Apple iPhone 12 vs 12 Pro in 2021: Is It Just Size?

Introduction

So, you want to find out if the iPhone 12 is good enough? Or should you spend even more and go for the iPhone 12 Pro?

These phones were released in October 2020.

In this article, we see how the iPhone 12 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.

 Click here  to check who their rivals are.

Price*			vs.
Device	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
Release Date	2020, October	2020, October	0y.
OS Updates	6 years	6 years	0y.
Security Updates	6 years	6 years	0y.

*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Which One Has The Best Performance?

As you may have guessed, Geekbench 5 gave these two the same performance. Basically, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  ? 

The iPhone 12 also has a performance above the average for its price range. While they got a score of about 3040, it has 4067. That puts it 34% above them.

It's safe to say that both of them can be tagged as high-end.

Performance*			vs.
Features	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
SoC	Apple A14	Apple A14
Graphics	Apple GPU	Apple GPU
Geekbench 5 Score	4067	4056	-11
OS	iOS 14.1	iOS 14.1
Tek-Score	8.6	8.5	0.0

*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13.

Which Phone Has The Best Display?

There isn't a winner here, so you can pick any of them.

About the iPhone 12, you should know that 92% of its rivals can play HDR content. Plus, all have an AMOLED screen, and 88% have an Always-On display.

For the iPhone 12 Pro, just so you know, 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	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
Size	6.1	6.1	0.0
Screen Type	AMOLED	AMOLED
Resolution (px)	1170x2532	1170x2532	0
Refresh Rate	60hz	60hz	0
Dots per Inch	457.25	457.25	0.00
Always-On-Display	No	No
Notch	Wedge	Wedge
Peak Brightness	639 nits	802 nits	163
HDR	HDR10	HDR10
Sub Tek-Score	2.9	3.2	0.3
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Tek-Score	7.5	7.6	0.1

*Reference: 100: Sony Xperia 1 II.

Which Phone Has The Best Cameras?

You should note that the iPhone 12 Pro is in the neighborhood of 56% above other competitors with comparable prices. But between these two, it doesn't matter.

About the iPhone 12: DXOMARK tested this camera and gave it a score of 132. If you also consider its wide-angle lens, it'll get 139 points. If you click here, you can check what they think of it.

Last (but not least), all of its rivals can record videos in 4K or more, have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and feature Optical Image Stabilization. Although only 12% of them feature a macro lens.

About the iPhone 12 Pro: DXOMARK evaluated this camera, and here's the score: 135. By considering the telephoto and wide-angle lenses, this score goes up to 147 points. You can click here to check it out.

Furthermore, just like the other device, 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. That said, only 6% of them feature a macro lens.

We can classify these two as high-end.

As a side note, the iPhone 12 Pro telephoto lens is, on average, 54mm lower than what you'd get on related-priced phones.

Picture Quality*			vs.
Primary Camera	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
Megapixels	12	12	0
Aperture	1.6	1.6	0.0
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	139	147	8

*Reference: 100: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.

Extra Camera(s)	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro	vs.
Megapixels	12	12	0
Aperture	2.4	2.0	-0.4
Lens	13mm	52mm (2x zoom)	39
Lens Type	Ultra-wide-Angle	Telephoto lens
Megapixels	-	12
Aperture	-	2.4
Lens	-	13mm
Lens Type	-	Ultra-wide-Angle
Score	7	12	5

Selfie Camera	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro	vs.
Megapixels	12	12	0
Aperture	2.2	2.2	0.0
Lens	23mm	23mm	0

	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro	vs.
Tek-Score	8.2	8.6	0.5

Who has the best frame?

The iPhone 12 does have an advantage here, thanks to its weight. But I don't see any meaningful winner here.

The iPhone 12 Pro is a little bit heavier: About 25 g. (0.99 oz). But because screen size also matters, I've developed a formula for a kind of "display size to phone weight" ratio. The iPhone 12 got a score of 6.9, which means a pretty nice weight for a 6.1 inches screen. Having said that, the iPhone 12 Pro has 3.8, which suggests it's considerably hefty.  ? 

You can drop the iPhone 12 into the water, up to 1 to 3 meters deep, and the same goes for the iPhone 12 Pro. That shouldn't last over half an hour, in standby and freshwater only, so no saltwater or pools here.

Looks*			vs.
Body	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
Size	146 x 71 x 7 mm (5.15 x 2.50 x 0.25 in)	146 x 71 x 7 mm (5.15 x 2.50 x 0.25 in)	0
Weight	164 g. (5.78 oz)	189 g. (6.67 oz)	25
Build	Front and back glass	Front and back glass
Colors	Black, Red, White, Green, and Blue	Silver, Gold, Graphite, and Pacific Blue
Screen To Body Ratio	88.18%	88.18%	0.00
Disp.Size To Weight Score	6.9	3.8	-3.0
Looks	10.0/10	10.0/10	0.0
Waterproof	IP68	IP68
Biometrics	Face ID	Face ID
Tek-Score	8.6	7.6	-1.0

*100% = 4+ colors + front and back glass + S2BR: 86+%.

Which has the best battery?

They do share their battery capacity: at about 2815 mAh. And by GSMArena's standards, you should get the same battery life with either device.

Battery*			vs.
Features	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
Capacity (mAh)	2815	2815	0
1h Talk + 1h Web + 1h Video	79% left	79% left	0
1h Talk + 3h Web + 1h Video	64% left	63% left	-1
1h Talk + 1h Web + 3h Video	64% left	65% left	1
Bat. To Phone Size Score  ?	5.7	5.7	0.0
Sub Tek-Score	6.9	6.9	0.0
Fast Charging	20w	20w	0
Wireless Charging	15w	15w	0
Tek-Score	6.6	6.6	0.0

*Reference: 90: Samsung Galaxy A42.

Which has more storage?

The iPhone 12 Pro. Clearly.

The iPhone 12 comes equipped with 64GB of integrated storage and 4GB of RAM. Be aware that at this price segment, others offer more RAM and more storage. They're closer to 135Gb of storage and 8GB of RAM.

The iPhone 12 Pro offers 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. Again, you'll get more storage and more RAM on most of its rivals. They'd give you around 188Gb of storage and 10Gb of RAM.

Most people should be OK with only 64 GB of internal storage. However, if you love to store 4k videos, you'll soon figure out that 64 GB is too short for you.

Storage*			vs.
Features	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
RAM (GB)	4GB	6GB	2
Internal (GB)	64GB	128GB	64
Micro SD	No	No
Tek-Score	2.8	6.0	3.3

*Internal Storage + 256GB Memory Card (Max: 512GB).

Which is the most connectivity-friendly?

There isn't much to see here.

You can connect them to (LTE and) 5G networks.

Connectivity			vs.
Features	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
Network	5G	5G
Bluetooth	5.0	5.0
NFC	Yes	Yes
3.5mm jack	No	No
Tek-Score	4.6	4.6	0.0

Which is more affordable?

Here are the best deals on some major online stores:

Reference: $880

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$709.95

$729.99

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Apple iPhone 12

Reference: $1,120

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$1,799.10

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Apple iPhone 12 Pro

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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.

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:

Best smartphone deals

The Best Unbiased Smartphones For All Budgets

Smartphone Specs Statistics: The State Of The Art (Q1 2021)

Want to know about that global score? For reference purposes, I'll tell you where most of its rivals average. They're in the ballpark of 7.1 for the iPhone 12 and 7.6 for the iPhone 12 Pro.

Verdict: What Makes the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Stand Out?

These two do have their similarities. I'd prefer it if Apple opted for a slightly larger display on the iPhone 12 Pro. Something in the lines of 6.3 inches. But they didn't. Maybe that's easier for you to pick one of them.

They share their performance and display, so nothing to state here. Their cameras, on the other hand, tell a different story. Apple added a telephoto lens on the iPhone 12 Pro, and that can really make a difference. Still, 2x of optical zoom is way too low for its price-point.

And that leads us to their weight. I guess the extra camera weighs about 25 grams (0.88 oz).

Another major difference is the 4+64GB vs. 6+128GB of RAM and storage.

Aside from that, they're pretty much the same.

Pros	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
#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	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
#1	Always-On-Display	Always-On-Display
#2	MicroSD Slot	MicroSD Slot
#3	3.5mm Jack	Weight
#4	Price	3.5mm Jack
#5		Price

Relative Score*			vs.
Global Score	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Pro
Gaming Score	6.3	6.8	0.5
Tek-Score	6.72	7.36	0.64
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.

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