iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max: Design
Let’s start with the design first. Both the iPhone 12 Pro and the 12 Pro Max feature a squared-off flat-edge design, which is very reminiscent of the iPhone 4 series. This design change comes after several years, during which period, the iPhones underwent different design approaches. One of the biggest and probably the most radical shift in design during this period was with the iPhone X back in 2017, which featured a completely different design language that paved the way for a bezel-less future. The 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max use a stainless steel body and have a matte glass back. With the new design, Apple has introduced what it calls Ceramic Shield. As per the company, the Ceramic Shield front cover is tougher than any smartphone glass, and it is infused with nano-ceramic crystals to improve the strength and drop protection. Furthermore, both phones come with an IP68 rating, which means they can withstand water submersion up to 6 meters for up to 30 minutes. iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max come in four colorways: graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue.
iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max: Display
Moving to the display, which is one of the crucial elements on a device, with the iPhone 12 Pro, you get a 6.1-inch display, while the Max comes in at an even bigger 6.7-inch screen. In comparison to the previous Pro and Pro Max models — 5.8-inch (iPhone 12 Pro) and 6.5-inch (iPhone 12 Pro Max) — the newer offerings come with slightly bigger displays. Both devices use the Super Retina XDR display technology and offer up to 1200 nits of peak brightness along with HDR support.
iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max: Performance
In terms of performance, the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max run on the A14 Bionic chip, which is the latest piece of silicon from Apple. It builds upon the 5nm process, and according to the company, offers up to 50 percent better CPU and GPU performance than some of the other smartphone chipsets. To run you through specs, the A14 features 16-core Neural Engine, which claims up to an 80 percent increase in ML performance by offering close to 11 trillion operations per second. Moving from the processor to the other major highlight of the iPhone 12 series, 5G connectivity, the new phones come with support for millimeter-waves that promise up to 4Gbps of speeds. The support for faster connectivity allows for better download and upload speeds, as well as improves the cellular performance of other apps and services.
iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max: Camera
In addition to offering faster performance, the A14 Bionic chip also aims to improve the image quality as well as the computational photography prowess on the newer iPhones with a new ISP. Talking about the hardware, both models come with a triple camera setup on the rear alongside a LiDAR scanner and an LED flash, housed within a square camera module. All three sensors: wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto, come with 12MP resolution. However, there are a few subtle changes in the specifications of these sensors on both models. To begin with, the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max feature an ultra-wide sensor with the same aperture size: f/2.4, and also have the same wide-angle lens with an f/1.6 aperture. However, it is the telephoto lens that is of different sizes on the two models. With the 12 Pro, you get an f/2.0 telephoto lens, while the Max gets a narrower f/2.2 aperture size lens.
Similarly, moving to the other aspects, the 12 Pro Max gets up to 2.5x optical zoom, compared to 2x on the Pro, and up to 12x digital zoom, as opposed to only 10x on the other model. Now, on to LiDAR, which first featured on the iPad Pro, but is something that is entirely new to the iPhones, the latest 12 Pro iPhone models get the LiDAR scanner within the camera module. Using LiDAR, these iPhones can better measure the distance between objects and allow for an improved AR experience. Moreover, Apple suggests that the sensor also improves the autofocus by 6x in low-light scenes to offer more accurate photos and videos. Needless to say, it helps improve portrait performance with a more pronounced bokeh — especially at night. As for other specifications, both models get support for SmartHDR 3, night mode portraits, and a new ProRAW feature, which is slated to arrive later this year. In a nutshell, ProRaw combines Apple’s multi-frame image processing and computational photography prowess with the versatility of the RAW format. Lastly, the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max get a new wireless charging solution, called MagSafe, which offers magnetically-charged accessories. Basically, it employs an array of magnets around the wireless charging coil on the back of the iPhone to offer a more convenient charging experience.
iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max: Pricing and Availability
Both iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max come in three storage options: 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. The iPhone 12 starts at $999 while the 12 Pro Max starts at $1099. In India, the 12 Pro will be available for Rs 1,19,990 and the Max at a higher price of Rs 1,29,000.
