IPhone 12 vs 12 Pro photo comparison

The new iPhone 12 Pro Max has the most advanced cameras system ever used in an iPhone with a nearly 50% bigger sensor for the main camera and a new, 2.5X zoom telephoto lens, but what does that mean for photo and video quality? Also, how much better is the iPhone 12 Pro Max versus the iPhone 12 series, and should you buy the Max over the smaller once just for the camera alone?

• iPhone 13 release date, price, features, and specs

First, a quick peek at the specs shows all the little but important differences in the camera hardware...

*Also check out a complete iPhone 12 Pro Max vs Note 20 Ultra vs Pixel 5 coming soon! 

- 6.1" Super Retina XDR, Apple A14 Bionic, 5G, Triple camera

Highlighted in bold are the main differences in hardware: 1/ the nearly 50% larger main sensor size, 2/ the use of the new sensor-shift stabilization system that moves the whole sensor to compensate for vibrations (instead of just the lens as in traditional OIS systems), 3/ the longer, 2.5X zoom lens compared to a 2X zoom on the iPhone 12 Pro and earlier iPhones.

All of this makes the Pro Max especially capable in low-light, but let's start this off by a look at some daylight photos to see if the new sensor brings some noticeable improvements.

We were curious to see whether the bigger sensor on the main camera of the iPhone 12 Pro Max actually makes a differences for your average landscape shot during the day, and the answer seems to be that the difference is tiny, if any. The iPhone 12 Pro, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini captured an identical-looking image so for brevity sake we have included the photo from just one of them so you don't have to look through many identical images.

Another change in the Pro Max is that it comes with a slightly longer, 2.5X telephoto zoom lens. The 12 Pro features a 2X telephoto zoom, while the 12 and the 12 Mini don't have a telephoto lens on board. So how does this reflect on the photos? We start slowly ramping up the zoom, and first, we capture a 1X photo with the main camera.

Next up, we shoot a 2X zoom photo. Interestingly, the Pro Max has to use digital zoom from the main camera, and the 12 Pro actually has the sharper and better photo here because of its 2X lens. You can see that the photo from the 12 and the Mini looks about the same as from the 12 Pro Max at 2X zoom level.

Next up, we go to 5X zoom. That is the maximum zoom level you can reach with the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Mini, and for a good reason: you can see the quality really deteriorate on those two phones, while the Pro Max and the Pro capture a more detailed shot. Is there a difference between them, though? It's really hard for us to see much of it, it's very small if any. 

The iPhone 12 Pro can go up to 10X zoom, and here you notice that it's not quite as detailed as the 12 Pro Max.

Finally, the 12 Pro Max can go all the way up to 12X zoom, and that's what that image looks like, so it's clearly a tiny bit better than the Pro for zooming, and a lot better than the 12 and the 12 Mini.

Apple has added a very useful distortion correction while using the ultra-wide camera on all of the iPhone 12 series of phones, but is there any difference between the 12 Pro Max and the other three? Well, it turns out there isn't any, these are the same cameras.

All four new iPhones also can capture portraits at 1X with the main camera. There is no perceptible difference in quality here, they all look pretty much the same in decent lighting.

But what about portraits in low light? Well, that's more interesting: the 12 Pro Max and the 12 Pro both come with a LiDAR sensor that shoots light towards your subject and tracks its reflections to create a better estimation of depth and to help iPhones focus faster in low light. And it makes a big difference in low light! Check out the noisy, grainy pictures from the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini versus the clean and much better shots from the Pros. 

When you manually turn Night Mode off, you notice that there is a very subtle difference between the Pro Max and the rest of the iPhones, but it's so small that it's barely noticeable.

Final Words

At the end of the day, the iPhone 12 Pro Max does feel like a slightly better camera, but in a very subtle way. The larger sensor on the main camera helps for slightly sharper photos than the other iPhones in low light, but the difference is quite subtle. And during the day, images from the 12 Pro Max look basically just as good as on the other three new iPhones.

There 12 Pro Max and its telephoto camera make for a very slight improvement in zoom quality over the Pro, but again the focus is on very slight here. The zoom quality difference is way bigger if you compare the two Pros against the 12 and the Mini.

So... should you get the 12 Pro Max over the other three just for the cameras? In our opinion, the answer is no. The improvements that it brings are there, but they are very subtle, and often times it just takes the same looking images as the other iPhones. If you prefer the smaller sizes, we definitely would not recommend you suffer the inconvenience of the extra large 12 Pro Max size for those tiny camera improvements.

We are curious to also hear your thoughts about these differences you see above: are they enough for you to upgrade to the iPhone 12 Pro Max?

- 6.1" Super Retina XDR, Apple A14 Bionic, 5G, Triple camera

Alongside the natural decrease in their street value that happens over time, the iPhone 12 recently got a formal price-cut to coincide with the arrival of the iPhone 14.

These days, pricing for the iPhone 12 ranges from $1,049 for the 64GB model to $1,299 for the 256GB model. The 128GB sits between the two in price at $1,129, and you can also opt for a refurbished iPhone if you know where to look and want to save even more.

As for the iPhone 12 Pro, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that picking up the iPhone 12 Pro nowadays is going to cost you a lot less than its launch pricing, which ranged from $1,699 to $2,219. The bad news is that finding an iPhone 12 Pro is a lot more difficult, since the device was discontinued in 2021.  As with the standard model, refurbished iPhone providers like Catch or Kogan might be your best bet here.

Still, if price is your only concern, odds are that you’ll be able to save a decent chunk of change by opting for the iPhone 12.

If you're buying an iPhone in 2021 and want the latest and greatest model, then you're looking at the iPhone 12 vs iPhone 12 Pro. The two look almost identical, and share many features, but there are some key differences, especially when it comes to the camera.

Price is another factor, of course, with the iPhone 12 Pro pushing things up a bracket in exchange for its extra features, but then you do get a camera array that makes it the best camera phone for most people.

Either of these iPhones is a great companion, and both rank among the best smartphones – but lets dig into where they differ, so you can work out which is right for you.

Oh, and if you're wondering whether it's worth holding on for the iPhone 13, the big differences we're expecting are improved battery life (thanks to better 5G tech) and a high-refresh screen (probably 120Hz max, adapting to the situation). That will pair with the usual speed boost and camera improvements, most likely.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 12 Pro: Design

These phones are absolutely of a piece when it comes to design. Apple's new look is all flatness, harking back to the likes of the iPhone 5. However, where that phone had chamfered edges, Apple includes just very gently curved seams on the right angle. It's precision engineering at its finest, and means that the phones are comfortable to hold despite their right angles.

The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are exactly the same dimensions, and differ only in finish and weight. The iPhone 12 uses aluminium for its band at the edge, while the iPhone 12 Pro uses stainless steel – and just like on its watches, Apple is leaning into the shining finish of the steel.

The iPhone 12 comes in Blue, Green, Red, White and Black finishes. The Pro comes in Pacific Blue, Gold, Graphite and Silver. 

Using steel makes the Pro heavier – 187g vs 162g. You might be thinking it won't make a difference, but it really does. It's not like the Pro is giving us RSI to use, but there's no question the regular iPhone 12 is easier to manipulate in your fingers.

There are two other aesthetic differences on the Pro: it has a matt glass back instead of glossy, and there's the third camera lens (each of which have accented steel rims).

Whether you prefer aluminium or steel will be a personal thing. The steel absolutely feels premium, and could be said to be inspired as much by jewellery as technology in some finishes. The three-lens camera has a real charm too – it evokes the turret film cameras of years past.

The iPhone 12 is more demure, and that also has a huge amount of appeal. It's a low-key affair, although the glossiness of the back glass certainly stands out in some colours.

Both phones are IP68 rated against water and dust, and include Apple's 'Ceramic Shield' glass on the front, which promises 4x better durability when dropped. Both phones have a single port – the Lightning connector on the bottom.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 12 Pro: Display

This one's easy – the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro have almost identical displays. Almost. Both feature a 6.1-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2532x1170 (460ppi), with support for Dolby Vision HDR and the P3 colour gamut.

With a peak brightness of 1,200 nits (higher than OLED TVs), they look absolutely stunning with HDR video. But here's the only real difference: the typical average brightness of the iPhone 12 is 625 nits, while the iPhone 12 Pro's typical average is 800 nits.

625 nits is just fine, but for taking photos outdoors, the extra brightness helps the Pro's screen to cut through bright light better, so you can get a more accurate view of what you're seeing.

Both are incredibly accurate too, making them excellent for reviewing photos or artwork – though you may want to look to the iPhone 12 Pro Max if you'll do this on your phone a lot, which includes a 6.7-inch screen at 2778x1284 pixels.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 12 Pro: Performance & battery life

Once again, the difference here is subtle. Both come equipped with Apple's A14 processor, which is the most capable in the business. The power in here is more than the average laptop, and it makes everything incredibly slick.

Both also offer 5G connectivity, with no difference in expected speeds between them. In the US, that includes mmWave support, but not in the rest of the world (where it's less common).

The only difference is that the Pro offers 6GB of RAM, while the iPhone 12 includes 4GB. This doesn't matter for general multitasking – for most tasks, it simply makes no difference. There are some creative apps that can make use of more RAM when really pushed, such as Pixelmator – but the odds of anyone hitting the RAM ceiling while making edits on a phone is incredibly slim.

It's more likely that the extra RAM is useful for shooting ProRaw, Apple's new image format (which we'll come to shortly) that's exclusive to the Pro models.

Battery life on both models is again, essentially identical. They almost the same parts, including battery pack, after all. The Pro could have slightly worse battery life for this reason, since its screen can hit higher typical brightness… but you'd only really see a difference there in artificial benchmarks. In real-world use, they're the same.

Both are rated for 17 hours of offline video playback, 11 hours of streaming video, or 65 hours of audio playback.

We'll give another shout out to the iPhone 12 Pro Max here, which offers the best battery life of this year's iPhones, in case that's what you need – that promises 20 hours of offline video, 12 hours of streaming video, or 80 hours of music playback. It's not a huge leap, but an extra 10-20% of battery life can be exactly what you need.

Both iPhone 12 and 12 Pro offer fast charging over Lightning (up to 50% battery in 30 minutes with a 20W charger), and Apple's new 15W MagSafe wireless charging system, as well as Qi charging up to 7.5W.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 12 Pro: Camera

Here's the big difference between these models. First, the simple one: the iPhone 12 has a dual-camera setup on the rear, with a wide-angle (f/1.6) and ultra-wide (f/2.4) lenses, both with 12MP sensors.

The iPhone 12 Pro has a triple-cam system, with the same wide and ultra-wide as the iPhone 12, but also a 2x telephoto (f/2.0) 12MP camera.

When it comes to general processing, almost everything is the same here. Apple's Deep Fusion tech makes for clearer shots, Smart HDR 3 does wonders with exposure, tools such as Night Mode work on the wide and ultra-wide work just as well on both, and general image quality is excellent.

The iPhone 12 Pro's system offers more flexibility not just in zoom range (naturally), but also with Portrait mode, because it enables shots that look much more like what you'd take with a lens choice on a dedicated camera, letting you stand further away and distorting features less. The 12 Pro also includes Night Mode in Portrait Mode (so many modes), which can help you get lovely shots that just weren't possible otherwise.

The iPhone 12 only includes OIS for its wide-angle lens, whereas the iPhone 12 Pro includes it for the ultra-wide as well. And yet another bonus for the iPhone 12 Pro in low-light is the inclusion of a LiDAR sensor, which means that autofocus in dim conditions is astoundingly fast – it might be reason you catch a great shot before the moment passes.

And then there's the big one: ProRaw. This is a custom format Apple has developed that's designed to offer the best of both worlds when it comes to phone photography. It's a raw format that includes the processing done by Apple systems such as Deep Fusion and Smart HDR so that exposure and focus are as good as they can be (since a phone gives the user limited control of these), but still exposes the to non-destructively alter the photo to your heart's content.

Totally change colours, rescue near-dark areas or pull clouds from white skies… all the flexibility you expect is here. It's a game-changing feature, mixing the convenience of a phone, the quality of Apple's processing and the creative potential of raw, and is already resulting in some astounding imagery.

It's time for another cameo from the iPhone 12 Pro Max here! This steps up the camera game from the iPhone 12 Pro even further, with two big changes: a 40%(!) larger sensor on the wide-angle camera, and sensor-shift stabilisation. That means more light on the sensor, and more stable shots within that light – combined with ProRaw, we're talking unmatched potential for dynamic range on a phone.

The change in sensor size also shifts the zoom range, so the tele on the iPhone 12 Pro Max  is actually 2.5x when compared to the wide lens, which is another nice change.

It all gets simpler when you're talking about the front camera. In all cases, it's a 12MP f/2.2 affair, supporting video up to 4K 60fps.

Video is also simple across all rear cameras – every iPhone 12 offers recording in 4K up to 60fps, or 1080p up to 240fps. The big trick this year is that they also record Dolby Vision HDR, which makes video look astounding on the phone's equally Dolby-supporting screen, which huge dynamic range in scenes. For the pros, the video is recorded using HLG, then converts to Dolby Vision when it saves, with no delay at all. It's basically a huge flex for the power of Apple processors.

The downside is that it's currently not easily possible to share videos in Dolby Vision from your phone to elsewhere. It's easy to share in HDR, but not necessarily Dolby Vision. Even sharing the clips with Final Cut Pro just results in the ability to export HLG. There's an incredible creative tool here, but it feels a bit trapped, though HDR support at all is still a huge step up.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 12 Pro: Software

Both phones come with iOS 14, and there's no difference at all beyond the fact that the Pro models have some extra options relating to that third camera lens and ProRaw. In every other way, these phones are identical when it comes to what apps you can use, and how smooth it all is to use.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 12 Pro: Price

The iPhone 12 starts from £799 / $799 / AU$1,349, which gets you 64GB of storage. You can also choose to upgrade to 128GB at £849 / $849 / AU$1,429, or the max is 256GB at £949 / $949 / AU$1,599

The iPhone 12 Pro starts from £999 / $999 / AU$1,699 with 128GB of storage, but you can up it to 256GB at £1,099 / $1,099 / AU$1,869, or go for a huge 512GB for £1,299 / $1,299 / AU$2,219.

We've mentioned the iPhone 12 Pro Max here a few times, so let's bring that into the conversation too. It starts from £1,099 / $1,099 / AU$1,849 with 128GB of storage, £1,199 / $1,199 / AU$2,019 with 256GB, or £1,399 / $1,399 / AU$2,369 with 512GB.

iPhone 12 vs iPhone 12 Pro: Which should you buy?

For creative pros, the iPhone 12 Pro makes a compelling case as being the phone you need. A more flexible camera system with a revolutionary raw format, a more visible screen and more storage (if you need it), and a simply gorgeous stainless design all combine to make it reach out a tempting hand over the head of the cheaper iPhone 12.

However, the iPhone 12 essentially matches it both for screen quality and for the actual quality of images captured, so if those features sound like something you can do without, then you'll be deeply satisfied with the cheaper phone instead.

Since they're evenly matched when it comes to performance, connectivity and basically anything else, it's all down to the small details, and whether they add up to enough for you to spend the extra.

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