iPhone12 vs iPhone12 Pro – Which one should you go for?

Ever since Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone back in 2007, Apple has been consistent in making fantastic products year on year. Maintaining said consistency, Apple announces a new iPhone every year or so, which keeps up the tradition of incorporating only the best technology money can buy in a phone. However, every year Apple generally announces more than one model simultaneously at various price points, targeting various market segments. October 2020 to April 2021 is no different, with Apple having announced not one but four different models for the iPhone 12 in the mentioned time frame. These models are the iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 12, the iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. So if you can afford the 12 Pro, but you would still want to know if the investment is worth it, you have come to the right place. In this article, we have compared the iPhone12 vs 12Pro side by side and, in the process, discussed their differences.

What are the similarities between iPhone12 and 12Pro?

1. Connectivity

1. Both the phones support the same wireless technologies, namely GSM, CDMA, HSPA, EVDO, LTE and 5G.
2. The iPhone 12 and the 12 Pro both feature the same Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac/6, Bluetooth 5.0 and GPS technology. Said GPS technology includes A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO and QZSS.

2. Body

Same Gorilla Glass protection is present on both the front and the back glass, along with IP68 water and dust resistance certification for a little extra protection.

3. Screen and Display

1. Both phones feature an excellent 60Hz, Super Retina XDR OLED display. Said display supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision and has a peak brightness of 1200 nits. The screen also supports true tone and a wide colour gamut. In a word- cutting-edge.
2. The screen size and resolution on both the phones are the same at 6.1″ and 1170×2532, respectively, with an equal screen-to-body ratio of ~86%. 
3. Both the phones come with scratch-resistant ceramic glass and oleophobic coating to reduce fingerprints in terms of screen protection.

4. Chipset

The Apple A14 Bionic chipset based on a 5 nm manufacturing process and the quad-core Apple GPU for graphical workloads is a common feature in both the iPhones.

5. Performance

Performance is very similar due to the shared A14 Bionic chipset present in both the iPhones. In AnTuTu, GeekBench and GFXBench, the iPhone 12 scores 568674, 4067 and 58 FPS, respectively. On the other hand, In the same tests, the iPhone 12 Pro scores 596244, 4056 and 58 FPS, respectively.

6. Rear Camera

1. In the camera department, the 12 MP, f/1.6 primary shooter and the 12 MP, f/2.4 Ultrawide are identical on both the phones, along with an identical dual-tone, dual-LED flash system.
2. Both the phones can record 4k video at 60 FPS, 1080p video at 240 FPS and stereo sound, and support HDR and Dolby Vision HDR.

7. Selfie Camera

1. Both the iPhone 12 and the 12 Pro feature the same 12 MP, f/2.2 selfie camera setup with support for video capture at a maximum of 60 FPS on 4k or 120 FPS on 1080p.
2. The selfie camera on both phones also supports HDR and Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS).

8. Sound

The iPhone 12 and the 12 Pro both feature an excellent and identical stereo speaker system. However, both models lack the 3.5mm headphone jack.

9. Battery

1. Both the iPhones feature an identical 2815 mAh non-removable battery.
2. They are also identical as far as charging features are concerned. They support 20W Fast-Charging, advertised as capable of charging the phones upto 50% in 30 mins.
3. In terms of wireless charging, both also support 15W Qi Magnetic Wireless Charging.

From such an extensive list of similarities, it would seem that the iPhone 12 compromises on nothing compared to the iPhone 12 Pro in terms of raw specs. That is, in fact, true for the most part. However, if you need the best that Apple can do in a phone or have some specialized requirements, especially in the photography department, the 12 Pro has some extra tricks up its sleeves. 

Differences between the iPhone12 vs 12Pro:

1. Internal Storage

The iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max include choosing a 512 GB storage variant absent on the iPhone 12. This feature might be helpful if you are serious about shooting memory-hogging 4k videos with your iPhone.

2. RAM

Every iPhone 12 Pro variant comes with 6 GB RAM. The iPhone 12 variants, on the other hand, are limited to 4 GB. 

3. Construction

The iPhone 12 Pro features a stainless steel + glass construction. The iPhone 12, on the other hand, is made out of a combination of aluminium and glass. Thus, it would seem that just like the previous-gen iPhones, Apple has kept the stainless steel constructions exclusive to their Pro lineup.

4. Colour Variants

The iPhone 12 is available in vibrant colours, such as Black, White, Red, Green and Blue. The iPhone 12 Pro colour variants, on the other hand, are limited to Silver, Graphite, Gold and Pacific Blue.

5. Photography

1. The iPhone 12 Pro features a triple-camera setup, while the iPhone 12 is limited to a dual-camera system.
2. The third camera exclusive to the Pro lineup of iPhones is a 12 MP, f/2.0 Telephoto camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and 2x zoom.
3. The 12 Pro also adds an advanced LiDAR sensor for better Augmented Reality (AR) and greater depth sensing for photos and videos.
4. iPhone 12 Pro users also enjoy advanced features such as Apple ProRAW, which combines Apple’s computational photography and the benefits of editing photos in RAW format.

6. Price

The iPhone 12 Pro, at the current moment, is priced ~40,000 INR above the price of an iPhone 12.

The most significant advantage of purchasing the iPhone 12 Pro over the iPhone 12 is, perhaps, in the photography department due to its additional Telephoto capabilities, LiDAR sensor and Apple ProRAW features. Editing in Apple ProRAW allows easy fine-tuning of factors such as white balance and colour while taking advantage of Apple’s Smart HDR to get the most out of your photos. Other iPhone 12 Pro exclusive features such as 6 gigabytes of RAM and an option for a 512 GB storage variant might help 4k video capture and manipulation.