In the same price range, you can actually get either the iPhone 11 Pro Max or the iPhone 12 Pro. The former reached the price range of the latter thanks to street prices since the phone is one year old, while the iPhone 12 Pro is actually sold at its listing price. Does it make sense to still opt for the 11 Pro Max in 2021 or it is better to grab a unit of the iPhone 12 Pro? We hope to help you with this decision by publishing this specs comparison which will highlight the main differences between the 11 Pro Max and the iPhone 12 Pro.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max Apple iPhone 12 Pro
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 158 x 77.8 x 8.1 mm, 226 g 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4 mm, 189 g
DISPLAY  6.5 inches, 1242 x 2688p (Full HD+), Super Retina XDR OLED 6.1 inches, 1170 x 2532p (Full HD+),  Super Retina XDR OLED
PROCESSOR Apple A13 Bionic, hexa-core 2.65 GHz Apple A14 Bionic, hexa-core
MEMORY  4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 4 GB RAM, 256 GB – 4 GB RAM, 512 GB 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 6 GB RAM, 256 GB – 6 GB RAM, 512 GB
SOFTWARE iOS 13 iOS 14
CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5, GPS Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5, GPS
CAMERA  Triple 12 + 12 + 12 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.0 + f/2.4
12 MP f/2.2 front camera		 Quad 12 + 12 + 12 MP + LiDAR scanner, f/1.6 + f/2.0 + f/2.4
Dual 12 MP + SL 3D f/2.2 front camera
BATTERY  3969 mAh, fast charging 18W, Qi wireless charging 2815 mAh, fast charging 20W, fast wireless charging 15W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES Waterproof IP68, Face ID, eSIM, optional dual SIM IP68 waterproof, optional dual SIM, optional eSIM, Face ID, 5G

Design

Both iPhone 12 Pro and 11 Pro Max come with amazingly premium materials. Their bodies are composed of a glass back and a stainless steel frame and they both come with a borderless design including a notch on the front panel. I prefer the iPhone 12 Pro because it has more compact dimensions, a more attractive flag profile, and better water resistance (it is waterproof up to 6 meters deep instead of 4 meters guaranteed by the 11 Pro Max). Last but not least, the iPhone 12 is thinner and lighter.

 

Display

The displays of the iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone 12 Pro are not so different between them. They both feature Super Retina XDR OLED panels with the HDR10+ certification and a brightness up to 1200 nits, as well as Dolby Vision and True-Tone technologies, and a wide color gamut. The 11 Pro Max has more pixels but the pixel density is more or less the same. The real difference is the display diagonal: you get just 6.1 inches on the iPhone 12 Pro, while the 11 Pro Max has a 6.5-inch display. That is what would let me go for the 11 Pro Max. They both have a notch which includes the sensors for 3D facial recognition, and they do not pack a fingerprint scanner.

 

Specs & Software

The hardware and software department is one of the most important differences between iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone 12 Pro. The iPhone 12 Pro is equipped with a stronger Apple A14 Bionic chipset paired with 6 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of internal storage. The 11 Pro Max has the same RAM and native storage, but it comes with a weaker Apple A13 Bionic. The iPhone 12 Pro is actually faster and it also comes with a more recent operating system out of the box. We are naturally talking about iOS 14.

 

Camera

The cameras of the iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone 12 Pro are very similar, but there are a few important differences. The iPhone 12 Pro has a brighter focal aperture for the main camera so it should be able to click better photos in a lot of conditions. Further, the iPhone 12 Pro has an additional LiDAR scanner that retrieves depth info for AR appliances and more. You can actually shoot better photos and record better videos with the iPhone 12 Pro. The front cameras are exactly the same, including a 12 MP sensor and an SL 3D sensor for 3D facial recognition.

 

Battery

The battery of the 11 Pro Max is a lot bigger than the one found on the iPhone 12 Pro. That is the reason why the battery life of the 11 Pro Max is longer in almost every scenario. You get 3969 mAh against just 2815 mAh and there is nothing the 5 nm A14 Bionic chipset can do to fill the gap. On the other hand, you get MagSafe support with the iPhone 12 Pro, which allows for better wireless charging.

 

Price

Thanks to online street prices, you can actually find the 256 GB variant of the iPhone11 Pro Max for about €1300/$1100, while the iPhone 12 Pro starts from almost €1200/$1000. The only real advantages offered by the 11 Pro Max are its bigger battery and its wider display, but if you exclude that, it does not make sense to get the Pro Max with the iPhone 12 Pro in the same price range. With the iPhone 12 Pro, you can get a better camera department, higher-end chipset, MagSafe, and 5G which are definitely more important features.

 

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro: PRO and CONS

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max

PRO

  • Bigger display
  • Longer battery life
  • Price dropped down

CONS

  • Dimensions
  • No 5G

 

Apple iPhone 12 Pro

PRO

  • More compact
  • Better camera department
  • 5G
  • MagSafe

CONS

  • Smaller display

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