Why are the iPhone 12 Series Top Rated Phones?
When it comes to innovation and excellent mobile engineering, Apple has always stood miles ahead of its competitors. The iPhone series re-invents and re-innovates itself with every new series launch. Every product in their lineup is unique from the other and due to their diversified product variations Apple caters to an intricately varied community of users.
The Apple iPhone 12 series is no exception. The Apple 12 Pro Max is far ahead of its peers and will continue to reign supreme for many smartphone generations.
Ranging from $799 to $1,399, it becomes a little troublesome to decide which version is the best for you. Well, worry not. We’re here to help you pick the right iPhone 12 best suited to your needs.
First and foremost, let’s run through all the similarities between the products to get a better understanding of what Apple has in store for us with the new 12 Series.
Similarities between Apple iPhone 12, the 12 Pro and the 12 Pro Max
Design
All variants of the 12 series come with a new slab design which is very reminiscent of the iPad Pro. This is the first time since Apple has dropped their iPhone 5 series donning the flat slab design and a new line has been launched drawing inspiration from the 2013 September model.
For the 1st time ever, all models follow the same measure in thickness with a 7.4mm slim design across all variants. This is a major step forward for Apple in trying to standardize the design element of their iPhones as all their previous launches had variants that differed in design within their respective lineups.
Since the iPhone 7 series there hasn’t really been much innovation in terms of design and a lot of iPhone reviews reflect the same. Compared to the X series, which brought about a new wave of followers for Apple, the 12 series iPhones are much more sophisticated with their stainless steel and aluminum designs as opposed to the curved edges that we saw in the iPhone X and 11 series.
Camera
Apple’s newly installed wide-angle cameras allow for 27% more light inside the lenses with a 1.6 aperture. This step was taken to beat the competition of cameras in the mobile phone segment. Apple wants to ensure their flagship products stay ahead in the market in the sector they’re most popular – mobile phone cameras. Apple’s camera engineering is so ahead of its time that even older iPhone camera with lower specs can hold their own against mid-range Android phones with superior camera quality in the Android segment.
It would be unfair not to mention the improved flash system when talking about iPhone 12 series cameras. Apple has integrated a True-Tone flash system into their new 12 series. This allows the user to capture slow-motion videos at a much higher frame rate than its predecessors. The Apple iPhone 12 offers an outstanding 120 frames and 240 frames per second on video in 4K across all variants with the 12 Pro Max averaging the highest frame rates of the bunch.
Water Resistance
A new technology has allowed Apple to upgrade their water resistance standards. They have added better spill and splash resistance so you can bring your coffee to your work desk without having to worry about a little spillage ruining your iPhone. The 12 series is water resistant at a depth of up to 6 meters for up to 30 minutes. Now, unless you’re a professional scuba diver you can plan your off-road trips or a nature retreat without having to worry about your phone being damaged if you happen to drop it in water.
Connectivity
All variants in the 12 lineup come with 5G support no matter where in the world you choose to have it delivered to. This next-gen feature was Apple’s main focus in their virtual iPhone launch. Apple has taken a step forward in the cellular connectivity department in an attempt to unify modem connectivity services via this new feature.
MagSafe Connector
The all new MagSafe Connector priced at $39 spins the whole definition of fast charging, reimagined for the fast-paced carefree lifestyle. MagSafe, which was originally designed for the MacBook and MacBook Pro, comes in a sleek, compact, portable design that snaps at the back of the phone with ease. It comes with turbo charger magnets that help with perfect alignment for a faster wireless charging experience.
MagSafe has also released compatible phone cases that attach to the back of the phone and, yes you’ve guessed it, you can seamlessly charge through them. These nifty covers come with a wallet-like pocket so you can keep your business cards in there for quick access.
The leather MagSafe Wallet and charger are sold separately but can be easily bought at the Apple Store for a price of $59.
That’s it for the similarities but before we move on to the differences let’s take a quick look at the advancement Apple has made with the 12 series in comparison to the 11 lineup.
The 11 series ran on A13 Bionic processor whereas all variants of the 12 series run A14 Bionic processor. This may not seem like a big jump but based on the constant innovations that Apple ingrains in all their newer products, opting for a newer chip is future-proofing your phone.
This means that any and all applications running on the 12 series iPhones are going to be powered by a superior processor with 3.3 billion more transistors, enabling super-fast processing and multi-app handling. Apple also vouches that their new A14 chip is more power efficient thereby adding to their much needed higher battery life.
In the display graph, the 12 series outranks its predecessor, touting a 460 ppi (pixels per inch) pixel density on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. This means better gaming with a support to their 120 Hertz refresh rate across a Super Retina XDR Display with Haptic Touch.
Apple has made improvements to their camera systems as well, but we’ll to that in our next section.
Let’s have a look at what makes these variants different from each other.
Differences among the Apple iPhone 12, the 12 Pro and the 12 Pro Max
Frame and Design
The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max sport surgical-grade stainless steel frame. This design was inspired by the 5 series that also had a flat frame design but the 12 series is leagues above in terms of looks, touch and feel and its sheer class.
This isn’t only to flaunt Apple’s flawless design with the textured matte glass back and the ceramic shield front, but the 12 series has also been proven to one of their most durable products ever having aced drop tests from a height of 10 feet and still functioning with just a few cracks on the back.
The 12 and 12 Mini versions come wrapped in an aluminium aero-space border which renders a rugged yet sophisticated texture.
The 12 Pro and Pro Max models come in Silver and Gold colors alongside Graphite which seems to be a replacement for their older Space Gray shade and a new Pacific Blue which is a delicate mix of Midnight Green and Blue used in the 11 series.
Apple applied new processes to get the best out of their Gold variant by lining it with a magnetically finished coating making it scratch resistant.
Camera
Apple has gone all out with their cameras this time around, introducing their telephoto lenses on the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max variants.
The standard 12 series is missing the Telephoto zoom lens but has an incredible auto-focus feature nonetheless. The 12 Pro Max has a 65mm focal length, a 2.2 aperture and a 2.5x optical zoom lens which gives users more room experiment and play with the focal length on this camera. The 12 Pro on the other hand, comes with a 52mm focal length but has a better aperture of 2.0.
An interesting thing to note here is that both the 12 Pro and the 12 Pro Max sport both telephoto and wide-angle lenses but are positioned inversely on the two phones. The 12 Pro Max lives up to its names and comes with a much larger wide-angle lens due to there being more space in the sensor itself.
This is where things really start to sizzle.
Apple inserted a 47% larger sensor in the 12 Pro Max resulting in larger individual pixels, letting in more light which ultimately boosted their night-mode photography standards. It includes a Sensor-Shifting Stabilization technology which means the sensor itself is stabilized in the housing instead of the actual lenses which takes image stabilization on mobile phone cameras to whole new level.
The 12 Pro Max is the ideal camera phone for the aspiring photographer and if explored thoroughly, can also prove to be the go-to camera for most professionals.
As an added benefit to 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max users, Apple has enabled superior night mode portraits on the two models. Apple also made sure their standard 12 and 12 mini users received improved night mode as well.
Apple ProRaw
Limited to the 12 Pro and the 12 Pro Max is the brand new RAW codec called the Apple ProRaw, which in essence, helps you work with more detail. The RAW codec allows users to get down to and access more advance features like Tone Mapping, Channel Mixing, Sharpening, Highlighting and White Balance with razor-sharp precision. You can make these edits on Apple’s editor or even other 3rd party applications.
LiDAR Scanner
LiDAR technology has been taken from the iPad Pro which allows you to sense depth and enhances autofocus in low-light and night-time settings, helping achieve autofocus up 6X faster. The applications of LiDAR, although makes for new, juicy tech, come alive only in the world of AR due to its spatial recognition abilities and high-tech sensors that too only in certain apps. Not a lot of apps require AR so the usage in such cases is limited to the use of the sensor.
Video Recording
The video improvements made across the board on all devices are something that cannot be ignored. All variants support Dolby Vision HDR Coded mode. Although the standard 12 and 12 mini are limited to 30 FPS (frames per second) in 4K, the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max can do up to 60 FPS also in 4K.
Make sure to check out the table underneath to get a clear distinction between the models where we cover all parameters.
| Parameters | Apple iPhone 12 | Apple iPhone 12 Pro | Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max |
| Display Size | 6.1 inch OLED | 6.1 inch OLED | 6.7 inch OLED |
| Resolution | 2532 x 1170 pixels | 2532 x 1170 pixels | 2778 x 1284 pixels |
| Processor | Apple Bionic 14 chip | Apple Bionic 14 chip | Apple Bionic 14 chip |
| Software | iOS v14 | iOS v14 | iOS v14 |
| Camera | 12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide) | 12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), 12-megapixel (telephoto) | 12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), 12-megapixel (telephoto) |
| Battery Life | Video Playback up to 17 hours | Video Playback up to 17 hours | Video Playback up to 20 hours |
| Storage | 64GB, 128GB, 256GB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
| Expandable Storage | NO | NO | NO |
| Fingerprint Sensor | NO | NO | NO |
| Face ID | YES | YES | YES |
| Connector | Lightning | Lightning | Lightning |
Pricing and Availability
The entire 12 lineup has a very smart pricing for the amount of features and usability it offers and is hands-down one of the best pricing strategies executed by Apple successfully for all its user groups. Here’s a breakdown:
| Apple iPhone 12 | Apple iPhone 12 Pro | Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max |
| Variant | Price | Variant | Price | Variant | Price |
| 64GB | $829 | 128GB | $999 | 128GB | $1,099 |
| 128GB | $879 | 256GB | $1,099 | 256GB | $1,199 |
| 256GB | $979 | 512GB | $1,299 | 512GB | $1,399 |
The iPhone 12 series was built with the intention of future-proofing their phone to accommodate their new iOS launches in the coming years and to also provide its users with the most seamless mobile phone experience ever.
The iPhone 12 series will be available for pre-orders starting November 6th! And remember, you can always sell your old iPhone on SmartphonesPLUS. Get an instant quote to see how much your old iPhone is worth.
