Most reviewers of new smartphones have standard advice for owners of the previous model: No need to buy the newest device if you have the previous year's model, and if you are happy with it.
I'm going to break with that conventional wisdom in the case of the iPhone 12 Pro Max - at least for certain users. Yes, on many levels, it's an iterative update, as are each successive year’s iPhones. But there are exceptions here, particularly if you are a T-Mobile customer, as I am.
I am on the iPhone Upgrade Plan, which lets me trade in my current device for the newest one after a year of making payments. I had an iPhone 11 Pro Max, and swapped out for the 12 Pro Max with the same storage as before - 256 gigabytes - and in the new Pacific Blue color.
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The nice thing is that my interest-free payments have not changed over several phones, so it’s basically like leasing my smartphone. If I kept it for two years, it would be mine, all mine. Each year, though, I weigh whether I want to keep riding this train or hop off with the iPhone I have. So far, I’ve had no regrets, and that’s certainly true this year.
If you use an iPhone 7 or older and you have been thinking about picking up one of the four new iPhone 12 models, you’d be very happy if you did. Those who own an iPhone 8 through the XS, it’s optional but again, you would not be disappointed.
If you have one of 2019’s iPhone 11 devices, you may want to upgrade if a) you’re obsessive about smartphone photography and video and/or b) you’re jonesing for 5G and you’re a T-Mobile customer.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max is the largest of the four 12 models, with a 6.7-inch display. It’s both and little taller and little wider than the 11 Pro Max, and it’s also the most expensive iPhone, starting at $1,099 for the 128-GB version. The other three are the 12 Pro, with a 6.1-inch display, at $999 for 128 GB; the iPhone 12, also with a 6.1-inch screen, $799 for 64 GB; and the iPhone 12 mini, with at 5.4-inch display, $699 for 64 GB.
I have not tried the other three models, so this will look only at the 12 Pro Max. And, to further narrow things down, I’m going to focus on the three things that make this a compelling upgrade.
• 5G. As I wrote last month after Apple unveiled the 12 line, 5G may not be a reason to upgrade, with one exception. T-Mobile has an advantage with 5G on the iPhone 12 line over other carriers in Houston. Not only is its 5G coverage more ubiquitous, but the iPhone 12 devices will work with the merged network from Sprint, which uses faster mid-band spectrum, once T-Mobile fully integrates it.
I did some speed tests around town Saturday and can attest that T-Mobile's 5G is zippy, usually 20 percent to 40 percent faster than LTE. Download speeds around 100 to 120 Mbps and beyond were common. I also am getting great speeds indoors, even with only a couple of bars. How does 75 Mbps down, with just one or two bars, sound to you? That's what I'm getting in my home in the Montrose/River Oaks area.
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I also traveled to two locations in Stafford and Missouri City where T-Mobile has mid-band signals available. There, I got download speeds of between 200 and 250 Mbps, but upload speeds were atrocious, usually in the single digits.
Both AT&T and Verizon have superfast millimeter wave 5G that’s available in specific locations, and a “nationwide,” lower-spectrum 5G that’s not as fast as T-Mobile’s. Eventually, those carriers will add mid-band spectrum to their networks that will improve their speeds. And Verizon is working on expanding its mmWave service into neighborhoods, but it still isn’t able to penetrate buildings or foliage. Because of this, you’re better off waiting for those networks to build out rather than buying one of the iPhone 12 line just for 5G.
• Cameras. The recent “pro” iPhone models have all had the best camera systems of Apple’s lineup for the past few years, and both the larger and standard-sized models have had the same cameras. But with the 12 line, the Pro Max has a system that’s better than the smaller Pro.
Both the 12 Pro and the Pro Max have wide, telephoto and ultrawide cameras. But the sensor on the Pro Max is almost half again as big, allowing more light to be let in. In addition, the motion stabilization works by moving the sensor itself, rather than just the lens. The result is fewer blurry photos, and photos with more detail, particularly in low light.
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A lot of my photos are taken at night, and the improvements in night mode in 12 Pro Max are a major leap forward. The detail and color range is noticeably better than in similar nighttime photos I took with my 11 Pro Max. In particular, night portrait mode at night is excellent, thanks the the LIDAR sensor in the Pro models, which provides the camera with information about depth.
The telephoto camera has a 2.5x zoom, while the other 12s have just 2x. It’s barely noticeable, but when you zoom beyond 2.5x, the resulting images up to about 6x are noticeably less pixilated.
• Design. This is the first new look for the iPhone since the 6, and really I should use “new” in quotes. It’s actually an update of the design used in the iPhones 4 and 5, with flat edges instead of the rounded ones on the 6 though 11. It’s beautiful, particularly in the Pacific Blue color I ordered.
Some reviewers have complained about the size of the 12 Pro Max, but frankly, in day-to-day use I don’t really feel the difference. That said, I didn’t care for the way it felt before I slapped a case on it. I chose Spigen’s Liquid Crystal clear case, which adds little bulk and softens the hard edges. And, given how much these cost, you’re going to want a good case on it, anyway.
dwight.silverman@chron.com
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November 18, 2020 at 07:00PM
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Review: iPhone 12 Pro Max - Houston Chronicle
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