Hi Android Studio, Android is basically a software that allows your hardware to function. Android OS gives you access to many applications, including Google's own creation. This allows you to search information on the web, play music and videos, check your location on the map, take a photo using the camera and a lot more besides.
Android is a mobile operating system that is found on many modern devices, the most popular being the smartphone. On top of that you will also find the Android Tablet, the streaming TV and other portable gadgets.
Without Android, all this will not be possible.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro review, Android Device Manager requires two things before you can find the phone. The device must have a remote location enabled, that you find in Google Android Device Manager settings > > remotely found this device (make sure the box is ticked), and need to have access to the location as well. That's in settings Google > location. If this setting is off, then the Device Manager will not be able to find the device.
Check out our guide on how to set up your Android Apple iPhone 12 Pro review for an idea of what you'll need to do to get started. One of your first tasks will be to create a Google account (or sign in to an existing one). This gives you the email functionality and also provides a good way to back up your contacts, keep your files online and so on.
Android Device Manager works for tablets as well, but if you have multiple user accounts, the only tablet '' owner '' can enable features of Android Device Manager (or turn it off again).
Highly customizable Android phones, so they can be changed according Your needs and personal tastes. For example, you can set your own wallpapers, themes and launchers, Apple iPhone 12 Pro review that completely change the look of Your device interface. You can download new applications to do all sorts of things like check Facebook and Twitter feeds, manage your bank account, order a pizza and game play.
Read:
How to get started with Android
In fact, you can synchronize your personal information in all types of Android devices. This includes your favourite web sites, calendar entries and purchased apps. This is all supported seamlessly, background Apple iPhone 12 Pro review
The advantage of this is that if you lose your mobile phone Apple iPhone 12 Pro review All numbers and your important data will be saved. The next time you get an Android phone (or other device) and sign in with your Google account, all your contacts and your number will be displayed in the address book on your new phone immediately. There is no need to transfer them up or back them up somewhere else.
Introduction
This year, Apple is giving potential buyers more choice than ever. We already reviewed the iPhone 12, and now it's time for the 12 Pro. Besides having double the storage, a stainless steel frame, and different colors than the 12, the 12 Pro upgrades are mostly camera-related. It's got a proper telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom, a LiDAR Scanner for AR applications and low-light focusing, and it can take portrait shots with Night mode. This is not the longest list of upgrades we've seen, so choosing between these two iPhones is going to be a tough one.
At least compared to the iPhone 11 Pro, the list of new features is longer. There is a faster processor, 5G connectivity, a larger screen with better shatter resistance, Night mode for the UW camera, Dolby Vision video recording, MagSafe support, and the new LiDAR.
But most importantly, there is also the new design that Apple is introducing with the 12th Series, and it instantaneously makes all previous iPhones look less modern.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro specs:
Body: Stainless-steel frame with glossy finish, Ceramic Shield front with oleophobic coating, Glass back with frosted finish, IP68 certified for water and dust resistance. Silver, Graphite, Gold, Pacific Blue color options. 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4 mm, 189 g.
Display: 6.1" Retina XDR OLED screen of 1170 x 2532 px resolution, 460ppi, 600 nits, 120Hz touch sensing. HDR10, Dolby Vision support, wide color gamut. True Tone.
Chipset: Apple A14 Bionic chip (5nm) - Hexa-core (2x3.1 GHz Firestorm + 4x1.8 GHz Icestorm with 3.1GHz Turboboost) Apple CPU, four-core Apple GPU, 16-core Apple NPU 4-gen
Memory: 6GB of RAM; 128/256/512GB of internal storage
Rear camera: Triple 12MP camera: 26mm main wide-angle, f/1.6, OIS, Dual Pixel AF; 13mm ultrawide-angle, f/2.4, 120-degree field of view; 52mm telephoto, f/2.0, OIS, 2x optical zoom; dual-LED flash with slow sync. Night Mode, Smart HDR 3, Deep Fusion.
Video recording: 2160p@60/30fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps video recording with wider dynamic range and spatial sound, OIS + EIS, Dolby Vision
Front camera: Dual camera - 23mm 12MP f/2.2 front-facing camera with HDR mode + 3D TOF camera; Night Mode, Smart HDR 3, Deep Fusion. 2160p@60/30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps video recording with wider dynamic range and spatial sound, EIS.
Connectivity: Dual SIM, 5G, 4G; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac/6; Bluetooth 5.0; Lightning port; GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS; NFC; Apple U1 chip ultrawideband
Battery: 2,815 mAh battery, 20W fast charging, 15 Qi wireless charging (MagSafe)
Misc: Face ID through dedicated TrueDepth camera, stereo speakers, Taptic Engine
While we could hardly wait to see the iPhones with this new design, we can't say Apple has checked off all points on our wishlist. The iPhone 12 Pro was supposed to premiere with a new 120Hz ProMotion display, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. Rumor has it that for some reason, Apple had to choose between 5G and HRR OLED (we think it's battery life). Well, we all know how that went down - with our without carrier support - Apple's homepage now proudly carries a huge 5G logo. We can't deny the iPhone UI looks fast and fluid but forgoing the high-refresh-rate screen for yet another year is a flagrant omission in our books.
Also, Apple's questionable decision to keep the camera hardware upgrades only to the iPhone 12 Pro Max further takes away some of the appeal of the 12 Pro. Not everyone will want a big phone, and Apple is making it impossible to get the new 12MP sensor with larger pixels and sensor-shift stabilization without going for the 12 Pro Max. In our minds, the iPhone 12 Pro deserved to have the same level of camera hardware instead of relying on the last year's camera tech.
Unboxing the Apple iPhone 12 Pro
Finally, in one of the most controversial moves in the industry, Apple announced they are no longer bundling a charger or headphones with this phone that costs more than a thousand bucks.
This year, the iPhone 12 Pro comes in one of the slimmest smartphone boxes we have ever opened. Inside, you'll find only the phone itself and a USB-C/Lightning cable. No charger or headphones here. Apple expects you to already have these or, better yet, buy them separately.
Inside the box, there is also a small sleeve, where you'd find the SIM ejection PIN and an Apple logo sticker. Apple should have saved the hassle of including those - after all, we all have those already, right? Come to think of it, nobody needs a box either - just ship the iPhone 13 in bubble wrap.
Okay, we're a bit salty, but so is the iPhone 12 Pro pricing. Let's see what it has to offer for our hard-earned money on the following pages.
Design, build quality, handling
The iPhone 12 Pro may be tempting with its new features, but the Series' new design will be a decisive factor for many iPhone 12 Pro purchases. Even a few of us in the team share this sentiment.
The iPhone 4 and 5 designs were iconic. We've been hoping for their revival ever since we saw it recreated in the iPads, and it's finally here. Odds are that the iPhone Series 12 will be remembered for this redesign rather than for introducing highly advertised features like 5G.
The new Ceramic Shield glass is at the center of the new and improved design - it's a new Corning-made glass with added microscopic ceramic crystals that made this year's screen glass tougher. The new screen glass is, reportedly, 4x times more resilient to shattering than the iPhone 11's. And it seems all these enthusiasts' drop test videos online confirm the new iPhones are much more shatter-resistant.
The Ceramic Shield is also ion-strengthened against scratches and comes with Apple's oleophobic coating for improved smudge resistance. No screen glass is scratch proof yet, but the fingerprint smudges are very easy to clean.
The back panel looks gorgeous - it's the same frosted glass from the iPhone 11 Pro but flat. The rear panels of the iPhone 12 series are not made of the same Ceramic Shield material. They are the same as last year - meaning they have the same shatter and scratch endurance as the iPhone 11's. And it's nothing bad, but it's not the same thing you get on the front.
Apple iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro
Even so, the frosted finish on the back glass provides better scratch resistance. If our experience with the iPhone 11 Pro is anything to go by, it may get marks from objects in your pocket, but they disappear without a trace with some rubbing and wiping.
The back panel of the iPhone 12 Pro is the exact opposite of the iPhone 12's - it's a frosted panel combined with a glossy mirror-like camera square. The same thing is valid for the new flat frame, too - now it is this stunning shiny piece of stainless steel instead of the lighter and frosted aluminum chassis on the iPhone 12. You can't have an all matte iPhone this year, and that's that.
Apple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro
The steel frame wins premium points for the iPhone 12 Pro, and it does make for a luxurious look. It is flat, of course, and for what it's worth, the 12 Pro can also stand upright on its own.
However, the extremely glossy frame is a fingerprint magnet, and it's a hassle to keep clean. It gets covered in ugly smudges in less than half an hour of use.
Stainless steel is also heavier than aluminum. The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro have completely identical parts, excluding the extra tele camera and the LiDAR scanner. Yet, the iPhone 12 Pro is 35 grams heavier than the regular iPhone 12, and we believe it might be due to the frame.
Finally, the worst thing about the frame is the lack of any grip. If you are using the iPhone 12 Pro without a case - it's tough to pick it up from your desk or nightstand, not without a high risk of dropping it halfway. It is very slippery!
The iPhone 12 Pro is IP68-rated for dust and water resistance, but the new design has allowed Apple to enhance its water protection even more. Now, the iPhones are promised to survive in 6m-deep water for 30 minutes. This and the Ceramic Shield make the 12th generation one of the most durable non-rugged smartphones out there.
Apple iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro
The Apple iPhone 12 Pro features a similar screen to the iPhone 11 Pro but a bit larger- it's a 6.1" Super Retina XDR OLED. The notch is still enormous notch, but the bezels are thin.
One of the major rumors this year didn't become a reality - the 120Hz ProMotion screen. We will never know why, but it is disappointing that even the more expensive Apple flagships still come with 60Hz displays. This upgrade is long overdue, and we would have traded 120Hz for that 5G connectivity in a heartbeat. It is what it is.
Inside that eyesore notch are the same features as seen on the iPhone 11 Pro - a stereo speaker/earpiece in the middle, the Structured Light 3D camera on the left, and the 12MP selfie shooter on the right. Face ID is still your only biometric security option, and it seems Apple has no plans of offering a next-generation Touch ID sensor. It's a real pity to only offer a face unlock option in times when we are forced to wear masks so much.
The screen is completely flat. There is not even a 2.5D finish along the edges.
The rear panel is also flat, frosted graphite in our case, and it looks great. The Apple logo is a small mirror, as usual.
The camera square is jutting out just a little bit, and it contains three 12MP cameras - primary, ultrawide, and telephoto. The LiDAR scanner and the dual-LED flash are in here, too. The square glass has rounded corners and is so glossy that it is practically another mirror piece on the back.
All three snappers have small metal rings around them, protruding about a millimeter from their shared glass. And finally, all these snappers are protected by sapphire glass pieces, which extend about half a millimeter over those rings. These thoughtful arrangements made for a camera setup that's not looking like a giant swell on the phone and makes for less wobbling.
But the tough sapphire glass pieces are the things touching the surface you put the iPhone on, and there is a high risk of scratching glass or otherwise glossy tables, let alone other smartphones. So while you are getting excellent protection for the cameras, be mindful of where you rest your iPhone. And most certainly, don't stack it on top of other phones!
The frame may have a new shape, but it has no other surprises unless we count the repositioned SIM tray - it's now on the left. Also on the left are the flat volume keys and the good old silencer switch.
The Side/Power key is alone on the right, while the bottom has the Lightning port, the mouthpiece, and the other stereo speaker.
The iPhone 12 Pro is as big as the iPhone 12 and 3mm taller than the 11 Pro. It is much heavier than the iPhone 12 but has the same weight as its predecessor. Thanks to its new frame - it fits better in hand and feels somewhat more secure than the iPhone 11 Pro.
But holding it doesn't feel even nearly as secure as the iPhone 12 and its matte frame. Even if it looks sharp around the edges, the glossy frame still transitions smoothly towards the glass and provides a minimal, if any, grip. It's a pity you need to put a case on this gorgeous body, but you really need to, sorry.
We are big fans of the flat design and angular shape, and we do appreciate the shatter-resistant glass and enhanced water resistance. It is probably a technological achievement worth exploring even more. But we think the iPhone 12 Pro deserved a more thoughtful frame polish than this glossy mess as its flaws outweigh the benefits by a mile.
Excellent AMOLED screen, still 60Hz though
So, the iPhone 12 Pro has a 6.1" OLED screen of 1,170 x 2,532 pixels or 460ppi. It has Ceramic Shield protection and oleophobic coating for better smudge resistance.
The screen supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision. You can enjoy high-res HDR content on all known streaming platforms.
The Apple iPhone 12 Pro screen also supports True Tone adjustments, Wide Color support, and it has the Haptic Touch feature provided by the Taptic Engine.
In its essence, the iPhone 12 Pro is the same type of screen used in the iPhone 11 Pro. The screen is slightly larger this time - with a 6.1-inch diagonal vs. 5.8 inches on the 11 Pro.
The minor resolution bump is just enough to maintain the same pixel density of 460ppi.
Otherwise, we are still looking at an OLED screen with a giant notch, 60Hz refresh rate, and 120Hz touch sampling.
Yes, Apple didn't bring the rumored high refresh rate screen. This will hardly be a deal-breaker for someone who is already locked into the iOS ecosystem or is still using an older device with a 60Hz refresh rate by another manufacturer.
If you are coming from the Android camp, where even mid-rangers already have high refresh rate displays in 2020, the fact that the expensive iPhones don't have that will sting a little. Well, we'd have to wait for the iPhone 13 Pro, we guess.
Apple advertises 800 nits of typical brightness on the iPhone 12 Pro display and 600 nits for the iPhone 12's. Both phones offer peak brightness of up to 1,200 nits.
And that's exactly what the screen offers - we measured 802 nits of maximum brightness on the iPhone 12 Pro with our particular test setup. The minimum brightness is impressively low at 1.8 nits.
There is no maximum auto boost on any iPhone, though you'd never miss that with such a bright screen.
Display test
100% brightness
Black,cd/m2
White,cd/m2
Contrast ratio
Apple iPhone 12 Pro
0
802
∞
Apple iPhone 12
0
639
∞
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
0
820
∞
Apple iPhone 11 Pro
0
805
∞
Apple iPhone 11
0.428
644
1505:1
Apple iPhone X
0
679
∞
Apple iPhone XR
0.425
700
1647:1
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
0
404
∞
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Max Auto)
0
823
∞
OnePlus 8T
0
497
∞
OnePlus 8T (Max Auto)
0
802
∞
OnePlus 8 Pro
0
538
∞
OnePlus 8 Pro (Max Auto)
0
888
∞
Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
0
504
∞
Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Max Auto)
0
1024
∞
The iPhone 12 Pro screen offers excellent color accuracy - we measured an average deltaE of 1.9 and a maximum deviation of 3.0 against sRGB targets. The iPhone 12 Pro fully supports DCI-P3, and it automatically switches to this color space when DCI-P3 content is sent to the screen.
As usual, the iPhone 12 Pro can maintain such a great color accuracy across all brightness levels, even at the lowest point of 1.8 nits.
Battery life
The Apple iPhone 12 Pro has the same 2,815mAh battery as the regular iPhone 12, which means it's about 7% smaller than the iPhone 11 Pro. The phone supports fast wired and wireless charging, if you purchase the compatible power adapters, that is.
The iPhone 12 Pro did well on our battery test - it posted similar talk, web, and video times as the iPhone 12. The call and web times are similar to the iPhone 11 Pro, but in contrast, the older model lasted north of 15 hours of video playback.
The standby performance turned out a bit worse than on the iPhone 12 and 11 Pro, and that's why the final endurance rating is a bit lower, too.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSer App. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Apple iPhone 12 Pro for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Charging speed
The Apple iPhone 12 Pro, just like the iPhone 8, X, XS, and 11 series, supports fast battery charging via USB Power Delivery. As we already made it abundantly clear, Apple ships this $1000 phone without a charger (sigh!), but you can purchase Apple's 20W PD charger or another USB-PD compatible adapter separately.
If you recharge the dead iPhone 12 Pro with Apple's 20W charger, it will refill 59% of its battery in 30 mins.
30min charging test (from 0%)
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra 100%
OnePlus 8T 94%
Realme 7 Pro 94%
Apple iPhone 12 Pro (20W) 59%
Apple iPhone 11 Pro 59%
Apple iPhone 12 (20W) 58%
Realme 7 58%
Galaxy S20 FE (25W) 57%
Apple iPhone 11 (18W) 55%
Galaxy S20 FE (15W bundled) 37%
Apple iPhone 12 (15W MagSafe) 30%
Apple iPhone 11 (5W) 18%
After an hour of charging we got 90%, while the last 10% required some extra 30 minutes (yes, we had the Optimized Charging disabled).
Time to full charge (from 0%)
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra 0:27h
OnePlus 8T 0:36h
Realme 7 Pro 0:37h
Realme 7 1:05h
Galaxy S20 FE (25W) 1:10h
Apple iPhone 12 Pro (20W) 1:30h
Apple iPhone 12 (20W) 1:30h
Galaxy S20 FE (15W bundled) 1:35h
Apple iPhone 11 Pro 1:50h
Apple iPhone 12/Pro (15W MagSafe) 3:00h
Apple iPhone 11 (5W) 4:00h
The iPhone 12 Pro supports 15W fast wireless charging but only when using MagSafe chargers. Otherwise, you'd be limited to 5W-8W or so.
We snapped Apple's own MagSafe charger on the back of the iPhone 12 Pro and recharged it from 0% to 100%. The charging times were far from impressive, though. First, it takes about 5 minutes to wake up a dead iPhone 12 Pro. Then the MagSafe charger refills 30% in 30 minutes, while full charge requires 3 full hours!
Stereo speakers
The iPhone 12 Pro plays audio through stereo speakers just like all recent iPhones. There is one speaker at the bottom and another one inside the screen notch, which also doubles as an earpiece. The output is quite balanced even if the top speaker is a bit bass-less.
The speakers support spatial audio, and subjectively, the sound indeed seems less directional and more, well, spatial when compared to other phones we've tested so far.
The iPhone 12 Pro scored a Very Good mark in our loudness test, and it is on par with the iPhone 12 and 11 Pro. The audio quality is excellent - there is deep bass, the mid-tones are superb, and the high-notes are well presented, too. Overall, these are some of the best sounding speakers we've listened to by a smartphone.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Apple iOS 14.1 on the iPhone 12 Pro
All new iPhones come with the latest iOS 14.1 pre-installed. It's a minor update over the iOS 14 containing mostly bug fixes and newly added support for 10-bit HDR video playback on iPhones 8 and up.
Let's take a closer look at the iPhone 12 Pro's iOS 14 now. Its focus falls on the new widgets and App Library, which will improve your experience should you decide to use them. It's nice to see Apple has decided to make new features as optional as possible, instead of forcing them on you right away.
The rest of iOS remains mostly unchanged since iOS 13 with some minor UI improvements across different system apps. Some new apps and features are available, too.
The lockscreen on iOS 14 remains intact - it's one with the Notification Center and houses your notifications (privacy options are available), plus shortcuts for the torch and the camera. You can get past it via Face ID or PIN if you've opted for secure unlock.
Your apps usually populate the homescreen(s) and widgets - the leftmost Today page. Now there is also a rightmost page - the App Library.
A new option allows you to hide specific homescreens - you may have a page that's full of games and hide when at work or hide the two pages of work apps when on vacation. You can't opt-out of Today and App Library, though.
You can continue to use iOS 14 the old way if you like and completely ignore the App Library. There is no option to disable the App Library entirely, though.
The new Widgets can be placed on any of the homescreens and the Today page, and they can coexist with app icons. There are three widget sizes supported by iOS 14 - 2x2, 4x2, and 4x4.
You can stack widgets of the same size on top of one another. Once you have a stack, you can either have the OS automatically choose which is the most relevant widget to surface to the top of the stack automatically. You can also flip through the stack manually by swiping up or down until you find the widget you need. We love this idea of stacked widgets - it's a real space saver - especially if you combine a frequently used widget at the top with less frequently used ones in the stack below it.
The App Library is an app drawer, which is always your rightmost homescreen pane. Apps are added automatically to the App Library upon installation. The sorting is also an automatic process, and you can't edit the categories or move apps in different categories. The app sorting depends on the App Store tags the developer has used upon uploading the apps.
The App Library has three settings only - Add new apps to Homescreen and App Library, Add to App Library only, and Show Notification Badges in App Library. That's it.
The App Library is where you are going to ditch your least used apps to die. It's inevitable.
App Library
We bet the Today page will slowly go away, but for now, it is only for widgets. You put the same widgets and stacks you can on your homescreen(s). Here you can also use the old third-party widgets that haven't been optimized yet for iOS 14. The old widgets come right after the new one, should you choose to use some new ones.
In time, we guess all developers will update their widgets to support iOS 14, and that will be the death of Today as we know it.
The Notification Center is summoned with a swipe from the left horn or the notch. The pane was unified with the lockscreen in iOS 11, and that's why you can have different wallpapers on your homescreen and notification center.
The Control Center, which has customizable and (some) expandable toggles, is called with a swipe from the right horn. You can use haptic touch to access additional controls. And the battery percentage is also here.
Today • Today settings • Notification Center • Control Center
The navigation gestures stay the same as they were on the iPhone X. Swipe upwards from the bottom line to close an app, swipe and stop midway for task switcher, swipe from the side of the screen for back and forward. You can also swipe on the line left or right to switch to your recently used apps instantaneously.
The Back Tap is a new accessibility shortcut. It recognizes double and triple tap on the back of the phone, and you can assign whatever you like. We chose 'Take a screenshot' and 'Control Center,' but it is really up to you. Overall, it has to be one of our favorite features in iOS14.
Gestures • Task Switcher • Moving between apps • Back • Closing an app • Back Tap
There is a system-wide Dark Mode. You can enable it manually or schedule it from within Display Settings, and it switches to dark all-white backgrounds across iOS. The Dark Mode affects all system apps, but also apps that rely on system backgrounds. You can also check the option to darken the homescreen wallpaper when in Dark Mode.
Dark Mode
The App Clips service is a major part of iOS 14 even though it is yet to become widespread. An App Clip is a pop-up window where you can use a small part of an app that you don't have installed on your phone without going to the App Store and downloading it. Basically, iOS 14 downloads this "clip" for you in real-time, you use the function, and then it goes away.
For example - you browse burgers in your browser, you see a place with nice burgers, you tap on a burger you want to order. A small pop-up window appears of, say, Foodpanda's app where you can order the said burger without installing their app and making a proper registration. The same goes for taxis, bike, or scooter rentals, among others.
Siri - Apple's digital assistant - is used by 400+ million people monthly. You summon it by holding the 'side' key (the Power key). You can do all sorts of things with Siri - from questions and translations through setting up reminders and sending replies to asking for reservations or tickets, directions, and whatnot.
Siri Shortcuts are available within a standalone app. You can assign a shortcut to so many things that it will take many pages to describe them. You can script almost anything available within iOS itself, a lot of stuff from within the system apps, and some advanced actions from any well-known apps such as YouTube or Facebook.
Another new feature in iOS 14 is the more compact Siri interface. Upon summoning Siri, you will see a small ball around the bottom, and your answer will be provided in a small pop-up window. This way, you can still see what's happening in your active app.
Speaking about compact interfaces, Siri isn't the only app getting such refresh. The Phone app is still the same, but receiving a call while your phone is unlocked has become a much more unintrusive thing with the new compact UI. Instead of pausing everything you were doing and throwing you the black call screen, now you get a small pop-up with Green and Red receivers and the caller ID.
PiP or Picture-in-Picture mode is a very welcome and long-overdue feature in iOS. It does precisely what the name suggests - minimizes your currently playing video within a hovering pop-up over the iOS UI or other apps.
PiP is supported in Apple TV, Podcasts, Safari, FaceTime, iTunes, Home, YouTube, and any other third-party app that chooses to add support for it.
Now, can we get PiP for Maps next, Apple? Pretty please?
The new Siri UI • Compact Siri answer • Compact phone call • Picture in Picture • PiP
The multimedia is handled by Apple's default apps - Photos, Music, TV - and they are mostly unchanged since their iOS 13 versions.
The Photos tab has four different views - Years, Months, Days, and All Photos. Days, Months, and Years tabs use what the AI considers as best pictures at a glance, and this way, all the clutter gets filtered - you won't see screenshots, notes, or even duplicates. When you scroll through your images in these three categories, all live photos and videos will play automatically (muted). Also, your best photos or videos will show in bigger thumbnails.
AI-powered search option and powerful photo and video edit modes are available, as usual.
Photos
The Apple TV app is part of iOS 14, and it is your default video player for locally stored movies and shows you've added via iTunes. This is also the digital store for movies and TV shows, but it is also the place where you find the Apple TV+ streaming service.
Apple TV
Music has a new homescreen icon. It is the default player, and it relies heavily on Apple Music. But even if you decide not to use the streaming service, it can still do an excellent job if you have a few minutes to add your songs via iTunes. Realistically, adding music tracks via iTunes requires as few clicks as it would take to copy them via Windows Explorer, so there is no overhead. The requirement to download and install iTunes in the first place, however, can be off-putting to Windows PC users.
Music
Books are here for your documents, PDFS, and eBooks. Stocks and News are onboard. Safari is your default web browser, and it has a Download manager and some enhanced privacy options we will talk about in a minute.
Apple Maps will be bringing its new, enhanced mapping solution to the UK, Ireland, and Canada "later this year." It adds cycling directions, complete with elevation info, and a new "avoid stairs" option for New York, LA, San Francisco, Beijing, and Shanghai.
The new EV routing will factor in necessary charging stops along the way.
Guides let you discover restaurants, popular attractions and explore recommendations from "respected brands."
The maps also show known speed cameras and red-light cameras.
Maps
Some of the new Privacy features include options to change default browser and mail client, Safari's Privacy report about website trackers, the option to report approximate instead of precise location, and also the green and orange indicators for camera or microphone in use.
Default browser • Privacy report • Approximate location • Mic indicator • Camera indicator
Finally, Apple Pay is on board, of course, and Sign-in with Apple is pushed everywhere. You can use this to quickly sign into apps with your Apple account, authenticating with FaceID and with two-factor authentication included. Apple will send the app a unique random ID. If an app demands your email address, you can choose to give it your actual email or a random one automatically created by Apple for you with built-in forwarding.
LiDAR capabilities have arrived on the iPhone
Apple made a big deal of the new LiDAR scanner, and rightfully so. The miniaturization of the LiDAR (Light Radar, Light Detection and Ranging, and know also known as Laser Imaging, Detection and Ranging) technology is one of Apple's more prominent achievements, and after the iPad Pro, it now premieres on the iPhone 12 Pro.
The LiDAR scanner measures distances by firing laser beams and measuring their reflections with a dedicated sensor. This way, the phone can make a super accurate 3D representation of an object and later place it virtually anywhere. Thinking of new furniture? This will be perfect. Want to compare the size of objects you can't put next to each other - LiDAR will help.
The LiDAR scanner is also very accurate at measuring distances, and you can use it just for that - like a fancy digital tapeline. Or you can set a distance and see virtual walls in real-time at the predefined distance. Professionals such as interior designers may find the LiDAR scanner a handy tool.
Thanks to the powerful AR capabilities that also come as a bonus with LiDAR, you can also have an amazing AR experience with compatible apps and games.
Another benefit of this technology is the speedier (and more accurate) focus in low light. And because the sensor doesn't care about light conditions and can work even in pitch dark room, you can now shoot low-light portraits for the first time with great subject separation and blur.
Long story short - you can use LiDAR-compatible apps (such as 3D Scanner App) to scan and place objects wherever you like, export such objects to use in your projects, and even measure distances. Of course, you can also enjoy the boosted AR experience in various games.
3D Scanner App
Performance and benchmarks
The Apple A14 Bionic chip powers the entire iPhone 12 series. It is the first commercially available 5nm chipset in the world, packing a whopping 11.8 billion transistors - that's 40% more than the A13.
The A14 has a six-core processor, just like the last Apple chips. It has 2 big Firestorm cores clocked at 3.1GHz and 4 small Icestorm cores working at 1.8GHz with TurboBoost capability to go to 3.1GHz when necessary. The upgraded processor should deliver a 50% higher performance than the A13's.
There is a new 4-core Apple GPU, which should offer up to 50% increase over last year's iPhones.
Then there is the new 16-core NPU for machine learning that brings a 70% increase in AI performance.
The iPhone 12 Pro has 6GB of RAM, while the non-Pro models come with 4GB of RAM.
The Apple A14 Bionic also comes with Qualcomm's X55 5G modem, and that's why the entire iPhone 12 lineup supports 5G connectivity.
The new A14 Bionic chip and its ISP are also at the heart of the improved camera quality - the Smart HDR 3, Deep Fusion, Night Mode, Dolby Vision recording, and more - these new features are all possible thanks to the sheer power of the A14.
The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 are the fastest iPhones so far, but that's hardly a surprise. The Apple A14 has the most powerful processor to this very day, as usual.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
Apple iPhone 12 4067
Apple iPhone 12 Pro 4056
Apple iPhone 11 Pro 3466
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 3296
Apple iPhone SE (2020) 3237
OnePlus 8T 3126
Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G 2603
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
Apple iPhone 12 Pro 1611
Apple iPhone 12 1605
Apple iPhone SE (2020) 1334
Apple iPhone 11 Pro 1333
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 906
OnePlus 8T 893
Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G 880
The improved GPU does offer more raw power, though it's a marginal difference.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
Apple iPhone 12 132
Apple iPhone 12 Pro 132
Apple iPhone 11 121
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max 120
Apple iPhone 11 Pro 118
Apple iPhone XS 98
Apple iPhone XR 97
Apple iPhone X 65
Of course, the latest iPhones are the new AnTuTu champs.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
Apple iPhone 12 Pro 596244
Apple iPhone 12 579048
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max 536883
Apple iPhone SE (2020) 462253
Apple iPhone XR 422465
The Apple A14 Bionic chip, even if it makes the iPhone 12 Pro the fastest smartphone on the planet, will not be among the reasons to jump on Series 12. Performance has always been top-notch on the iPhones, even if it's a three-year-old model. It's the A14 chip's new features that matter - such as the improved machine learning and the new ISP, which take computational photography on the next level.
One thing we can definitely say is that judging by those high frame rates achieved on the offscreen benchmarks, the iPhones' 120Hz screens are already a few years overdue.
Gaming is great on the iPhones, though it turns out the iPhone 12 Pro provides a better cooling system and thus less throttling over long gaming sessions or benchmarks. While the iPhone 12 becomes very warm around its frame and rear glass, the Pro model gets moderately warm. And this shows.
The iPhone 12 Pro has a stability score of 90.9% on the 3D Mark Wild Life Stress Test, which runs 20 loops of the Wild Life graphic test.
The iPhone 12 achieve 84% stability on a newly configured phone, and then it dropped to 75% when we populated it with apps such as Facebook, Skype, Whatsapp, Messenger, Bluetooth accessories, etc.
For a comparison - a similarly crowded iPhone 11 Pro Max shows stability of 82%.
These results come from a busy GPU benchmark, of course.
We tried running Call of Duty Mobile on the iPhone 12 Pro and 11 Pro and we found them both equally stable, didn't get hot at all, and we found no excessive battery drain. In fact, the iPhone 12 Pro can run that game for 9 hours and 39 minutes, while the 11 Pro lasted 8 hours and 36 minutes.
Gaming time
Apple iPhone 12 Pro 9:39h
Apple iPhone 11 Pro 8:36h
So, the iPhone 12 Pro is well-suited for gaming with better cooling and stability than the iPhone 12. It also offers 1 hour or so more gaming time when compared to the iPhone 11 Pro.
Triple camera, ProRAW support and Portrait Night Mode
The Apple iPhone 12 Pro packs a similar camera setup to the iPhone 11 Pro. There are three 12MP snappers on the back and one 12MP selfie at the front. The LiDAR scanner assists the autofocus and helps take portraits with realistic defocused background. The SL 3D scanner for Face ID assists the Portrait mode in selfies, too.
The primary camera has a 12MP sensor with 1.4µm large pixels and a 26mm wide lens. The aperture is now brighter at f/1.6 vs. f/1.8 on the iPhone 11 Pro. Optical image stabilization is available, as well as dual pixel autofocus.
The second camera is also a 12MP imager with smaller 1.0µm pixels and 13mm f/2.4 lens for ultrawide photos. The focus is fixed, and there is no OIS.
Finally, there is a third 12MP camera with 1.0µm pixels and 52mm f/2.4 lens for 2x optical zoom. This one offers OIS and supports PDAF.
The selfie camera uses a 12MP sensor with 1.0µm pixels and a 23mm f/2.2 lens. The focus is once again fixed. When using portrait mode on this camera, it captures depth info with the structured-light 3D scanner, so should be taking some impressive selfies portraits.
All four snappers support up to 4K@60fps video capturing with Cinematic Stabilization (EIS, EIS+OIS) and Expanded Dynamic Range. Dolby Vision HDR capturing is possible on all cameras at all framerates.
Camera app and features
The viewfinder is mostly unchanged since iOS 13 and iPhone 11 - you can see outside of the viewfinder thanks to the precise calibration of the two cameras that allows seeing what will be left outside the frame in real-time. This really makes for a more immersive camera experience, and if Photo/Video Capture Outside the Frame is enabled, then you can later expand your footage from the Photos app if something important was cut.
The new Apple image processing that's possible thanks to the new A14 chip includes Smart HDR 3, Night Mode on the main and ultra-wide camera, and Deep Fusion.
The Smart HDR 3 name speaks for itself - it's an improved HDR processing algorithm used in scenes with challenging light conditions.
The Night Mode icon pops up automatically when a low-light occasion presents itself, and it will take a pseudo-long-exposure shot, handheld of course. You will see the seconds suggested next to the Night Mode icon, but you can change the exposure time or altogether disable it with a tap. Usually, the phone picks exposure times of 1 or 2 seconds, but sometimes it will allow you to go for up to 30 seconds depending on the available light. You can use this mode on all cameras but the telephoto. The Night Mode Portraits, exclusive to iPhone 12 Pro, are shot with the main camera.
Deep Fusion is used when light conditions aren't ideal, say, indoors. It triggers instead of Smart HDR and Night Mode. Deep Fusion uses four frames before you hit the shutter, four more once you do, and one long exposure shot. The 16-core Neural engine will select the best frames and create a high-quality HDR photo that is very detailed, sharp, and natural-looking. The Neural processor's machine learning process analyzes the image being taken and processes them differently depending on what's in the frame - say, sky, foliage, or skin tones. Meanwhile, structure and color tones are based on ratios obtained by the Neural unit on the A14 CPU.
As usual, all cameras talk to each other, so they already know the correct exposure and tone mapping settings when you switch between them. This applies for both stills and videos.
The camera interface is mostly unchanged. You swipe between modes and have a couple of settings you can uncover with an upward swipe - flash, night mode, live photo, photo aspect, exposure compensation, and filters. In video mode, you can change the resolution and frame rate straight from the viewfinder.
Camera app
Portrait mode is available on the main and the selfie cameras. Night Mode Portraits are shot on the main camera.
The iPhone 12 Pro will support shooting in ProRAW format, but this will be added via a firmware update later on.
Photo quality
The main camera saves good-looking 12MP photos with low noise levels, balanced sharpness, always accurate white balance, and colors, and the contrast is pretty high. The dynamic range isn't jaw-dropping, but we'd say Apple's hit the sweet spot with its latest Smart HDR and the photos look natural and well balanced.
The images are not ideal, though - high-frequency detail such as grass or foliage is not rendered in the best way we've seen from a flagship device. Various objects like grass, bushes, window blinds, distant people, car plates, etc. present a challenge for the camera and often come out smeared or deformed.
The 12 Pro uses the same sensor as the iPhone 12, 11, and 11 Pro, and that's why its output is not much different from theirs. The lens here comes with a brighter F/1.6 aperture, but we will test its benefits in the low-light section.
Main camera, 12MP
The 12MP ultrawide photos are among the widest we've captured with a phone, and we are quite impressed with what we can fit in just one photo. There is distortion correction, and it is done quite proficiently. You can turn that off if you prefer the wider field of view at the expense of some warping in the corners.
The detail in the photos is average, and the greenery becomes even more of a challenge for the processing here. Other than the unimpressive level of resolved details, the images come out with good contrast, white balance, and realistic colors. The noise is still kept reasonably low.
Ultrawide camera, 12MP
The 12MP telephoto output is excellent - there is plenty of resolved detail even if the grass is a hit or miss. Just like the main and ultrawide snappers, the telephoto images are very realistic-looking thanks to a combination of high contrast, accurate white balance and colors, and well-controlled HDR for a balanced dynamic range.
Telephoto camera, 12MP
Apple's Night Mode triggers automatically in low-light scenes. You can't really opt-out of it unless you manually force it off each time it pops up. And there is no need! Sure, you can turn it off or correct the suggested exposure time, but we advise using it as is. It usually opts for 1s or 2s exposures, and the image is saved instantly, making it among the faster Night Modes right now.
As you will see from our camera samples, shot with Auto Night Mode, the low-light images from the primary camera are outstanding. The 12MP photos are sharp and detailed, the noise reduction is gentle, and yet the noise is low thanks to the powerful multi-stacking.
We can only praise the balanced exposure with mostly preserved highlights and natural shadows. The contrast doesn't go overboard, and the color saturation is kept natural and true to life.
Main cam Auto Night Mode, 12MP
Apple's automatic Night Mode will never turn the night into a day on its own, but it can very much do that if you tweak the exposure time manually. Not all takes will be keepers but remember - it's stacking multiple handheld photos.
Night Mode OFF • Night Mode 10s
If you opt-out of the Night Mode when triggered automatically, the 12MP photos have lower sharpness and contrast, and a bit washed out colors. The noise becomes more visible, and the photo is a bit darker, and highlights may appear clipped. But even without Night Mode, the images do look good.
Main cam Night Mode OFF, 12MP
The ultrawide camera now offers Night Mode, and we live in times when this is one of the key selling points of the iPhone 12 series. Night mode triggers 99% of the time, and rightfully so. The 12MP ultrawide photos shot with Night Mode are usable - they have balanced exposure and restored highlights, offer more detail than the regular ones, and true-to-life color saturation. They are noisy and soft, sure, but very much usable, especially for compressed social networks or messengers sharing.
Ultrawide cam Auto Night Mode, 12MP
We can hardly recommend shooting ultrawide images at night. The detail is extremely low, the whole image is one big soft mess, the noise is too high, and the colors are often desaturated.
Ultrawide cam Night Mode OFF, 12MP
The 12MP tele camera works at night, too, though Night Mode isn't available. If you see the Night Mode icon appear on your viewfinder while shooting in 2X zoom, this means the phone has switched to the primary camera and will digitally zoom instead.
The 12MP 2x zoomed photos are noisy and the colors a bit desaturated. Still, they present higher than expected resolved detail, and the HDR successfully restores most of the highlights, and the output is very balanced.
We didn't really miss the Night Mode here, but why it's not present is still beyond us. Maybe it's slated to be the iPhone 12S' key feature, who knows!
Telephoto camera, 12MP
There is only one hardware upgrade on the iPhone 12 Pro main camera since the 11 Pro/Max, and it's the brighter aperture. You can't really see the difference in broad daylight, but you can at night.
The normal images from the iPhone 12 Pro camera are brighter than the ones saved by the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Then again, both phones default at Night Mode. And when Night Mode fires, both phones take equally good photos.
iPhone 11 Pro Max (Normal) • iPhone 12 Pro (Normal) • iPhone 11 Pro Max (Night) • iPhone 12 Pro (Night)
iPhone 11 Pro Max (Normal) • iPhone 12 Pro (Normal) • iPhone 11 Pro Max (Night) • iPhone 12 Pro (Night)
iPhone 11 Pro Max (Normal) • iPhone 12 Pro (Normal) • iPhone 11 Pro Max (Night) • iPhone 12 Pro (Night)
Both phones offer good photos, detailed with preserved colors, and overall balanced exposure. The brighter lens does make a difference on the iPhone 12 Pro in Normal shooting - a mode you will rarely use as Night Mode triggers more often than not. So, is the brighter lens enough to make you jump on the new model? We don't think so.
You can also look at our photo compare tool and see how the Apple iPhone 12 stands against other phones in the controlled environment of our test lab.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro vs. Apple iPhone XS and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro in our Photo compare tool
Portrait quality
The Portraits on the iPhone 12 Pro are shot with the telephoto camera by default, but you can switch to the main snapper if you need a wider photo. The LiDAR Scanner is of massive help here as it creates an incredibly detailed depth map for the camera to use, and subject separation is supposed to be class-leading. Also, thanks to the LiDAR being independent of the available light, the iPhone 12 Pro can again do Night Mode portraits.
And before we go any further, one thing should be very clear - the Night Mode portraits work only on the main camera. If you switch to Portrait mode - it always defaults on 2x zoom - and if it's dark, you will see the Night Mode icon appear. But once you tap on that, the camera will switch to the primary one.
So, the portraits shot with the tele camera are good, but not great. While the subject separation is outstanding and the defocused parts are quite appealing, the photos aren't that detailed, and they are even a bit noisy. And once the light becomes less than ideal, the resolved detail drops dramatically (see the last photo in the series below).
Portraits, 12MP
The improved depth map does matter a lot when applying portrait effects, though. For the first time ever, these artsy photos don't look good just on the official samples, but we were also able to shoot some by ourselves, from the first attempt at that. Nice!
The last portrait was taken with the primary camera, and while it is more detailed, the separation isn't as impressive as one would have thought given the promise of the LiDAR tech inside the phone.
Portraits, 12MP
Now, let's look at some Night Mode portraits. As we mentioned, those are shot on the primary camera, and the phone usually chooses 1s or 2s exposure. You can tweak this up to 10s, but we don't think your subject can stay still for that long.
Anyway, first we tried the Night Mode Portrait on non-human subjects, plants in this case. We wanted to test its depth map complexity. And it turned out pretty good - the first three photos are excellent. They may not be super detailed, but they do impress with separation and bokeh.
Portrait mode low-light, 12MP
Now, enter our human subject. When using the Portrait Night Mode mode the way it was intended, the photos turned out great. The separation is very good given the conditions, the contrast is nice, and the colors are very well preserved. Overall, some good portrait shots, indeed.
Night Mode Portraits, 12MP
And here are some more portraits. In the first photo, you can notice the restored highlights in the background, which were then proficiently defocused. The separation is also quite competent, and the iPhone 12 Pro will take great portraits shots with the right background.
The next two photos are taken indoors but with different light sources. The brighter one has an additional light source from the side, while the last one has only the Christmas lights and nothing else. Both are good but don't expect miracles when the light is really scarce.
Night Mode Portraits, 12MP
We were skeptical about the Portrait Night Mode dependence on the LiDAR Scanner. While it indeed uses the scanner, we believed the iPhone 12 and "its A14 computational photography" should be able to do similar photos with the main camera even if Night Mode is not available.
And well, the iPhone 12's Portrait Mode really puts up a good fight. The photos are obviously a bit darker and somewhat desaturated but are mostly on par as far as detail and separation are concerned. Pixel peepers will find holes in the iPhone 12 depth map, but not as large as you would have guessed, and for the average user - they are relatively indistinguishable.
But here is the kicker. Put those default portraits to Photo's Auto Enhance feature, and you'd end up with a pretty similar image to iPhone 12 Pro's Portrait Night Mode. How about that?!
Yes, Night Mode for Portraits is a powerful new feature, but it's not enough to sell you the 12 Pro over the iPhone 12. You can get similar photos with the regular iPhone 12, and the only thing you need to add is some Auto Enhance magic in the Gallery app.
Selfie quality
Apple offers two Field-of-View modes on the selfie camera - the slightly zoomed-in 7MP crop that is equivalent to a 30mm field of view and the full 12MP mode, which has a 23mm equivalent FoV.
If you hold the phone in portrait orientation, selfies are cropped to 7MP to provide a tighter framing but rotate the phone horizontally, and you get more of the scene with the phone automatically switching to the wider 12MP mode. You can also switch between those two modes manually.
The 12MP selfies are exemplary - high in detail and contrast, with great colors and well-handled noise. The HDR isn't as aggressive on many of the Android phones, and it does help for the rather natural and balanced look.
These selfies are among the most natural ones we've seen, and we like the iPhone's processing on this camera.
Selfies, 12MP
Portrait mode is present on the front camera helped by the SL 3D snapper, and the subject separation is outstanding with impressive background blur. These are shot in 7MP, meaning the camera crops a part of its available FoV and shows a zoomed-in shot.
Portrait selfies, 12MP
Night Mode is available on the selfie camera, too, and it does brighten the whole photo and exposes more detail. The images are still soft and noisy, yet rather usable.
Selfie • Night Mode Selfie (Auto, 1s) • Night Mode Selfies (Manual, 3s) • Selfies with screen flash
Video quality
The iPhone 12 Pro captures video at various resolutions and framerates with all four cameras, and it can even do it simultaneously if you have the right app.
All videos are digitally (also optically where available) stabilized thanks to the cinematic video stabilization. All modes, including the 4K@60fps, feature expanded dynamic range thanks to the Smart HDR. The slow-mo options max out at 1080p at 240fps.
The iPhone 12 series is the first to allow video capture straight into the Dolby Vision dynamic HDR video format. You can edit these videos on-the-go on your phone, you can upload them on YouTube or any other popular platform, or even send them to your friends. The Dolby Vision information is saved outside of the video stream, so the video will look normal to any non-HDR player/screen and will be color-boosted on any Dolby Vision-compatible player and display. HDR video capturing is available in all resolution at 30fps and 60fps.
Note that if you want to transfer Dolby Vision video file to PC or Mac, your iPhone transfer options should be set to Keep Originals. Otherwise (Most Compatible), you will get a converted non-HDR video for better compatibility. If your display isn't Dolby Vision-capable - Dolby Vision original files will still play, but they would appear with low dynamic range and duller colors if compared to non-HDR or converted files.
The iPhone 12 Pro captures wide stereo audio for the videos at 192kbps. This means spatial sound, just like some HTCs and some old Nokia phones did, as well as the iPhone 11 Pro duo, and you should enjoy richer and deeper sound if compared to just regular stereo.
The 4K videos captured both at 60 and 30 fps with the main and telephoto cameras are virtually identical in daylight quality. The clips are quite vibrant and show excellent contrast, low noise, impressive dynamic range, while colors stay true to life.
Rendering fine detail is once again a challenge, but unlike photos, you don't normally zoom in videos to inspect details, so you are unlikely to notice it. Still, we expect more from a flagship of this caliber.
The 4K footage from the ultrawide snapper is okay, but far from great. The resolved detail is mediocre at best. The dynamic range, colors, and contrast are superb, though.
Cinematic stabilization is available on all cameras, resolutions, and fps options. It works fantastically, as it always has been on the iPhones.
The low-light 4K videos are excellent - they are detailed enough, with good colors and reasonably low noise. They may not be the best of the bunch but are indeed among the better ones.
The low-light 4K footage from the ultrawide camera is of rather poor quality, while the telephoto camera doesn't capture videos at night.
The iPhone 12 phones can all do Night-Mode Time-lapse. You just select Time-lapse, mount your iPhone on a tripod, and hit the shutter. The camera app offers no settings whatsoever, and the videos are saved in 1080p@30fps format. We shot such time-lapse for 25 minutes (compressed in 25 seconds), and it is indeed stunning. Everything looks great, and we can only imagine such a video shot in the right place and at the right time.
And here is a selfies 4K sample from the front camera. The clip is very good in detail and excels in everything else.
You can also look at our video compare tool and see how the iPhone 12 Pro stacks against other phones.
4K: Apple iPhone 12 Pro vs. Apple iPhone XS and the iPhone 11 Pro in our Video compare tool
Alternatives
The iPhone 12 Pro is a well-balanced smartphone, which offers many upgrades over the iPhone 11 Pro and a moderate list of added features compared to the standard iPhone 12.
The most notable differences between the iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 are in the camera department. The 12 Pro has an additional telephoto camera on the back, it can shoot Dolby Vision videos in 60fps, it will eventually support capturing in Apple Pro RAW, and has the LiDAR Scanner that helps for better AR and portraits. The 128GB iPhone 12 Pro is $120/€200 more expensive than the 128GB iPhone 12, and it's up to you to decide whether you need these camera features. If not - the iPhone 12 already offers the most important core new features of Series 12.
If you want to get the best Apple has to offer in 2020, then there is the iPhone 12 Pro Max that goes for €100 over the iPhone 12 Pro. The Max has the largest screen and battery among the iPhone 12s and is the only one to actually have a meaningfully upgraded camera hardware. It has a larger 12MP sensor for its main camera with the (phone) industry's first sensor-shift stabilization. It also features an improved 12MP telephoto camera - it now offers 2.5x zoom thanks to a new 65mm f/2.2 lens and is promised even better portraits.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max indeed offers the most significant upgrades when it comes to hardware this year, and it appears it makes more sense as a purchase compared to the iPhone 12 Pro. In fact, if you own an iPhone 11 Pro and you don't care about the new design, 5G, or MagSafe support, you should skip the 12 Pro and wait for next year's model.
Apple iPhone 12 • Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
Our verdict
The Apple iPhone 12 Pro is a very good smartphone, but it doesn't make much sense as an upgrade to the iPhone 11 Pro. Better stick with your iPhone 11 Pro, or if you are a sucker for the latest Apple tech - just spend more and get the Max.
However, logic doesn't always matter when it comes to new iPhones. Many people buy them just because they are the new iPhones, and they want to stay in the loop, few for the actual new features and even fewer get them as it is time to replace their 3-4-5 years old phone.
If you are among those users upgrading from an older model, say XS or earlier, you should be delighted with the iPhone 12 Pro - it offers a massive amount of upgrades over the older-gen iPhones. You just need to buy a charger, but hey - welcome to the future!
We expected more from the iPhone 12 Pro, but it turned out a recycled iPhone 11 Pro. Not that Apple is forcing us to upgrade, but still. The new camera tech being a Pro Max exclusive and the lack of ProMotion screen, while failing to deliver meaningful improvements elsewhere, makes things really easy for us to make a call.
We can't recommend the iPhone 12 Pro over its siblings - the iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Pros
Attractive design with exquisite fit and premium finish
Excellent OLED screen, very bright
Loud stereo speakers, superb audio quality
The fastest smartphone chip on the planet, 5G, too
Good photo quality across the board, day and night
LiDAR Scanner has varied even if niche applications and use cases
Consistently good video quality
Apple iOS 14 is fast and easy to use, 5 years of guaranteed major updates
MagSafe is a promising accessory concept
Cons
No charger or headphones in the box
No high refresh rate screen
Shorter battery life than the iPhone 11 Pro
iOS needs better file management
We miss TouchID as FaceID does not work with a mask on
The best camera tech is exclusive to iPhone 12 Pro Max
Few meaningful upgrades over iPhone 11 Pro and even fewer over iPhone 12
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