Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 12 Pro
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.7-inch Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max (with Apple A16 Bionic) that was released on September 7, 2022, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 23 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Delivers 119% higher peak brightness (1747 against 796 nits)
- Comes with 1508 mAh larger battery capacity: 4323 vs 2815 mAh
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Shows 54% longer battery life (45:56 vs 29:49 hours)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- 29% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (935K versus 725K)
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5
- The phone is 1-year and 11-months newer
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 Pro
- Weighs 51 grams less
- Better grip in hands – the body is 6.1 mm narrower
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Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
You can enter your local price of these phones (in USD or any other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1290 x 2796 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 460 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1000 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1600 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Ceramic Shield | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.3% | 86% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | 99.6% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 277 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 3.6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 160.7 mm (6.33 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 77.6 mm (3.06 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.85 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 240 g (8.47 oz) | 189 g (6.67 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold, Purple | Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A16 Bionic | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 3460 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Apple GPU | Apple GPU |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 248335 | 201506 |
| GPU | 394336 | 276492 |
| Memory | 153536 | 119935 |
| UX | 147260 | 129653 |
| Total score | 935710 | 725169 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 46 °C | 38.1 °C |
| Stability | 82% | 77% |
| Graphics test | 58 FPS | 44 FPS |
| Graphics score | 9835 | 7407 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256, 512, 1024 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 16 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.2) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.2) |
| OS size | - | 14 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4323 mAh | 2815 mAh |
| Charge power | 27 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (7.5 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (48% in 30 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:52 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Web browsing | 15:02 hr | 09:54 hr |
| Watching video | 21:10 hr | 12:40 hr |
| Gaming | 07:13 hr | 05:32 hr |
| Standby | 156 hr | 104 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 2x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 4 (48 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 48 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 24 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/1.28", Sony IMX803 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.8 - Focal length: 77 mm - Sensor: 1/3.5" (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4" (CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/2.55" (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS) |
| Depth lens | Yes | Yes |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4290 x 2800 |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" | - |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | - | No |
| USB version | 2 | - |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2022 | October 2020 |
| Release date | September 2022 | October 2020 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 71