iPhone 12 Pro: Reflection
With the iPhone 13 lineup just announced, I felt it warranted to look back and reflect on the year using the iPhone 12 Pro.
This is not a review, it's a reflection. A review suggests some level of analysis, critic, or judgement about something, but a reflection can just be me maundering on about a product for a few paragraphs—much lower bar, much more my speed.
The iPhone 12 (12 Pro, 12 Pro Max & 12 mini) were announced at Apple's Hi, Speed event on October 13, 2020. Chalk it up to COVID-19, but this event came considerably later than most iPhone events, which have historically occurred in September. The launch was also pushed back by nearly two months, with the iPhone 12 & 12 Pro available October 23, and the Pro Max & iPhone 12 mini becoming available in mid-November.
Braving icy roads in one of the first snow dumps of the year, I purchased the iPhone 12 Pro in Pacific Blue at my local Apple Store. And over the last year, it's served me incredibly well - with over 10,000 photos taken, hundreds of calls made, hours of podcasts listened to, thousands of text messages sent, and countless stupid memes mindlessly scrolled through.
Design
On its face, the aesthetic of the iPhone 12 Pro is similar to the iPhone 11 Pro, with its frosted glass back and mirror polished stainless steel housing. But there are a couple of notable changes in the latest iteration of the iPhone. To start, the sides of iPhone 12 have been squared off rather than continuing the curved aesthetic which debuted back with the iPhone 6. This change was (still is?) divisive. While it brings the iPhone in line with the aesthetics of products like the iPad Pro (and now the new iMac), it made the phone feel and look chunkier than the iPhone 11.
The second design change was the colour of the year: Pacific Blue. I'd never strayed away from buying a Silver or Space Grey phone before, but Pacific Blue was just too appealing to ignore, and I took the plunge (pun partially intended). But as someone who neurotically insists on keeping their phone inside cases for the life of the device, I quickly forgot or failed to notice the colour of my phone. So while the new colour factored into my purchase of this phone, it’s something that soon became overlooked given my penchant for slapping on a case the moment the phone comes out of its box.
Other:
The frosted glass back of the iPhone 12 Pro (introduced with the iPhone 11 Pro) is one of the finest finishes I've held. I really can't adequately put into words how premium this finish feels.
No real complaints about the weight of the iPhone. Some reviewers said it was heavy, and it's undoubtedly dense and solid feeling in the hand, but never anything I had any strong feelings about.
Size of the Notch? Like a blind spot, I fail to notice the notch is there 99% of the time. A smaller/no notch would be nicer, but the current design doesn't bother me.
The Ceramic Shield display, which incorporates "nano‑ceramic crystals" into the glass, has resulted in a display that has seen no (nada, zip, zero, nil) micro-scratches over the past 12 months. Maybe it's because I've been inside more than I would have due to the pandemic, or perhaps I've been lucky, but this display has held up far better than any other iPhone display to date.
Accessories
Along with the iPhone 12, Apple reintroduced MagSafe as a series of magnetically attached accessories ranging from wallets to sleeves, chargers, and even battery packs. And most of them have had some cloud of controversy surrounding their cost, utility, functionality, etc.
One of the things I am most pleased about with MagSafe is intergenerational compatibility. While cases may change due to design tweaks from one generation to the next, the connector remaining the same means that accessories like the wallet, battery pack, and MagSafe Duo will continue being used with the next generation of devices.
MagSafe cases: The leather and silicone MagSafe cases for the iPhone 12 reintroduced something I've been waiting for since the iPhone 5s: a first-party case that protects the bottom of the device! This change alone makes up for my preference for rounded corners. In particular, the Baltic Blue Leather Case & Plum Silicone case colours were personal favourites released during the iPhone 12 cycle..
MagSafe Wallet: This expensive wallet magnetically attaches to the phone with enough room for 2-3 cards. It's alright. But try as I might, I wasn't able to effectively incorporate this into my everyday carry - I have too many cards (i.e. 4), along with some health/insurance papers I need to carry at all times.
Leather Sleeve: The cruellest thing Apple did with their accessories in 2020 was discontinuing the leather folio. Instead, Apple released a leather sleeve with a small cutout to show the time (and the caller ID for an incoming call). But this accessory was a missed opportunity. You couldn't answer calls unless you had headphones/AirPods attached, sliding your phone back into the sleeve during a call would immediately disconnect it, and the cutout never displayed information about text messages, device status (battery life), or other at-a-glance details that could have made this accessory much more compelling. Half baked.
MagSafe Duo: This is the first wireless charger I've ever purchased that I didn't hear coil whine emanating from it. It's not the AirPower device we were promised, it looks pretty odd, but as an iPhone/Apple Watch charging solution, it does the trick. I use it daily, I wish it were cheaper, but I'm enjoying the product.
Performance
I'm the wrong person to comment meaningfully on the iPhone 12 Pro's performance. I am not a heavy gamer, nor do I do much video or CPU-intensive work on my iPhone. For my needs, iPhones have always felt overpowered.
Cameras
The iPhone's camera is my go-to excuse for justifying my iPhone upgrades and the main area where I feel like I am credibly able to notice and significantly appreciate the year-over-year improvements.
Most notably, low light photography got a significant boost in the iPhone 12, particularly expanding night-mode to all four cameras and improved low light/indoor photography. Images appear sharper, and the iPhone 12 does a far better job than even something like the iPhone 11 in balancing out the shadows and bright extremes of a photo, producing images that look more true-to-life. I know one of the selling features of the 12 Pro was the addition of ProRes RAW, but I'm remiss to say that I often failed to tap into it during the year. When I did, the best way I can describe it is that the breadth of post-production editing that becomes possible was much broader. The improvements to the wide-angle camera were also much appreciated - producing much sharper images that performed substantially better in low-light environments than the 11 Pro.
The ability to shoot in HDR video was another jaw-dropping addition to the iPhone. Once you see one of your videos shot in HDR, it's becomes nearly impossible to go back to shoot with anything else. The images feel ludicrously vibrant & alive. It's striking to see moments captured in this quality now, but I think it will be even more cherished to have these videos to reflect on a decade from now preserved in this quality.
Other:
LiDAR: It seems to have helped set up portrait mode faster and improved focus in low-light environments on several occasions. There continue to be rare instances when portrait mode is still too aggressive with corners or fails to blur parts of scenes, but it still shows a year-over-year improvement since it was announced.
Battery Life
Less than the 11 Pro, but to be fair, the 11 Pro had exceptionally good battery life. It's also hard to get a true real-world sense of battery life; due to the pandemic, my routine with the iPhone 12 Pro is significantly different than my routine with any other phone I've owned. But when I've been out of the house for 8-10 hours, I usually return home with the phone having anywhere from 30-60% of its battery life remaining. While I don't game on the device, heavier photography days exact more of a battery hit. Overall, I wish it had more battery life (who doesn't), but it's really good - I haven't yet had a day when it's crapped out on me.
5G
5G was hyped as THE feature to get this phone, but it's a nonissue for why I enjoyed it. The pandemic has modified my routine, meaning less reliance on 5G, but living in Canada, I limit the size of my cellular downloads not because of the download speed but because of my carrier's data cap. Second, when I download larger files, they're always in <500MB, and LTE continues to be incredibly well suited for that task in my area. I downloaded a 400MB Audiobook recently, and it took maybe about 15 seconds on the 5G I was connected to, only 3-4 seconds faster than if I had used LTE. This amounts to pretty negligible time savings. At one point in the year, I turned off 5G for a few months and had failed to notice it until I began writing this post.
Lastly, living outside the US, mmWave 5G (i.e. the REALLY fast one) is unavailable. But beyond it being a cool parlour trick to see a video of someone standing on a precisely marked spot in the visual range of a 5G antenna and getting over 1,500 MBPS down, mmWave 5G is far more gimmick than necessary or useful at this point.
Overall
To say that this is 'the best iPhone yet' would be a meaningless statement... I mean, of course it is! It's the fastest, newest, most feature-packed iPhone to date. But again, by that measure, every next iPhone will be the best iPhone.
My devices generate the most joy when they enhance moments of my life. The main benefit this year continues to come from the cameras themselves. Capturing important memories (including an excessive number of dog photos) with the upgraded ISP was noticeable and helped me appreciate the iPhone 12 Pro. I liked the redesign enough, and though I preferred the rounded design, it seems clear that Apple is moving far away from that design language across the product line. The MagSafe accessories were hit or miss - I loved the cases and the MagSafe Duo but was disappointed in the lack of utility of the leather sleeve and wallets. And finally, my habits and carrier data caps restricted fully embracing features like the A14 & 5G. I'm lucky to have used and enjoyed the iPhone 12 Pro over the year, though I'm excited to see how the iPhone 13 is received & reviewed in the days ahead!
