You'll spend more on the iPhone 12 Pro, but it also has better specs.
It comes with more internal storage (128GB vs. 64GB).
The iPhone 12 Pro also has a telephoto lens (+39 mm) and more RAM (6GB vs. 4GB). But the iPhone 12 features a lightweight body (25 g./0.88 oz less).
If you're considering a new and unlocked smartphone, you'll have to invest an additional amount close to $240.
The iPhone 12 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. Having said that, the iPhone 13 has more storage 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. If you can find a great deal, it does make sense in 2022, but the iPhone 13 Pro could give you better performance, more security updates, and a better optical zoom.
Just keep reading if you want to know everything about them, how they compare to similarly priced rivals, and how the industry is scoring their specs.
Check prices on Amazon Check prices on AmazonI earn a small fee from qualifying purchases. It doesn't affect the price you pay nor my opinions.
CONTENTS
Click on one of these
shortcuts and then tap
"back" to return here
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.
to check who their rivals are.
Price* | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Device | ![]() |
![]() |
|
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.
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 | ![]() |
![]() |
|
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 | 0.0 |
*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13.
![]() |
![]() |
---|
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 | ![]() |
![]() |
|
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 | 0.3 | ||
Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus | |
Tek-Score | 0.1 |
*Reference: 100: Sony Xperia 1 II.
![]() |
![]() |
---|
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 | ![]() |
![]() |
|
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) | ![]() |
![]() |
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 | ![]() |
![]() |
vs. |
---|---|---|---|
Megapixels | 12 | 12 | 0 |
Aperture | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0.0 |
Lens | 23mm | 23mm | 0 |
![]() |
![]() |
vs. | |
---|---|---|---|
Tek-Score | 0.5 |
The iPhone 12 does have an advantage here, thanks to its weight. But I don't see any meaningful winner here.
Be aware that the iPhone 12 Pro is around 15% smaller than other devices at this price level.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 | ![]() |
![]() |
|
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 | -1.0 |
*100% = 4+ colors + front and back glass + S2BR: 86+%.
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 | ![]() |
![]() |
|
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 | 0.0 | ||
Fast Charging | 20w | 20w | 0 |
Wireless Charging | 15w | 15w | 0 |
Tek-Score | 0.0 |
*Reference: 90: Samsung Galaxy A42.
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 | ![]() |
![]() |
|
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).
There isn't much to see here.
You can connect them to (LTE and) 5G networks.
Connectivity | vs. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Features | ![]() |
![]() |
|
Network | 5G | 5G | |
Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 | |
NFC | Yes | Yes | |
3.5mm jack | No | No | |
Tek-Score | 0.0 |
Here are the best deals on some major online stores:
Reference: $880
Apple iPhone 12
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 12 | iPhone 12 Pro | VS |
---|---|---|---|
Amazon | - ! | - ! | - |
eBay | 0.95 | 0.41 | -0.54 |
Best Buy | 0.93 | - | - |
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)
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.
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 | ![]() |
![]() |
---|---|---|
#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 | ![]() |
![]() |
---|---|---|
#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 | ![]() |
![]() |
|
Gaming Score | 0.5 | ||
Tek-Score | 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.
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.
Keep in touch