Why choose the iPhone 12 Pro?
The launch of any Apple product is a big deal and that was certainly the case for the iPhone 12 Pro. With a fresher look than its predecessor and a host of cool features, this handset is surely a front-runner if you're in the market for a new phone. Let's take a look at what makes the iPhone 12 Pro so exciting.
- Pro camera system
- Ceramic Shield
- 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display
- MagSafe accessories
- A14 Bionic chip
- LiDAR technology
Pro camera system
iPhones have always been known for taking good photos and yet somehow with every launch, Apple manages to take it to the next level. A big selling point on the iPhone 12 Pro is Night Mode, which let's you take incredible pictures in low light and gives you remarkably true-to-life colours. The phone's wide camera takes in 27% more light, allowing for greater detail and sharper focus, day or night.
The integration of LiDAR technology and Apple's A14 Bionic chip (more on both of those later) helps the iPhone 12 Pro pick out every pattern and texture in your picture. In mid to low-light conditions, a feature called Deep Fusion kicks in. This is HDR taken to a new level – the camera takes the best bits of each individual pixel and fuses them together to give you the best possible final photograph, one with the best sharpness, colour, highlights and shadows.
The iPhone 12 Pro uses AI to bring you an enhanced portrait mode, which is better than ever at separating the subject from the background. The camera will also let you manually adjust things like the amount of light on the face and background blur. The camera's video elements are just as impressive. The iPhone 12 Pro is the first phone to shoot in Dolby Vision – a format used by film studios – and boasts 10-bit HDR recording.
Ceramic Shield
iPhone users love their iPhones, but one of the few gripes people have is that the phones can be a little fragile. It'd take a brave soul to go out and about with an iPhone without a case or a screen protector. With the iPhone 12 Pro, Apple has sought to rectify this with the introduction of Ceramic Shield.
Apple says the iPhone 12 Pro is it's toughest phone yet because its glass is made from nano-ceramic crystals that a harder than most metals. The clever process that turns these tiny, hard crystals into a smooth, clear screen has also been replicated on the back of the phone, making it scratch resistant.
The iPhone 12 Pro's Ceramic Shield front screen (four times more drop-proof than it's predecessor) sits flush against the side of the phone, which is made from surgical-grade stainless steel.
6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display
The iPhone 12 Pro's redesign (when compared to the iPhone 11 Pro) means you get less bezel around the phone's edges and instead, more screen. It's a bigger device in general, so you get a 6.1-inch screen with the iPhone 12 Pro as opposed to its predecessor's 5.8 inches.
As we've come to expect from the more recent iPhones, the screen is edge-to-edge with the exception of the notch, which houses the front-facing camera. The display itself boasts 460 pixels per inch – that's 2532 x 1170 total pixel resolution for those counting, with HDR support, Wide Color, Haptic Touch, and True Tone.
MagSafe accessories
Even with a phone boasting the tough-guy credentials of the iPhone 12 Pro, most of us feel a bit happier when we're using a case. A phone is a big investment so it makes sense to want to protect it. Apple is catering for this need with the launch of MagSafe accessories, a range of cases and wallets that attach magnetically to the handset.
The beauty of the MagSafe cases is that the magnets perfectly align to allow optimal wireless charging even with the phone case on. The wallet can be attached either straight to the phone or on top of the case and has all the shielding technology you'd want to keep your credit card safe.
You'll be pleased to know that both the MagSafe cases and wallets come in a range of colours so you can mix and match to find the perfect style for you.
A14 Bionic chip
The A14 Bionic chip is the first 5-nanometre chip in the industry. What that means is bit of tech that powers this phone is very, very small. It's also incredibly powerful, so what you'll see as the end-user is that the phone is very fast, very responsive and that the battery life is much improved.
Another huge benefit is that functions that require machine learning are 80% faster. This powers things like the camera's Deep Fusion feature, which vastly improves the fine details in your photographs, and it means that Dolby Vision video is encoded while you shoot, so it doesn't need to be done on a computer at a later date.
LiDAR technology
LiDAR is the technology being used by NASA for its next Mars landing. Incredibly, this technology is also in the iPhone 12 Pro. A LiDAR scanner measures how long it takes light to bounce back from objects so it can quickly create a 3D map of whatever space you're in.
This has big benefits for AR (augmented reality) apps. If you've ever used AR, you'll know that projected landscapes and characters can appear to float through real-life items of furniture or other obstacles – instances that instantly take you out of that immersive experience. LiDAR makes that a thing of the past by understanding the depth of what it can see, so characters will move around accurately in the landscape that has been created.
It is also LiDAR that makes the iPhone 12 Pro as good at taking pictures in low light as it is. The camera's Night Mode uses LiDAR depth mapping for Night Mode portraits and the technology gives the Pro camera system six times faster autofocus in low light.
Frequently asked questions
Is the iPhone 12 Pro any good?
Some are saying the iPhone 12 Pro is the best Apple smartphone since the iPhone X. There's certainly a noticeable difference in terms of the features on offer compared to the previous generation of iPhones. Apple is usually a safe bet if you're looking for a quality handset and the iPhone 12 Pro fits that bracket, while boasting some features that the standard iPhone 12 is lacking.
What colours does the iPhone 12 Pro come in?
The iPhone 12 Pro comes in four colours – Pacific Blue, Gold, Silver and Graphite.
Is the iPhone 12 Pro 5G capable?
Yes, the iPhone 12 Pro is part of the first generation of iPhones that support 5G. This means incredibly fast speeds on mobile data and improved performance in busy, congested areas.
What is the difference between the iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max
The biggest difference is the size. The iPhone 12 Pro has a 6.1-inch screen compared to the bigger iPhone 12 Pro Max's 6.7 inches. Almost all other specs are the same for both handsets.
Is the iPhone 12 Pro water resistant?
The iPhone 12 Pro comes with a IP68 water resistance rating. This means it can withstand of depth of up to six metres for 30 minutes. This is impressive but you should still avoid intentional submersion and just be satisfied that if you accidentally drop your phone in the sink, it'll probably be ok.
Does the iPhone 12 Pro have face recognition?
Yes, like other new generation iPhones, the 12 Pro has Face ID. The sensor is located in the notch at the top of the front display. As well as being used to unlock the phone, Face ID is available in a number of apps to authenticate things such as app purchases or Apple Pay.
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