Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 12 Pro Max
89
out of 100
VS
63
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.9-inch Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max (with Apple A18 Pro) that was released on September 9, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 4 years before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Delivers 109% higher peak brightness (1811 against 868 nits)
- Shows 53% longer battery life (35:01 vs 22:52 hours)
- Comes with 998 mAh larger battery capacity: 4685 vs 3687 mAh
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- 30% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1750K versus 1342K)
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- The phone is 4 years newer
- Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 20W)
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
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.9 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1320 x 2868 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 (1-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 2000 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1600 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 92.3% | 87.7% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.6% | 99.4% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 238 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 8 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163 mm (6.42 inches) | 160.8 mm (6.33 inches) |
| Width | 77.6 mm (3.06 inches) | 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 227 g (8.01 oz) | 226 g (7.97 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Silver, Gold | Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
| Repairability | Average (2.83/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Good (C) · 90 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A18 Pro | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 4040 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | 6 core Apple GPU | Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 768 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1490 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2289 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 33340 | 16481 |
| Single-core score | 3507 | 1551 |
| Multi-core score | 8789 | 4870 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 508577 | 385467 |
| GPU | 540541 | 320972 |
| Memory | 191233 | 167663 |
| UX | 509980 | 468241 |
| Total score | 1750331 | 1342343 |
| Samples | [4 tests] | [5 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 74% | - |
| Graphics test | 13 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 1718 | - |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 74% |
| Graphics test | 28 FPS | 11 FPS |
| Section 1 | 34 FPS | 14 FPS |
| Section 2 | 29 FPS | 11 FPS |
| Section 3 | 21 FPS | 8 FPS |
| Graphics score | 7448 | 2861 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 71% |
| Graphics test | - | 13 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2317 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-23 -> Rappzzzz | AnTuTu 11 | 2043169 |
| 📘 2026-09-20 (thuanday) | AnTuTu 11 | 2043169 |
| 📘 2026-09-17 (Jonibek) | AnTuTu 11 | 1692383 |
| 📘 2026-07-21 (l1tsemerr) | AnTuTu 11 | 1650968 |
| 📘 2026-04-27 -> hoduyhaodzso1tg | Battery life | SOT 12:58 / – |
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-26 (kudryash) | AnTuTu 11 | 1196958 |
| 📘 2026-06-15 (hungph) | AnTuTu 11 | 1342343 |
| 📘 2026-06-09 (Khang) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1159 / 3300 |
| 📘 2026-03-13 (DNHK) | AnTuTu 11 | 1376823 |
| 📘 2026-03-13 (Naw) | AnTuTu 11 | 1279989 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR4X |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| OS size | 18 GB | 16 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | - |
| Security updates | 7 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 4685 mAh | 3687 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | No |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (46% in 30 min) | Yes (55% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:57 hr | 1:32 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | 14:34 hr | 08:35 hr |
| Watching video | 22:01 hr | 13:38 hr |
| Gaming | 07:12 hr | 05:29 hr |
| Standby | 163 hr | 116 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#14th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8064 x 6048 | 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 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 48 MP 4) Depth |
1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX803 | Sony IMX603 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) | 1/1.9" (≈ 0.53 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 1.7 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.8 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 120 mm | 65 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX913 | Sony IMX613 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX972 | Sony IMX372 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 160 | 70 |
| Preview | 93 | 80 |
| Zoom | 130 | 115 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max 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 |
| Sensor | Sony IMX714 | Sony IMX514 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | No |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | Yes | Yes |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | 149 | 127 |
| Video | 155 | 140 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | 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 |
| DisplayPort | Yes | - |
| 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* | - | 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 2024 | October 2020 |
| Release date | September 2024 | November 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1199 | $1100 |
| Successor | - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max |
| SAR (head) | 1.22 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.45 W/kg | 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 | - |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16 Pro Max:
- The US version of the smartphone exclusively supports eSIM, while the international model features both a physical SIM slot and eSIM capability. In China, the device is available with dual physical SIM card slots only.
*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 16 Pro Max is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 251