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Camera Comparison: iPhone 12 Pro vs. iPhone 11 Pro

Not sure about all the reviews, I’m no professional but I can say the low light performance is an absolute game changer. I’ve just got the small pro and took a basic photo on auto no fancy settings and I’m gobsmacked. I’ve had most flagships in the last 10 years but this years camera is special.
the first one I took in the street at night and the HDR just makes the photo look like you’re there. The stairwell was taken in pitch black with no light. I personally couldn’t see the stairs even after my eyes adjusted. My friends IPhone X just shows a black screen. Wow.
 

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The HDR does even things out a bit more on the 12Pro. Although that is a technical improvement, it does not necessarily always translate into a more appealing photo. The one improvement I did not like on the portrait sample was the Lidar assisted separation of the foreground and background. The child looked like a cut out photo placed on top of a background photo. It seemed unnatural.
I would not buy a phone on the quality of the camera. For me it is convenience and ergonomics of what the device is designed to do, mainly take and place phone calls and texts. I would take the mini shorter battery life and all.
I also would like spell correct to stop replacing "is" with "iOS" every time :)
 
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question - is the 12pro camera that much different than the 12 minus night mode? Honestly night mode photos are acceptable but nothing i'd share with people.
 
My brain hurts trying to figure all this out.

Does anyone know the actual technical differences between the 11 Pro, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max.

As far as i can tell so far..

front camera: Identical hardware on all 3. Added software features on 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max

ultrawide: Identical hardware on all 3. Added software features on 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max

wide: Different hardware on all 3

telephoto: Identical hardware on 11 Pro and 12 Pro, different on 12 Pro Max.

Is this correct?
 
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I upgrade every year but I am really not that impressed at the camera upgrade. I may for the first time hold on to my 11 pro max awhile longer.
 
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xander09 said:
Agreed. I much prefer the warmth of the 11 Pro. In some of the shots the 12 Pro did a significantly better job with greens in grass, but overall the 11 Pro wins for me. It'll be interesting to see if this is consistent in other comparisons in coming weeks. And, of course, how the 12 Pro Max performs.
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You prefer a warm color that is not the actual true tone colors if shot by a DSLR. The 12 Pro is closer to the DSLR raw natural color tones. You want warmth added? Let the algorithms do that for you after the shot.
 
I like the colors more in the 12 Pro shots. I wouldn't know if they are accurate without a reference, but they look more natural.

This is a matter of preference for the photographer (you adopt the style you prefer—people who use expensive cameras still disagree on which is better). But knowing that 12/12 Pro is able to capture natural-looking colors makes me feel that the default is good and I will have more control on the final output. I just hope that the new raw feature is good as advertised.
 
Jacoblee23 said:
I upgrade every year but I am really not that impressed at the camera upgrade. I may for the first time hold on to my 11 pro max awhile longer.
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I'm holding on to my 11 Pro as well. The 5G speed is essentially the same as LTE in my area, so I'm basically paying $1,000 for a boxy design. I will wait for ProMotion or some serious upgrades to the camera.
 
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Dhock_Holiday said:
I'm holding on to my 11 Pro as well. The 5G speed is essentially the same as LTE in my area, so I'm basically paying $1,000 for a boxy design. I will wait for ProMotion or some serious upgrades to the camera.
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I understand that. 5G isn’t even available for me since I live in a rural area and I doubt it will be anytime soon.
 
mdriftmeyer said:
You prefer a warm color that is not the actual true tone colors if shot by a DSLR. The 12 Pro is closer to the DSLR raw natural color tones. You want warmth added? Let the algorithms do that for you after the shot.
Click to expand...
Did I miss the side-by-side comparisons with DSLR shots of the same scenes? No, I don't think I did. So I'm not sure how you can conclude that the 12 Pro pictures are closer to the "true tone colors" of a DSLR. And there's no such thing as "raw natural color tones." All digital cameras have processors and algorithms that interpret the sensor data. If we're talking about RAW data, all of that gets interpreted in software given the camera profile selected, then the white-balance setting when shot, etc.
 
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To my eyes the differences are very subtle - sometimes I prefer the 11 Pro and sometimes the 12 Pro. I rather prefer the warm colours of the 11, although at night the 12 appears better. Portrait is also better with the Lidar of the 12 Pro.

However i’m going to stick with my 11 pro for now. I’m happy with my current phone, so no point in changing this year.
 
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Jonathantuba said:
To my eyes the differences are very subtle - sometimes I prefer the 11 Pro and sometimes the 12 Pro. I rather prefer the warm colours of the 11, although at night the 12 appears better. Portrait is also better with the Lidar of the 12 Pro.

However i’m going to stick with my 11 pro for now. I’m happy with my current phone, so no point in changing this year.
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I fully agree.

The 12 Pro is really an amazing iOS update wrapped in a new boxy design that Apple decided to sell for $999 instead of making it available to 11 Pro users.

11 Pro users should not upgrade until there are real camera hardware improvements, like the 12 Pro Max will have. How much better the 12 Pro Max will be is still tbd. Regardless, early rumors say that the 13 non pro Max will get the 12 Pro Max sensors.
 
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im Gonna say I’m happy to skip this upgrade. I mean worse battery In my opinion no real improvement in camera those are the two big ones for me 🤷‍♂️
 
Not to belittle its use in this camera, but I can't think of much other tech out there that crosses as many disciplines and uses as LiDAR.
 
Dear Macrumors,


This article could be so much more, it's pretty easy for a media organization (or kid in their parents basement) to make simultaneous photos when making a camera comparison. Even have a test chart to shoot in various light.
Yeah, I know, the pandemic... but sheesh!

Yes, you got my click that basically leaves more questions than answers when trying to consider upgrading an iPhone. Yes, you have a healthy click bait discussion going on since you epically failed at showing/communicating the differences between these phones, but in the end Macrumors clients (we are a click-commodity right?) are the losers and you eventually will be. There should not be more pertinent info in the comments than the article...
 
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The 12 Pro just looks REALLY BAD! Blown highlights, unnatural colors... WTF??? The 11 looks WAY much better in every way, even without night mode.
 
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The camera would have been my only reason to consider the 12 Pro (or Pro Max). After seeing the comparison though, I think I'd better stick to the 11 Pro and save my money / expectation for the 13. In some regards I'd go as far as to say the 11 Pro is a more "sanity-checked" product with its larger battery and no MagSafe that could demagnetise my hotel card and office pass I often slip in the same pocket. I also don't get the point of Apple enforcing yet another new filetype for video capture that doesn't even play well with their own software (FCPX), let alone others :rolleyes:

Who takes all these product decisions anyway?? It's like marketing runs product at Apple nowadays.
 
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Netrox said:
The 12 Pro just looks REALLY BAD! Blown highlights, unnatural colors... WTF??? The 11 looks WAY much better in every way, even without night mode.
Click to expand...
It is 12 Pro on the left, 11 Pro on the right.
 
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