New iPhones typically mean new cases, and if you like to save money, sometimes old cases can help. Will it in 2023?
It’s new iPhone season, and with that there are a whole heap of new cases on the way. New cases for the regular models and new cases for the big models, which split between the iPhone 15 Plus and more premium iPhone 15 Pro Max.
That last model is clearly Apple’s most premium model to date, sporting titanium as a more premium material, a 5X telephoto camera, and a new button that you can customise, all in a massive 6.7 inch phone. And it somehow manages to weigh less this year, shedding some of the grams.
All up, the iPhone 15 Pro Max looks like a perfectly premium phone, and it’s one that carries a fairly high cost.
So if you’re looking to save a few bucks, an older case makes some sense in the grand scheme of things. But is it even possible? Can you use an older case with a newer iPhone?
Will an iPhone 14 Pro Max case fit the iPhone 15 Pro Max?
We don’t blame you for wanting to save money, and older cases can certainly help there. Interestingly, this is one year it could help, but not in an altogether brilliant way.
Yes, the iPhone 14 Pro Max case can fit an iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the cases we fit technically did. Unfortunately, it might not always be a super tight or reliable form-fitting hold.
The changes Apple has made to the iPhone Pro Max’s design this year mean it’s a little bit shorter and less wide, but also has more thickness to it. That means an iPhone 14 Pro Max case will have a little more in each to fit around the new 15 Pro Max.
On the one side, that sounds good, but there’s a catch: the extra dimensions don’t always hug the phone tightly. In fact, in each of the scenarios we tested, they never did. They were always just loose enough to give us pause.
That’s ignoring the other obvious problem: Apple’s chance from the ringer switch to an action button means iPhone 14 Pro Max cases won’t always line up properly or give you easy access to that new button.
Basically, there are more reasons than one why an iPhone 14 Pro Max case won’t fit the newer iPhone 15 Pro Max.
So what about the other way: will an iPhone 15 Pro Max fit the older 14 Pro Max?
Can an iPhone 15 Pro Max case first an iPhone 14 Pro Max?
If you have last year’s iPhone 14 Pro Max and you want to keep it for a bit longer, the bad news is that this year’s phone case will not fit your phone. Simply put, because new width, height, and thickness dimensions, cases for the 15 Pro Max will not fit iPhone 14 Pro Max phones.
Compared against the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the 15 Pro Max is a little shorter by 0.8mm and 0.9mm less wide. It’s also marginally thicker by a mere 0.40mm. All those changes will make a dent on cases, which are designed to hug the form of a phone, and that means cases for the iPhone 15 Pro Max can’t fit older iPhone Pro Max models.
Owners of the last generation will likely still find older cases around for a little bit longer, though you might want to make sure they’re not focused on models with “15” in the name.
