With their 6.7-inch screens, the iPhone 13 Professional Max and 12 Professional Max are the most important telephones Apple has ever launched. The rumored iPhone 14 Professional Max, which we’ll doubtless study on Sept. 7, is anticipated to keep up that very same big display. Though Apple’s “Professional Max” units are considerably bigger than the usual 6.1-inch iPhone 13, 5.4-inch iPhone 13 Mini and 4.7-inch iPhone SE, they nonetheless run the identical software program as Apple’s smaller telephones.
If solely there have been extra methods to make use of the Professional Max’s big display. Fortunately, there are. Apple ought to draw inspiration from the iPhone’s bigger cousin, the iPad. Apple’s tablets are loaded with additional options that make apps simpler to make use of on a bigger display. The corporate even renamed the iPad’s working system iPadOS in 2019 to differentiate it from the iPhone’s iOS. The iPad’s interface had advanced a lot by that time, it now not made sense to lump each units of software program collectively.
I am not suggesting one thing as drastic as a rebranding to “Professional Max OS.” However I do assume each Apple and its clients may benefit from new options which can be designed particularly for bigger iPhones. That could possibly be all of the extra essential as Apple is rumored to be launching a much bigger model of the iPhone 14 this 12 months.
Doing so would not be easy. Modifications would have to be made to deliver iPad-specific options like multitasking to the iPhone Professional Max. However Apple already has a historical past of tailoring apps and software program to particular merchandise, because it proved with the unique iPad and Apple Watch. So I would belief it to do the identical on this case.
Listed below are the iPad options I believe would translate nicely to the iPhone Professional Max.
Multitasking
The iPhone Professional Max’s massive display is nice for specializing in a single app, like studying or watching TV. However I would like to see a model of the iPad’s multitasking capabilities on the iPhone Professional Max, too. Having the ability to view a couple of app at a time might stop me from needing to change between apps so usually.
Apple provides two fundamental choices for working a number of apps on the iPad’s show: Break up View and Slide Over. The primary is self-explanatory; it permits you to divide the display between two apps. Android telephones have provided a split-screen mode for years. Slide Over is a bit completely different. As a substitute of splitting the display, you’ll be able to open an app in a floating panel that may be positioned on both aspect of the display.
If Apple have been to deliver any of those options to the iPhone Professional Max, I believe Slide Over could be essentially the most helpful. In contrast with Break up View mode, it is a greater technique to make use of a smartphone-size display. You’d have the ability to dedicate a lot of the display to 1 app whereas rapidly checking one other. I would like to look at my Slack messages in a column alongside the aspect of my display whereas utilizing a lot of the iPhone’s show to make amends for emails.
That is an instance of an iPad characteristic that Apple would doubtless must tweak considerably for the iPhone slightly than bringing over the present model. The iPhone Professional Max is large for a telephone, nevertheless it’s nonetheless small in contrast with an iPad — even the iPad Mini.
A method Apple might make this work is by formatting Slide Over apps like interactive widgets you can view whereas working one other app. Widgets are already designed to show a number of data in an area that solely occupies a fraction of your telephone’s display. As such, it is easy to think about widget-like Slide Over apps you can pin to any nook of the iPhone Professional Max’s show.
Nonetheless, getting the iPad’s multitasking options on the iPhone Professional Max is a longshot. A part of the iPhone’s enchantment is that the software program is constant irrespective of which mannequin you personal, so I doubt Apple will jeopardize that. Within the meantime, we’re caught with the handful of current iPhone Professional Max-specific options that have been really launched for the iPhone 6 Plus. For instance, default apps like Mail and Messages benefit from the iPhone Professional Max’s bigger show in panorama mode to indicate a column of message previews alongside the at the moment seen message.
We cannot be getting any new iPhone Professional Max-specific multitasking options in iOS 16, Apple’s new iPhone software program replace arriving this fall. However the replace will introduce a revamped lock display with widgets for seeing extra data at a look. Whereas the brand new lock display is obtainable throughout all supported fashions, I think about it’ll add some additional utility to the Professional Max’s bigger show.
A mini Apple Pencil
Sure, I do know Steve Jobs famously ridiculed the concept of utilizing a stylus with a cell machine. However hear me out. The Apple Pencil has confirmed itself to be a beneficial iPad companion over the past a number of years. Now, it is time to deliver it to the iPhone Professional Max as an non-obligatory accent.
I am not alone in wishing for an iPhone-compatible Apple Pencil. My colleague Patrick Holland has been begging for an Apple Pencil since he reviewed the iPhone 12 Professional Max in 2020, saying a MagSafe Apple Pencil could be “a killer accent.”
First, think about the iPhone Professional Max’s viewers. It is for people who find themselves prepared to pay prime greenback for the most important display and finest digital camera obtainable on an iPhone. The Apple Pencil looks like a pure addition to the Professional Max, each for photographers and those that simply need a big display.
I think about those that often contact up pictures on their telephone would profit from enhancing with a stylus that is extra exact than their finger, particularly since widespread apps like Adobe Lightroom and Pixelmator have Apple Pencil assist. An iPhone-friendly Apple Pencil might additionally enchantment to those that usually take notes or mark up paperwork utilizing their telephones. The rumored iPhone 14 Max, which might be a 6.7-inch model of the usual iPhone, would profit as nicely from an non-obligatory pencil accent.
The success of Samsung’s Galaxy Notice line (which has now been consolidated into the Galaxy S Extremely household) additionally suggests there’s an viewers for styluses. I’ve to confess I do not discover myself utilizing the Galaxy S22 Extremely’s S Pen fairly often. However it has turn out to be useful for jotting down notes throughout conferences or rapidly capturing ideas once I’m writing a evaluation and occur to be away from my pc.
Once more, it would not make sense to simply develop the present Apple Pencil’s compatibility to the iPhone Professional Max. As a substitute, Apple ought to design a smaller model of the Pencil with a smaller tip that is higher suited to a phone-size display.
A win for Apple and its clients
With or with out these options, the iPhone Professional Max is already a success. The iPhone 12 Professional Max was the world’s second-best-selling telephone in 2021, in accordance with knowledge from Counterpoint Analysis.
There’s clearly a requirement for bigger iPhones, as evidenced by rumors that Apple will change the iPhone Mini with one other 6.7-inch iPhone this 12 months.
However why not do extra with the Professional Max? It might be an effective way for Apple to additional distinguish the Professional Max from its smaller and cheaper iPhones. The extra software program options would additionally give homeowners extra for the value, whereas a Pencil would supply Apple with one other alternative to generate profits from present iPhone Professional Max homeowners. It looks like a win-win situation.
The iPhone Professional Max’s lack of multitasking and Apple Pencil assist aren’t essentially shortcomings. However it looks like Apple is lacking a chance.