The biggest iPhone for 2022 is actually a little bigger than the one in 2021. Does this impact the cases, and can you use an iPhone 13 Pro Max case on the 14 Pro Max?
It’s always nice to save a few bucks on accessories for a new phone, especially when you’re spending so much on the new phone in the first place, and that could very well be the mindset you find yourself in with the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Apple’s biggest and most expensive phone for 2022, the 14 Pro Max offers up a 6.7 inch screen with an always-on display protecting the A16 Bionic inside and a whole heap of wireless smarts. The design hasn’t significantly changed, but that doesn’t mean the placement of things hasn’t changed, so can you recycle old iPhone 13 Pro Max cases and use them on the iPhone 14 Pro Max?
Will an iPhone 13 Pro Max case fit the iPhone 14 Pro Max?
First up is an obvious question you mighty have if you’re trying to save a few bucks: can the older iPhone 13 Pro Max case fit the newer iPhone 14 Pro Max?
The answer is maybe, and will greatly depend on who made the case. If you have an iPhone 13 Pro Max case made by Apple, the answer is “no”, because these seem to be made to the exact specifications of each model, and the new models won’t fit.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is actually slightly thicker, sitting at 7.85mm compared to the 7.65mm of the iPhone 13 Pro Max. That difference in thickness seems to throw the Apple case out, as does the size and thickness of the camera module, which causes the 14 Pro Max to lean up in the right corner and not fit the case well, at all.
Yet with a third party iPhone 13 Pro Max case we tested from EFM, that did fit the 14 Pro Max rather well, making this very much a case dependent on who made the case you’re going with. Some cases will fit, but not all will.
Can an iPhone 14 Pro Max case fit the iPhone 13 Pro Max?
What about the other direction: can you make the case for the newer iPhone 14 Pro Max fit the older iPhone 13 Pro Max?
The answer is maybe, and for much the same reasons. Much like what we learned matching the cases of the iPhone 14, depending on who made your iPhone 14 Pro Max case, it should match, unless Apple made the case, and then it probably won’t.
In our tests, we found Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max cases mostly fit the older model, but the camera bump threw the top right corner off slightly, thanks in part to the official Apple cases being the perfectly hugged skin that they are. Even though they were very close, we found our volume buttons didn’t work, again likely due to Apple’s exact precision for its cases.
Comparatively, EFM’s iPhone 14 Pro Max cases had no problem conforming to the shape of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, providing a camera cut-out that delivered just a little bit of extra room for the smaller camera in the 13 Pro Max.
Basically, providing the iPhone 14 Pro Max case isn’t made by Apple, the case should work with an older iPhone 13 Pro Max.
