With the new iPhone line-up, it is challenging to know which iPhone will be the best option for the average user. Here’s everything you need to know if you deciding between the iPhone new 12 and the old 11.
Display
The display is the biggest difference between iPhone 11 and iPhone 12. The iPhone 12 comes with what they call a ‘Super Retina XDR’ display which is basically just Apple’s fancy way of saying OLED display. This is a huge leap forward on last year’s iPhone 11 which still only had a 720p LCD display with 326ppi (pixels per inch). Now, the iPhone 12 got a full 1080p OLED display at 460ppi. This new OLED screen will allow for a very serious contrast ratio upgrade with deeper blacks and richer colors across the board. Given how much more content we consume on our phones I think this big upgrade is important but at the same time The vast majority of people may not even notice the difference. If you belong to that group of people, the iPhone 11’s screen is still a great option.
MagSafe
Do you also miss MagSafe on the MacBooks? ME TOO! Though I’m still happy Apple decided to fully support USB-C as the only connector of the future, I do find myself missing MagSafe a lot. The ease of just hovering the charger by the side of your laptop and immediately hearing that satisfying ‘click’ was just great. Well with the iPhone it looks like we’re in luck! MagSafe on iPhone is the same type for wireless charging we’ve had on the Apple Watch for years now. Not only does it look great in their marketing (although I guess everything always does) but it allows you to actually use the phone while charging wirelessly. As someone who has a lot of Samsung wireless chargers throughout my house it’s always annoying to spend those extra few seconds to perfectly line up the device with the charging pad. In my opinion, this is the most exciting part of the iPhones and I can’t explain why no one else has thought of this before. The Cupertino based brand already showed us some really cool covers and magnetic clip on wallets. This is especially great for future third party accessories as we’ll surely see some amazing and creative idea come to life (car-mounts, tripods, wallets, portable batteries, charging stations, and more).
Camera
Now although Apple spent a long time of their keynote on this part, I actually think that the upgrade here is a lot less significant than what they want to make us believe. Something I really liked on the iPhone 11 was the Ultra Wide camera and this hasn’t really changed on the iPhone 12. I personally think the most notable enhancement is better Night Mode through digital processing and on both the front and rear facing cameras. Besides that, iPhone 12 comes with HDR video recording with Dolby Vision (up to 30 fps). Apple talked about this feature in details but I just wonder how many people will actually be using this on a regular basis, or even notice it at all.
Design
The iPhone 12 has a new squared design instead of the round edges that we first got with the iPhone X in 2017. Visually you’ll immediately know if you have an iPhone 12 or 11 and if that is important to you than I would definitely consider getting the newer version. The new look reminds me of the iPhone 5 design which I really loved! The iPhone 12 also has narrower bezels around the edge of the display. This category really depends on you and whether it matters to you.
5G
Although Apple spend lots of time talking about the 5G. I definitely wouldn’t pay too much attention to it yet. 5G is not available in most areas yet and the improvements essentially useless to the average user. Of course we all want fast internet however, as far as I’m concerned, LTE is fast enough for all the staff I do. Regardless of whether 5G is even available in your Location, I mostly use my iPhone over WiFi at home due to the coronavirus crisis. Spending an extra $20 per month on my phone carrier to have 5G doesn’t seem like a priority for me. Having 5G is good for the future but I wouldn’t take into consideration to decide which phone to buy.
Conclusion
The iPhone 12 is just more premium! Before it might have still felt like you were purchasing the cheaper version of the cooler and better iPhone Pro. But now, you’re really just buying the normal iPhone and you won’t be missing out on anything big. Only those few people who really care about having a telephoto camera and a shinier design will spend the extra money on the Pro variant. That being said, iPhone 12 also has a more premium price at $799 (for the normal sized one) while the iPhone 11 is now only $599. Considering this $200 price difference I actually think the iPhone 11 is the better option out of the two. If you don’t mind the LCD screen or didn’t know the difference between the two until now and you’re not bothered about having the new design with MagSafe then definitely get the iPhone 11.