iPhone 11 vs. iPhone 12 Buyer's Guide

[TheDailyApple]

EDITED to say your suggested blue looks almost purple to me. It’s beautiful, but maybe too red for my taste in blue...? Not sure.

Yes, “too red” would be the correct way to say that. The dark indigo color of blue that almost hints at purple is my favorite color.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I would love to pick up a phone to replace my 7+. But everything less than the Pros seems to be a compromise on the camera. The 7+s dual camera with 2X zoom (10x digital) is quite nice. And I have an 12.9 2020 iPad Pro for most other things. . . just hard to justify the expense for, IMO, little benefit.

I had your mindset until very recently. Plus, I watched a decent video review of the iPhone XR that stated that while the 7 Plus and 8 Plus have had the telephoto lens that's now gone from anything that isn't a $1000 Pro iPhone, it was apparently never all that good and that the digital zoom on the XR and 11 are often BETTER than the optical zoom that was in the telephoto in the 7 Plus and 8 Plus and that the XR takes better pictures for forcing the use of the digital zoom.

I'm less keen on the display resolution downgrade when going from the now-bygone Plus phones to the XR/11. The 12 and 12 Pro 6.1" display rectifies that, but the lower resolution of the XR and the 11 is still a downgrade. Then again, something I'm realizing is that, while phablet features are great, I'm not going to be watching full length movies on my iPhone and not something like an iPad or laptop.

Still though, my mindset is that the CPU under the hood is a huge upgrade from A10 Fusion and that I can elect for a more substantial upgrade later if I so choose. Right now, unless someone offers me a steal of a deal on an iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple is basically giving me the option of SE 2nd Gen, 11, or XR. Given that I only need this to last me until I can do something more substantial, XR seems to be the sweet spot.

 

[PlayUltimate]

I had your mindset until very recently. Plus, I watched a decent video review of the iPhone XR that stated that while the 7 Plus and 8 Plus have had the telephoto lens that's now gone from anything that isn't a $1000 Pro iPhone, it was apparently never all that good and that the digital zoom on the XR and 11 are often BETTER than the optical zoom that was in the telephoto in the 7 Plus and 8 Plus and that the XR takes better pictures for forcing the use of the digital zoom.

I'm less keen on the display resolution downgrade when going from the now-bygone Plus phones to the XR/11. The 12 and 12 Pro 6.1" display rectifies that, but the lower resolution of the XR and the 11 is still a downgrade. Then again, something I'm realizing is that, while phablet features are great, I'm not going to be watching full length movies on my iPhone and not something like an iPad or laptop.

Still though, my mindset is that the CPU under the hood is a huge upgrade from A10 Fusion and that I can elect for a more substantial upgrade later if I so choose. Right now, unless someone offers me a steal of a deal on an iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple is basically giving me the option of SE 2nd Gen, 11, or XR. Given that I only need this to last me until I can do something more substantial, XR seems to be the sweet spot.

Since I don’t really need 5G (and likely can’t get it where I live), I may need to look into the XR. I recently replaced My wife’s iPhone 7 with an SE2.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Since I don’t really need 5G (and likely can’t get it where I live), I may need to look into the XR. I recently replaced My wife’s iPhone 7 with an SE2.

I'd say it depends on how long you want to forestall your next upgrade. If you're looking to not upgrade for another 3-4 years, I'd say iPhone 11 makes more sense. I'm only doing XR because I am still wanting a more substantial upgrade, but this really isn't the year to do it for me (and the cost difference between a new 256GB iPhone 11 and an Apple Certified Refurbished 256GB iPhone XR [or a new 128GB iPhone XR, for that matter]) is $200, which is not an insubstantial percentage of the cost of a current generation iPhone itself). That, and I've been wanting off of my iPhone 7 Plus for the last two and a half of three total years of ownership. So, this is really a stopgap upgrade for me.

 

[jjohnstonjr]

Traditionally Apple creates a new form factor, that includes all new internals, then the next year would be same form factor but with new internals, and named S. Lately that's changed, because Apple has kept the form factor and renamed the phone (6->7->8, and X->11), but they have never renamed the phone without changing the form factor. So the 12 is not an S because it had a new form factor(and screen sizes). The S suffix has always been an internal upgrade only.

Form factor aside the 12 is and has bodied internal upgrades only. Same camera set up, revised 4/5 body frame and nothing else. Again agree to disagree.

 

[gaximus]

Form factor aside the 12 is and has bodied internal upgrades only. Same camera set up, revised 4/5 body frame and nothing else. Again agree to disagree.

So your saying so your saying “besides the exterior, the interior is the only thing that has changed” ???

 

[jjohnstonjr]

So your saying so your saying “besides the exterior, the interior is the only thing that has changed” ???

Minimal and incremental upgrades in my opinion. We can agree to disagree. Nothing spectacular enough for me to shell out another grand on a device that essentially only gives me a minor increase in cellular performance.

 

[PlayUltimate]

Minimal and incremental upgrades in my opinion. We can agree to disagree. Nothing spectacular enough for me to shell out another grand on a device that essentially only gives me a minor increase in cellular performance.

Honestly, the days of needing to upgrade every year (or two) is, imo, over. Tech is still moving. But not at a pace that that requires an annual refresh. Heck, people are happily still using their iPhone 5 and a Mac from 2014. And surprisingly, Apple continues to support these devices the best that they can. . . . it may not be the latest version. But it is supported much better than other hardware.