iPhone 12/12 mini: all its features, prices and our opinion

The iPhone 12 was released at the end of 2020. It arrived as the direct successor tothe iPhone 11 revealed about a year earlier. It therefore starts on solid foundations and improves the winning recipe of the previous model. Among the most notable differences, we find changes in design, sensors, but also in the overall performance of the device.

You should know that the iPhone 12 was not the only one to be presented by Apple during its traditional end-of-year 2020 keynote. In fact, the brand also unveiled the following models: the iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The iPhone 12 is one of the least expensive options in this quartet. We can then wonder if its components really measure up in comparison to other high-end smartphones from the same manufacturer. This also applies to the 12 mini model, which is entitled to the same features as the iPhone 12, just with a reduced size.

Let's see together what these iPhone 12 and 12 mini have in their stomachs.

The latest news on the iPhone 12

The latest tutorials on iPhone and iOS

The main features of the iPhone 12

Design: the long-awaited return to basics

You surely haven't missed it: the appearance of the iPhone 12 is a little different from that of the iPhone 11. Indeed, while since the arrival of the iPhone 6 on the market Apple has adopted more curved lines for the shell of its mobiles, the iPhone 12 recalls the appearance of the old iPhone 4, or even thelatest iPad Pro launched in Q2 2020.

We are entitled to edges whose angles are this time perpendicular and not rounded, even if the corners are still rounded. The iPhone 12 has a metal frame, while at the front and back we find faces equipped with a new Ceramic Shield glass protected by Corning with its Gorilla Glass Victus. We still recommend that you buy a case separately: we are talking about materials that remain quite fragile in the event of a violent impact (even with AppleCare+ insurance or from an independent repairer; repair costs are high). On the back, the apple-shaped logo that characterizes Apple so well is still in the center, as has been the case for several months now.

The iPhone 12 is resistant to water and dust: certified thanks to the IP68 protection index, it can be submerged for around thirty minutes at a maximum depth of two meters, although this is obviously to be avoided. Note also that, although some were counting on a “notch” of reduced size and that the majority of competitors now offer punches or even pop-up cameras, the iPhone 12 is adorned with an imposing notch, which measures more than half of the width of the device, at the top of its screen. Inside are in fact hidden multiple sensors, including TrueDepth which is used for Face ID face recognition.

Finish the LCD screen

We already suspected that the second iPhone SE would be the last iPhone to integrate an IPS screen (subcontractors had stopped producing them for Apple) and the rule was confirmed with the launch of the iPhone 12. Indeed , the technical sheet of the smartphone now relies on OLED only, a slightly less energy-intensive solution.

The touch screen of the iPhone 12 mini measures 5.4 inches, which makes it particularly compact (it's even the smallest iPhone to date, because the SE has much wider bezels) with its ratio format/slab of 79%. For the iPhone 12, count on 6.1 inches of screen diagonal.

For the definition, it will be Full HD only, which in these days of phablets is probably sufficient for the majority of users.

The iPhone 12's Retina display can display sixteen million different colors, and it's covered in an oleophobic coating while being protected against scratches by Gorilla Glass Victus. Its maximum brightness reaches 625 nits according to the manufacturer, with True Tone included. This solution adapts to your environment to update the colors and brightness of iPhone 12 accordingly, so you can rest your eyes. It is also found on Macs. The only downside, but which should only disappoint a few demanding gamers: the 120 Hz refresh rate which had caused a lot of ink to flow is not there for this model, nor even for the other iPhones published in 2020 (12 Pro and 12 Pro Max precisely).

Connectivity, sensors, network and sound

Phew! Although without a charger, the iPhone 12 is still equipped with a wired charging port. So of course it's not USB-C, but still Lightning, this can even be an advantage when we know that the iPhone 13 would probably no longer be entitled to it (induction only, it seems). On the other hand, no jack socket therefore: you will have to choose AirPods or use an adapter.

The iPhone 12 is compatible with Bluetooth 5.0 (Low Energy) and Wi-Fi, with the added bonus of its own AirDrop and AirPlay file transfer services for music. 5G is also there, as for audio, it can count on stereo speakers. Let us be clear: this is an additional solution; you will of course have to connect a real speaker to the iPhone 12 for a good listening session.

The iPhone 12 also has GPS - useful for geolocating a lost iPhone 12 with the dedicated app - and an NFC chip. This will quickly become essential: it allows you to settle transactions with Apple Pay, by scanning your bank cards in the Wallet application. Moreover, you can also virtualize car keys, in addition to plane tickets and other Resident Advisor tickets. On the bus or metro in big cities, the functionality is called Transport Express: no more paperwork.

To finish with the sensors, note also that the iPhone 12 comes with a gyroscope, a compass, a barometer and finally a proximity sensor which automatically turns off the screen when it is in your pocket or close to your ear in progress call.

What performance for the iPhone 12?

Processor and RAM

Now let's take a look at the innards of the iPhone 12, starting with the processor. Here, we are entitled to a proprietary SoC as usual: I named the Apple A14 Bionic, equipped with an artificial intelligence Neural Engine. While its predecessor was engraved with a precision of seven nanometers, this part, still produced by the Taiwanese supplier TSMC, now benefits from an engraving fineness of only 5 nm. On paper, it is around 40% more powerful than the Apple A13 Bionic of the iPhone 11, and would consume 30% less energy according to the tests carried out so far. The associated quad-core GPU, for its part, would even be 50% more efficient than the graphics chip from the year before.

In terms of numbers, the frequency reaches 3,090 MHz and the CPU is made up of six cores. This is therefore the first chip under Apple's ARM architecture to exceed 3 GHz. Understandable when we know that future Macs from the Silicon program will probably be entitled to it too. Benchmark results published downstream gave the following scores: 1,658 at single core versus 4,612 at full power. Very heavy with this iPhone 12, therefore, especially since its A14 Bionic is here coupled with 4 GB of RAM.

In short, the iPhone 12 is a particularly fast mobile phone, which should delight even the most adventurous with Apple Arcade (4.99 euros per month). It doesn't lag, especially since we can count here on know-how which jointly optimizes the software (iOS 14, we'll see later) AND the processor at the same time: both are from Apple which benefits from it to synchronize them according to each other. Conversely, Qualcomm provides more “universal” chips to Android manufacturers.

A less supplied battery, yes but…

This is THE bad surprise of this iPhone 12: its non-removable lithium-ion battery only offers 2,227 mAh. In comparison, the iPhone 11 displays 3,110 mAh. Apple does not, however, communicate on the real capacity of its batteries, the data also coming from other sources who took the time to disassemble the device. However, the firm reassures with details that are easier to understand: the iPhone 12 can last for seventeen hours in a row, which suggests all-day use without the risk of being cut off.

These figures should however be considered with caution: in fact, officially, the real power is not confirmed, and we know that over time it is one of the components which deteriorates the most. Hence the indexBattery Statuswhich can be found in the Settings app, which provides information on its handling in real time. On the other hand, some with intensive use may underestimate the iPhone 12 and its autonomy, while on the contrary users who are not very connected will praise its long-term endurance. You will therefore have to have it in hand to form your own idea.

Another argument to qualify this gap between the battery of the iPhone 11 and that of the iPhone 12: the A14 processor, which as we saw above consumes less than before, while working perfectly with iOS, economical in electricity too. Let's finish by specifying that the iPhone 12 is entitled to wireless charging, but can also be plugged in using a 20 watt charger (two more than in 2019). The only downside: neither of these two accessories is supplied with the box. It makes you cringe, but we expected it after the jack plug, especially since in the US, it's the headphones that have been completely left aside.

Does the iPhone 12 take good photos?

If many choose an iPhone to take quality photos, opting for the iPhone 12 is probably not a good idea to achieve this. In fact, this smartphone only has two lenses on the back, EXMOR from the Japanese service provider Sony. They offer a definition of 12 Mpx each, with wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle, but without optical zoom. These are also capable of filming in 4K, with slow motion up to sixty frames per second, enough to film a ski vacation, but not enough to end up in a spotShot on iPhone. The images are entitled to panorama mode and HDR quality.

On the front, the iPhone 12 offers a twelve-megapixel selfie camera with an f/2.2 aperture featuring the famous “Portrait mode“. But in the notch, we mainly find TrueDepth technology, which scans the features of your face in three dimensions so that only you can unlock the device using the Face ID functionality. And it must be said that the result is there: just look at the iPhone 12 and iOS 14 is yours!

As for the flash, it is provided by four powerful LEDs on the back. For the front, it is in fact the Retina screen which will light up, hence the commercial nameRetina flash.

iOS 14, getting better and better

As we said, the iPhone 12 arrives under Apple's made in Cupertino operating system: here is iOS 14. Serious new features can be found in the software,which you can find in detail in our dedicated list. But here is still an overview of the most interesting changes, for those in a hurry.

On the UI side, the widgets which were previously confined to the left pane of the home screen can now be moved to any page of it, among the other apps. The latter, on the iPhone 12, are also located in the App Library, orApp library, a new drawer reminiscent of the one that exists on Android. Much easier to store your icons this way.

iOS 14 also brings picture-in-picture or (Picture in picture), to continue watching a video while using another app. Very practical for tutorials in particular. We'll stop there, but obviously you can always count on the App Store to download millions of third-party services created by developers around the world.

Prices of different iPhone 12 models

The iPhone 12 is available in several colors: black, white, blue, red, green PRODUCT (RED). Good to know: part of the profits from this edition, whose red color is particularly striking, is donated to associations which fight against diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria or, more recently, COVID-19. A nice gesture to make to minimize our cognitive dissonance.

iPhone 12 prices, however, do not change based on design, but rather on internal storage capacity. Here are the prices for each version and the memory associated with it:

• 909 euros for the iPhone 12 with 64 GB of internal storage
• 959 euros for the iPhone 12 with 128 GB of internal storage
• 1,079 euros for the iPhone 12 with 256 GB of internal storage

We note that Apple also unveiled an iPhone 12 mini. The features are similar, but this model is smaller at 5.4 inches compared to 6.1 inches for the iPhone 12. Here are the prices:

• 809 euros for the iPhone 12 mini with 64 GB of internal storage
• 859 euros for the iPhone 12 mini with 128 GB of internal storage
• 979 euros for the iPhone 12 mini with 256 GB of internal storage

Remember: If you have an old iPhone at home, returning it to Apple could save you money on the purchase. In fact, with its Daisy robots, the firm is responsible for dismantling them to repurpose them. We then find them reconditioned.

Our opinion on the new iPhone 12

We are coming to the end of our iPhone 12 technical sheet. It is therefore time to make our conclusions on this smartphone. We can consider it as the gateway to the best iPhone, but it is clear that the iPhone 12 Max, the iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max are still more efficient devices on certain points such as the camera (hello LiDAR radar) or the screen (larger).

The iPhone 12 mini remains the cheapest among all the other iPhone 12s combined. Its positioning is perhaps too close to that of the iPhone SE, which costs less than 500 euros with an Apple A13 processor, 3 GB of RAM but the same format and iOS 14 too. Otherwise, we can't regret much with this iPhone 12: it is fast, much more elegant than the previous version, and its compact size is particularly welcome for all small hands or those who miss the time when manufacturers worked harder to the miniaturization of mobiles as well as to the edge-to-edge screens of phablets.

Plus, we have all of Apple's know-how inside, with even Face ID. We therefore cannot recommend the iPhone 12 highly enough to anyone on a small budget who cannot afford the higher models, or who simply do not need them. A very positive assessment, but without much surprise: in fact, this iPhone 12 is a simple improvement of the iPhone 11, without major innovation inside, and the rumors allowed us to predict everything in advance.

Finally, we advise you to take a look at the video test of the iPhone 12 Pro, signed by our colleagues at Presse-citron. The 12 Pro actually shares many features with the iPhone 12, which can be interesting even if it's the 12 that catches your eye.