Friends+Design
- Elegant, 'new' charming design, that resonates with the iPhone 4 and 5 models - it has flat sturdier steel sides and a flat-screen, the back has a matte finish, just like the last year's model - it’s the smartphone equivalent of jewelry
- At the front, Apple is using the new sapphire crystal shield to provide better drop protection than previous iPhones
- The back of the phone features Apple’s new MagSafe magnetic wireless charging and mount system - it let's accessories to attach at the back of the phone magnetically, Apple has some of its own accessories like a wireless charger, a wallet and many cases that attach to the back - Apple is hoping a MagSafe ecosystem will develop as third parties find more use for this execution
- IP68 water and dust resistance - the iPhone 12 series can take a dunk of up to 6 meters, compared to 2 meters on similarly rated phones
- Face ID is plenty fast and accurate (though, it could be a pain to use while wearing a mask)
- The iPhone 12 Pro Max is a very big phone - it’s just a little bit bigger than the 11 Pro Max, but the new design with flat sides makes it feel much larger than it is, and makes it slightly harder to hold than a phone with curved sides
- The notch is still present and is significantly larger than any other competing flagship phones
Display
- A gigantic 6.7-inch, Full HD+ Super Retina XDR display that looks bright and vibrant, it has blacker blacks - the bezels are a bit thinner all around too, whether you're playing the latest game, watching a spot of Netflix or just reading an email, it's a luscious display
- There's no high refresh rate to be found on the iPhone 12 Pro Max, you're stuck with that 60Hz refresh rate instead - it has become the standard for almost every Android flagship phone out there right now
Software
- As always iOS 14 continues to be a clean, intuitive, and smooth experience - additionally, you will get regular updates for years to come, something beyond any Android manufacturer could provide
- Apple has added few customisation options with the new iOS 14 - you can now use custom icon packs and add widgets to your home screen
- Siri still lags as a virtual assistant - it would be great if Apple would put much more effort into making Siri a little more competitive with the Google Assistant
Performance
- Incredibly rapid performance from the new A14 Bionic - Apple remains the undisputed king when it comes to mobile CPU performance - iPhone 12 series is the fastest phones available in the market - you can throw anything, be it heavy games, AR, or numerous app, it handles everything with ease
Camera
- iPhone 12 Pro Max has the best cameras on any iPhone or arguably, any smartphone - the primary cameras has a much larger sensor with sensor shift, so it physically moves to provide better stabilisation, night mode comes to all of the cameras on the iPhone 12 Pro Max, even a night portrait mode and LiDAR for better focusing in low-light
- The primary camera's image quality is pretty spectacular - it produces some of the best looking images, with plenty of bright colours and rich detail
- The ultra-wide camera remains the same as the last year's iPhone 11 - it adds some software improvement and the images look pretty dramatic as the iPhone 12 trades detail for space - the night mode on the ultra-wide also works well
- The telephoto lens on the 12 Pro Max is nice to have, it can take up to 2.5x optical zoom shots and with added night mode, it is much more useful in low-light situations
- Low-light photography is excellent with the wider aperture, you will get clearer, brighter shots, a nice improvement in image quality and sharpness in dim lighting conditions
- Night mode is impressive, the iPhone 12 Pro Max needs to drop into night mode less often, but when it does, you get bright, sharp images that look amazing - they still feel like they were taken at night and they aren't over-blown
- The 12 Pro also has a new LIDAR sensor on the back - in low-light situations, it enables the camera to focus much more quickly, and also take night mode portrait shots
- Video quality iPhones have always been the best in class, the iPhone 12 Pro continues that tradition and even adds Dolby Vision, a first for any mobile camera - the Dolby Vision adds features for Pro filmmakers to use that no other phone provides
- Very good selfies come out of the front camera on the iPhone 12 Pro - the wider view can accommodate more people in selfies - night mode selfies portrait is a great new feature and produces impressive results
- Overall, the cameras on the iPhone 12 Pro Max, while not substantially better than the Pro's, are arguably the best in the market
Audio
- Excellent stereo speaker setup - the Dolby Atmos support is still present, with the Apple-exclusive spatial audio feature
5G
- Apple has added 5G support to all iPhone 12 models, however, they leave out the support for faster 5G mmWave in Indian models - there's also no infrastructure for 5G availability in India and there might not be for years to come - 5G is good to have as an option that makes the iPhones future proof, but not a game-changing feature
Battery
- Battery life is terrific - it is difficult to kill this phone in a day, it will easily last a whole day and then some
- The iPhone supports improved 20W fast charging, but Apple isn't providing a charging adapter with the new iPhones at all - so, if you don't have an adapter lying around or you want to use that fast charging, you will have to buy that separately
Verdict
- It is easily the best and most capable smartphone camera on the market right now, and a battery that seems to last forever - if you can deal with the size, it’s worth passing over the 12 Pro and getting the 12 Pro Max, those are two dramatic and meaningful improvements for the money - this is a tremendous phone
- If you want your phone to be more practically sized and use, consider the iPhone 12 or the 12 Pro, you will get almost the same features, in a compact size and less money
