Just like with every modern smartphone release, the most significant question surrounding Apple’s new iPhone 12 Pro is if it’s worth the upgrade, especially on the heels of last year’s impressive iPhone 11 series update.

First, it’s important to note that the iPhone 12 series is the most significant refresh to the iPhone’s design since the release of the iPhone X, though it’s not an entirely new look. So, if you care about your smartphone’s aesthetic, the iPhone 12 could offer a worthwhile update depending on how you feel about the device’s more squared-off design.

The other major change relates to improved low-light photography performance primarily powered by the iPhone 12 Pro’s new Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor and slightly redesigned camera array. While most of Apple’s claims regarding the iPhone 12 Pro’s camera improvements are accurate, they’re incremental. Still, if you’re a budding smartphone photography enthusiast, these updates could be substantial enough to warrant a purchase.

Then there’s the question of whether you prefer the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max over the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro, or if the impossibly cute 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini is more up your alley. If that’s the case, you’ll need to wait until the Max and mini release in early November. While Apple hasn’t come out and explicitly stated this, it likely was forced to drop its two highest selling smartphone models first due to COVID-19 manufacturing restraints.

In fact, there’s also the question of whether the ‘Pro’ series of iPhone 12 devices offer enough advantages at this point to even make them worthwhile for the average iPhone user.

There’s a lot to unpack with this year’s iPhones, so let’s get into it.

Note: I don’t have an iPhone 11 Pro, and, as a result, the image comparisons in this review are between the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the iPhone 12 Pro. Photo samples are also compressed, though generally still represent the image quality the iPhone 12 PRo is capable of. 

Specs

Don’t call it a throwback

Despite the subheading above, the iPhone 12 Pro is an obvious throwback to the iPhone 4-era of squared-off edges. However, it also clearly takes inspiration from Apple’s more recent iPad Pro design and the iPad Air (2020).

At first, the iPhone 12 Pro’s squared-off look is jarring and feels equally strange when you’re holding the smartphone in your hand, but it’s grown on me over the last couple of days.

It gives the smartphone line a clear new design; place the iPhone X, iPhone XS or iPhone 11 Pro beside the new iPhone 12, and you’ll instantly recognize Apple’s new smartphones.

The squarer sides also make the device feel more substantial and easier to grip in your hand, which is great in this ongoing era of slippery smartphones. The power button remains on the device’s right side, with the volume buttons on the left. The buttons themselves have a fair amount of bounce to them, though they are flatter than those on the iPhone 11 series.

While the excellent, grease-resistant matte rear featured on the iPhone 11 Pro is back, complete with a new ‘Ceramic Shield’ construction the tech giant claims features four times better drop resistance, the stainless steel band running around the edge of the smartphone is an unfortunate callback to the iPhone X’s shiny border.

This means it attracts smudges and grease. Most people might not care about this, but it’s a strange blemish in an otherwise solid refresh of the high-end iPhone’s design. Strangely, the iPhone 12 doesn’t suffer from this same issue despite its lower-end aluminum sides.

It isn’t easy to verify Apple’s statements regarding the iPhone 12 Pro’s improved durability regarding the new Ceramic Shield build.

“Overall, I like the new look of the iPhone 12 Pro and view it as a positive step forward”

I’ll leave that up to wealthy YouTubers brave enough to test these claims out. However, what I can say is the iPhone 11 Pro Max I’ve been using for the last year is one of the most durable smartphones I’ve ever encountered, and, if Apple says it’s improved on that design, that is definitely a good thing.

With all that said, I’ve continually contended that everyone should at least be putting their smartphone in a case, with a high-end glass screen protector, also being a good idea. Smartphones are pricey, and accidents happen. Most tech YouTubers, bloggers, and journalists who claim they don’t use cases get sent so many smartphones that a broken device isn’t a big deal. This isn’t the reality for the average iPhone owner.

A LiDAR sensor now flanks the triple rear-camera setup with the same substantial camera bump as the iPhone 11 Pro. The display notch, which still isn’t as noticeable as some people make it out to be, returns with Face ID functionality that feels just as reliable as it was with the iPhone 11 Pro — this means it works roughly 95 percent of the time.

Regarding colours, the iPhone 12 Pro is available in ‘Graphite,’ ‘Silver,’ ‘Gold,’ and ‘Pacific Blue.’ As you can see from the photos in this review, I have the blue iPhone 12 Pro, which actually seems deeper than last year’s now-dead ‘Midnight Green.’ Though I like the new Pacific Blue colour, Midnight Green will likely forever go down as my favourite smartphone hue.

Overall, I like the new look of the iPhone 12 Pro and view it as a positive step forward.

Processor Power

Apple’s new A14 Bionic processor is an absolute powerhouse. The A13 was a leap above anything Qualcomm has produced and the A14 pushes that power even further.

For those who care about benchmarks, the iPhone 12 Pro comes in at 1,597 for single-core performance and 4,232 for multi-core. On the other hand, the iPhone 11 Pro hits 1,328 for single-core and 3,397 for multi-core.

My experience with the phone, whether I’m playing games like REKT, doing quick photo edits with Lightroom, browsing the internet or watching content on Netflix, has been extremely smooth.

I haven’t encountered a single instance of lag during my time with the iPhone 12 Pro.

There’s also the new LiDAR sensor that improves the iPhone 12 Pro’s augmented reality functionality, just like the iPad Pro (2020), while adding faster autofocus in low-light and other camera improvements (more on this later).

“Everything from watching Netflix, to gaming, to just browsing the internet looks stellar on the screen”

I’ve always preferred Apple’s ‘Max’ model of iPhones. I appreciate the additional real estate the devices offer, so moving to a 6.1-inch smartphone has been a somewhat strange experience for me. I don’t necessarily find the iPhone 12 Pro too small, especially since it’s an increase over the 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro, but I miss how easy it is to type on the larger display with two hands. Along with the increase in size, the iPhone 12 Pro’s screen measures in at a slightly higher 2,523 x 1,770 pixels compared to the iPhone 11 Pro’s 2,436 x 1,125 pixels.

The display itself matches Samsung’s recently released Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in terms of vibrancy and colour, thanks to its P3 wide colour gamut with a 2,000,0000:1 contrast ratio and 1200 nits max brightness with HDR10 support. Everything from watching Netflix, to gaming, to just browsing the internet looks stellar on the screen.

Unfortunately, rumours surrounding the iPhone 12 Pro’s display featuring a 120Hz refresh rate proved inaccurate. Whether there were concerns that 120Hz coupled with 5G would result in poor battery life or COVID-19 related manufacturing issues, the iPhone 12 Pro’s screen comes in at just 60Hz.

In some ways, this is totally unacceptable. Most high-end — and, in some cases, even mid-range Android devices — have moved on to smoother 90Hz and 120Hz displays. Even the iPad Pro features Apple’s great-looking ProMotion 120Hz technology. In 2020, it seems strange for the tech giant’s flagship not to include a higher refresh rate display.

On the other side of this argument, while 120Hz is great, it’s not a feature most people will miss given the difference isn’t drastic and really depends on the type of content you’re consuming. Still, it would have been great to see Apple bring 120Hz refresh rate technology to the iPhone this year.

Storage size starts at 128GB compared to last year’s 64GB, which is a good move on Apple’s part considering the tech giant’s smartphone line lags behind most of its Android competitors in the storage department.

Another spec worth noting includes that the iPhone 12 Pro is still IP68 rated, though this time to a maximum of 6 metres for up to 30 minutes instead of 4 metres for 30 minutes like last year.

And, of course, the iPhone 12 Pro still features a Lightning port and not USB-C. At this point, it’s more likely Apple will ditch a connector port and go entirely wireless rather than switch to USB-C. I’ve tested out Apple’s MagSafe charger briefly and can confirm that it attaches to the iPhone 12 Pro’s rear extremely easily. The charger, unfortunately, doesn’t come with a USB-C charging brick. I haven’t tested out other MagSafe accessories yet, including Apple’s new cases. I can, however, confirm that MagSafe does work through third-party cases. I’ll have more on Apple’s new MagSafe accessories in the coming weeks.

Regarding battery life, I found that the phone comes in at roughly a day with moderate use, which matches my experience with last year’s iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Incremental but still worthwhile camera upgrades

Camera-wise, there are several minor improvements to the iPhone 12 Pro’s array of shooters. First, the main wide 12-megapixel camera now features a wider f/1.6 aperture and a seven-element lens compared to the iPhone 11 Pro’s six-element f/1.8 lens. Apple says this improves the lens’ ability to gather more light by 27 percent.

In my experience, I didn’t notice a significant difference in performance, but this lens does seem to shoot slightly less noisy photos.

The left image is shot with the iPhone 12 Pro, and the image on the right is shot with the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The iPhone 12 Pro photo features far more accurate colour tones than its iPhone 11 Pro Max counterpart.

On the other hand, the 12-megapixel f/2.4 ultrawide angle and the f/2.0 with 2x optical zoom lenses still measure in with the same technical specs as last year.

The real camera improvements come from the smartphone’s Smart HDR 3, the latest version of Apple’s behind-the-scenes image processing technology. Photos taken with the iPhone 12 Pro feature more detail, slightly greater contrast, more accuracy, greater colour vibrancy and, in general, look better than those shot with the iPhone 11 Pro Max, but only by a small margin.

The images, just like last year, also look more true-to-life than the over-saturated photos snapped by smartphones like Samsung’s Note 20 Ultra.

The iPhone 12 Pro’s standard wide camera is on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s shooter is on the right. The photo shot with the iPhone 12 Pro features more vibrant, accurate colour and more detail in the foliage.

The iPhone 12 Pro’s regular wide camera is on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s shooter is on the right. The iPhone 12 Pro photo features more accurate white balance and tones. It’s also slightly sharper than the photo shot with the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

The other major upgrade this year thanks to the new LiDAR sensor is that it’s now possible to snap night mode photos with the ultrawide and 12-megapixel selfie shooter. Night mode with the ultrawide is a welcome addition and can result in truly stunning vistas. It does occasionally blow out highlights, however.

On the other hand, I don’t personally find taking night mode selfies useful, but this feature could come in handy for some people and produces decent shots as long as you’re able to keep still. The difference in quality is really drastic despite it giving skin a plastic look to it.

The iPhone 12 Pro’s selfie shooter in night mode is on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s selfie shooter is on the right. Though night mode selfie shots give skin a plastic-like tone, they’re still usable, unlike the dark images the iPhone 11 Pro Max takes.

The most significant upgrade is the speed at which the iPhone 12 Pro autofocuses when under low-light. This is something even the best smartphone cameras often struggle with. Regardless of what I was shooting, I was easily and surprisingly quickly able to focus in on the area of the subject I wanted to shoot.

The iPhone 12 Pro’s ultrawide camera is on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s ultrawide shooter is on the right. The iPhone 12 Pro’s ultrawide camera overall lightens the image and, in most cases, doesn’t feature blown-out highlights.

The iPhone 12 Pro can also shoot 4K/60fps 10-bit Dolby Vision footage in real-time, a first for any smartphone camera. Dolby Vision utilizes dynamic metadata to map accurate colour and brightness of a scene, which typically requires extensive editing and grading.

“It’s great to see Apple taking RAW photography more seriously, though it’s strange the tech giant still doesn’t offer manual controls in its own camera app”

While the results look impressive and somewhat comparable to my experience watching content on Netflix that supports Dolby Vision, you’ll only be able to actually experience the benefits the high-end HDR format provides on supported monitors and televisions. Even then, YouTube doesn’t support Dolby Vision content.

It’s important to note that the new Apple ProRaw filetype announced during the tech giant’s keynote won’t be available at launch, and it’s unclear when it’s releasing. Similar to ‘Deep Fusion,’ it’s likely going to appear at some point in November.

That said, it’s great to see Apple taking RAW photography more seriously, though it’s strange the tech giant still doesn’t offer manual controls in its own camera app. What will likely end up being more interesting is how third-party developers take advantage of the ProRaw SDK with their own camera apps.

The iPhone 12 Pro’s 12-megapixel selfie shooter is on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s selfie camera is on the right. The iPhone 12 Pro more accurately matches my real skin tone and the sky is slightly less overexposed.

Finally, I haven’t tested out the iPhone 12 Pro Max yet. This is notable because the smartphone features a larger primary sensor that’s 47 percent bigger than its predecessor, amounting to 1.7-micron pixels. Other changes include sensor-shift image stabilization, a technology commonly found in DLSRs, and 2.5x zoom with its telephoto lens.

All this means is that if you’re interested in camera performance, the iPhone 12 Pro Max might be worth the extra cost.

Don’t upgrade just for 5G

You may have wondered why I didn’t mention 5G as a pivotal new feature at the top of this review. It’s because as much as the Big Three Canadian carriers want you to believe 5G in Canada is a massive jump forward in network speed, the reality is that it isn’t — at least not yet.

I live in Burlington, Ontario, a city that Rogers says it expanded its 5G network to back in late September. I ran several speed tests from my home office, and in nearly every instance, my iPhone 11 Pro Max hit 24.3Mbps download and 10.4Mbps for upload on Rogers’ 5G network, compared to Telus/Koodo’s LTE network hit 61.7Mbps for download and 3.72Mbps for upload.

The 5G Rogers test with the iPhone 12 Pro Max is on the left, and the LTE iPhone 11 Pro Max test with Telus’ LTE network is on the right. This test was performed in Burlington, Ontario.

That said, I ran several tests in different areas of Oakville, Burlington and Hamilton and across the board, Rogers’ 5G network was typically 10 to 15 percent faster. Still, in the ongoing era when many of us are working from home, the actual speeds you get from your smartphone in your house are important.

Of course, the speeds you receive will shift depending on where you live and whether Rogers’, Bell’s, or Telus’ 5G network is active in your area.

Further, Apple removed the mmWave antenna featured on the side of the U.S. version of iPhone 12 Pro from the iteration of the smartphone sold in Canada. Canadian iPhone 12 smartphones are capable of the n78 5G band (TD 3500), which will likely launch across the country at some point in the next few years.

The Canadian government’s auction for the 3,500MHz spectrum band is set for mid-2021 after being delayed roughly six months due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Canadians won’t see the blazing-fast speeds that 5G promises until the 3.5GHz spectrum is auctioned off and deployed in the next few years. The carriers are currently offering 5G by adding 5G channels on top of their existing LTE core. It’ll be some time before Canadians will be able to see the full potential of the technology.

The iPhone 12 Pro won’t always be connected to a given carriers’ 5G network, either. Apple’s Smart Data Mode automatically saves power when 5G speeds aren’t needed to improve the smartphone’s battery life. Apple says the device switches between LTE and 5G depending on what you’re doing with your phone. For example, Smart Data Mode could switch to LTE when your screen is off, but if you’re watching Netflix, it might jump back to 5G. That said, you can turn this feature off and lock the iPhone 12 Pro to solely 5G if you want.