iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11: the biggest changes (2024)

Our comparison between the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 11 could be useful if you're considering an upgrade or just choosing between Apple's two flagships. Just remember that withiPhone 13lineup now here, you might want to consider one of the newer models instead.

As you can see in ouriPhone 12 review,it offers plenty of upgradesiPhone 11. Firstly, the iPhone 12 series was launched with four models, compared to three for the iPhone 11. Apple is also happy with it5Gconnectivity across the board, and every iPhone 12 has an OLED screen that's superior to LCD screens.

The differences don't stop there: the iPhone 12 also benefits from a more durable Ceramic Shield screen and a faster oneA14 Bionic chip, plus a powerful LiDAR sensor on the Pro variants. The prices for the iPhone 12 line are also quite reasonable.

• iPhone 13 review: Our judgment has been made
• Check out oursiPhone 13 Pro review
• Do you need a cheaper solution? Check out oursiPhone 11 versus iPhone XRconfronted

Still based on oursiPhone 11 reviewThanks to the price cuts, Apple's older phone remains a good choice for those on a budget. Now that the iPhone 13 is here, both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11 have seen price drops. So it's a perfect time to pick up one of the older models.

Which iPhone should you buy? Here's our iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11 comparison breaking down all the major differences.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11: Specifications

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11: Models and Sizes

The entry-level iPhone 12 is 5.4 inchesiPhone 12mini, which represented a new measure for Apple. There's also a 6.1-inch iPhone 12, the same size as the regular iPhone 11.

The switch to the Pro phones will do thatiPhone 12 Prois also available in two sizes: 6.1 inches for iPhone 12 Pro and 6.7 inches foriPhone 12 Pro Max. iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are 5.8 inches and 6.7 inches respectively. Overall, Apple's iPhone 12 series offers more choices than the iPhone 11 series.

iPhone 12 versus iPhone 11: Priser

The iPhone 12 mini is the cheapest in the lineup, starting at $599. The regular iPhone 12 costs $699. Both come with 64GB of storage as standard; 128GB costs an additional $50, while 256GB is an additional $150.

iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max start with 128 GB of storage. At launch, they cost exactly the same as the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max: $999 for the smaller model and $1,099 for the larger.

Traditionally, Apple has now withdrawn the iPhone 12 Pro series, while the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini are on the market. The last two phones were discounted by $100 when the iPhone 13 line was announced.

The iPhone 11 now starts at $499 for 64GB of storage and $549 for 128GB.

See oursiPhone 12 dealspage for the latest discounts.

iPhone 12 versus iPhone 11: design

The iPhone 12 line got a brand new makeover with flatter sides instead of the rounded design of the iPhone 11. This retro-modern look is attractive, even if the sides dig a little more into your hands.

The biggest design change is the Ceramic Shield display on all iPhone 12 models. Apple promises four times the drop performance of the iPhone 11 series, and so far differentiPhone 12 faaltestlooks promising.

Unfortunately, rumors of a slimmer notch for the iPhone 12 came to nothing; The cutout in the iPhone 12 for the TrueDepth camera and earpiece is the same size as before. (The iPhone 13 finally got a smaller notch.)

However, Apple has shortened the bezel around the Super Retina XDR displays in all iPhone 12 models, resulting in a slightly more expansive screen-to-body ratio. According to Apple measurements, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 is 11% thinner, 15% smaller and 16% lighter than the 6.1-inch iPhone 11.

The iPhone 12 and 12 mini are available in five colors (black, white, product red, blue and green), while the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max are available in four colors (graphite, silver, gold and Pacific Blue).

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11: Display

All four iPhone 12 models have Super Retina XDR OLED displays like the iPhone 11 Pro, while the iPhone 11 offered an LCD display.

There are several advantages to OLED versus LCD, including deeper blacks, more vibrant colors, and wider viewing angles. Overall, the move to OLED probably represents the biggest improvement or positive difference an iPhone 11 user is likely to appreciate by moving to an iPhone 12.

Apple couldn't deliver 120Hz refresh rates on its Pro series models with the iPhone 12, as was rumored in the months leading up to the launch. Battery issues were reportedly the culprit for the omission, which certainly made sense considering all iPhone 12 models support millimeter wave 5G, which can be quite power-hungry.

HoweveriPhone 13 ProIniPhone 13 Pro Maxgot the 120Hz screens a year later. If that's what you're looking for, or if you're a big mobile gamer, these might be the models you're looking for.

It's worth noting that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini displays have an average brightness of 625 nits, compared to 800 nits for the iPhone 12 Pro phones. So you get a clearer image for iPhone 12 Pros.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11: Specs and Performance

The entire iPhone 12 series features Apple's new A14 Bionic processor, which promises up to 50% better CPU and GPU performance compared to other Android phones. Additionally, the A14 features a 16-core neural engine that delivers an 80% performance boost.

OfiPhone 12-benchmarksthat we ran reveals quite a jump in performance. For example, on Geekbench 5, the iPhone 12 scored 3,859 in the multi-core test, compared to 3,517 for the iPhone 11 Pro Max. (Of course, the iPhone 13's A15 chipset scoresmakes it even better.)

We also timed how long it took to recode one4Kvideo to 1080p in the Adobe Premiere Rush app, and the iPhone 12 was ready in just 26 seconds. The iPhone 11 Pro needed 45 seconds.

We didn't see much progress in graphics performance. In the 3DMark Wild Life test, the iPhone 12 achieved 39 frames per second, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max scored an even higher 42 fps. But when we switched to the off-screen version of the test, the iPhone 12 Pro achieved a higher 51 fps compared to the iPhone 11 Pro's 42 fps.

iPhone 12 versus iPhone 11: camera's en LiDAR-scanner

iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro appeared to be among thembest camera phoneson the market thanks to their great night mode and next-generation Smart HDR. The iPhone 11 had a standard wide-angle and ultra-wide lens, while the iPhone 11 Pro series added a telephoto zoom lens.

For the iPhone 12, the regular 5.4-inch iPhone 12 and 6.1-inch iPhone 12 again offer two lenses, and the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max have three cameras plus oneLiDAR-scanner.

This advanced time-of-flight sensor is already oniPad Pro 2020, helps with autofocus and subject recognition when recording video and when using the phone's cameras in night mode.

As for the other cameras, Apple uses a wider aperture of ƒ/1.6 for the primary camera in each iPhone 12, as well as a seven-element lens design that is said to significantly improve the quality of images, especially in medium and low light. scenarios.

In particular, the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a larger image sensor with Sensor Shift image stabilization technology, and the telephoto lens reaches 2.5x optical zoom. It's a step up from the 2x zoom on the iPhone 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max and 12 Pro models.

The iPhone 12 series can use Night Mode and Portrait Mode on any of the phone's cameras, front and back. And all devices in the family can shoot 10-bit HDR video recording with Dolby Vision (although the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max can do this at 60 frames per second, as opposed to 30 fps for the regular iPhone 12).

The iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max also have a feature called “ProRAWWhile typical RAW photos don't work on smartphones because of all the image processing phones have to do, Apple's system combines the two: shooting high-quality, uncompressed RAW files with some image processing on top.

It won't stop you from doing post-production edits like you would with a regular RAW file, but it will help you out by sorting out some of the trickier parts before you get started.

iPhone 12 versus iPhone 11: 5G versus 4G

While the iPhone 11 series was 4G-only, all four iPhone 12 models use 5G connectivity. And it doesn't just apply to the national, sub-6GHz 5G networks. All iPhone 12 variants are also equipped for millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G, which Apple says gives you exceptionally high data speeds in urban areas, up to 3.5 Gbps in optimal conditions.

Nationally, 5G isn't performing as well as most carriers would probably like, as even under the best conditions, speeds perform just above or well below the fastest LTE signals. It also proved to be a serious power drain, with our testing showing 5G requiring two hours of battery life (8 hours and 26 minutes versus 4G's 10:23).

At the moment, 5G is not yet realizing its potential. But in a year to two years, you'll probably wish you had an iPhone that could take advantage of this.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11: Battery life

Apple isn't known for putting the biggest possible batteries in its phones. The iPhone 11 had a 3,100 mAh battery, while the iPhone 11 Pro had a 3,046 mAh battery. The iPhone 11 Pro Max increased that to a 3,969 mAh battery.

In our battery tests, the iPhone 11 (11 hours and 16 minutes) and the iPhone 11 Pro Max (11:54) both delivered enough staying power to match ourbest phone battery lifelist.

The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, on the other hand, both come with a 2,815 mAh battery.

According to Apple, the iPhone 12 has a battery life comparable to the iPhone 11, despite the smaller battery. Butour testit turned out that this was not the case. Over 5G, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro lasted 8:25 and 9:06 respectively.

It was better than 4G. The iPhone 12 only lasted 10 hours and 23 minutes, while the iPhone 12 Pro lasted 11 hours and 24 minutes.

The iPhone 12 mini only lasted 7:28 on 5G, while the iPhone 12 Pro Max managed 10:53, making it the iPhone 12 with the longest lifespan.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11: Charging and MagSafe

The bad news is that Apple doesn't include any charger in the iPhone 12 box. Apple did this to reduce waste and help the environment. Instead, you just get a USB-C to Lightning cable in the box.

Luckily, Apple has made it easier than ever to charge your iPhone, despite paying extra for a charging brick. The $39 MagSafe Charger offers 15W wireless charging, and you can easily attach the charger to your iPhone 12 because it uses magnets.

MagSafe isn't particularly fast, though, with our test figures confirming that the battery level was just 39% after 30 minutes of charging. You can also opt for a 20W wired charger for $19, which should get you to 50% in 30 minutes.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11: The bottom line

The iPhone 12 upgrades are plentiful, from 5G and a faster A14 Bionic processor to new screen sizes for both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro Max. And if you're really into photography, you'll love the better low-light performance on the regular iPhone 12 and faster autofocus on the iPhone 12 Pro models.

Are all these differences enough to get customers excited? It certainly doesn't hurt that Apple has made its new iPhones thinner and sleeker despite all these additions. The iPhone 11 remains good value for money if you're on a tighter budget, but we'll take a look at the latestiPhone 12 dealsbefore you decide.

View our fulliPhone 12 reviewIniPhone 12 Pro reviewto see how these phones fare. Of course, nowiPhone 13lineup is available, you should also consider these phones.