The iPhone 12 Pro isn't that affordable, but it's the best of the two.
You'll get a better display, and more internal storage (128GB vs. 64GB).
The iPhone 12 Pro also comes with a larger (+0.3") display, faster wireless charging (15w vs. 5w), and more RAM (6GB vs. 4GB).
If you're not considering going for a carrier subscription, you'll have to invest an additional amount close to $370.
The iPhone 11 Pro is still one of the best phones you can buy in 2022 (depending on your budget), and while it isn't the best device out there, at least it's more affordable now. However, you should also consider other phones like the iPhone 12 because it has better performance, better cameras, and more security updates.
The iPhone 12 Pro continues to be a rock-solid smartphone because of its good performance, good cameras, and excellent glass protection. It indeed is on the recommended list for 2022, but the iPhone 13 Pro could give you better performance, more security updates, and a better optical zoom.
Read on and find out more about them, how they stack up against their rivals, and how the tech industry is evaluating their specs.
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CONTENTS
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Alright, so you want something small but something better than the common iPhone that everyone has.
Whether you're considering an upgrade or you're actually considering both of them, we're going to check all their differences, and then you can decide for yourself.
In October of 2020, Apple started selling its iPhone 12 Pro, while Apple's iPhone 11 Pro hit the stores in September 2019.
In this article, we see how the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro compare to each other to help you decide and see which one of these is the right one for you.
For additional information regarding our smartphone comparisons, check this FAQ.
to check who their rivals are.
Price* | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Device | ![]() |
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|
Release Date | 2019, September | 2020, October | 1y. |
OS Updates | 6 years | 6 years | 0y. |
Security Updates | 6 years | 6 years | 0y. |
*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max.
About performance: Geekbench 5 scores the iPhone 12 Pro 18% ahead of its sibling in the multi-core ranking. You should notice that it is a bit faster if you test them side by side.
Are you looking for the quickest phone around? The iPhone 11 Pro is clearly above the average if you consider related-priced phones. About 31% above.
By the way, you can define both of them as high-end.
Performance* | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Features | ![]() |
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|
SoC | Apple A13 | Apple A14 | |
Graphics | Apple GPU | Apple GPU | |
Geekbench 5 Score | 3428 | 4056 | 628 |
OS | iOS 13 | iOS 14.1 | |
Tek-Score | 1.0 |
*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13.
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It's a tie, so any of them will do. Although the iPhone 12 Pro has better glass protection.
If you're trying to keep your phone's display small, there aren't many devices to consider besides the iPhone 11 Pro. There are just not that many choices in its class.
If you're leaning towards the iPhone 11 Pro, you should know that 86% of its rivals can play HDR content, 96% have an AMOLED screen, and 93% have an Always-On display.
Considering the iPhone 12 Pro, as a reference, 94% of its rivals can play HDR content. Plus, all have an AMOLED screen, 88% offer you more than 60hz of refresh rate, and 82% have an Always-On display and have Gorilla Glass 6 or better.
Display Density (DPIs)* | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Features | ![]() |
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|
Size | 5.8 | 6.1 | 0.3 |
Screen Type | AMOLED | AMOLED | |
Resolution (px) | 1125x2436 | 1170x2532 | 221940 |
Refresh Rate | 60hz | 60hz | 0 |
Dots per Inch | 462.63 | 457.25 | -5.37 |
Always-On-Display | No | No | |
Notch | Wedge | Wedge | |
Peak Brightness | 811 nits | 802 nits | -9 |
HDR | HDR10 | HDR10 | |
Sub Tek-Score | 0.0 | ||
Protection | Corning toughened glass | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus | |
Tek-Score | 1.7 |
*Reference: 100: Sony Xperia 1 II.
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I don't see a meaningful winner in the camera department.
About the iPhone 11 Pro: Unfortunately, DXOMARK hasn't tested this camera, but by doing some math, it scored 134*. If you add the telephoto and wide-angle lenses, the final score goes up to 145** points.
I hope this helps: you should know that all of its rivals can record videos in 4K or more and have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and 93% feature Optical Image Stabilization. On the other hand, only 21% of them feature a macro lens.
About the iPhone 12 Pro: The guys over at the DXOMARK labs scored this camera with 135 points. And by adding the telephoto and wide-angle lenses, we end up with a score of 147 points. If you want to know more about it, check it here.
Winding it up, just to let you know, all of its rivals can record videos in 4 or 8K, feature a telephoto lens, have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and feature Optical Image Stabilization. Regardless, only 6% of them feature a macro lens.
If you prefer, we can grade these two as high-end.
Just in case it's a deciding factor, the iPhone 12 Pro telephoto lens is 54mm lower than the average in its class.
*I do recommend DXOMARK's reviews. I'd love to see more tests, but some phones are just left out. So when I get my hands on one of them, I do my best to get a comparable score by evaluating hardware specs only (sensor size, Aperture, HDR, OIS, Lenses, and so on). Our lastest test on our formula showed a borderline margin of error of 2 points.
**Consider this as an estimative, particularly on mid-end cameras with less than 40MP and no zoom lens. They moved to a new camera test protocol, and there aren't enough reviewed phones to extrapolate a backward-compatible score.
Picture Quality* | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Primary Camera | ![]() |
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|
Megapixels | 12 | 12 | 0 |
Aperture | 1.8 | 1.6 | -0.2 |
Lens | 26mm | 26mm | 0 |
Lens Type | Wide-Angle | Wide-Angle | |
Flash | 4 | 4 | 0 |
HDR | Yes | Yes | |
OIS | Yes | Yes | |
Video | 2160 | 2160 | 0 |
Score | 145 | 147 | 2 |
*Reference: 100: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.
Extra Camera(s) | ![]() |
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vs. |
---|---|---|---|
Megapixels | 12 | 12 | 0 |
Aperture | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
Lens | 52mm (2x zoom) | 52mm (2x zoom) | 0 |
Lens Type | Telephoto lens | Telephoto lens | |
Megapixels | 12 | 12 | 0 |
Aperture | 2.4 | 2.4 | 0.0 |
Lens | 13mm | 13mm | 0 |
Lens Type | Ultra-wide-Angle | Ultra-wide-Angle | |
Score | 11 | 12 | 1 |
Selfie Camera | ![]() |
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vs. |
---|---|---|---|
Megapixels | 12 | 12 | 0 |
Aperture | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0.0 |
Lens | 23mm | 23mm | 0 |
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vs. | |
---|---|---|---|
Tek-Score | 0.1 |
None of them stands out, so there is no wrong choice here.
Remember that the iPhone 12 Pro is 15% smaller than most similarly priced devices.Both also have about the same weight: 188 g. (6.63 oz). But because this is a bit relative, I've created an adapted score for a "weight to display size" ratio. The iPhone 11 Pro got 3.0, which suggests it's kind of weighty for a 5.8 inches display. The iPhone 12 Pro, in its turn, has 3.8, which suggests it's considerably hefty too.
The iPhone 11 Pro is resistant to water up to 1 to 3 meters, identical to the iPhone 12 Pro. That shouldn't last over half an hour, and it's in standby mode only. So don't take photos underwater.
Looks* | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Body | ![]() |
![]() |
|
Size | 144 x 71 x 8 mm (5.08 x 2.50 x 0.28 in) |
146 x 71 x 7 mm (5.15 x 2.50 x 0.25 in) |
-9230 |
Weight | 188 g. (6.63 oz) | 189 g. (6.67 oz) | 1 |
Build | Front and back glass | Front and back glass | |
Colors | Space Gray, Gold, Silver, and Midnight Green | Silver, Gold, Graphite, and Pacific Blue | |
Screen To Body Ratio | 80.80% | 88.18% | 7.38 |
Disp.Size To Weight Score | 3.0 | 3.8 | 0.9 |
Looks | 8.5/10 | 10.0/10 | 1.4 |
Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 | |
Biometrics | Face ID | Face ID | |
Tek-Score | 0.3 |
*100% = 4+ colors + front and back glass + S2BR: 86+%.
The iPhone 11 Pro features a 3046 mAh battery, while the iPhone 12 Pro has 2815 mAh. But as claimed by GSMArena, both should theoretically get the same battery life.
Battery* | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Features | ![]() |
![]() |
|
Capacity (mAh) | 3046 | 2815 | -231 |
1h Talk + 1h Web + 1h Video | 79% left | 79% left | 0 |
1h Talk + 3h Web + 1h Video | 63% left | 63% left | 0 |
1h Talk + 1h Web + 3h Video | 65% left | 65% left | 0 |
Bat. To Phone Size Score | 6.0 | 5.7 | -0.3 |
Sub Tek-Score | 0.0 | ||
Fast Charging | 18w | 20w | 2 |
Wireless Charging | 5w | 15w | 10 |
Tek-Score | 0.4 |
*Reference: 90: Samsung Galaxy A42.
The iPhone 12 Pro, for sure.
The iPhone 11 Pro comes equipped with 64GB of integrated storage and 4GB of RAM. I should also mention that most rivals have more RAM and more storage. They're around 8GB of RAM and 146Gb of storage.
In its turn, the iPhone 12 Pro features 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. Again, you can get more RAM and more storage from almost all of their competitors. 10Gb for RAM and 188Gb for storage, on average.
Neither storage nor RAM should be an issue on both iPhones. However, if you love to store 4k videos, 64 GB may be too short for you.
Storage* | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Features | ![]() |
![]() |
|
RAM (GB) | 4GB | 6GB | 2 |
Internal (GB) | 64GB | 128GB | 64 |
Micro SD | No | No | |
Tek-Score | 3.3 |
*Internal Storage + 256GB Memory Card (Max: 512GB).
I'd go for the iPhone 12 Pro if you really value 5G.
The iPhone 12 Pro has a single network variant: (LTE and) 5G.
Connectivity | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Features | ![]() |
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|
Network | LTE | 5G | |
Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 | |
NFC | Yes | Yes | |
3.5mm jack | No | No | |
Tek-Score | 1.0 |
Here's what we've found out:
Reference: $750
Apple iPhone 11 Pro
Reference: $1,120
Apple iPhone 12 Pro
I earn a small fee from qualifying purchases. It doesn't affect the price you pay nor my opinions, but it will mean a lot if you click on one of these buttons before purchasing your next phone (or whatever else you end up buying). You'll be helping to take this to the next level.
Prices on eBay are in $US but Europe-based. You can click to check the prices in your country.
Prices marked with ! are from renewed/refurbished/carrier-locked phones (except eBay prices that, as a last resort, can be from bids or used devices).
How much of a "phone" can your money buy?
That's how much "score" you can get with $100 based on the global score that you'll see in the next section (higher is better).
Have you found better prices elsewhere? The formula is simple: score/price*100.
Value for money | iPhone 11 Pro | iPhone 12 Pro | VS |
---|---|---|---|
Amazon | - ! | - ! | - |
eBay | 1.05 | 0.41 | -0.63 |
Best Buy | - | - | - |
Walmart | - | - | - |
Also, don't forget to check the latest deals from these four stores, and the state of the art on mobile technology, if you don't want to overpay on your next smartphone.
Related articles:
The Best Unbiased Smartphones For All Budgets
Smartphone Specs Statistics: The State Of The Art (Q1 2021)
Are you ready for that final score? We're almost there. Just so you have an idea, take a look at where its adversaries average. It's 6.9 for the iPhone 11 Pro and 7.6 for the iPhone 12 Pro.
Besides their sizes, prices, and looks, you'll also have to consider other features that the iPhone 12 Pro can offer you that the iPhone 11 Pro won't.
It's not that the latter is slow, it actually is among the fastest phones in the market, but the iPhone 12 Pro takes that to a phenomenal 18% further.
Not only that, but it also has faster wireless charging, double the internal storage, and 2 extra GB of RAM.
And that's all that you should be taking into account.
Pros | ![]() |
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---|---|---|
#1 | Performance | Performance |
#2 | AMOLED | AMOLED |
#3 | Cameras | Cameras |
#4 | Fast Charging | Fast Charging |
#5 | Wireless Charging | Wireless Charging |
#6 | Glass Protection | Glass Protection |
Cons | ![]() |
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---|---|---|
#1 | Always-On-Display | Always-On-Display |
#2 | MicroSD Slot | MicroSD Slot |
#3 | Weight | Weight |
#4 | 3.5mm Jack | 3.5mm Jack |
#5 | Price | Price |
Relative Score* | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Global Score | ![]() |
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|
Gaming Score | 0.6 | ||
Tek-Score | 1.27 | ||
Your Score |
*Reference: 100: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Scroll the sliders down below to get your own personalized score. Let's suppose you value performance and battery life, and you don't really care about anything else. Then, just set the "Performance" and the "Battery" sliders up to 5 (5+5=10), and then the other sliders down to 0. You'll know what's the best phone for you.
Performance | 1.9 | |
Display | 1.7 | |
Cameras | 1.4 | |
Frame | 0.9 | |
Battery | 1.9 | |
Storage | 2.0 | |
Connectivity | 0.4 | |
Total | Should be 10 or as close as possible: | 9.6 |
For suggestions and bug reports, click here. Your help is appreciated. Thank you.
About me
Hello!
My name is Luis Silva, and I have a degree in computer management. Ever since I was a teenager, I've loved everything to do with tech. Music, pictures, video editing, I've done it all! This site is a place for me to share some of the knowledge I have, as well as keep up-to-date with current trends. This is a wonderful place for tech-geeks and everyone else that just want to learn more about tech and smartphones in general.
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