Apple iPhone 12
Among the press and technology enthusiasts, the iPhone 12 Pro gets the focus. It’s the high-end model with all of the features, and price be damned, we all want one. But that overlooks the fact that most people have more reasonable expectations and budgets, and are immediately drawn to the standard iPhone 12.
The iPhone 12 is the phone that gets people in the door (or on the website), where they then have the option of changing their choice to a Mini, Pro, or Pro Max. And that puts a lot of burden on the iPhone 12: It has to be really good because most people pick it by default. Here’s how well it lives up to the expectations. And why it is, indeed, the best iPhone 12 model for most people
Hardware, design, and display
The iPhone 12 is exactly the same size as the 12 Pro — Apple’s own cases are interchangeable. And with a case on the phone, the only way you can tell it’s not a Pro is the missing third camera lens — though you still get the large squircle camera housing, reminding you of the space that would be occupied by more sensors if you had spent more money.
But if you’re bold enough to use your phone without a case, or are at least drawn to the idea that you would carry it naked, there are many other differentiators in the hardware. First is the colors, which by now you’ve undoubtedly seen lined up looking like a bowl of Skittles. The iPhone 12’s colors are fun, playful, and bright — even this blue one which, alongside the black, is one of the relatively subdued options.
The only differences in daily use between the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro can be found when you really push the phones. The iPhone 12 has 4GB of RAM (memory) to the 12 Pro’s 6GB, which means if you’re doing heavy multitasking, or playing an intense game while streaming media in the background, you may see a small difference in performance. And we know that the lesser memory amount is the reason why a few of the most advanced camera processing features are limited to the 12 Pro.
But in all of my regular use, which isn’t that heavy, I noticed no difference in app open times, graphics, or anything like that. Ultimately the A14 Bionic is still running the show, and that’s what matters. Nobody can accuse the iPhone 12 of being slow.
There’s no reason for me to repeat myself in talking about 5G and MagSafe, the two big features of the iPhone 12 generation, after spilling hundreds of words on both in my iPhone 12 Pro review. I hope you’ll read the details there, because they’re fully transferrable to a discussion about the iPhone 12 too. But, a quick recap is in order.
The core of the 5G discussion is this: Right now, you’ll mostly be using Sub-6 5G, which acts like super-charged 4G. It’s a little faster, and more consistently fast without using more power, than what you’re used to now — that’s great, but not game-changing. The so-called mmWave 5G, which is in use primarily by Verizon but growing with T-Mobile and AT&T, is the dramatically faster, but incredibly sparse, network that is still years away from being ubiquitous. There’s no reason to buy the iPhone 12 for 5G, but it sure will be nice to have in the years to come.
That telephoto camera is only a 2X zoom past the main camera, which isn’t critical to have. Lidar brings Portrait Mode to Night Mode, which is cool but not necessary; remember, regular Night Mode is otherwise identical on both phones. And chances are that if you care about shooting HDR at 60 fps, you just bought an iPhone 12 Pro.
The main, ultra-wide, and selfie cameras are all identical hardware, backed up by the same camera processing including Smart HDR 3, Deep Fusion, and every other Apple buzzword. All that is to say, most people wouldn’t notice a difference in the camera capabilities between the 12 and 12 Pro — which is great for iPhone 12 buyers.
Camera performance is fantastic by the measure of a $999 iPhone 12 Pro, meaning it’s particularly great for $200 less here. The main camera consistently produces bright, crisp, and colorful photos with a bit of a warm and punchy profile that’s pleasing but not overblown. HDR effects don’t go crazy, and typically do a fine job of managing to bring down highlights and up lowlights. Portrait Mode continues to be great for proper chest-up portraits, but more hit-or-miss for full-body shots or inanimate objects.
At night, you immediately see the benefits of the wider aperture and enhanced night mode processing. Photos go toe-to-toe with the Pixel 5’s Night Sight, but the iPhone 12 has the benefit of not having to switch to a separate mode for these photos — the camera decides when to do it. And despite not having lidar, I didn’t have issues with autofocus in the dark.
Again as I discussed in my iPhone 12 Pro review, the draw of Dolby Vision HDR is interesting but not practical at this point. DV HDR can only be viewed on modern iPhones, Macs, and Apple TVs hooked up to compatible TVs. Anywhere else you view or share it, like social media platforms, you’ll see standard dynamic range. And you’ll be saving huge files in the process: A one-minute 4K 30 HDR clip is about 250MB. Thankfully Apple’s typical 4K 60 fps video looks great even in SDR, with good stabilization for shooting handheld.
How long will it last?
With Apple’s superb track record of updating iPhones with fresh software for several years after release, and a powerful A14 Bionic processor, there’s no doubt the iPhone 12 will confidently last you for three years without much thought. The aluminum frame technically isn’t as strong as the 12 Pro’s steel, but then again most other phones are aluminum as well.
There are also some concerns that the Ceramic Shield glass may be quite scratch-prone despite being very strong against cracking — but we simply cannot know the long-term viability of Ceramic Shield until it has been in the wild for years.
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