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iPhone 12 Pro Downgrade from 12 pro to 12?

If Apple hadn't jacked up the size of the Pro I would have stuck with it. Why they decided to push the Pro into phablet territory when they already have the Pro Max is beyond me.

That said, I'm very happy with my Mini. Sure, there's a part of me that is missing that extra 2GB of RAM and the LiDAR/telephoto lens but that part isn't significant enough to make me want to spend more and deal with the oversized device day to day.
 
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The price difference for me through my carrier was too small not to go pro, but My biggest beef with my pro, is the weight. Apple really should reconsider the use of steel or offer an alternative material for the pro.
 
Other than the pro max being way too big for me (I’ve owned every max model since iphone 6 and have gotten too tired of it, my usage also changed) the phone that I was most interested in this year is the mini.

The problem is the battery life. With me not being very active outside due to the pandemic, the phone barely last enough for a day as it is. I also saw some strange idle standby battery drain, might just be a bug but it happens. The reception also seems to be not as good but this could just be a placebo effect

That aside, just usage wise, the iphone 12 mini might be the most enjoyable to me. Great handling, cheapest in the line up, great performance.
 
It’s hard to use future proofing as a reason to upgrade to the pro vs regular model. The xr, xs, se2, 8, are still super fast when it comes to day to day use. Games still launch fast. Even my xs max, a two year old phone has no discernible difference in performance compared to the 12 Pro max or my 12 mini. Heck I’m still amazed at the our 8 plus launching apps quickly. Really no difference. What I notice are the signal bars are stronger in the 12. Battery of course is better. Camera of course is better at low light. Oled screens are the none or very little difference between model years (I can’t tell).
 
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1rottenapple said:
It’s hard to use future proofing as a reason to upgrade to the pro vs regular model. The xr, xs, se2, 8, are still super fast when it comes to day to day use. Games still launch fast. Even my xs max, a two year old phone has no discernible difference in performance compared to the 12 Pro max or my 12 mini. Heck I’m still amazed at the our 8 plus launching apps quickly. Really no difference. What I notice are the signal bars are stronger in the 12. Battery of course is better. Camera of course is better at low light. Oled screens are the none or very little difference between model years (I can’t tell).
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I was shocked when I got my iPhone 12. I still had my 8+ and did a side by side test and the 8+ was only ever so slightly slower than an iPhone 3 years newer lol. I can see why people don’t upgrade as often anymore and in reality I only upgraded before I fancied it rather than needed to.
 
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I would say the 12 is the perfect option for most people. You aren't missing out on loads picking the 12 over the pro. the camera is still fantastic and the same sensors from the 12 pro and you still get the amazing HDR video recording on the 12. I love taking videos on my 12 pro max but that same great video is still there on the regular even if it's at 30fps.
 
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I had the 11 Pro and this year I went with the 12 rather than the 12 Pro. Like the OP, I don't use the camera much on my iPhone and the weigh difference was nice coming from the 11 Pro.

If I were in the OP's shoes, I would exchange out the 12 Pro for the 12.
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
I was shocked when I got my iPhone 12. I still had my 8+ and did a side by side test and the 8+ was only ever so slightly slower than an iPhone 3 years newer lol. I can see why people don’t upgrade as often anymore and in reality I only upgraded before I fancied it rather than needed to.
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I know right. The difference are so minute speedwise. My 2018 iPad Pro will last at least 5 years or more. I still game on it on high settings, which made the 2020 ipad pro such an irrelevant update imho. Wow lidar upgrade big deal.

OP, get the 12, get applecare+ go case less.
 
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A lot of people only mention the $120 difference between the pro and regular model but not the $50 difference of the applecare+. For those who do get applecare+, the price difference now becomes $170
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
I’ll be honest nearly everybody I know uses iPhones but the only people I know who have AppleCare are on this forum.
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I never got applecare+ before iphone 11. But it is nice that you can cancel and get the prorated refund after a year.
so if you pay $149 then it’s $75/year. I mean just the official apple case cost $50 by itself. And it is nice to use the phone without all the bulk
 
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hyperx136 said:
A lot of people only mention the $120 difference between the pro and refular model but not the $50 difference of the applecare+. For those who do get applecare+, the price difference now becomes $170
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This was an unexpected negative when I went from 12 to 12 Pro.

I just have Apple hit my Apple Card monthly for $13.49, but I’m conscious of the nickel and dime effect (even when rationalized). Had I been aware of the extra cost of Apple care + with the pro, I believe that would had been my tipping point to just stay with the 12.

My own fault for not fully researching. But not something you’d expect given my prior experiences with Apple care (admittedly out of date)

yet no buyer’s remorse. The 12 Pro is a sexy beast.
 
DanTSX said:
This was an unexpected negative when I went from 12 to 12 Pro.

I just have Apple hit my Apple Card monthly for $13.49, but I’m conscious of the nickel and dime effect (even when rationalized). Had I been aware of the extra cost of Apple care + with the pro, I believe that would had been my tipping point to just stay with the 12.

My own fault for not fully researching. But not something you’d expect given my prior experiences with Apple care (admittedly out of date)

yet no buyer’s remorse. The 12 Pro is a sexy beast.
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Off topic but which colors did you get with your mini, 12 and 12 pro? And do you go caseless since you have applecare+?
 
hyperx136 said:
Off topic but which colors did you get with your mini, 12 and 12 pro? And do you go caseless since you have applecare+?
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I see this argument all the time "why do I need a case when I have AppleCare+". Well for me it's quite simple, I don't want the inconvenience of having no phone to use if I were to drop and break it. So yeah, if a $10-$15 dollar case can potentially prevent a hassle, I'm all about it. Not to mention that case is a hell of a lot cheaper than Apple's deductible. So yup, I'm a case + AppleCare+ kinda guy. Oh yeah, add a screen protector to the mix too...
 
hyperx136 said:
I never got applecare+ before iphone 11. But is it nice that you can cancel and get the prorated refund after a year.
so if you pay $149 then it’s $75/year. I mean just the official apple case cost $50 by itself. And it is nice to use the phone without all the bulk
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I’ve never liked the Apple cases both on aesthetics and on price personally. I think you can get nicer looking and better quality cases often for half the price Apple charge. I’m not someone who claims on insurance more than perhaps once a decade so paying for AC is just an additional cost that isn’t necessary. If the worst were to happy, my iPhone is covered on my home insurance and also through my bank.
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
For many if not most iPhone users, paying a grand for a phone is too much, let alone the extra £100 again for the Pro Max. That’s before one considers whether it is too big or not I would say.
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I meant I can’t see the reason to get the Pro which is exactly the same size as the regular iPhone but more expensive. Even if you have the extra money it doesn’t seem worth it. It has an additional camera but I’m not sure that’s worth the additional cost. With the iPhone 11 there was a big difference but not so much with the 12. I think Apple was working on both phones to improve them but due to the current situation they were unable to implement many of the features they wanted to on the Pro. This ended up making the regular iPhone really good and the Pro models just okay.
 
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russell_314 said:
I meant I can’t see the reason to get the Pro which is exactly the same size as the regular iPhone but more expensive. Even if you have the extra money it doesn’t seem worth it. It has an additional camera but I’m not sure that’s worth the additional cost. With the iPhone 11 there was a big difference but not so much with the 12. I think Apple was working on both phones to improve them but due to the current situation they were unable to implement many of the features they wanted to on the Pro. This ended up making the regular iPhone really good and the Pro models just okay.
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I agree with that. It would have been better to offer the 12 with an aluminium case and three cameras to keep costs down and not bother with a stainless version IMO. I compared the 12 and 12 Pro when I upgraded and going through the specs side by side and watching the reviews, I really didn’t see what I was getting for that extra £149? Like most I think the 12 has all the relevant features for most people. The extras are nice to have but not essential and that’s the hard sell part.
 
russell_314 said:
I meant I can’t see the reason to get the Pro which is exactly the same size as the regular iPhone but more expensive. Even if you have the extra money it doesn’t seem worth it. It has an additional camera but I’m not sure that’s worth the additional cost. With the iPhone 11 there was a big difference but not so much with the 12. I think Apple was working on both phones to improve them but due to the current situation they were unable to implement many of the features they wanted to on the Pro. This ended up making the regular iPhone really good and the Pro models just okay.
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I don't understand your argument. The price difference is now smaller, because iPhone 12 is more expensive than 11 was, but now you say it is not worth the additonal cost. I would say last year iphone 11 was a no brainer over 11 pro and I actually had one on order, but cancelled due to delivery problems. This year they increased the price of iphone 12 to a point where it was a no brainer choosing the 12 Pro at the same storage configuration. I don't regret that decision, I am much more second guessing I should have had the patience to wait for mini or max.
 
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Significant1 said:
I don't understand your argument. The price difference is now smaller, because iPhone 12 is more expensive than 11 was, but now you say it is not worth the additonal cost. I would say last year iphone 11 was a no brainer over 11 pro and I actually had one on order, but cancelled due to delivery problems. This year they increased the price of iphone 12 to a point where it was a no brainer choosing the 12 Pro at the same storage configuration. I don't regret that decision, I am much more second guessing I should have had the patience to wait for mini or max.
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It boils down to whether a person thinks the extra bit of the 12 Pro is worth that £149 difference. For me it was a no brainer getting the 12 as it was good enough and that slight saving in cost was a welcome bonus. I felt £849 was already a hell of a lot of money for a smartphone without pushing it to £1k. After years of using iPhones I want to save money, not increase the cost and the 12 Pro just wasn’t good enough in comparison to command paying more for me. We all view this differently and I’m sure we all feel we are using the best phone we could get.
 
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Significant1 said:
I don't understand your argument. The price difference is now smaller, because iPhone 12 is more expensive than 11 was, but now you say it is not worth the additonal cost. I would say last year iphone 11 was a no brainer over 11 pro and I actually had one on order, but cancelled due to delivery problems. This year they increased the price of iphone 12 to a point where it was a no brainer choosing the 12 Pro at the same storage configuration. I don't regret that decision, I am much more second guessing I should have had the patience to wait for mini or max.
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It’s your money so you should buy the phone you want and makes you happy. I’m just saying from my perspective it doesn’t seem to be worth worth paying the extra $200 for an extra camera. With the 11 it was an extra $300 but you got an OLED screen with smaller bezels, another camera, and of course longer battery life. I’m not saying the 12 Pro is it bad phone but it just seems like it’s so close to the iPhone 12. With the 11 there were significant features like the screen it made a difference between Pro and regular but with the 12 it’s almost the same phone with the extra camera.

With the Max you’re getting a slightly better camera, a larger screen, and longer battery life. Of course the larger screen could be a pro and a con depending on if you want a bigger phone or not. Some people don’t mind a big phone but the big difference is it doesn’t fit in your hand as easily compared to smaller phones. There are times I wish I had a smaller phone but I like the larger screen. I guess it’s a trade off and everyone has different needs so that’s why there’s different iPhones.
 
For anyone to think the Pro (not max) is that large, is strange to me, honestly.... I have the pro from the Pro Max, which was ridiculously, large and heavy... I would not think there is a large difference between the Pro and 12 weight wise, and of course there is none, size wise... I cold see going to a Mini..... but hey do you!
 
iPhone 12 is a much better looking device too. Way nicer colours and not that ugly 3 camera system
 
hyperx136 said:
Off topic but which colors did you get with your mini, 12 and 12 pro? And do you go caseless since you have applecare+?
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12 mini white
12 white
12 pro graphite (wanted silver but on-hand stock was limited. Not unhappy with graphite)

Have been going caseless most of the time but have an inexpensive thin case for situations where I feel the phone needs a little extra grip until I get things like car mount sorted out (don’t have Apple car play in vehicle).

The 12 Pro definitely has a bit more grip to it than the 12/12mini. The anodized aluminum frames seemed to skate right through hands. The polished stainless seems to have a stickier contact with skin, despite the mirror polish. This is with clean hands and fresh devices, but not a controlled experiment. But I’d defer to engineers to guess at the cause of the more slippery feeling aluminum frames.

Ideally, I’d like some sort of adhesive clear skin wrap on the rear glass simply to keep the thing from flying out of my pocket. (MagSafe Satin scotch tape?😝🤣)
 
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