Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max review: A smartphone, but nothing more

With the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, the Californian manufacturer dared to take a step further towards a giant flagship. I tested it for you and that's what caught my eye.

With the iPhone 12 series, Apple has ushered in a design era that will be crucial for future Apple products. For the first time, Apple is bringing the new 5G mobile communications standard and a more angular, yet modern design to the market. After a good three months, I have been able to get a good impression of the iPhone 12 Pro Max in everyday use for you.

A design that speaks the future

When Apple launches a new design, you can be sure that it has carefully considered what accents it will set for an upcoming portfolio. This is also the case with the introduction of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Anyone who hoped that the notch in the display would disappear or be covered up was unfortunately disappointed. Although the edges appear more compact and thinner than their predecessors, no other changes are noticeable.

Things look completely different when you look at the casing of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. While the "normal" iPhone 12 models have an angular and non-slip aluminum frame, the Pro model is surrounded by a shiny stainless steel frame. On the back there is a matte glass, which doesn't give fingerprints a chance and is really easy to grip in the hand. The design is clearly related to that of the iPad Pro 2020 and speaks the language of Apple's future. In my opinion, the new design is simply refreshing in everyday life because you now know exactly which iPhone you have in your hand.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max sets a new design standard for future Apple devices. (Image: TechnikNews/ Kevin Özgün)

A display with 10-bit color depth: in a smartphone?

With the 6,7 inch OLED panel, which Apple markets as “Super Retina XDR” and comes with a resolution of 2778 x 1284 pixels at 458 ppi, the world's most valuable corporation wants to mute its competition.

All smartphone displays are becoming increasingly high-resolution. This also applies to the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max. While normal iPhones only fill the store counter with 8-bit color depth, the big brother is given a better 10 bits, which is basically intended to produce a sharper and more detailed image on the 12 Pro Max display. Ultimately, this is an added value for professional photographers who want to see everything on a screen in razor-sharp detail down to the last detail. However, if the average consumer puts an iPhone 12 and the 12 Pro Max with the same image next to each other, they will not be able to see any major differences with the naked eye.

Anyway, anyone who values ​​10-bit color depth and attention to detail will resort to a large monitor or television in order to benefit from this technology. Unfortunately, films also have to be recorded with 10-bit color depth in order to be able to reproduce this experience on the display. This is exactly the same with a streamed film that is available in 4K or 8K, this can also only be displayed on an equivalent monitor or television in full resolution.

During my test period, I occasionally watched a film or series on the iPhone 12 Pro Max, but none of them supported 10-bit color depth. So this feature is more of a nice-to-know than a must-have.

Three cameras and a LiDAR sensor

The battle of the camera lenses has been going on for years on the smartphone market. While one or two manufacturers are outdoing their own products, Apple is relying on tried and tested technology and skilfully refreshing it. The camera module is supported by a small mechanism called sensor shift, which enables the lenses to take shake-free shots. For amateur photographers or content creators, this can certainly be quite useful for social media.

For the first time, Apple is upgrading its digital zoom from 2x zoom to 2,5x lossless zoom. This is made possible optically by a lens and therefore does not require a digital "artificial" zoom. This benefits amateur photographers who value detail, as the existing lens allows you to get the photo onto the lens untreated. The telephoto lens is also fun for large-scale shots. The 0,5x zoom of the telephoto lens supports HDR, which improves the color dynamics. This proved to be very useful review, as the images received more color and contrast, which was really very attractive: Photos can also be taken with Apple ProRAW for the first time. This is a new RAW standard from Apple, which is available in addition to the well-known RAW format. The iPhone 12 Pro Max can do this really well. This gives photographers a lot of leeway when it comes to post-processing images. You don't necessarily need a DSLR or DSLM camera for this.

Thanks to Apple ProRAW, more image information is now used to edit images. (Image: TechnikNews/ Kevin Özgün)

What is this "weird" LiDAR anyway?

LiDAR was originally used in the automotive industry to detect objects and improve autonomous driving. Apple deliberately took this step and installed the LiDAR sensor in the camera module of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Unfortunately, there are currently few apps for meaningful use of the sensor, but it significantly improves the quality of the bokeh effect in images. It also detects objects much faster in existing AR apps, which means that the display of the graphics in augmented reality can be adjusted much more quickly.

With LiDAR you can also measure rooms through certain applications and, as far as the software allows, also get precise calculations of rooms or furniture. Look forward to what will come from Apple in the industry in the future.

Before it was installed in the iPhone, LiDAR was already responsible for precise distance measurement in the automotive industry. It also improves photos with a bokeh effect. (Image: TechnikNews/ Kevin Özgün)

MagSafe has been revived

Most people still know MagSafe from the Macs of the time. This time Apple renewed and modernized the MagSafe connector. Instead of throwing away the Lightning connector and getting a new one proTo create a proprietary connection, Apple rebuilt the standard a bit. The back of all new iPhone 12 models now houses a magnetic coil that allows compatible accessories to be attached. This is particularly useful for wireless charging, as you don't have to worry about finding the perfect position for the process. But there are a lot of other accessories. I really liked Apple's leather wallet, which can hold up to 3 cards.

The leather wallet is a nice addition that can be flexibly attached to all new iPhone 12 models with a built-in magnet, anytime and anywhere. (Image: TechnikNews/ Kevin Özgün)

iOS 14 is innovative and wasted at the same time

Anyone who has been using Apple devices for years will be familiar with iOS 14 without any worries. Recently, however, widgets have been added that are known from Android - but unfortunately they are not interactive. As good as I find iOS 14, it doesn't come off without criticism. Because, in my opinion, Apple has hardly learned anything from the past few years. iPhones keep getting bigger over time, but the software is hardly improved and adapted to the different device sizes. Space is sometimes wasted unnecessarily on the home screen and gaps are left instead of the icons being better placed. And iOS 14 still doesn't offer multi-window support. Apple should definitely make up for that over the years and take a look at Android.

Specs

For the first time, Apple has installed the A14 Bionic in a smartphone, which was manufactured using the 5-nanometer process and therefore works more efficiently. That's why Apple decided to make the case and battery smaller. However, that never really limited me in everyday life. I always managed to get over a day with normal use. And when I used it for longer during the lockdown, I still had 20 percent of the battery left in the evening. The lack of a power adapter isn't really a disadvantage for me as a former iPhone owner, as I have several power adapters.

Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max: Conclusion

Now we are in 2021 and the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the top smartphone from the Californian company from Cupertino. There have been small visual and technical refinements to the iPhones here and there. But neither the processors nor the cameras have made such a significant leap in the past two to three years that the new devices make older models look so old that you would have to switch to be able to participate in the digital world.

An iPhone 12 Pro Max is a smartphone that is equipped with the latest bells and whistles. However, very few users will notice a significant difference and really need the features built into it in everyday life. WhatsApp, YouTube in 4K, Netflix or Amazon Prime - things that you need in everyday life - do not run any better or worse on this iPhone. And you would still have to pay around 1.300 euros for it.

If you are considering the iPhone 12 Pro Max because of the new design and durability as well as 5G (for the future) because you are coming from a three to four year old smartphone, you are welcome to buy this iPhone 12 Pro Max for the coming years. Otherwise, you are not missing out on the world here.