Depends on how much work you want to put in. Shooting with RAW instead of JPEG or HEIF can give you the absolute best photo quality without a doubt! ..... if you know how to edit photos that is. Because that is a requirement when using RAW. If you just want to point-n-shoot without any editing, you're much more limited. Either just take photos the way you normally do, and deal with the way your phone automatically applies processing (boosting saturation, applying sharpening, "HDR" effects.etc). Shooting "bursts" will apply slightly less of that processing, which is preferable for some. Or. If you want realistic "true to life" looking photos, but still without the need to edit them. There are some third party apps that gives you that option. More on reddit.com

13 pro max user here. Have used a lot of phones with the 13 pro max being the current one. You can also check out my profile for more photos I took. Some tips I can give you for better results are: (They don't apply only to the 13 pro max) Avoid shooting with lighting behind the subject. Avoid taking photos when light is too strong or when sun is right above your head, it will create unflattering shadows. You can shoot whenever you want on cloudy/overcast days though. The clouds act like a soft box so your photos look better. Try stepping back and shooting with the 3x lens when shooting portraits of people. The 77mm equivalent is less distorting when it comes to human proportions and therefore you'll have a more professional photo. (my latest photos were taken like this) Don't overcrowd your photos. Find something that leads the eye, be it a subject or an inanimate object. Don't over process photos if you choose to edit them. Less is more here. You can also dm me for more details if you want 👏 More on reddit.com

I bought this phone specifically for the camera and I’m extremely disappointed with it so far. It really sucks that my old iPhone 7 took better pictures so I’ll be returning this if I can’t find a way to correct the photo issue. ... How to set my iPhone 13 pro max camera? More on discussions.apple.com

The settings aren’t the issue, it’s the camera app’s over-processing. You can’t change these unless you shoot in ProRaw format, but this isn’t worth it for most people unless you’re editing all your photos and okay with massive file sizes. As u/jpegfanboy has mentioned, try using third party apps and see if you like your photos better. These apps avoid the egregious sharpening and tone mapping. Some other apps I’d also recommend trying are No Fusion, mood camera, and (Not Boring) Camera. Most of these offer a free tier that you can give a try! More on reddit.com