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I disagree. The only thing on that list that would mean anything to me in real world use is the optical zoom. And the stainless steel body is a negative IMO - I'll take the lighter weight of the aluminum body any day.
The optical zoom is great for someone like me who never had it before. And the wide angle. Also great.
 
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How on earth do you get $300? It is $799 vs $999 is $200 if you get the base iPhone 12 and carrier locked. Are you not going to pay tax on the iPhone 12 Pro too. I guess technically you would pay tax on the $200 extra so $200 * 10% = $20. So $220. Still not close to $300.
You might want to check your math. I live in NYC. Sale tax here is 8.75%. $999 x 0.875 = $999 + $87.41 = 1,087.4
 
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I picked iPhone 12 (upgrading from iPhone XS). My reasons from most significant to least significant.
  • I vastly prefer iPhone 12's matte aluminum side, as well as more vibrant color.
  • After holding both iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, I appreciate iPhone 12's lighter weight.
  • 2x digital zoom on 26mm wide (normal) angle looks better to my eyes than 52mm telephoto lens, most likely owing to 26mm's superior optics. On XS, I never shot beyond 2x.
  • $120-150 price difference (when configured to 128GB) pays for all the accessories I want (and then some), such as a case and wireless charger.
  • LiDAR sounds interesting on paper, but in reality, I would never use AR and low light auto focus is frankly excellent on iPhone 12.
  • I prefer videos shot in more cinematic 24-30 frames per second over soap opera like 60 frames per second. iPhone 12 supports Dolby Vision that frame rate.
  • I don't care about ProRAW.
  • To me, extra 2GB RAM is a theoretical benefit. I never craved for more RAM on iPhone XS.
I did same thing...and just about same reasons. That said, I feel like I miss the 2x button on the Xs; but I’m going to look into your 2x digital vs Xs telephoto comparison.
 
I love these comparisons. The people that get the regular 12 will intentionally ignore the “pros” of the Pro model and downplay those features entirely. The people that get the 12 Pro will somewhat exaggerate the benefits of the Pro model vs the Regular 12.

Polished stainless steel looks more premium to most people, also adds a certain feel. Sure, you may not care about any of that, but you can’t deny those who genuinely value those aesthetics/feel in the hand.

The Pro has 2 more gigabytes of RAM. Do I need to say anything? I’m sure a 12 user will tell me how that’s actually a bad thing and 4GB is plenty. It’s still empirically better. Anecdotally, I am already seeing a benefit of the additional RAM.

Screen brightness is better on the Pro.

The Pro had an Ultra Wide lens. The 12 does not.

The Pro has better video recording capabilities.

Pro starts out with 128 vs 64.

There might be more I forgot, but I don’t see why iPhone 12 buyers have to dismiss all the aforementioned differences. They might not matter to you, but the 12 Pro is literally better. If you’re happy with your 12, great! You don’t have to let everyone know why you can’t “understand” why anyone would get the Pro over the regular 12.
 
It feels like the decision is 12 Pro vs 12 Pro Max but I can see how the 12 vs 12 Pro comes into play if you are set on the 6.1” size and are measuring price vs features/colors/materials.
 
My choice was between the 11 Pro, 12, and 12 Pro. The 11 Pro was a non-factor as it was only $100 less for 64gb. I can still live with 64gb, but since I plan on keeping this phone for at least a couple of years, 128gb was more attractive. So for $100 more I get 128gb of memory, and then all of the other improvements of the 12 Pro. I know battery life is less than the 11 Pro, but it's not like battery life is bad, at all. It's still better than any other iPhone prior to the 11 line.

Then it came down to the 12 or 12 Pro. I personally went with the 12 Pro because I had a Xs before, and I know it's not for everybody, but I really enjoy having a telephoto lens (it comes in pretty handy with kids' sporting events, band, etc etc). Some of the best photos I got on the Xs were portrait photos in good lighting as well, and I feel like the portrait shots have a more natural feel when using an actual telephoto lens vs a phone that doesn't have one. If there was a more drastic price difference between the 12 (at 128gb) and 12 pro, I might've considered going without the telephoto lens. But there's not, especially when spread out over a few years.

If it wasn't for the telephoto lens, I likely would've gone with the 12, as I kind of like that blue color and the lighter weight. I still might be tempted by the mini... those specs in that small of a package (something I still like) are going to be hard to pass up, but I have a feeling battery life is going to be weak, at best.
 
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Polished stainless steel looks more premium to most people, also adds a certain feel. Sure, you may not care about any of that, but you can’t deny those who genuinely value those aesthetics/feel in the hand.

The Pro has 2 more gigabytes of RAM. Do I need to say anything? I’m sure a 12 user will tell me how that’s actually a bad thing and 4GB is plenty. It’s still empirically better. Anecdotally, I am already seeing a benefit of the additional RAM.

Screen brightness is better on the Pro.

The Pro had an Ultra Wide lens. The 12 does not.

The Pro has better video recording capabilities.
I have iPhone 12, my wife iPhone 12 Pro. While polished stainless steel does look more premium, it's also a fingerprint magnet and heavier. I prefer the lighter weight of iPhone 12.

Peak HDR screen brightness is actually the same (1200 nits) on both 12 and 12 Pro. Apple artificially lowered SDR peak brightness to 625 nits vs 800 nits, which only matter when using the phone under bright sunlight. I never had any issue with 625 nits but if you use your phone outdoor a lot, then maybe extra 175 nits would matter.

Both 12 Pro and 12 have ultra wide angle lens. I think you are thinking of 52mm telephoto lens. But when I took 2x photos on both 12 Pro and 12, 2x digital zoom on 12 actually looked better to me, even at 100% crop. But if you take 5x photos , 12 Pro looked better.

12 and 12 Pro have same video recording capabilities. The only difference is that 12 Pro can shoot Dolby Vision at 60 frames per second. I never shoot 60 frames per second video (looks too soap opera like), although I occasionally use 120-240 frames per second slow motion (which is identical on both phones).
 
You might want to check your math. I live in NYC. Sale tax here is 8.75%. $999 x 0.875 = $999 + $87.41 = 1,087.4
So are you not having to pay sales tax on the $799 iPhone 12? Because if you're paying sales tax the Pro is only a little over $200 more than the 12 (and I think most people would rather have 128 gigs of storage so the price difference is more like a little over $160 more).

Now, I can see why you might not think the Pro features are worth $160 more, but the difference between these phones in terms of price isn't $300.
 
Both 12 Pro and 12 have ultra wide angle lens. I think you are thinking of 52mm telephoto lens. But when I took 2x photos on both 12 Pro and 12, 2x digital zoom on 12 actually looked better to me, even at 100% crop. But if you take 5x photos , 12 Pro looked better.

I'm surprised to hear that, though I don't have a 12 alongside my 12p to compare. But my wife's iPhone 11, when zoomed in, is noticeably grainier and blurrier - not "bad" by any means, but when placed next to the 12p's 2x zoom, the 12p seems quite a bit more clear and crisp with better exposure. It seems that physics would dictate a 2x photo would have to look better with optical zoom vs digital zoom? -shrug-
 
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What exactly does “the ‌iPhone 12 Pro‌ has a higher-quality stainless steel frame” mean?

How is stainless steel “higher quality” than aluminium?
Drop your phone naked on the floor and you'll have a real world answer that's effective enough. Easiest way to understand stainless steel has higher quality than aluminum, recall dents and gashes in the side of iPhone 5, 5S, and SE 2016 models. Compare what you recall with the iPhone 4 and 4S's edge and you'll see the big difference.
 
I picked iPhone 12 (upgrading from iPhone XS). My reasons from most significant to least significant.
  • I vastly prefer iPhone 12's matte aluminum side, as well as more vibrant color.
  • After holding both iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, I appreciate iPhone 12's lighter weight.
  • 2x digital zoom on 26mm wide (normal) angle looks better to my eyes than 52mm telephoto lens, most likely owing to 26mm's superior optics. On XS, I never shot beyond 2x.
  • $120-150 price difference (when configured to 128GB) pays for all the accessories I want (and then some), such as a case and wireless charger.
  • LiDAR sounds interesting on paper, but in reality, I would never use AR and low light auto focus is frankly excellent on iPhone 12.
  • I prefer videos shot in more cinematic 24-30 frames per second over soap opera like 60 frames per second. iPhone 12 supports Dolby Vision that frame rate.
  • I don't care about ProRAW.
  • To me, extra 2GB RAM is a theoretical benefit. I never craved for more RAM on iPhone XS.
Well said.

I also upgraded from the XS.

honestly feel it’s not much of an upgrade other than the form factor which I love!
 
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Coming from XS also...

Love pacific blue so I go with 12 Pro. Its certainly heavier but man what a beast the new iPhone is. Its soooo fast and responsive.
 
waiting for my 12P to arrive, coming from an iPhone 6s Plus, surprised myself how long i was able to hold out from upgrading, honestly my 6s+ still runs great, the only annoyance being the diminishing battery life.

For me it was a no brainer to go with 12P over 12. The price difference of USD$120 spread out over multiple years becomes less significant considering the extras that it comes with: extra camera, RAM, LIDAR, etc.
the only negative extra is the weight compared to the 12, but weighs about the same as the 6S+ which is not bad.

My dilemma was more between the 12Pro and the 12Pro Max. ended up going with the 12Pro mainly cuz its much better for one handed use
 
But isn't the real issue use of the word "quality" - nebulous and very much a marketing word?

We know that the measurable physical qualities of aluminium and stainless steel as materials are different.

Let us imagine that the precise aluminium alloy used, the physical shaping, the finishing, were all to higher technical standards. That could justify the aluminium being described as higher-quality. Nonetheless, the stainless steel might provide better physical protection.
 
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If I was into the "normal" size phone, I'd really have a hard time picking between the 12 and 12 pro. They're both slightly too large for my comfort and the pro unnecessarily heavy.

The zoom lens on the pro is underwhelming IMO, 2x digital zoom on the regular 12 doesn't really look worse to be honest. I tried them side by side in the Apple store, hard to tell a difference when pixel peeping.

Lidar? I guess faster auto-focus at night and night mode portrait mode could be cool, but then it's a grainy picture with a blurry background, portraits need to be super detailed where it counts IMO.

Extra RAM? Meh, I don't multitask that much really.

ProRaw? Actually I'd enjoy that I think, being able to undo things the AI did and mess with it by hand.

60 fps HDR video as opposed to 30 on the regular iPhone 12... that's a tough one. From all reports, HDR video is incredible, even just looking at the playback on the phone screen. 30 fps HDR seems like lifelike colors with not-so-lifelike motion. I do hope live photos work with HDR.

Here's hoping for an iPhone 13/14 pro mini down the line. Just all the tech on a handy package.
 
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Apple need to ditch the pro model and go back to basics. Or how about the max model becomes the ‘pro’
 
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