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00:00Hello you lovely people, I'm Tom the Tech Chap and one of the big questions I get asked
00:04all the time is what iPhone should I buy?
00:07And so here we are.
00:08I've got all four iPhone 12s, the mini, the standard 12, the pro and the pro max and I've
00:14also got last year's flagship, the 11 pro max just for a bit of comparison to see if
00:19the 12 series is really that much of an upgrade and if so, which one should you go for?
00:24So I'll put links to all of these in the description below if you want to check them out and if
00:27you do find this video helpful, which hopefully you do, then a cheeky little like and subscribe
00:32would be amazing.
00:33I'm like this close to a million subscribers.
00:36Okay let's start with what's new and across the board the 12 series gets a slight design
00:41refresh with flat rather than curved edges akin to the latest iPad Air and pros.
00:46We also get MagSafe support which gives you faster wireless charging and also connects
00:51to a fairly small range of accessories.
00:53The new ceramic shield glass is also four times more drop resistant according to Apple
00:58so if it falls out your pocket or you drop it on the pavement it's less likely to shatter
01:03although I still wouldn't really recommend it.
01:05Also every single iPhone 12 has an OLED screen because previously on the 11 series only the
01:11pro models had OLED, the standard 11 just had the usual LCD which was fine but it lacked
01:17the contrast and the deeper colors of its OLED brothers.
01:20But now we get OLED across the board which is really good to see.
01:24Although sadly we are still limited to 60Hz on all iPhone 12 models, no high refresh 90
01:30or 120Hz which is probably my biggest criticism or at least the biggest sort of missing feature
01:34of the 12 series compared to its Android rivals so it's almost certainly going to be the
01:39iPhone 13 before we get high refresh on an iPhone which isn't the end of the world
01:43but a little bit disappointing.
01:46So we've had a bit of a design refresh but we're getting the same 2 or 3 camera module
01:50at the top left here, the fairly chunky notch at the top hasn't changed at all and we still
01:54get Apple's lightning charger.
01:56Still no USB-C unfortunately, there are rumours of course that the next iPhones may be even
02:01portless completely, portless is a horrible word, but just rely on sort of wireless data
02:06transfer but obviously one of the big, slightly controversial changes this year, you can see
02:11from just how thin these boxes are, is you don't get a power charger or headphones in
02:15the box anymore.
02:16Apple say this is to help reduce waste and help the environment which is great but if
02:20you do want to take advantage of one of the new features which is faster 20W charging,
02:25you now have the privilege of paying them £20 for the new fast charger.
02:30Thanks Apple.
02:32But I think the headline feature with the 12 series is the support for 5G.
02:37All 4 get 5G which is great but probably still not a throw your current phone in the bin
02:42and rush out to buy a new one kind of upgrade.
02:45Of course it makes your phone more future proof and will come in handy in the next few
02:49years but right now it's probably not like an essential upgrade.
02:53We also get Apple's faster A14 chip inside, they all share the same processor which is
02:58great although the Pro and the Pro Max both have 6GB of RAM whereas the lower two tier
03:04models come with just 4GB.
03:07And basically what that extra RAM does is mean you can go further back in your recently
03:10used apps and then instantly resume an app as opposed to having to sort of re-launch
03:15it fully which you'd have to do more regularly on the phones with just 4GB.
03:18But aside from that it doesn't really make any difference to the day to day sort of speed
03:22or performance of the phone.
03:25We also get improved cameras, all 4 models now get the upgraded smart HDR 3 which is
03:31basically just their marketing term for how it handles the bright and dark areas in a
03:35photo so it's slightly more realistic now.
03:38Night mode now works with every lens, plus we now get night mode with the ultrawide.
03:42In the video department you can now shoot Dolby Vision HDR which is technically impressive
03:47but not something I actually use very often.
03:50The two Pro models also get an extra telephoto zoom lens as well as a LiDAR sensor which
03:55helps with focusing in low light and also better augmented reality which I'll come
03:59back to in a second.
04:01Plus these two support Apple's new ProRAW photo format if you want the highest quality
04:05photos that maybe you want to edit afterwards.
04:08And also exclusive to the 12 Pro Max we actually get a much bigger main camera sensor and also
04:14improved stabilisation.
04:16But all 4 have the exact same 12MP front camera so if you're an Instagrammer, influencer,
04:22narcissist person then you'll be just as happy with any of the 4 phones.
04:27Now the last change isn't really an upgrade because across the board the 12 series have
04:31slightly smaller battery capacities versus the 11 series and of course if you're also
04:36using a 5G network that will drain your battery even quicker.
04:40Now the more efficient A14 chip does help to even that out a little bit but really you're
04:45looking at about the same battery life or a little bit less if you are using 5G.
04:50So to sum up, we're now getting 4 models including this new very cute mini iPhone 12.
04:56We've got a slight redesign with a range of new colours, tougher screen, the MagSafe
05:01compatibility, faster charging, 5G support, the new A14, slightly more versatile cameras
05:07and they're also now a little bit more water resistant, IP68 to 6 metres rather than 4.
05:12So that's what's new but the next question is which one should you actually buy?
05:17Well I can tell you which is most popular in terms of what most people buy and that
05:21is actually the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
05:24And surprisingly, I didn't think this would be the case, the least popular is the iPhone
05:2712 mini.
05:28I didn't really expect that but yeah this hasn't sold quite as well as the others.
05:33But it doesn't really matter what other people are buying because this is all about you.
05:37So let's talk pros and cons of each and let's kick off with the smallest and the cheapest,
05:42the 12 mini.
05:43For £700 or $700 this is the cheapest of the 12 range and of course the big selling
05:49point of the mini aside from the price is that 5.4 inch screen.
05:53It really does feel small compared to the other iPhones.
05:56This is the standard 12, 6.1 inch and yeah, it's a good deal smaller.
06:01So if you are a fan of more compact, sort of one handed phones that don't take up a
06:06ton of room in your pocket or your bag, then this is definitely a good option and what's
06:10really impressive is that it's not really a big compromise over the other ones.
06:14In fact it shares almost all the same features with the 12 with the only difference really
06:18being the screen size and also the battery life.
06:21And aside from maybe the Pixel 5, you can't really get a better camera on a phone at this
06:25price point.
06:26And it's actually also got the sharpest screen, the pixel per inch density is just a little
06:31bit higher than the other ones.
06:32You wouldn't really notice it in real life but technically, yeah, this is the sharpest
06:36screen.
06:37The only real downside of the 12 mini is the battery life.
06:40It's not terrible but compared to the other iPhone 12s it does fall behind quite a bit.
06:46So that's the mini but let's move on to the standard iPhone 12 which will cost you £100
06:51more so this is £800 or $800 but really there's not much difference between this and
06:56the mini.
06:57It's just the slightly bigger 6.1 inch screen which I think is a good size.
07:01It's kind of like a nice sort of sweet spot between the Pro Max and the mini.
07:05The battery life is a little bit longer as well.
07:06You can expect about an extra hour from this over the mini.
07:09But I think for me, the 12 is probably going to be the sweet spot for a lot of people in
07:13terms of size, value for money and also just features.
07:17So there are the kind of regular 12s but now let's move to the Pro series and if we start
07:21with the 12 Pro this will actually cost you £200 more than the iPhone 12 so it is quite
07:27a bit more expensive but you are getting a lot more for your money.
07:31With a third lens giving you a 2x telephoto zoom as well as a LiDAR scanner which I'll
07:36come back to in a second.
07:37We also get night mode portrait shots which are exclusive to the Pro models.
07:41As you can see if I bring back the standard 12 we're actually getting this matte glass
07:45back rather than the glossy one and on the edges we're getting a stainless steel kind
07:50of glossy side versus this color matching aluminum on the standard 12 and the mini.
07:56Other differences with the Pro is that we get a slightly brighter screen.
07:59This actually peaks at 800 nits with standard SDR content versus 625 on the regular 12s
08:06although all 4 phones do actually peak at 1200 nits when they're playing HDR content.
08:11Now if I bring up Geekbench 5 you'll see we actually get 2 extra gigs of RAM on the Pro
08:15models.
08:16So 6 gigs versus 4 as I say makes a bit of a difference when it comes to multitasking
08:20but that's about it.
08:21More importantly though is if I jump into where is it general settings and then storage
08:26I've actually got the 512 gig model here but the Pro phones start at 128 gigs of storage
08:32whereas the regular iPhone 12 starts at 64 so you are getting double the storage if you
08:37pay the extra for a Pro plus you have the option as you can see to whack it up to 512
08:43gigs if you are Mr. Moneybags.
08:45But I think aside from the storage it's in the camera department where we've had one
08:49of the biggest upgrades.
08:50As I say we've got the third telephoto lens so you can see here I can punch into 2x optical
08:55and then we've also got this LiDAR or Light Detection and Ranging Scanner and it's designed
09:00to help with low light focusing, it also unlocks night mode portrait shots which you don't
09:07get on the regular 12s and also of course improved augmented reality so it's a little
09:12bit more accurate for measuring and 3D spatial things.
09:17So for a cool £1000 you can bag yourself the 12 Pro which as I say is £200 more than
09:23the standard 12 and for that you're getting the slightly more refined design, the third
09:27camera lens, the telephoto zoom plus the LiDAR, double the storage and 2 extra gigs of RAM.
09:32Now last but by no means least let's have a look at the new 12 Pro Max and kind of surprisingly
09:39starting at £1100 it's actually only £100 more than the 12 Pro so there isn't like a
09:44massive price difference between them.
09:46And for that as you can see we get this massive 6.7 inch screen.
09:51Just for interest sake let's bring back the mini for a second here and you can see the
09:54difference there, 5.4 versus 6.7 inch and also just how far your thumb will get across
10:01the screen.
10:02The Pro Max is definitely a two handed phone.
10:05So this is 6.7 inches and actually if I bring back last year's 11 Pro Max, while the overall
10:10footprint is about the same, it's actually slightly taller, we're actually getting a
10:14.2 inch bigger screen but the point is this is the biggest phone Apple has ever made.
10:20So yeah, bear that in mind before you drop £1100 on it just because you want the biggest
10:25and the best.
10:26So I actually switched to the 12 Pro Max as my kind of like, I hate to say it, but my
10:30daily driver before going back to my Note 20 Ultra because as much as I do love this,
10:36it just feels a little bit too big or at least iOS isn't as well optimised for big phones.
10:41For example, there's still no split screen, you can't swipe back from the right hand side,
10:45a lot of apps require you to go to the sort of top left for a back button and even just
10:49reaching for the notification menu or the command centre requires a fair amount of finger
10:54gymnastics.
10:56But on the other hand you might love that, a big screen iPhone may be exactly what you
10:59want.
11:00And also the Pro Max offers the best battery life, giving you a good hour longer than even
11:05the 12 Pro so if battery is important to you then again that is a really good reason to
11:08go for this guy.
11:10But that's not all because the Pro Max also, as I mentioned earlier, has a couple of unique
11:14camera features.
11:16The main lens has a bigger sensor so it lets more light in which makes it better in low
11:20light.
11:21We also get a slightly longer 2.5x optical zoom, up from 2x, as well as enhanced sensor
11:27shift stabilisation.
11:36In my experience, I can't really tell much of a difference in quality or smoothness between
11:40them, even in this tricky lighting.
11:42But what I did notice though is in this low light scene, the Pro needed a 2 second long
11:47exposure versus just 1 second on the Pro Max.
11:50So basically the long exposures don't need to be as well long.
11:54It's a small difference but handy if you've got moving subjects.
11:57So that is a lot to take in but before we wrap up, I just want to talk about battery
12:01life for a minute because a couple of weeks ago I made a big battery rundown test with
12:05all 4 of these and also last year's 11 Pro Max and to save you some time, if I jump to
12:09the end, here are the results and how they compare.
12:12They actually all did pretty well but you can see the mini falls behind and it's the
12:1612 and the 12 Pro Max that offer the biggest gains to battery life.
12:21While I'm here, I also ran a few benchmarks on all the phones and as you can see, since
12:24they all share the same A14 chip, there's really very little between them when it comes
12:29to overall performance.
12:31So after all that, which one should you actually buy?
12:34Well, it's a little tricky.
12:35I think Apple's done a good job differentiating them and there isn't really a bad option.
12:39It all comes down to value for money, your budget.
12:42I think if I were to go out and buy an iPhone 12, I would probably go with the 12 Pro because
12:47as much as I'm usually the kind of person to go for the biggest and best all-singing
12:51all-dancing phones, I actually found this a little bit uncomfortable to use, particularly
12:55with the case on as well.
12:56So just for sort of everyday quality of life and also to save £100, I think the 12 Pro
13:02would be my recommendation.
13:05But between everything else, I think the mini is good but the battery life does let it down.
13:10It's a nice entry-level point and it is good to see that there is an option if you want
13:14a small screen phone.
13:16And I think for the vast majority of people who maybe aren't power users, who aren't me,
13:21but just want a good new iPhone, you know what, I think the standard iPhone 12 is the
13:26one to go for.
13:27Yes, you don't get a telephoto lens or the LiDAR and you have to pay a bit more for storage
13:31and maybe you don't get quite the same sort of premium feel to it.
13:35But I think for the money, £800, $800, the iPhone 12 would be my recommendation for the
13:42average user.
13:43But if you're a bit of a power user, as I say for myself, I would personally go with
13:46the Pro.
13:47However, if you're not that bothered about 5G or these slight camera improvements or
13:53MagSafe or the A14 chip, if you can get a good deal on last year's 11 series, I would
13:58say go for the 11 Pro.
14:00It's like a good all-rounder.
14:01The standard 11 has the LCD screen as I say, so maybe avoid that.
14:05But the 11 Pro or maybe even a discounted Pro Max is worth considering if you just don't
14:09really care about having the super latest, fastest processor and 5G.
14:15But if you guys have any other questions at all, do let me know in the comments below.
14:18I read every single comment.
14:19I try to reply to as many as possible.
14:22So do let me know your thoughts, which one you'd go for or none of the above.
14:26Thank you so much for watching guys.
14:27I hope that was useful.
14:28And if you do want to see more from me, then don't forget to hit that subscribe button
14:31below and I'll see you next time right here on the Tech Chap.