Apple iPhone 14 vs iPhone 12 Pro Max

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Apple iPhone 14 (with Apple A15 Bionic) that was released on September 7, 2022, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 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

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 14
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • 15% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1343K versus 1165K)
  • The phone is 1-year and 11-months newer
  • Weighs 54 grams less
  • Better grip in hands – the body is 6.6 mm narrower
  • 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2240 and 1986 points
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • The rear camera has a 2.5x optical zoom
  • Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
  • Comes with 408 mAh larger battery capacity: 3687 vs 3279 mAh

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 12 Pro Max crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Adjust priorities
Feature
Priority (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery Life:
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.

Value for money

You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
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Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1170 x 2532 pixels 1284 x 2778 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 460 ppi 458 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 800 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1200 nits -
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Ceramic Shield Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 86% 87.4%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.5% 99.4%
PWM 60 Hz 238 Hz
Response time 12 ms 8 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
844 nits
868 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) 160.8 mm (6.33 inches)
Width 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) 78.1 mm (3.07 inches)
Thickness 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) 7.4 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 172 g (6.07 oz) 226 g (7.97 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Blue, Red, Purple, Yellow Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue
Fingerprint scanner No No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Apple iPhone 14 and Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Apple A15 Bionic Apple A14 Bionic
Max clock 3230 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm
Lithography process 5 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Apple A15 GPU Apple A14 GPU
GPU shading units 640 256
GPU clock 1338 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS ~1712.6 GFLOPS ~654.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
iPhone 14 +13%
2240
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
iPhone 14 +15%
1343253
CPU 318930 298720
GPU 432848 375412
Memory 205372 179130
UX 379808 300670
Total score 1343253 1165199
3DMark Wild Life Performance
iPhone 14 +19%
9385
Max surface temperature 42.4 °C 45 °C
Stability 82% 75%
Graphics test 56 FPS 47 FPS
Graphics score 9385 7880
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz -
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256, 512 GB 128, 256, 512 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 16 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17)
OS size 12 GB 16 GB

Battery

Capacity 3279 mAh 3687 mAh
Max charge power 20 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 (60% in 30 min) Yes (55% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:31 hr 1:32 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 13:45 hr 12:04 hr
Watching video 15:45 hr 14:25 hr
Gaming 05:15 hr 07:09 hr
Standby 122 hr 122 hr
General battery life
iPhone 14 +5%
37:21 hr
Mobile Phone Battery Life Ranking (65th and 121st place)

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Optical, 2.5x
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 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) 4 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.5
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.9 micron
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.7 micron
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 65 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX613 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 13 mm
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
Depth lens - Yes
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Apple iPhone 14 from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max from DxOMark
Selfie camera
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
Pixel size - 1 microns
Sensor type 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
Network
Number of SIM* - 1
Type of SIM card eSIM Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 18 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
80.9 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2022 October 2020
Release date September 2022 November 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
Bundled charger Not included -
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Apple iPhone 14. It has a better display, performance, gaming, connectivity, and design.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
121 (46.9%)
137 (53.1%)
Total votes: 258

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