It is big. Every new iPhone this year is some sort of compromise, so to make a choice is to rate your priorities. Camera, battery, size, price. And after that there are still color and storage. I’ve been struggling with the choice, but at the end of the day iPhone 12 Pro Max was my go-to. Camera was the single most important thing, so I felt like I could sacrifice something else.
Size
There is no going around it, this phone is massive. My last iPhone review was that of an iPhone XS Max and I called it Coming Home because after spending a year with an iPhone X I was craving for a bigger screen and still, even for me, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is huge. Probably because of the flat edges it just doesn’t sit so tight in the hand. And it is also actually taller than the last years model and noticeably so.
What this means is that even with larger hands this phone becomes almost unusable with one hand. Good thing Apple announced widgets for iOS, so the first two rows on the screen could be filled with those.
It is the most noticeable while typing — reaching for the letters on the opposite side is physically hard now.
Design
After deciding on the model, the next big consideration was the color. Black and Silver were immediately removed from competition because they are a bit boring.
That left me with Gold and Pacific Blue. I went to the store when iPhone 12 Pro came out to see and hold both in my hands. I couldn’t decide until the very last minute of orders starting. But in the end the Gold won and I think I made a good choice.
Yes, this year’s color is Pacific Blue, but after Apple introduced “something different” with Midnight Green last year, this fourth color becomes a default. Everyone who wants a new phone buys it and actually, I think the bigger phone looks boring in blue because it is matte and there is just too much of the color because of the size. Also, the edges in most cases look almost black, and again, this year I didn’t want a black phone.
Gold, on the other hand, adds premium feeling to the already good-looking phone. It looks more like something made by a 3rd party, like Caviar, but with taste. It is absolutely gorgeous to look at. And you always have a glimpse of it, even if you look straight at the screen the edges are visible.
Regarding the fingerprints — this is the issue in the well lit environments of the reviewers, in the day-to-day life I don’t think about it and never notice. If you look at the edges of course you will see fingerprints, but they don’t bother me at all.
It is also heavy. Very much so. Although because of this it feels very premium, but again using it in one hand for a long time — it adds up.
Battery
It is absolutely massive. Especially after 2-year-old iPhone XS Max. I don’t ever plug it in during the day, even when using Waze in my car, which was unthinkable previously.
I was surprised when on the second and third day after buying it, when I was still setting it up, opening literally every app, synchronising everything, it would have 50% battery left with 3-4.5 hours of screen on time.
But then there was a day with 7h 14m of screen on time and still almost 50% battery left by the end of the day. And another one, with more than 6 hours of screen on time when the phone still had around 5% of battery left working from 7:05 in the morning until 00:42 at night, on my birthday — so there were many calls, constant checking and replying to the congratulations in the messaging apps.
As I’m writing this at the end of the day, I still have 52% of battery left with 4.5 hours of screen on time. This is a full-day phone, at the very least.
Camera
As every previous part, I will start the same — it is big. In fact, it is so big, you can fit 44 mm Apple Watch into the camera cutout of the iPhone case.
I would recommend reading the review made by one of the creators of the best iPhone photography app Halide Sebastiaan de With. This is the most comprehensive review you will find right now, showing the real differences between the Pro Max and regular Pro cameras.
As was expected it really shines at night and in the evening, where there is not a lot of light and a bigger sensor can gather more of it.
Oh, and the main thing — it finally doesn’t cut out glasses in the portrait mode.
Miscellaneous
- This was a good year for Apple to ditch the charger from the box. When you first receive the box, it looks deceptively small. This feeling stays with you until you hold the device in your hand and turn it on.
- Keyboard is a tiny bit bigger, but enough to be noticeable and more comfortable.
- Physical buttons are in a different place and it is unusual at first, but as with everything you get used to it pretty fast.
- The camera bump is so much bigger that I had to change the grip because I was touching it. Had to teach myself taking the phone a bit lower than usual.
- Leather case is thinner, which makes a phone in it more usable. Although I don’t like that it has a chin now. With constant swiping up from the bottom of the screen it is in the way. But I do love the colored animation which is the same color as the case.
- I miss 3D Touch. I used it all the time and long press even with the haptic feedback is not the same. And also cursor mode on keyboard was so much better when you could do it anywhere and not just on the space bar.
- While watching recorded HDR video, the screen gets really bright. I mean REALLY.
- Not on the iPhone itself, but on the migration process. Used wireless migration from one phone to another. The process is good, although for a long time (about an hour), you can’t use both phones. Some apps (especially banking) get confused about their state and I had to reinstall a couple.
