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
GPU Performance & Power
GPU performance of the new A14 is something that wasn’t very clearly presented during the launch of the new iPhone 12 series. Apple had first introduced the A14 within the new iPad series where it had promised performance increases relative to the A12, not the previous generation A13, and with a bit of math this resulted into a translated 8.3% generational increase which is rather smaller than we had expected given Apple’s recent GPU trajectory over the years. Furthermore, this was also the first release where Apple compared itself to the Android SoC competition which is something the company doesn’t usually do. All these factored into some rather low expectations for the GPU of the A14 – so let’s see how that pans out in practice:
Starting off with Basemark GPU 1.2, we’re seeing a 17% increase in peak performance relative to the iPhone 11 Pro and the A13 chip, which is a nice upgrade, but doesn’t tell the whole story. In the sustained performance figure after 30 minutes of running and when the phone reaches a thermal equilibrium, we see a 45% drop in performance. In this instance, it looks like the iPhone 12 Pro reached a lower sustained performance level than the iPhone 11 Pro which isn’t a great start, but that might change with differing workloads.
In the Aztec High test, the iPhone 12’s fare a bit better in their sustained performances, with the new chip showing a 21% increase in performance generationally. The peak performance figure is only 11% higher but generally this isn’t the figure that is important for gaming experiences on iPhones.
| GFXBench Aztec High Offscreen Power Efficiency (System Active Power) |
||||
| Mfc. Process | FPS | Avg. Power (W) |
Perf/W Efficiency |
|
| iPhone 12 Pro (A14) 🔥 Throttled | N5 | 28.36 | 3.91 | 7.24 fps/W |
| iPhone 11 Pro (A13) 🔥 Throttled | N7P | 26.14 | 3.83 | 6.82 fps/W |
| iPhone 12 Pro (A14) ❄️ Peak | N5 | 37.40 | 5.57 | 6.64 fps/W |
| iPhone 11 Pro (A13) ❄️ Peak | N7P | 34.00 | 6.21 | 5.47 fps/W |
| Galaxy S20 Ultra (Snapdragon 865) | N7P | 20.35 | 3.91 | 5.19 fps/W |
| Mate 40 Pro (Kirin 9000) 🔥 Throttled | N5 | 27.37 | 5.39 | 5.07 fps/W |
| iPhone XS (A12) 🔥 Throttled | N7 | 19.32 | 3.81 | 5.07 fps/W |
| Reno3 5G (Dimensity 1000L) | N7 | 11.93 | 2.39 | 4.99 fps/W |
| iPhone XS (A12) ❄️ Peak | N7 | 26.59 | 5.56 | 4.78 fps/W |
| Mate 40 Pro (Kirin 9000) ❄️ Peak | N5 | 37.22 | 8.53 | 4.36 fps/W |
| ROG Phone III (Snapdragon 865+) | N7P | 22.34 | 5.35 | 4.17 fps/W |
| Mate 30 Pro (Kirin 990 4G) | N7 | 16.50 | 3.96 | 4.16 fps/W |
| Galaxy S20+ (Exynos 990) | 7LPP | 20.20 | 5.02 | 3.59 fps/W |
| Galaxy S10+ (Snapdragon 855) | N7 | 16.17 | 4.69 | 3.44 fps/W |
| Galaxy S10+ (Exynos 9820) | 8LPP | 15.59 | 4.80 | 3.24 fps/W |
Looking at the power consumption of the new phones, we see again that both the peak and throttled performance figures of the new chip isn’t all that much different to the previous generation, as we’re seeing roughly 8% better performance at almost the same power envelope of around 3.9W. The peak power figure of the new chip seems to have been reduced this generation and that’s very much a welcome change, and that’s where the efficiency sees the largest delta to the A13.
In the normal setting configuration of the Aztec test, we’re seeing again a 11% increase in sustained performance generationally, and a similar 12% boost in peak performance. These are good improvements but still a bit less than we had expected given the A14’s new process node and new GPU.
| GFXBench Aztec Normal Offscreen Power Efficiency (System Active Power) |
||||
| Mfc. Process | FPS | Avg. Power (W) |
Perf/W Efficiency |
|
| iPhone 12 Pro (A14) 🔥 Throttled | N5 | 77.44 | 3.88 | 19.95 fps/W |
| iPhone 12 Pro (A14) ❄️ Peak | N5 | 102.24 | 5.53 | 18.48 fps/W |
| iPhone 11 Pro (A13) 🔥 Throttled | N7P | 73.27 | 4.07 | 18.00 fps/W |
| iPhone 11 Pro (A13) ❄️ Peak | N7P | 91.62 | 6.08 | 15.06 fps/W |
| iPhone XS (A12) 🔥 Throttled | N7 | 55.70 | 3.88 | 14.35 fps/W |
| Galaxy S20 Ultra (Snapdragon 865) | N7P | 54.09 | 3.91 | 13.75 fps/W |
| iPhone XS (A12) ❄️Peak | N7 | 76.00 | 5.59 | 13.59 fps/W |
| Reno3 5G (Dimensity 1000L) | N7 | 27.84 | 2.12 | 13.13 fps/W |
| Mate 40 Pro (Kirin 9000) 🔥 Throttled | N5 | 63.56 | 5.37 | 11.84 fps/W |
| ROG Phone III (Snapdragon 865+) | N7P | 58.77 | 5.34 | 11.00 fps/W |
| Mate 40 Pro (Kirin 9000) ❄️ Peak | N5 | 82.74 | 7.95 | 10.40 fps/W |
| Mate 30 Pro (Kirin 990 4G) | N7 | 41.68 | 4.01 | 10.39 fps/W |
| Galaxy S20+ (Exynos 990) | 7LPP | 49.41 | 4.87 | 10.14 fps/W |
| Galaxy S10+ (Snapdragon 855) | N7 | 40.63 | 4.14 | 9.81 fps/W |
| Galaxy S10+ (Exynos 9820) | 8LPP | 40.18 | 4.62 | 8.69 fps/W |
The power figures showcase a similar generational movement, with a slight performance increase at a slight power decrease. It’s good progression but again not quite fulfilling our expectations of a new process node bump.
| GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 Offscreen Power Efficiency (System Active Power) |
||||
| Mfc. Process | FPS | Avg. Power (W) |
Perf/W Efficiency |
|
| iPhone 12 Pro (A14) 🔥 Throttled | N5 | 103.11 | 3.90 | 26.43 fps/W |
| iPhone 12 Pro (A14) ❄️ Peak | N5 | 137.72 | 5.63 | 24.46 fps/W |
| iPhone 11 Pro (A13) 🔥 Throttled | N7P | 100.58 | 4.21 | 23.89 fps/W |
| Galaxy S20 Ultra (Snapdragon 865) | N7P | 88.93 | 4.20 | 21.15 fps/W |
| iPhone 11 Pro (A13) ❄️Peak | N7P | 123.54 | 6.04 | 20.45 fps/W |
| iPhone XS (A12) 🔥 Throttled | N7 | 76.51 | 3.79 | 20.18 fps/W |
| Reno3 5G (Dimensity 1000L) | N7 | 55.48 | 2.98 | 18.61 fps/W |
| Mate 40 Pro (Kirin 9000) 🔥 Throttled | N5 | 87.31 | 4.98 | 17.54 fps/W |
| iPhone XS (A12) ❄️Peak | N7 | 103.83 | 5.98 | 17.36 fps/W |
| ROG Phone III (Snapdragon 865+) | N7P | 93.58 | 5.56 | 16.82 fps/W |
| Mate 40 Pro (Kirin 9000) ❄️Peak | N5 | 124.69 | 8.28 | 15.05 fps/W |
| Mate 30 Pro (Kirin 990 4G) | N7 | 75.69 | 5.04 | 15.01 fps/W |
| Galaxy S20+ (Exynos 990) | 7LPP | 85.66 | 5.90 | 14.51 fps/W |
| Galaxy S10+ (Snapdragon 855) | N7 | 70.67 | 4.88 | 14.46 fps/W |
| Galaxy S10+ (Exynos 9820) | 8LPP | 68.87 | 5.10 | 13.48 fps/W |
| Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon 845) | 10LPP | 61.16 | 5.01 | 11.99 fps/W |
| Mate 20 Pro (Kirin 980) | N7 | 54.54 | 4.57 | 11.93 fps/W |
| Galaxy S9 (Exynos 9810) | 10LPP | 46.04 | 4.08 | 11.28 fps/W |
| Galaxy S8 (Snapdragon 835) | 10LPE | 38.90 | 3.79 | 10.26 fps/W |
| Galaxy S8 (Exynos 8895) | 10LPE | 42.49 | 7.35 | 5.78 fps/W |
Depending on the workload, the generational performance increases can be even smaller, as here in Manhattan the performance increase in a throttled state is only 3% better for the new A14 based iPhone, with also a minor power decrease at this state.
| GFXBench T-Rex Offscreen Power Efficiency (System Active Power) |
||||
| Mfc. Process | FPS | Avg. Power (W) |
Perf/W Efficiency |
|
| iPhone 12 Pro (A14) 🔥 Throttled | N5 | 260.28 | 4.08 | 63.97 fps/W |
| iPhone 11 Pro (A13) 🔥 Throttled | N7P | 289.03 | 4.78 | 60.46 fps/W |
| iPhone 12 Pro (A14) ❄️ Peak | N5 | 328.50 | 5.55 | 59.18 fps/W |
| iPhone 11 Pro (A13) ❄️ Peak | N7P | 328.90 | 5.93 | 55.46 fps/W |
| Galaxy S20 Ultra (Snapdragon 865) | N7P | 205.37 | 3.83 | 53.30 fps/W |
| Mate 40 Pro (Kirin 9000) 🔥 Throttled | N5 | 147.13 | 2.92 | 50.38 fps/W |
| iPhone XS (A12) 🔥 Throttled | N7 | 197.80 | 3.95 | 50.07 fps/W |
| ROG Phone III (Snapdragon 865+) | N7P | 224.48 | 4.92 | 45.60 fps/W |
| iPhone XS (A12) ❄️Peak | N7 | 271.86 | 6.10 | 44.56 fps/W |
| Galaxy 10+ (Snapdragon 855) | N7 | 167.16 | 4.10 | 40.70 fps/W |
| Reno3 5G (Dimensity 1000L) | N7 | 139.30 | 3.57 | 39.01 fps/W |
| Mate 40 Pro (Kirin 9000) ❄️ Peak | N5 | 235.04 | 6.11 | 38.46 fps/W |
| Galaxy S20+ (Exynos 990) | 7LPP | 199.61 | 5.63 | 35.45 fps/W |
| Mate 30 Pro (Kirin 990 4G) | N7 | 152.27 | 4.34 | 35.08 fps/W |
| Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon 845) | 10LPP | 150.40 | 4.42 | 34.00 fps/W |
| Galaxy 10+ (Exynos 9820) | 8LPP | 166.00 | 4.96 | 33.40fps/W |
| Galaxy S9 (Exynos 9810) | 10LPP | 141.91 | 4.34 | 32.67 fps/W |
| Galaxy S8 (Snapdragon 835) | 10LPE | 108.20 | 3.45 | 31.31 fps/W |
| Mate 20 Pro (Kirin 980) | N7 | 135.75 | 4.64 | 29.25 fps/W |
| Galaxy S8 (Exynos 8895) | 10LPE | 121.00 | 5.86 | 20.65 fps/W |
Finally, T-Rex showcases no improvements on the part of peak performance figures, although it does lower power consumption, and sustained performance for some reason is lower on the newer generation iPhone, although again it showcases quite lower power consumption so it’s possible the new chip is mainly running on the efficiency CPU cores in this workload.
Reasonable Upgrades
Generally speaking, our concerns over Apple’s lacklustre marketing on the GPU side of things seem to have been warranted as the new A14 and the 5nm process node doesn’t seem to bring substantial gains this generation. Performance is a little higher, and efficiency has also gone up as well, but it’s nowhere near the levels of improvements that Apple had been able to achieve with the A12 and A13. On one side that’s pretty understandable as those two generations had made huge leaps, and on the other hand it was maybe unreasonable to expect Apple to continue to make such gigantic strides on every generation.
Overall, the new iPhone 12 devices and the A14 still offer the very best gaming performance of any smartphone out in the market, showcasing significantly better experiences than any other Android competitor, but it’s also not a major noticeable upgrade over the iPhone 11 series devices.
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mrvco - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
It was a good run since the OG iPhone launched, but I seem to have lost all interest in replacing smart phones. I've been using an XS Max (~work phone) and an LG V40 (~personal phone) for two years now and I'm still perfectly satisfied with both devices. They both do what I ask of them with little fuss and there just haven't been any new features or phones that have generated more than a passing interest for me.Bob Todd - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
As someone who would sometimes change phones more than once a year, I've been in a similar place. We are getting to the point of "good enough" performance. Faster is always better, but high end (and even midrange) SOCs are pretty good these days. My 2 year old phone has 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a nice large display.I do think this generation of iPhones is interesting for a few reasons though. The Mini doesn't even have a good analogue in the Android world, and I'm excited that premium smaller form factor phones are a thing again.
FunBunny2 - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
"The Mini doesn't even have a good analogue in the Android world, and I'm excited that premium smaller form factor phones are a thing again."it depends on use case. for those who use a smartphone mostly as a phone, then these Godzilla handsets are contraindicated. OTOH, if the use case is mostly watching video on the run, then the Max and similar make the most sense. Steve clearly intended the former, Mr. Market gave him a full body enema by telling him to shove those teeny, tiny thingees.
KPOM - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
My mother and sister both opted for the 12 mini since they got tired of big phones. I’m sure they aren’t alone.GC2:CS - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
Well is there any reason why LPDDR5 was not used over the entire lineup (including M1) ? Is there some hidden compromise with LPDDR5 ?So if CPU is improved quite a bit in regards to efficiency, why the GPU lacks an update ? Is it possible that newer node benefits the CPU more than GPU ?
I heard about new Pro Oleds having better viewing angles. This is something i would greatly appreciate. 11´s Pro do have quite big shifts in white - at screen edges it has greenish, bluish cast. Can somebody describe it a but more ?
I think this generation could be better. But 5G is quite monumental increse in RF complexity and imagining they did it with custom antena designs and thinner designs is quite remarkable.
For exemple three mmWave antenas were discoverd so far. One on the side next to the battery, one behind the motherboard and one under the notch on the front.
But on the other hand 5G sucked up all the effort for other upgrades like better bigger cameras, batteries, 120 Hz and so on.
I refuse to believe that the next one is iPhone 13. That is just so unlucky...
michael2k - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
I think you answered your own question. The focus on 5G took resources away from lpddr5.mmm200 - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
I had both X and Xs Max, wife has 11 Pro.I could tell you how good the new 12 Pro Max display is.
It is better than Apple MBP16 in both color and brightness stability! 2 weeks in I'm amazed still how good the Pro display is!
Don't like the oversaturated images made indoor. Just too much vibrance and saturation. Looks unnatural.
2.5x telephoto is great outdoors in sunny weather.
HDR video capture is mindblowing! Using 1080p30 and 1080p60 - looks great on LG OLED!
name99 - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
It's quite possible that world LPDD5 production capacity was not yet large enough?My GUESS is that the memory controller can handle LPDD5, and the M1X machines will ship with it (and those will be in low enough volume that it's not an issue).
I was surprised that the M1 Macs did not, but presumably Apple concluded it made no engineering sense -- they are clearly fast enough as is, so why not hold something in reserve to make the M1X machines look even better when they ship?
vFunct - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
Why do you do camera tests without a SINGLE shot of a human being? You know, because how everyone uses phone cameras to take pictures of people at parties and other social events?Are you unable to find anyone willing to have photos taken?
michael2k - Monday, November 30, 2020 - link
Taking pictures of people aren't actually important for the test scenarios:Daylight evaluation is measuring the sensor and software in their ability to balance contrast, dynamic range, shadows, details, and color (and of course there were some people in those pictures)
Low light evaluation is evaluating how well the software can enhance the image without sacrificing color information, creating unusual color casts, capturing details, and balancing the light and darker portions of the pictures.
What you seem to be asking for is a review of https://www.anandtech.com/show/14892/the-apple-iph...">Portrait Mode? The 2018 https://www.anandtech.com/show/13392/the-iphone-xs...">Portrait Mode review was similarly brief (both less than 5 paragraphs!)