iPhone 12 Pro & iPhone 12 Pro Max

The curtains have been called, the veil removed, Apple finally makes a ledger entry into the smartphone register with it’s new iPhone 12 lineup. A new design shift from Apple, the paramount of a processor, refined cameras and nifty new features. But is it really an iPhone to get? Does it really trail away from its predecessor?

The premium models from iPhone 12 lineup- the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max; let us have an inspection about the specifications and new features they set in motion.

Design & Build

This time with iPhone 12, Apple reintroduces a boxier, more geometric and less bevely design, which highly resembles to their own iPad Pro and now-archaic iPhone 4 lineup. Even though it is not a design overhaul, it’s a first effort from the company to refresh the design trend ever since the release of iPhone 11. Apple mentions that the design re-architecture has enabled them to make the new iPhones thinner, lighter and smaller while maintaining the similar screen size.

In terms of build, iPhone 12 Pro/Max feature a premium “surgical-grade” stainless-steel band with a precision-milled back glass. In the interim, they have enforced an all new Ceramic Shield protection which guarantees an increased drop performance by 400%.

iPhone 12 also comes with an IP68 water resistance. As the company claims, the phones can survive up to 6 meters of water submersion for 30 minutes. Similarly, everyday spills and splashes are no problems either.

Display

Talking about displays, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max feature an improved Super Retina XDR Display. While the phones still maintain the same bathtub-notch, they now have a shrunk bezel on an identical footprint of iPhone 11 Pro.

Super Retina XDR Display from Apple is an edge-to-edge OLED display panel with an Extreme Dynamic Range (XDR). With every iteration of iPhone, Apple brings in its best display; conventionally, iPhone 12 Pro/Max feature the highest resolution ever in an iPhone while still maintaining the True Tone HDR display. It is complemented by a systemwide P3 color compliant with Dolby vision, making it one of the most astounding displays in the market.

The iPhone 12 Pro sports a 6.1‑inch display panel with a screen resolution of 2532 x 1170 pixels. Whereas, if you are a person who fancies a bigger display, iPhone 12 Pro Max boasts the largest 6.7-inch OLED panel with 2778 x 1284 pixels of screen resolution. Both display panels can light up to 1200 nits at peak brightness (HDR) while sustaining the 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

However, the leaks about 120Hz refresh rate did not turn out to be true. iPhone 12 comes with the conventional 60Hz refresh rate, unfortunately.

Performance

The crux of every iPhone launch event is their announcement of new processor. During the iPhone 12 dispatch, Apple outlined their latest flagship SoC- the A14 Bionic Chipset.

The A14 Bionic Chipset is based on industry’s first 5nm technology. It is fabricated with 11.8 billion transistors and boasts a 6-core CPU, a 4-core GPU and improved machine learning capabilities. Therefore, it is no doubt that the chipset can hold the reins of any mobile applications.

With the new chipset on board, apple promises: –

• Up to 50% faster CPU and GPU computing (from other chipsets);
• New Image Signal Processor;
• 16-core Neural Engine, 80% faster;
• 70% faster machine learning accelerators;

iPhone 12 Pro models have 6GB of RAM and comes in 128GB/256GB/512GB configuration.

Read: Everything about Smartphone Processors or SoCs

5G Connectivity

2020 has been a year for 5G smartphones. From a midrange phone to high-end flagship, we have been seeing 5G ready devices more than ever. Indifferently, iPhone 12 ships with 5G connectivity out of the box, and the company takes it further with their broadest coverage. The new aluminum frame comes with custom antennas (and radio components) integrated within to make 5G connection more efficient. Apple says that the new iPhones were redesigned keeping 5G in mind.

If you do not know, 5G comes in 2 main spectrums; the sub 6-GHz spectrum & mmWave. As of now, the mmWave (which is the true 5G) is only available in USA. However, Apple has partnered with various carrier services throughout the world to ensure iPhone has a good throughput, coverage and call quality. With 5G, you can expect a peak bandwidth of up to 5Gbps in an ideal condition under mmWave spectrum and 1Gbps under sub 6-GHz spectrum.

Also, Apple has said that they have optimized their IOS frameworks to make the apps more battery efficient while using 5G. They have also introduced new feature called Smart Data Mode. Smart Data mode analyzes your app-activity/requirement and automatically switches between 5G and 4G to save battery.

Read: 5G – Busting the Gimmicks!

Cameras

iPhone 12 contains the trinity of wide, ultrawide and telephoto lenses; each of 12 megapixels; accompanied by a LiDAR sensor. Though it may sound no upgrade over the predecessor, if we dig into details, each lens has been subjected to slight improvements in order to provide better image quality and low light performance.

Primary Lens: iPhone 12 Pro features a 12MP primary lens. The lens now has seven-elements with an improved f/1.6 aperture. The company claims an increased low light performance by 27%. On the other hand, iPhone 12 Pro Max has the same f/1.6 aperture, but with a bigger 47%, 1.7μm sensor which lets in 87% more light; thereby, giving an upper edge for low light performance.

Secondary Lens: Both the Pro/Max variants have same ultra-wide lens of 12MP offering 120-degree field of view.

Tertiary Lens: The telephoto lens in each camera is a 12MP sensor. However, iPhone 12 Pro max has a longer focal length and, thus, increased optical zoom. It is a 65mm-equivalent f/2.2 lens in iPhone 12 Pro Max versus 52mm-equivalent f/2.0 in iPhone 12 Pro. iPhone 12 Pro Max offers 2.5x optical zoom whereas iPhone 12 Pro offers only 2x optical zoom.

In addition, to note is the fact that iPhone 12 Pro Max has a Sensor-shift OIS which is a DSLR-like Optical Image Stabilization Technology. Meanwhile, other iPhone variants have the regular OIS.

LiDAR Sensor & Other Features

LiDAR is a method for measuring distances (ranging) by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring the reflection with a sensor. Differences in laser return times and wavelengths can then be used to make digital 3-D representations of the target.

LiDAR sensor first debuted on iPad Pro back in March. Fortunately, the new iPhone 12 Pro/Max also comes equipped with it. Therefore, you can now enjoy precise placement of AR objects and accurate object scanning. Since LiDAR works by projecting lasers to calculate distances, Apple has exploited it to improve their low-light photography and autofocus.

Besides that, iPhone 12 is the only smartphone series to support video recording with 10-bit Dolby Vision HDR at 4K/60fps. Users can also edit the HDR footages from the “Photos” app itself. Apple has also released an exclusive “Apple ProRAW” feature enabling more creative controls over the images one captures.

Read: Everything You Need to Know Before Buying a Camera Smartphone

Battery & Charging

As of now, the internet is not yet disclosed with the official battery size of any iPhone 12 devices. However, it is quite obvious that the battery size will vary per models for they do not share the same dimensions.

Moving aside, Apple is notoriously famous for pulling an unpopular maneuver in smartphone industry. This time, it’s the charging brick itself. Yes, the rumors were true; the charging brick is indeed dispatched from the box (alongside the headphones). As the company endeavors to be an earth-friendly, net-zero climate impact business model, we just hope that it reaches its goals very soon.

The phone still shifts with a Lightning-cable, which now is a Lightning to Type-C, and supports wireless charging as well.

MagSafe

If you ask me, MagSafe was the most exciting moment for me during the whole launch event. Watching all those accessories click together; an ASMR, eh. If you do not know, MagSafe is a series of proprietary magnetically attached power connectors, originally introduced by Apple, in conjunction with the MacBook Pro back in 2006. The connector is held in place magnetically so that if it is tugged — for example, by someone tripping over the cord — it will pull out of the socket without damaging the connector or the computer power socket, and without pulling the computer off the surface on which it is located. Despite its popularity with many users, it was discontinued across all Apple product lines between 2016 and 2019 and replaced with USB-C.

On the bright side, iPhone 12 seems to have resurrected MagSafe. It is now integrated within iPhone 12 in an unconventional, yet, empowering way. Apple presented MagSafe as an added upgrade to its wireless charging technology, removing the hassle of aligning phones with wireless chargers. Any MagSafe accessories can simply snap on the back of an iPhone, for example, a MagSafe Wallet, a MagSafe case, etc. This not only brings an ease but rather opens a whole window for port-less accessories.

Jump To: Price & Availability

iPhone 12 Pro, Max Specifications:

Display

 Processor

 Cameras

Battery

Features

Price & Availability

Apple will start taking orders in India by Friday, October 30. Every customer who buys iPhone from Apple can enjoy a free Online Personal Session with an Apple Specialist, to help them explore and discover all the amazing things they can do with their new iPhone.

Watch: iPhone 11 Review – A Content Creator’s Best Friend

Mohit Aryal

Tech enthusiast and a movie fanatic.