We put the iphone 12 to the test
The new devices are a quantum leap forward and the best Apple has made
SOMETIMES there’s an earthquake in the tech world and everything shifts beneath our feet. One such moment was when Apple released the first iphone 13 years ago – it changed the way phones worked. It changed, for better and for worse, the way we interact with each other and the world around us.
The iphone 12 and 12 Pro – are a world away from that first model, and mark something of a quantum leap from last year’s devices.
I’ve been testing the iphone 12 and 12 Pro for a week now – they feel both new and familiar at the same time. And – I might say this every year – they are the best iphones Apple has ever made.
The 12 and the 12 Pro share a lot of features, and almost everything you can say about the 12 is true for the 12 Pro – with some obvious exceptions.
Later in November, Apple will release two more iphones – the Mini and Pro Max. Both are variants on the models we have now with significant differences that we’ll discuss another day.
Today, we’ll start with the 12 – the cheaper iphone most people will consider – and the first thing you’ll notice is the boxes the phones come in are smaller, about half the depth of previous ones. Better for the environment, but at another cost. Apple is not shipping power adapters or earphones with the iphone 12. All you get is the cable.
And gone are the curves with a return to the flat edges of the 4 and 5.
The new design is an indication that we’re looking at more than just small improvements. I wouldn’t say it’s a huge leap, but it does feel like the iphone has moved further into the future this year. There are genuinely new things.
The 12 is a 5G capable handset. Given the state of 5G connectivity at the moment that seems like small beans to me, but by this time next year it will likely be a lot more important.
Then there’s the super-fast chip, the A14 Bionic. It’s the fastest in any phone, and you can feel it. It makes a lot of what you do on your iphone better. Especially the computational photography tricks that Apple has packed into IOS 14. These are
enhanced by improved physical camera systems. The 12 has two lenses, one wide, one ultra-wide, and the wide is now faster, with a maximum f/1.6 aperture to let in around 27% more light. That’s a big plus for shooting in low-light and, when combined with software tricks like Night mode (which can take amazing photos in what seems to be near darkness), it makes these cameras more useful in more situations than ever before.
The images are crisp and sharp to the edges, and the low-light performance is hard to believe.
The screen on the 12 is an OLED panel which has a higher resolution, and it’s brighter with a better contrast ratio. It also features a special “ceramic shield” treat
ment, which Apple says makes it four-times less likely to crack if you drop it. I did not test this feature.
It can also display Dolby Vision video – a super-powered version of HDR. The iphone 12 is the first consumer camera that can capture Dolby Vision video – a huge step up in quality.
The other new thing is the Magsafe system of magnets that allows you to attach chargers and other accessories to the back of the phone – a godsend if, like me, you often wake to a battery in the red zone after failing to put your phone down on its charging mat properly.
The Magsafe charger aligns perfectly thanks to the magnets (although you do have to pay an extra £39 for that joy). There are limited Magsafe accessories available until third-party makers get into gear.
All I’ve said about the 12 is true for the 12 Pro. But the Pro 12 is even better.
The main differences are in the material materials used – stainless steel in four fin finishes (graphite, silver, gold and Pacific blue) to the 12’s alu aluminium (in white, black, b blue, green and (PRODUCT) R RED) – and the cameras. The 12 Pro features a telephoto third lens and a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanner.
The sensor basically m measures how long it takes fo for light to bounce back off obj objects, allowing it to build a 3D pi picture of the scene.
It’s us used for augmented reality situations, but in my view is much more useful as a focus assistant in low light – it can see in the dark so allows fast and accurate focussing.
This allows for some incredible portrait photos with blurred backgrounds, even when there isn’t much light, all thanks to the powerhouse chip doing the heavy lifting.
Everything else about the Pro is the same as the 12. The camera is the big differentiator – and if you’re serious about your mobile snapping, the Pro is worth the extra just for the LIDAR scanner alone.
You might want to wait for the 12 Pro Max if that’s important to you – that features an even better camera system which we’ll look at another day.
Overall, though, the two iphone 12s you can buy right now pack in some incredible technology that will make everything you do with your smartphone faster, easier, and more enjoyable.
And they take mobile photography to yet another level.
iphone 12 starts at £799, iphone 12 Pro starts at £999. See apple.com for more.