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Hands-On Comparison: iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 Pro

mg51015bb said:
I returned my 12 pro for a 12. Significantly easier to handle being the main reason. I will miss the extra 2GB RAM and telephoto lens, but the 12 pro is just too heavy.
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Too heavy? Significantly easier to handle ? You better either choose your words more carefully, or you should work out a little bit more if you think 12Pro is heavy and people can’t handle it. I’m 75 years old and I got the Pro and I don’t find it heavy for me at all, nor significantly difficult to handle.
 
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nordique said:
I suppose if they truly do hold on their phone for a long time, then it may be a moot point but these are the types of users who will upgrade next year or the year after anyways.
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I truly do hold onto my phones for a long time. And I have chosen the 12 Pro.

I am very much NOT the type who will upgrade next year...

Three things have forced me to upgrade now: Running out of storage - chronically - my 6s is only 16GB. Hitting RAM issues several times. Am probably on last IOS upgrade.
 
Never mind said:
Too heavy? Significantly easier to handle ? You better either choose your words more carefully, or you should work out a little bit more if you think 12Pro is heavy and people can’t handle it. I’m 75 years old and I got the Pro and I don’t find it heavy for me at all, nor significantly difficult to handle.
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Plenty of other people feel the same, I’m not alone here. Can I hold the pro? Yes. Does it get uncomfortable to hold in one-handed use more quickly compared to the 12? Yes. That’s a big deal for me as I often need to use my phone one handed. The pro is also top heavy, while the 12 is more balanced weight wise.

I came from the 11 pro, which although is about the same weight, is easier to hold and use because it’s a little more compact and has rounded edges.

I can assure you that I’m in great shape!
 
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I am impatiently waiting for the Pre-order of the Max to start on Friday. Hopefully I am lucky enough for launch day for once!

also it’s kind of nuts that you used to be able to get the latest and greatest iPhone for 650€ and we thought it was crazy expensive. Now it’s almost doubled and there is no excuse to even sell a standard iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro besides being able to charge more
 
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I got a 12 Pro, gold, on release day (delivered). It's nice but the band does attract a ton of fingerprints, and it's not very "gold" looking - looks white/silver. Was a bit disappointed, actually. At least it's not tacky, I guess?

The regular 12 looks horribly cheap, like a plastic SE phone. I can't imagine spending that much on that design.
 
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MrCrowbar said:
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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I disagree with some your rationalizations. The tele lens isn’t about pixel peeping, it’s about compressing distance and eliminating the subtle distortion present (especially in portraits) shot on the wide 26mm lens.

And the bit about portraits “needing to be super detailed where it counts?” A portrait doesn’t need to be tack sharp to be beautiful, that’s just your tech blog brain messing with you. ;)
 
darthbane2k said:
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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I’d say Apple probably has this figured out given there Quarterly earnings keep exceeding expectations for the iPhone. That said, The ‘Pro’ Signifies one thing and one thing only, it’s the top-of-the-line phone. By them eliminating the Pro model, then it would force consumers with limited choices that don’t include all features the ‘Pro’ includes.

What Apple did is correct, it gives us all choices with different price points for everyone, they don’t have to ‘ditch’ the Pro model, not when there is a segment of people who want the largest, most expensive iPhone with all the latest features, if that’s not for you, then there’s plenty of other options below that tier.
 
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I feel like the zoom lens is a necessary feature, hell I’m thinking of getting my father an older iPhone cus they all at least used to have that. Making the double cameras both wides in the lower end models is just stupid
 
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So far I'm very happy with my 12 Pro. Here's a photo I made yesterday of some ravens.


Funston Crows.jpg
 
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profmatt said:
Higher prices don’t necessarily imply higher quality.

We are apparently all agreeing that steel is “better” than aluminium. Mostly because it’s heavier and shinier.

Yet we prize the matte glass of the Pro over the shiny glass of the regular. It’s all a bit arbitrary.
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Is it due to the better durability of the stainless steel? I dropped my 11 Pro and cracked the display and it landed first on the side then bounced and landed on the front. There was barely a scratch on the SS to my surprise.
 
I'd definitely prefer the 12. I'd like a lighter phone than my surprisingly heavy XS and I don't care about looks at all, I usually put my phones in an anonymous black TPU case anyway, though if it's less slippery than the XS I might not.

Still my XS is going strong and probably will for several more years. Doesn't prevent me from lusting after a new phone, it's just that I can't justify it yet.
 
I have my heart set on the 12 Pro because I want that telephoto lens.. Especially as I can combine it with my Moment Telephoto to get 4x optical zoom. But if it weren't for my irrational desire to get that telephoto I'd be fine going with the normal 12.

Though then I'd go for the 12 Mini.. I don't need a phone to be bigger, I'm quite happy with the size of my 6s and the 12 Mini is a tad smaller but with a way bigger screen, win/win!
 
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I tried all of them at the Apple Store. The mini is the perfect size for people who wanted an SE sized phone. The 12 and 12 pro are thicker than older models though. For small handed people uncomfortable to hold. 5.8 was a perfect size, 6.1 is not. Also the look from front is like a dummy phone. Still those who are interested in real photography should stick to real cameras.
 
Never mind said:
Too heavy? Significantly easier to handle ? You better either choose your words more carefully, or you should work out a little bit more if you think 12Pro is heavy and people can’t handle it. I’m 75 years old and I got the Pro and I don’t find it heavy for me at all, nor significantly difficult to handle.
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Remember, everyone is different.
 
pratikindia said:
I tried all of them at the Apple Store. The mini is the perfect size for people who wanted an SE sized phone. The 12 and 12 pro are thicker than older models though. For small handed people uncomfortable to hold. 5.8 was a perfect size, 6.1 is not. Also the look from front is like a dummy phone. Still those who are interested in real photography should stick to real cameras.
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12 is actually thinner than 11.
 
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pratikindia said:
I tried all of them at the Apple Store. The mini is the perfect size for people who wanted an SE sized phone. The 12 and 12 pro are thicker than older models though. For small handed people uncomfortable to hold. 5.8 was a perfect size, 6.1 is not. Also the look from front is like a dummy phone. Still those who are interested in real photography should stick to real cameras.
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"Still those who are interested in real photography should stick to real cameras."

What? iPhones are real cameras. Speaking as someone who is interested in real photography.

San Francisco Bay:
1962655_10202157478553181_424612077_n.jpg
 
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pratikindia said:
I tried all of them at the Apple Store. The mini is the perfect size for people who wanted an SE sized phone. The 12 and 12 pro are thicker than older models though. For small handed people uncomfortable to hold. 5.8 was a perfect size, 6.1 is not. Also the look from front is like a dummy phone. Still those who are interested in real photography should stick to real cameras.
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For most of this year I have been looking at "real" cameras - as well as phones.

It seems perverse to be pointing out the thickness of the 12 and 12 Pro being as issue but expecting the same readers of your comment to go out and buy cameras (or use ones they already have).

Just checked a review site and found what I expected - of the recommended less expensive compacts, the lightest was 299 grams. Dimensions 108 x 67 x 35 mm (4.25 x 2.64 x 1.38″). Price £549. That is an awful lot extra to carry round with you to save a few grams and millimetres. And a cost greater than the difference between an SE 2 and a 12 mini or 12 (and only a few pounds short of a 12 Pro).

At that level, however good it is in its own way, it wouldn't give what I really wanted from a "real" camera - which is higher power telephoto.

And as at least one other person has point out, the 12 models are thinner than the 11 models and exactly the same thickness as the SE 2.
 
profmatt said:
What exactly does “the ‌iPhone 12 Pro‌ has a higher-quality stainless steel frame” mean?

How is stainless steel “higher quality” than aluminium?
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I 100% agree with you.
It's like Plastic.

Plastic is an amazing material, and it's used in millions of products, and is THE very best material to use in many scenarios.
It's light, strong, good looking, etc.
However, it can also be very poorly used and low grade.

Unfortunately, very much due to Apple it was decided that Pastic on a phone meant low quality and metal meant quality.

Plastic could have been demonstrated to be stronger, lighter etc but none of that mattered as plastic=poor/cheap was already decided irrespective of anything factual.

You could show dented and scratched Aluminium but that made no difference.

Some people just think plastic - toy soldier plastic, when most of us know there are millions of types of substances which are referred to as plastics.

You can't say Metal A is higher quality than Metal B
Or Plastic is Better or Worse than metal.

That's like saying a Horse is better than a Cow.
 
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Piggie said:
I 100% agree with you.
It's like Plastic.

Plastic is an amazing material, and it's used in millions of products, and is THE very best material to use in many scenarios.
It's light, strong, good looking, etc.
However, it can also be very poorly used and low grade.

Unfortunately, very much due to Apple it was decided that Pastic on a phone meant low quality and metal meant quality.

Plastic could have been demonstrated to be stronger, lighter etc but none of that mattered as plastic=poor/cheap was already decided irrespective of anything factual.

You could show dented and scratched Aluminium but that made no difference.

Some people just think plastic - toy soldier plastic, when most of us know there are millions of types of substances which are referred to as plastics.

You can't say Metal A is higher quality than Metal B
Or Plastic is Better or Worse than metal.

That's like saying a Horse is better than a Cow.
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But I'd really like to see a wooden iPhone.

Obviously not the innards. But the casing. Even if it ended up being a bit thicker.

Some timbers are very tough. For example, I believe that maple is used for the floors of London underground trains. (Or was?)

Though I'd want to know any timber didn't contribute to deforestation.
 
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