While the iPhone 12 brings plenty of new features to the table like 5G and a new form factor I wanted to focus on its new camera features. The iPhone 12 Pro has 3 lenses just like the 11 Pro but offers a lower aperture which promises 27% more light on the primary wide lens.
In addition to improved optics the software has been updated for Smart HDR with the introduction of Smart HDR 3 that promises improves to photos across the board.
I thought I’d share a quick comparison of the iPhone 12 Pro with the iPhone 11 Pro.
Since I had both phones here is a quick photography comparison of the iPhone 12 Pro to the iPhone 11 Pro.
iPhone 11 Pro vs 12 Pro Photo Comparisons
The iPhone 12 Pro features Smart HDR 3 which should improve most aspects of the photography on the 12 Pro. One of the most apparent things when taking photos is how much brighter they are and have richer color.
When zooming in on photos I noticed that the iPhone 11 Pro offers sharper photos at times but I think most people will prefer the iPhone 12 Pro photos.
One large change from the iPhone 11 Pro is the addition of night mode on the ultrawide lens in the 12 Pro. This was one of my largest complains when I reviewed the iPhone 11 Pro’s night mode.
In the comparison above you can see how much more light the photos have when you have the ability to use night mode on the ultrawide lens.
Just for reference here is the same scene with the normal wide lens and night mode enabled on both phones.
You can seen that the color is a bit richer in the iPhone 12 Pro night mode but overall the photos are extremely similar.
The lens glare that has been present in all iPhones is still present here as you can see the refraction of the cars headlights in the top of the frame here.
The iPhone 12 Pro also has the addition of LiDAR which promises better autofocus at night and improved portrait mode.
In addition to all the improvements to the rear camera the selfie camera also has improvements to it. One major addition is night mode on the selfie camera as well. Granted when it is exposing the night mode selfie it flashes a tan color on the screen so it’s somewhat of an unfair comparison.
Here are some additional comparison images as well.
Overall I feel that the improvements to the iPhone 12 Pro camera are minimal when compared to the iPhone 11 Pro. I think if you have any other phone this will be a large upgrade but I still would love to see Apple fix the refraction lens glares and add stabilization to the ultra wide angle lens.
Additionally the iPhone 12 Pro offers the addition of ProRAW which allows you to take RAW photos in the iOS camera app with Apple’s processing affects on top.
Thank you! I have a 6+ so as soon as I get a new job I am all about the 12 Pro Max (or whatever it is called).
Awesome comparison! Super fun to ride around DC helping with this 😃
The 11 Pro is definitely a great camera, but looking at your photos it definitely seems like the 12 Pro is a noticeable improvement, so I’m glad I upgraded 😁
Very thorough but I’ll just keep my iPhone 11 pro 🙂
I agree! the 11 Pro is still an awesome phone