Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Google Pixel 9 Pro XL (with Google Tensor G4) that was released on August 13, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A15 Bionic and came out 3 years before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
  • Has 2.7x more RAM: 16GB versus 6GB
  • Delivers 125% higher peak brightness (2364 against 1049 nits)
  • 45% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1672K versus 1153K)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Comes with 708 mAh larger battery capacity: 5060 vs 4352 mAh
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • The phone is 3 years newer
  • Supports higher wattage charging (37W versus 23W)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
  • Shows 28% longer battery life (28:08 vs 21:55 hours)
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
  • 21% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2427 and 2001 points

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 22% Yes
No, we don't think this update is worth it.
Moving from Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max to Google Pixel 9 Pro XL will likely not feel like a meaningful upgrade.
Main improvements: connectivity, camera, and display.
Be aware: the newer phone is weaker in gaming and battery life.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.8 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1344 x 2992 pixels 1284 x 2778 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 486 ppi 458 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (10-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 3000 nits 1000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 2000 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 -
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 87.7%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99% 99.9%
PWM 240 Hz 238 Hz
Response time 2 ms 8.5 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
2364 nits
1049 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 162.8 mm (6.41 inches) 160.8 mm (6.33 inches)
Width 76.6 mm (3.02 inches) 78.1 mm (3.07 inches)
Thickness 8.5 mm (0.33 inches) 7.65 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 221 g (7.8 oz) 240 g (8.47 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Pink Black, Silver, Gold, Blue, Green
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Repairability Good (3.34/5) -
Drop resistance Excellent (A) · 270 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor G4 Apple A15 Bionic
Max clock 3100 MHz 3230 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.92 GHz: Cortex-A520
- 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 1 core at 3.1 GHz: Cortex-X4
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Mali-G715 MC7 Apple GPU (5 cores)
GPU shading units 896 640
GPU clock 940 MHz 1338 MHz
FLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS ~1712.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 9185 21357
Single-core score 2001 2427
Multi-core score 4932 6142
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
1672795
CPU 622527 276639
GPU 410009 369897
Memory 255927 116764
UX 384332 390373
Total score 1672795 1153673
Samples [6 tests] [3 tests]
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability - 75%
Graphics test - 14 FPS
Section 1 - 19 FPS
Section 2 - 14 FPS
Section 3 - 9 FPS
Graphics score - 3785
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability - 73%
Graphics test - 17 FPS
Graphics score - 2960
Sources: 3DMark [5]

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-27 (feraroof43)AnTuTu 111626655
📘 2026-08-26 (Ark15)Battery lifeSOT 5:20 / 11:00
📘 2026-08-21 (Kazin)AnTuTu 111723964
📘 2026-04-07 -> DeadlyKPSSAnTuTu 111679233
📘 2026-03-29 (Actn)AnTuTu 111585585
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-12 -> HotPowerGeekbench 7 CPU2155 / 5548
📘 2026-09-23 -> HotPowerAnTuTu 111184759
📘 2026-09-19 -> HotPowerGeekbench 6 GPU21284
📘 2026-09-19 -> HotPowerGeekbench 6 CPU2423 / 5985
📘 2026-09-12 (Simon)AnTuTu 111146332

Memory

RAM
RAM size 16 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4X
Memory clock - 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27)
ROM Stock Android -
OS size - 13 GB
OS updates 7 years -
Security updates 7 years -

Battery

Capacity 5060 mAh 4352 mAh
Max charge power 37 W 23 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (12 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (67% in 30 min) Yes (42% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:18 hr 1:46 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 11:42 hr 11:16 hr
Watching video 10:46 hr 17:03 hr
Gaming 05:57 hr 06:41 hr
Standby 92 hr 136 hr
General battery life
21:55 hr
28:08 hr

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6144 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 5x Optical, 3x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 123° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 48 MP
3) Ultrawide: 48 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
4) Depth
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.5
Focal length 25 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung GN1 Sony IMX703
Sensor size 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch) 1/1.66" (≈ 0.6 inch)
Pixel size 1.2 micron 1.9 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 48 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.8 f/2.8
Focal length 113 mm 77 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KGM5 Sony IMX713
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 48 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.8
Focal length 12 mm 13 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KGM5 Sony IMX772
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 75 75
Preview 86 81
Zoom 155 119
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 9 Pro XL from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 42 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 3648 x 2736 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 17 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX858 Sony IMX514
Sensor size 1/2.51" (≈ 0.4 inch) 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes
DxOMark front camera
Photo - 128
Video - 143

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C -
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 18
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
89.5 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced August 2024 September 2021
Release date August 2024 September 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $1099 $1100
Successor - Google Pixel 10 Pro XL - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.4 W/kg 0.98 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger Not included -
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the display, camera, and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. But if the gaming, battery life, software, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
29 (60.4%)
19 (39.6%)
Total votes: 48

User opinions

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