The iPhone 12 & 12 Pro Review: New Design and Diminishing Returns
by Andrei Frumusanu on November 30, 2020 8:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Apple
- Smartphones
- Apple A14
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 Pro
Conclusion & End Remarks
We’ve had the new iPhones for a few weeks now, admittedly pushing out this review in favour of coverage of Apple’s newest Apple Silicon M1 devices. As I’m finally finishing up this iPhone review, the one feeling I have is that I’m not all too excited for this new generation of phones, with several factors coming into play.
First of all, design-wise, the new iPhone 12 series are definitely a breath of fresh air for Apple’s device line-up. Finally dropping the industrial design look that was adopted 3 years ago by the iPhone X, the new iPhone 12’s design is a mix of the old and new. There’s undoubtedly homage to the iPhone 4 and 5 era which featured also featured flat metal frames in their design, and it does make the iPhone 12 series stand out versus any other phone today.
Whilst design and looks are one side of the coin, the other side is actual usability and ergonomics. In this regard, I’m just not a very big fan of Apple’s choices here as I outright feel the iPhone 12s are a step backwards compared to the iPhone 11 series. Although the width of the phones isn’t any larger on the new models, they just feel noticeably bigger in the hand due to the right-angle frame edges. I ask myself as what exactly was the reason in the first place that over the years, we transitioned to rounded phones, with various vendors investing into curved front and back glass devices, if it was not for the benefit of better ergonomics, and for the devices to fit better in our fleshy meat hands. I mean, what’s the point in making the new iPhones thinner, and lose out on battery capacity, if they don’t actually feel thinner in the hand? I know it’s a very subjective topic and people might not have the same strong opinion, but even after a few weeks I still prefer to go back to an iPhone 11 Pro because of the more natural ergonomics.
Build-quality wise, the new iPhones are great and feel extremely solid. I prefer the aluminium iPhone 12 over the steel 12 Pro due to it not collecting fingerprints and actually being much lighter, although the frosted matte glass back panel of the 12 Pro definitely has the much better feeling finish.
The displays of the iPhone 12’s are good, with the Pro devices having the better quality displays of the series, having a higher brightness and better viewing angles, although the practical differences between the two models aren’t all that great.
The fact that both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro have the same resolution OLED displays this generation means that the feature differences this year are far smaller compared to last year’s iPhone 11 vs 11 Pro juxtaposition. This is a major change in the product line-up that in my opinion makes the lower-end variants significantly more interesting and more viable versus the more expensive Pro-counterparts.
The lack of a higher refresh-rate display option is a pity, but given the battery impact on other devices on the market, it might have been wise for Apple to hold this feature back until the technology has matured enough to ensure a non-negative user experience. As it stands, the battery life of the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro is in line with last year’s 11 Pro – which is excellent.
Performance of the new iPhone 12’s is both a strength-point as well as a weakness. The strength is that the new A14 chip is by far the best performing mobile SoC on the market right now. The weakness is, that compared to the A13, the generational improvements aren’t as great as prior A-series SoC jumps. In every-day usage, I’m sure the iPhone 12s are faster than the iPhone 11 devices, but I’d be hard-pressed to actually notice this without a side-by-side comparison. This includes CPU-side use-cases as well as GPU-side gaming use-cases, which see an even smaller generational upgrade.
On the camera side, Apple has kept the base formula of the iPhone 11 series, and resorted to smaller generational improvements. The largest improvement is a new HDR algorithm that is actually quite noticeable in daylight shots, and produces better tone-mapping and contrast-rich pictures. The ultra-wide-angle module especially sees much better image processing with more details. Oddly enough, the telephoto module on the 12 Pro has been consistently worse than the 11 Pro in our testing, with far less detail retention.
In low-light, the camera’s new f/1.6 aperture does allow for slightly better light capture, however the general processing and Night Mode doesn’t seem to have been changed much this generation. The ultra-wide-angle’s added capability of Night Mode means that it’s not completely useless in low-light, although it’s not quite as high quality as competitor solutions.
While I’m relatively happy with the camera experience, I feel like Apple didn’t quite push the boundaries as far as they could have. The competition both has better hardware, and has made huge strides in terms of computational photography and image processing, and there’s just better phone cameras out there right now.
Good Improvements, Although Not Very Exciting
I have two verdicts for the iPhone 12’s, one for the 12 Pro and one for the regular iPhone 12.
For the iPhone 12 Pro, unless you’re coming from an older-generation device, there’s very few selling-points compared to the iPhone 11 Pro. The screen is slightly better, the cameras are slightly better, and it’s posting slightly better performance. Battery life being the same and the ergonomics being arguable, that only leaves 5G as the major unique feature of the new device. At this stage of 5G deployment, whether a 5G-compatible device is worth the upgrade for you is going to be highly dependent on your location and carrier. At $999 or 1159€ I feel that the phone should have offered something more to make the choice easier.
The iPhone 12, on the other hand, is in my opinion Apple’s best iPhone in a very long time. At $799 / 909€, the only real tangible thing you’re losing out on versus the Pro is the telephoto module. You’re still getting an excellent screen, the same performance, almost identical battery life, and otherwise identical everyday camera experience for $200 less. Even though it’s $100 more expensive than the iPhone 11, the much better screen elevates it into a better tier-category. The fact that it’s a lighter phone and fingerprint resistant aluminium is actually a plus in my book.
The iPhone 12 mini and 12 Pro Max are still open for debate as we didn’t have a chance to review them yet. If you’re looking for a small phone, the 12 mini looks like a perfect device, while if you’re looking for a max-sized phone and don’t mind the larger price-tag, the 12 Pro Max also certainly going to be a good option, especially if the new camera module hardware pans out.
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raemike - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
Apple markets this as the strongest iPhone ever, this is pure BS. The back glass on my iphone12 broke in 3 days. I was putting on boots and the phone fell about 18 inches to a concrete floor. Unbelievable. Apple wants me to pay $100 to fix!!!! The fact is that the iPhone 12, from my experience, is by FAR the most fragile iPhone I've ever owned. Very unhappy that Apple won't even fix their defect. Phone didn't last 3 full days!Holliday75 - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
You dropped it on concrete ad you blame Apple? LOL.I shot my dog....its the guns fault. I ran a little old lady over. It's the car's fault.
AshlayW - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
Why did you shoot your dog? Also, you're probably going to prison now.PickUrPoison - Saturday, December 12, 2020 - link
Don’t you care about the little old lady?!?cha0z_ - Tuesday, December 1, 2020 - link
They strictly clarify it's for the FRONT glass, most likely they saved upgrading the back glass for the next year model + glass is glass, no matter how strong it is, the wrong angle/force and you are done.29a - Tuesday, December 1, 2020 - link
What is unbelievable is you didn't have any protection on your phone and now you're bitching about breaking it.techconc - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
"The back glass on my iphone12 broke in 3 days."If anything, that shows you how strong the ceramic shield is, since only the front of the phone has the ceramic shield.
zanon - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
Thanks for the review! I upgraded from an iPhone X to the 12 Pro Max this time around, and have been kicking the tires for a week and a half or so now. SO wanted a 12 Pro regular, and a friend got the plain 12. These days I think the additive improvements over 3-5 generations is probably how must people view these things, year-over-year upgrades, or even every 2 years, seems to quite reasonably be less common (which is a good thing). Coming directly from an X, the changes are quite significant. There are obvious sticker items like improved performance and cameras. But there is also more subtle yet extreme important day-to-day use stuff like the Face ID system being a lot more responsive and accepting more angles and distances now then the generation 1 I had before. Some other disagreement, agreement, and comment:Disagreement: I think you really missed the mark on how big a deal the new LIDAR sensor is for pro usage (you barely gave it a sentence) and in turn as a differentiator. In fact even though it's early days and rough, I think that might be one of the most significant Pro differentiators in a long time, "pro" here as-in actual contracting to make money. I've been trying it out with magicplan and RoomScanLiDAR and already used it at a project site. Apps like magicplan previously could be paired with bluetooth laser rangers and used that way (and still can of course), but from my testing so far the new built-in lidar does an extremely close and competent job in measuring over shorter distances and details, and you get a pretty passable v1 3D point cloud too for something you get in your pocket all the time for a few hundred extra. I was able to throw together for plans and basic 3D from scratch for a historic hotel and then use that for mockups and renovation deployment way, way better than I'd ever have expected even a year ago from a handheld with this pricing (dedicated laser 3D scan units have been available for a while, and will produce better results more quickly, but are NOT cheap or pocketable). Even the simple AR Measure app suddenly no longer feels gimicky or last resort but actually is usable without my measuring tape in many cases. The whole calibration thing is gone, it's fast, and accurate in my use to at least 1/2" which for bulk is often good enough.
Again definitely early, early days. There are obvious holes in the apps, basic things like import are non-existent, etc etc. Yet even so it's already saved me some money and time in commercial work. As far as professional usage goes, it feels like a bigger leap forward in terms of the phone itself being a tool (vs an interface to other tools) than many things before.
Agreement: I'm glad you highlighted that the new sharp edges are a definite step back in ergonomics. It was what struck me most immediately of course in terms of out-of-box experience. Maybe it works well for the Mini, but even on the regular (let alone the Max) the hand feel stinks compared to the iPhone X/XS/11. The edges really dig in and add to fatigue.
However, some of that can be mitigated with a case, and that leads me to the comment that I strong suspect Apple is now designing the iPhone at least in part around case use. It's been a while since I last looked it up, but in a previous discussion we did some research and it looked like at least 75% (yes, 3/4) of phone users use cases. They're a big source of personalization, not just in terms of looks but adapting the phone to various personal use cases. Obviously drop/scratch protection to a customizable degree depending on whether someone tends to have accidents or works/hobbies in heavier duty environments, but also more exotic stuff like camera lens/telescope attachment (or just plain extra battery).
That being the case (harhar), there a reasons to design the phone with that in mind. The camera bump for example, they extra z-distance is necessitated by the camera modules. But of course Apple could just make the whole phone thicker so that it was still smooth. And if it was expected the phone would be used bare, that'd make sense. But if it's expected it'll usually be in a case, it makes *more* sense to have it as it is now, because the available mm means the end result is something that provides whatever else the owner wants but being thinner, lighter and flush on the back than if it was a case over an already thickened device.
As someone who has never dropped their expensive handheld stuff in 30 someodd years now and previously never bothered with a case, I do kind of miss good old naked devices. But I can't argue with the numbers either. And for the first time with the 12 I feel like a case is a requirement, not just a nice-to-have, it's too sharp and too slippery without it. Of course this makes the use of steel in the Pro even dumber, extra weight for absolutely nothing. I wonder why Apple didn't use titanium instead, they used to do a lot with that material and it seems like it'd let them claim a different "pro" material without so much weight. Oh well.
Incidentally I think the Max might be the least popular model this time around. I was lazy about ordering, didn't bother for a few days. Yet it shipped almost instantly, while I know people who ordered regular 12s/12 Pros much more quickly than me (same channel/phone company) who are still waiting. Would be interesting if Apple breaks things out, the Mini and regular are really compelling this time (which is as it should be!).
Thanks again for the review.
zanon - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
Also to add: CreateML (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/createml... is starting to get really impressive, and that Apple has been expending effort to allow it to all stay local rather than dependent on cloud services is useful too. Given the review points out the minimal GPU improvements, it seems like there a implications worth considering given that Apple has chosen to spend a lot of silicon budget on specialized stuff, NN etc instead. At some point I'd like to see more bench marks and articles investigating how that stuff is getting used (even basic simple first party stuff like photo facial recognition), the performance, and what kinds of network dependency and privacy the various iOS/macOS/Android/Windows/Linux implementations have. It's going to be more challenging to to see where silicon budget is yielding gains, but some of that may ultimately matter more than raw CPU/GPU in a lot of day to day and application specific use.name99 - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
It's always difficult to know just how much of Apple's timing is planned and how much is luck.I think it's definitely planned that the MAC's this year have the same appearance as always, to reassure most buyers that while techies might get excited about the new internals, this is the same familiar mac as always.
BUT I think it's also clear that the CPU/SoC this year had a very different set of priorities from performance, that it was basically more of the same. Changed where that was easy to do given the new process characteristics, but the emphasis on the stuff required for the mac, secondarily on peak power. I raise this because the corollary to the point I made above is that the best time to change the appearance is precisely when the internals are undergoing their least exciting change...
If I had to guess, my guess would be that Apple has established the line (mini, maybe refreshed every two years; mainstream; pro; pro max) and the design language, for the next four years or so. Get used to these sizes and the squared off edges!
On the flip side the most essential Mac-relevant SoC changes are done. Next year may again be "disappointing" in that the leading edge team will have the many core high end machines as its priority, so while the A15 SoC won't exactly be phoned in, it may still be less than we might hope.
On the other hand, as soon as the A16 Apple may be willing to say "OK, Rosetta2 is over for new machines. If a vendor hasn't ported by now, it's not worth our time to keep coddling them". Being able to drop the compatibility stuff [memory ordering, 4kB subpages] will help a bit (less complexity always helps some), and they'll finally be past the huge effort of the transition, so once again performance can get top billing.
Another data point for my theory (this is the appearance for the next four years or so), when do we get an Apple modem? Maybe 2022? Once again that will come in a shell that looks absolutely familiar, like an iPhone has looked for years, so that the fact of getting new technology that the techies are all chattering about won't seem strange and unnerving; what you buy will feel like last year's iPhone.