Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 12 Pro Max
93
out of 100
VS
75
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.7-inch Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max (with Apple A17 Pro) that was released on September 12, 2023, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 35 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 15 Pro Max
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Comes with 735 mAh larger battery capacity: 4422 vs 3687 mAh
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Modern USB Type-C port
- 36% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1579K versus 1165K)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- The phone is 2-years and 11-months newer
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 18W)
Review
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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
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.
Promotion
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1290 x 2796 pixels | 1284 x 2778 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 460 ppi | 458 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 2000 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 | 88.2% | 87.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | - | 99.4% |
| PWM | - | 238 Hz |
| Response time | - | 8 ms |
| Contrast | - | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 159.9 mm (6.3 inches) | 160.8 mm (6.33 inches) |
| Width | 76.7 mm (3.02 inches) | 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 221 g (7.8 oz) | 226 g (7.97 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Silver, Blue | Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A17 Pro | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 3780 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: - 2 cores at 3.78 GHz: |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Apple A17 GPU | Apple A14 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 768 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1398 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2147.2 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 373446 | 298720 |
| GPU | 579682 | 375412 |
| Memory | 283791 | 179130 |
| UX | 341416 | 300670 |
| Total score | 1579294 | 1165199 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | - | 45 °C |
| Stability | - | 75% |
| Graphics test | 57 FPS | 47 FPS |
| Graphics score | 9661 | 7880 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 256, 512, 1024 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 17 | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| OS size | - | 16 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4422 mAh | 3687 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (7.5 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 30 min) | Yes (55% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:50 hr | 1:32 hr |
| Web browsing | - | 12:04 hr |
| Watching video | - | 14:25 hr |
| Gaming | - | 07:09 hr |
| Standby | - | 122 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 5x | 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 | 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: 1/1.3", Sony IMX803 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - 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/1.78 - 2.8 - Focal length: 120 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/1.9", Sony IMX913 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 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/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX633 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
- 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 | Yes |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max 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 |
| Pixel size | 1.12 microns | 1 microns |
| 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 6E (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 | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 3.2 | - |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | - | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | eSIM | 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 2023 | October 2020 |
| Release date | September 2023 | 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
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 62