In some ways the iPhone 12 Pro is a small improvement over the 11 Pro but in others it's actually a rather significant departure. There are several big changes the iPhone 12 Pro brings and that includes a new design, an improved camera and 5G connectivity.
DESIGN
After several generations of steady poking, the iPhone has finally gone on a cutting diet. It's become a bit thinner and lighter than the 11th generation but not by much. Overall the footprint of the iPhone 12 Pro has been reduced which is a welcome improvement. The iPhone 12 Pro is one fine looking phone I wouldn't say. It's reminiscent of the iPhone 4 or 5 too much even though it follows the same basic design ideas. The main change from before is the new flat metal frame which is no longer rounded like in previous generations.
It's impossible to make a definitive conclusion as to whether the 12 Pro design is better than that of the 11 Pro, 10s or even the 10. At least from an aesthetic point of view but it does look fresh and it feels more like a tool. A device to do some job with more so than an elegant piece of deck like the previous phones.
COLOR
A new color joins the black sewer and gold models and that is specific blue. We have just this one and for the most part it's a navy blue color which is a timeless color in fashion and accessories. So we don't expect it to go out of style anytime soon. The navy blue is classic.
DISPLAY
The iPhone 12 Pro keeps the super retina XDR OLED display technology with its outstanding color fidelity contrast brightness but it also scales the real estate up from 5.8 inches to 6.1 inches. The resolution is also scaled up accordingly for great pixel density. Overall it's a very likable display. Another big upgrade the screen has received is called ceramic shield.
Basically it makes the screen up to four times more resistant to drops that's because the glass is of a new stronger type. and also the design of the phone. You no longer have that protruding 3D curved glass like before. Now everything is flat and so the screen the protective glass fits right inside the frame.
CAMERA
The sophisticated triple camera system in the iPhone 12 Pro gets a new LIDAR sensor and that additional camera or sensor opens up some additional features. For example it allows you to take portrait mode photos even in low light with night mode engaged. What LIDAR does is, it shoots invisible light beams that help it build a 3D aware map of the environment that way the iPhone 12 Pro can easily collect depth information even in challenging situations.
So this LIDAR sensor could come in handy in certain fields of work such as interior design or anything related to AR really but for more consumer level benefits. Obviously we'll have to wait even Apple is just promising big potential here. But the standard camera specs are also a bit better. We now have a wider f 1.6 aperture and the new 7 element lens. These upgrades allow for more light to reach the sensor for better overall image exposure and sharpness.
Now with regards to photo quality so some of the technical elements of the camera have been improved. But we really challenge you to find any big gains from the 11 Pro to the 12 because photos from the iPhone 12 Pro turn out with the same basic characteristics including the exposure, the details, the color profile. And that is to say they're great but but one area where we do see significant gains is when shooting at low light or at night where the wider aperture and the improved algorithms of the camera all of that makes for better exposure and details at night.
Now however the difference against the iPhone 10s generation and previous one is dramatic. Especially in some of the scenes where the superior exposure and HDR techniques at the 12 Pro play a very big role. So the triple camera system works as before. You have an ultra wide camera, a regular wide angle camera and telephoto for zoom pictures. So this combination gives you quite a bit of flexibility to go in and out and just to decide how you would like to approach a scene.
And of course the execution on Apple's part is spot on. Thanks to fine touches like having all three cameras perfectly synchronized in terms of exposure and color balance at all times. Or in photographic terms that would be a white balance. So as you're switching between the three cameras you don't get any changes in image quality.
PERFORMANCE
The new iPhone 12 generation comes with a14 bionic chipset which promises 50% a better CPU and GPU performance compared to last year which is a pretty big upgrade for a year to year iteration. But the a14 bionic is actually interesting for tech reasons because it's the first mobile chipset built on the five nanometer processor and that allows it to be faster and more power efficient which are all good things.
So even though the batteries inside the iPhone 12 Pro is actually smaller than that in the previous phones which is a whole other thing but still battery life is increased considerably .And of course there's plenty of power inside the iPhone 12 Pro and iOS 14 runs flawlessly most of the time. You can't really notice any difference in performance between the 12 Pro, the 11 Pro, the 10s and even the 10. But on some rare occasions you can actually feel the extra power in the a14 bionic.
5G
So probably the biggest news on the iPhone 12 family is 5G support. For the first time ever 5G is coming to the iPhone. All the basic benefits that you would expect from a faster network connection here including faster downloads and streaming faster streaming and reduced lag and overall better performance when the network is on the more congested side. But the iPhone 12 Pro also covers an extensive number of 5G bands. So that means that wherever you are around the globe where they have 5G network you know those are still being rolled out.
But whenever wherever you are where they have 5G chances, you have your 5G signal with the 12 Pro with all of that 5G band support. So 5G is expected to play a big role in our digital future but at that point as networks are still being built and developed use cases are not that many. So you get your basic upgrades in terms of speeds and reduced lag. But even Apple is struggling to come up with specific ideas on how you should take advantage of 5G right now.
So and in that sense if you'd like to turn 5G off on your phone for whatever reason you know, you can do that from the settings menu. So you can turn 5G off let's say to reduce the toll on the battery because 5G does come with additional battery consumption. So you can turn it off with that reason and or for any other reason you can do that if you want.
BATTERY
It's interesting that this year apple has decided to reduce the battery capacities across the board maybe because of the thinner profiles of the phones. But the 5nm chipsets here just works wonders. It consumes significantly less power for the same demand and it actually allows the iPhone 12 Pro to achieve better battery life than that of its predecessors.
Even though the batteries are smaller and even though the screens are bigger. So the the 5nm chipset here is really a big deal. But on our custom battery test the iPhone 12 Pro lasted for 12 hours and 30 minutes which is the same result as that of the iPhone 12 which makes sense considering both phones have the same screens, the same chipsets and the same batteries. But if you're hoping for two days of battery life. Moderate usage would be a stretch.
You know you have to be quite modest with your usage and the activities that you're doing on the phone shouldn't be that demanding if you want to really try to stretch that to two days. So a more realistic scenario would be a day and a half of battery life with the iPhone 12 Pro.
Now the question is of course if you have a day and a half of battery life that still means that your charging routine would be nightly. So that's the most practical thing. Otherwise you're running the risk of just finding yourself in a situation where the phone is running low on juice and you don't have your charger nearby. So nightly charging would still be a thing. The power adapter is omitted this year from the box which is I guess a bad news but that means you either have to buy a separate charger or just use an old one that you have lying around.
To be honest maybe going forward the best and most universal solution for charging your devices would be to invest in a good third-party wireless charger because those are all compatible with everything because everything runs on the QI standard including Apple's iPhone. So that's good, so you'll be able to charge both your iPhones in your android phones if you have any in your household.
Meanwhile Apple has their new MagSafe charger which is it's QI compatible. So it works with other devices but it's not as convenient because its surface area is really small. It's made to work with that innovative new magnet alignment system that apple has built into the iPhone 12 Pro which is to say the charger snaps to the back of the iPhone.
Everything works every time but again the surface area is really small and so that means if you try to use that charger with any other device it wouldn't be a perfect experience because other devices don't have those magnets to align to the MagSafe charger. So again I would say that investing in a good third-party wireless charger would be a more optimal solution here.
With that said, let me know what do you think about this down in the comments and as always I'll see you in the next one...
Peace out!!!
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