Apple has entered the 5G era with the launch of its 12 series, which sees four smartphones – iPhone 12 mini, 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max make their way into the smartphone market.
The iPhone 12 mini is currently the smallest and lightest 5G device globally, with the iPhone 12 being a little bigger than its predecessor. We have seen how both iPhone’s Pro and Pro Max versions have to be in terms of size and features from past occurrences. The same applies to the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max devices.
This year the Pro models come in two sizes, 6.1” on the iPhone 12 Pro and 6.7” on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. That is up from 5.8” and 6.5” on the 11-series. Apple has embraced the large screen (while simultaneously going smaller than anyone else with the iPhone 12 mini). Slimmer bezels keep the new models from getting too huge.
The iPhone 12 Pro has a screen resolution of 1,170 x 2,532 px while the 12 Pro Max has up to 1,284 x 2,778 px, which proves to be better than what was in the 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max devices.
The two Pro models are not equal when it comes to the camera. The larger iPhone 12 Pro Max starts with a larger 1/1.7” sensor (1.7 µm pixels) that is 47% larger than the 12 Pro and the older 11 Pro Max. Combined with the f/1.6 aperture, this allows 87% more light to reach the sensor. Also, Apple changed the image stabilization to use sensor shift instead of moving the optics lens to counteract movements. This allows it to react faster, making 5,000 adjustments per second.
The Pro Max also features a longer focal length on its zoom camera, allowing for 2.5x magnification. The OIS on this cam sticks with the usual lens-based approach.
The iPhone 12 Pro gets the brighter lens, f/1.6, but keeps the old sensor with lens rather than sensor stabilization. That sensor still gets 27% more light. The vanilla Pro also gets the old telephoto camera, with an f/2.0 lens with a 52 mm focal length (meaning 2x magnification over the main cam) and, again, classic OIS.
All cameras, except the telephoto, support Night mode, including the selfie camera and ultra-wide (the 11 Pro only had it on the main cam). This is in part thanks to the new chipset does have more number-crunching power, but we’ll get to that.
The ultra-wide cam is unchanged with an f/2.4 lens with a 120° field of view (13 mm focal length). The iPhone Pros adopt the LiDAR system of the iPad Pros. This enables Night mode portraits. This also reduces the time to get an autofocus lock in the dark by the impressive 6 times.
The iPhone 12 Pro is the only phone on the market to record the Dolby Vision video. The faster chipset color-grades every frame of 10-bit video for the best quality. The new ProRAW feature records all the data you expect from a RAW format while also saving the image processing decisions that the phone made on the spot, making quick touch-ups faster as you have a solid base to work from.
The new iPhones are smart about how they use their new 5G connectivity. When they don’t need the extra speed, the Smart Data mode switches to 4G automatically to preserve the battery.
The big innovation in battery charging is an old one – the MagSafe that you loved on MacBooks is back. This time it’s used for wireless charging, and it delivers 15W of power (up from 7.5W for regular Qi charge). Also, this uses magnets to grab onto a snap-on wireless charging. This also enables MagSafe accessories, which uses the magnetic holding power to keep them semi-permanently attached.
Apple A14 Bionic is at the heart of the iPhone 12 Pro duo – the first 5nm chipset globally, featuring a whopping 11.8 billion transistors, 40% more than the A13. It features 2 big CPU cores and 4 small cores, which deliver a 50% higher performance than its predecessor. Similarly, the 4-core GPU is good for a 50% increase over last year’s iPhone. Machine learning has seen a 70% increase in performance and handles ever-growing AI applications.
Besides the zoom cam, another reason to buy into the Pro models is more storage. Apple doubled the base storage to 128GB, with 256GB and 512GB upgrade options. The iPhone 12 Pro starts at $1,000 and will be up on pre-order this Friday and available next week. The iPhone 12 Pro Max will start at $1,100 and will be available to book on November 6, with sales starting a week later – November 13.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro specifications
| NETWORK | Technology | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE / 5G |
|---|
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2020, October 13 |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Coming soon. Exp. release 2020, October 23 |
| BODY | Dimensions | 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4 mm (5.78 x 2.81 x 0.29 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 189 g (6.67 oz) | |
| Build | Glass front (Gorilla Glass), glass back (Gorilla Glass), stainless steel frame | |
| SIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM and/or eSIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) – for China. | |
| IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 6m for 30 mins) Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified) |
| DISPLAY | Type | Super Retina XDR OLED, HDR10, 800 nits (typ), 1200 nits (peak) |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 6.1 inches, 90.2 cm2 (~86.0% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1170 x 2532 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~460 ppi density) | |
| Protection | Scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating | |
| Dolby Vision Wide color gamut True-tone |
| PLATFORM | OS | iOS 14 |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Apple A14 Bionic (5 nm) | |
| CPU | Hexa-core | |
| GPU | Apple GPU (4-core graphics) |
| MEMORY | Card slot | No |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | |
| NVMe |
| MAIN CAMERA | Quad | 12 MP, f/1.6, 26mm (wide), 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS 12 MP, f/2.0, 52mm (telephoto), 1/3.4″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 2x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.4, 120˚, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/3.6″ TOF 3D LiDAR scanner (depth) |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Quad-LED dual-tone flash, HDR (photo/panorama) | |
| Video | 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, HDR, Dolby Vision HDR (up to 60fps), stereo sound rec. |
| SELFIE CAMERA | Dual | 12 MP, f/2.2, 23mm (wide), 1/3.6″ SL 3D, (depth/biometrics sensor) |
|---|---|---|
| Features | HDR | |
| Video | 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS |
| SOUND | Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 3.5mm jack | No |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Radio | No | |
| USB | Lightning, USB 2.0 |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Face ID, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer |
|---|---|---|
| Siri natural language commands and dictation |
| BATTERY | Type | Li-Ion, non-removable |
|---|---|---|
| Charging | Fast charging 18W, 50% in 30 min (advertised) USB Power Delivery 2.0 Qi fast wireless charging 15W |
|
| Stand-by | Up to 17 h (multimedia) | |
| Music play | Up to 65 h |
| MISC | Colors | Silver, Graphite, Gold, Pacific Blue |
|---|---|---|
| Models | A2407, A2341, A2406, A2408 | |
| Price | About $1,315 |
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max specifications
| NETWORK | Technology | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE / 5G |
|---|
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2020, October 13 |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Coming soon. Exp. release 2020, November 13 |
| BODY | Dimensions | 160.8 x 78.1 x 7.4 mm (6.33 x 3.07 x 0.29 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 228 g (8.04 oz) | |
| Build | Glass front (Gorilla Glass), glass back (Gorilla Glass), stainless steel frame | |
| SIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM and/or eSIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) – for China. | |
| IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 6m for 30 mins) Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified) |
| DISPLAY | Type | Super Retina XDR OLED, HDR10, 800 nits (typ), 1200 nits (peak) |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 6.7 inches, 109.8 cm2 (~87.4% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1284 x 2778 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~458 ppi density) | |
| Protection | Scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating | |
| Dolby Vision Wide color gamut True-tone |
| PLATFORM | OS | iOS 14 |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Apple A14 Bionic (5 nm) | |
| CPU | Hexa-core | |
| GPU | Apple GPU (4-core graphics) |
| MEMORY | Card slot | No |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | |
| NVMe |
| MAIN CAMERA | Quad | 12 MP, f/1.6, 26mm (wide), 1.7µm, dual pixel PDAF, Sensor-shift OIS 12 MP, f/2.2, 65mm (telephoto), 1/3.4″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 2.5x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.4, 120˚, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/3.6″ TOF 3D LiDAR scanner (depth) |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Quad-LED dual-tone flash, HDR (photo/panorama) | |
| Video | 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, HDR, Dolby Vision HDR (up to 60fps), stereo sound rec. |
| SELFIE CAMERA | Dual | 12 MP, f/2.2, 23mm (wide), 1/3.6″ SL 3D, (depth/biometrics sensor) |
|---|---|---|
| Features | HDR | |
| Video | 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS |
| SOUND | Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 3.5mm jack | No |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Radio | No | |
| USB | Lightning, USB 2.0 |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Face ID, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer |
|---|---|---|
| Siri natural language commands and dictation |
| BATTERY | Type | Li-Ion, non-removable |
|---|---|---|
| Charging | Fast charging 18W, 50% in 30 min (advertised) USB Power Delivery 2.0 Qi fast wireless charging 15W |
|
| Stand-by | Up to 20 h (multimedia) | |
| Music play | Up to 80 h |
| MISC | Colors | Silver, Graphite, Gold, Pacific Blue |
|---|---|---|
| Models | A2411, A2342, A2410, A2412 | |
| Price | About $1,433 |
