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

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It seems like yesterday once I sat in a Brooklyn warehouse to look at Jimmy Fallon introduce the Google Pixel 10 collection to the world. Since then, Apple has joined the fray with the brand new iPhone 17, and now I’ve received a couple of too many new handsets on my thoughts.

Between what Apple and Google introduced, the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL stand out as the perfect of the perfect. They’re the fashions that tech fanatics drool about, followers wait in traces for, and journalists like me itch to match earlier than the year-end awards are due.

Additionally: Apple Events live updates: iPhone 17, iPhone Air, AirPods Pro 3, and reactions to new wearables

For those who’re deciding on which of the 2 telephones to purchase, I’ve laid out the most important variations beneath, primarily based on specs, hands-on expertise, and years of testing each iPhone and Pixel telephones.

Specs

You can purchase the iPhone 17 Professional Max if…

1. You are a video (and selfie) aficionado

The iPhone 17 Professional Max obtained a number of digicam upgrades this 12 months, however the two that I would prefer to deal with are the ProRes Uncooked video help and the 18MP Middle Stage entrance sensor.

With the previous, videographers can file content material whereas bypassing all the standard, automated picture processing, like adapting colours and sharpness. The result’s footage that is friendlier to edit, could be matched to the tone that you just’re after, and, maybe most significantly, seems extra in keeping with content material captured by different cameras.

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

Apple has additionally upgraded the entrance digicam, which might now take pictures and movies with a wider discipline of view. It is achieved this by choosing a square-shaped sensor versus an oblong one, permitting the iPhone to crop in or out (learn: take pictures in panorama or portrait orientation) with out requiring you to rotate the system.

2. You understand how to make a cellphone flip sizzling

Whether or not you are a hardcore cellular gamer or often multitasking, the iPhone 17 Professional Max is arguably the better-performing handset of the 2. An enormous purpose for the hole is the brand new A19 Professional chip, which Apple claims affords a 40% enchancment in sustained efficiency in comparison with the iPhone 16 Professional. (Needless to say once we examined final 12 months’s mannequin, the efficiency was already spectacular.)

Apple has additionally launched a brand new vapor chamber cooling system for the iPhone, which leverages a liquid-filled again panel for warmth dissipation. I am anticipating this to maintain the iPhone operating at peak efficiency for longer whereas decreasing the toll intense workloads would normally have on the system’s battery life.

3. You want 2TB of storage in your cellphone 

We now reside in a actuality the place you should purchase a $2,000 iPhone from the Apple retailer, due to the brand new 2TB configuration for the iPhone 17 Professional Max. For content material creators, photograph buffs, and folk who merely obtain extra apps and information than wanted, there’s now an iPhone geared for you.

Additionally: You can preorder Apple’s new devices this week: iPhone 17, Watch 11, AirPods Pro 3 and more

Comparatively, the Google Pixel 10 Professional XL maxes out at 1TB of inner storage. That is nonetheless a lot for many customers, however these with excessive calls for ought to gravitate towards the iPhone.

You can purchase the Google Pixel 10 Professional XL if…

1. You need AI options that promise and ship 

There is not any denying that the AI options on iPhones are remedial in comparison with what’s on the Pixel. It has been an uphill battle for Apple because the starting, and the hole has solely gotten wider with the launch of the Pixel 10 Professional.

Additionally: I replaced my Samsung S25 Ultra with the Pixel 10 Pro XL for weeks – and don’t regret it

Google’s newest AI methods embrace generative picture modifying through textual content and a Magic Cue ticker that populates messages, notes, and even cellphone calls with related data (reminiscent of flight data, restaurant bookings, and extra). 

I’ve discovered Google’s newest AI options refined, uninvasive, and extremely practical, a mixture that many others, together with Apple, are nonetheless attempting to match.

2. You need essentially the most forgiving digicam in the marketplace

Whereas the iPhone 17 Professional Max will get my decide for capturing movies, the Google Pixel 10 Professional XL, with its triple lens setup and bounty of computational touch-ups, makes it essentially the most forgiving digicam cellphone proper now.

One characteristic that is impressed me essentially the most this 12 months is Professional Res Zoom, which makes use of generative AI to appropriate noise and distortion if you’re taking photos of distant topics. Which means photographs of buildings and skyscrapers, statues, and even signage that is distant seem extra in focus. 

Additionally: The secrets that make Pixel 10 Pro the world’s smartest phone camera – from inside Google

You may also activate Auto Finest Take, which robotically picks out the perfect facial expressions of topics and morphs them right into a single photograph — successfully eradicating any probability of imperfections.

3. You resonate extra with Materials 3 Expressive

This 12 months, Google and Apple’s approaches to software program and person interface design diverged considerably. Google targeted on unified colours, pure actions, and distinctive visible cues, whereas Apple’s design language emphasised translucency and reflections.

Apple’s Liquid Glass concept for iOS 26, which makes the UI components transfer like water droplets on a glass panel, is good in concept. Nonetheless, many iPhone beta customers have identified a scarcity of distinction and discernment.

In distinction, Google’s Material 3 Expressive theming has been well-received by Pixel customers. It permits for personalizing gadgets with out being distracting.

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