iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: screen size and viewport
The iPhone 15 Pro Max lays web pages out at 430 × 932 CSS px with a pixel ratio of 3; the iPhone 16 Pro Max at 440 × 956 with 3. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is 10 px wider and 24 px taller.
The two screens side by side
Specs compared
| Spec | iPhone 15 Pro Max | iPhone 16 Pro Max | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viewport, portrait (CSS px) | 430 × 932 | 440 × 956 | −10 px wide, −24 px tall |
| Device pixel ratio | 3 | 3 | same |
| Physical resolution | 1290 × 2796 | 1320 × 2868 | iPhone 16 Pro Max: 5% more pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 | about the same |
| Visible height, portrait, with browser bars | ~742 px | ~766 px | −24 px for the iPhone 15 Pro Max |
| Landscape width (CSS px) | 932 px | 956 px | −24 px for the iPhone 15 Pro Max |
| Visible height, landscape | ~380 px | ~390 px | −10 px for the iPhone 15 Pro Max |
| First released | 2022 | 2024 | 2 years apart |
| Engine in MobileCheck | WebKit (Safari) | WebKit (Safari) | same engine |
CSS px are the units media queries see. Visible heights subtract the status bar and the Safari on iOS bars as set in our device profiles; real bar heights vary with settings and scrolling. The release year is that of the first model with each screen.
What this means for your layout
How the width difference affects your layout
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is 10 CSS px wider (440 vs 430, 2% more). No common breakpoint falls between 430 and 440 px, so with typical media queries both get the same layout and the extra 10 pixels only stretch fluid columns, text lines and images.
In a 2-column card grid with 16 px page padding and 16 px gaps, each card is 196 px wide on the iPhone 16 Pro Max and 191 px on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Check that buttons, prices and long words still fit in the narrower one.
Pixel density and image sizes
Both draw each CSS pixel with 3 × 3 device pixels, so text and icons are equally sharp. A full-width image (sizes="100vw") needs about 1290 px on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and 1320 px on the iPhone 16 Pro Max to look sharp.
With a srcset such as 640w, 828w, 1080w, 1290w, 1440w, 1640w, 2048w, the browser would normally pick the 1290w file on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the 1440w file on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Leave out the 1440w candidate and the iPhone 16 Pro Max upscales a smaller file.
Above 2× most people can't see much difference in photos, so capping photo candidates around twice the CSS width saves bytes on both. Keep SVG for icons and logos: they stay sharp at any ratio.
How much fits above the fold
On first load about 766 px of the page is visible on the iPhone 16 Pro Max and 742 px on the iPhone 15 Pro Max: 24 px less (3%) on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, roughly 1 line of 16 px body text at a 1.5 line height.
If your main button sits just above the fold on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, it can end up below it on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Keep the headline and the main action within the first 742 px, and size full-screen sections with 100svh rather than 100vh — see the 100vh problem on mobile.
In landscape
Turned sideways, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 932 px wide and the iPhone 16 Pro Max 956 px. The visible height drops to about 380 and 390 px, so a 64 px sticky header covers 17% and 16% of the screen — under the 25% at which MobileCheck flags fixed bars covering the page.
Same browser engine
Both are Apple devices, so both render with WebKit, the engine behind Safari. Engine quirks are the same; the differences above come from size alone. Chrome DevTools only emulates the size and still draws with Chromium, so check Apple devices in a WebKit browser — see how to test on an iPhone.
More about these devices
- iPhone 15 Pro Max viewport size — one screen for the iPhone 14 Pro Max / 15 Plus / 15 Pro Max / 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro Max viewport size — one screen for the iPhone 16 Pro Max / 17 Pro Max
Or open the free check with the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro Max preselected: full-page screenshots in WebKit, with problems such as small text and crowded buttons highlighted.
Related comparisons
- iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra — 440 vs 384 px wide, 3× vs 2.813×
- iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Pixel 10 — 440 vs 412 px wide, 3× vs 2.625×
- iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra — 430 vs 384 px wide, 3× vs 2.813×
- iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro Max — 402 vs 440 px wide, 3× vs 3×
- iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro Max — 393 vs 430 px wide, 3× vs 3×
- iPhone 13 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max — 428 vs 430 px wide, 3× vs 3×
Compare other devices → · All mobile viewport sizes →
Frequently asked questions
Is the iPhone 15 Pro Max screen bigger than the iPhone 16 Pro Max?
In CSS pixels, which decide how much of a page fits, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is larger: 440 × 956 against 430 × 932. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has more physical pixels (1320 × 2868), which makes it sharper rather than roomier.
Do I need different CSS for the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro Max?
Usually not. No common breakpoint falls between their widths (430 and 440 px), so a fluid layout gets the same rules on both and only stretches by 10 px.
How much of a web page is visible on the iPhone 15 Pro Max vs the iPhone 16 Pro Max?
About 430 × 742 CSS px on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and 440 × 766 on the iPhone 16 Pro Max when a page first opens in portrait, after the status bar and Safari on iOS's bars. Bar heights are our device profiles' estimates.