pixel phones.

Specifications

You should bargain the iPhone 17 Pro Max if…

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

1. You're a video (and selfie) aficionado

The iPhone 17 Pro Max received respective camera upgrades this year, but the 2 that I'd similar to absorption connected are the ProRes Raw video enactment and the 18MP Center Stage beforehand sensor.

With the former, videographers tin grounds contented portion bypassing each the usual, automated representation processing, similar adapting colors and sharpness. The effect is footage that's friendlier to edit, tin beryllium matched to the code that you're after, and, possibly astir importantly, appears much accordant with contented captured by different cameras.

Also: Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: I compared both, and here's the winner

Apple has besides upgraded the beforehand camera, which tin present instrumentality photos and videos with a wider tract of view. It's achieved this by opting for a square-shaped sensor versus a rectangular one, allowing the iPhone to harvest successful oregon retired (read: instrumentality photos successful scenery oregon representation orientation) without requiring you to rotate the device.

2. You cognize however to marque a telephone crook hot

Whether you're a hardcore mobile gamer oregon often multitasking, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is arguably the better-performing handset of the two. A large crushed for the spread is the caller A19 Pro chip, which Apple claims offers a 40% betterment successful sustained show compared to the iPhone 16 Pro. (Keep successful caput that erstwhile we tested past year's model, the show was already impressive.)

Apple has besides introduced a caller vapor enclosure cooling strategy for the iPhone, which leverages a liquid-filled backmost sheet for vigor dissipation. I'm expecting this to support the iPhone moving astatine highest show for longer portion reducing the toll aggravated workloads would usually person connected the device's artillery life.

3. You request 2TB of retention connected your phone 

We present unrecorded successful a world wherever you tin bargain a $2,000 iPhone from the Apple store, acknowledgment to the caller 2TB configuration for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. For contented creators, photograph buffs, and folks who simply download much apps and files than needed, there's present an iPhone geared for you.

Also: You tin preorder Apple's caller devices this week: iPhone 17, Watch 11, AirPods Pro 3 and more

Comparatively, the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL maxes retired astatine 1TB of interior storage. That's inactive plentifulness for astir users, but those with precocious demands should gravitate toward the iPhone.

You should bargain the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL if…

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET

1. You privation AI features that committedness and deliver 

There's nary denying that the AI features connected iPhones are remedial compared to what's connected the Pixel. It's been an uphill conflict for Apple since the beginning, and the spread has lone gotten wider with the motorboat of the Pixel 10 Pro.

Also: I replaced my Samsung S25 Ultra with the Pixel 10 Pro XL for weeks - and don't regret it

Google's latest AI tricks see generative representation editing via substance and a Magic Cue ticker that populates messages, notes, and adjacent telephone calls with applicable accusation (such arsenic formation information, edifice bookings, and more). 

I've recovered Google's latest AI features subtle, uninvasive, and highly functional, a operation that galore others, including Apple, are inactive trying to match.

2. You privation the astir forgiving camera connected the market

While the iPhone 17 Pro Max gets my prime for shooting videos, the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, with its triple lens setup and bounty of computational touch-ups, makes it the astir forgiving camera telephone close now.

One diagnostic that's impressed maine the astir this twelvemonth is Pro Res Zoom, which uses generative AI to close sound and distortion erstwhile you're taking pictures of distant subjects. That means shots of buildings and skyscrapers, statues, and adjacent signage that's acold distant look much successful focus. 

Also: The secrets that marque Pixel 10 Pro the world's smartest telephone camera - from wrong Google

You tin besides crook connected Auto Best Take, which automatically picks retired the champion facial expressions of subjects and morphs them into a azygous photograph -- efficaciously removing immoderate accidental of imperfections.

3. You resonate much with Material 3 Expressive

This year, Google and Apple's approaches to bundle and idiosyncratic interface plan diverged significantly. Google focused connected unified colors, earthy movements, and distinctive ocular cues, portion Apple's plan connection emphasized translucency and reflections.

Apple's Liquid Glass conception for iOS 26, which makes the UI elements determination similar h2o droplets connected a solid panel, is superb successful theory. However, galore iPhone beta users person pointed retired a deficiency of opposition and discernment.

In contrast, Google's Material 3 Expressive theming has been well-received by Pixel users. It allows for personalizing devices without being distracting.

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