The Pros of living life to the Max
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max.
I’ve been using the iPhone 12 Pro Max for over a month now to give it a full and comprehensive review. Software updates and even additional features, which aren’t available in the first week, can often make a massive difference to how a phone will perform over time.
Unfortunately, a feature I was most excited to test only became available this week, so my findings on ProRAW is based on the latest beta version of the software. There’s a lot to get excited about this Apple-exclusive feature and what it may mean for photography in the future and not just in smartphones.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max is essentially a bigger version of the iPhone 12 Pro and slightly larger and heavier than the iPhone 11 Pro Max. I love the new polished stainless steel flat sides and round corners. Around the back is a frosted glass finish, which I’m a big fan of because it doesn’t show up fingerprints and looks great.
In the top left corner is the large squared-off camera module which rises above the back substantially more than on the iPhone 12 Pro and even the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Each of the three camera lenses are also larger and set into a polished glass base which is a nice contrast to the frosted back.
Around the front is the stunning Super Retina XDR display with reduced bezels and massive 6.7-inch screen size. It has the same Ceramic Shield screen technology found on the other iPhone 12s, which Apple says is four times tougher than previous models.
There’s no getting away from the size of the iPhone 12 Pro Max which is massive, but after using it for the last month, I can say it’s something you get used to. I’ve always believed bigger is better when it comes to screen size and I’d rather have the extra real estate and live with any inconveniences the extra size might offer.
I have large-ish hands and although I still can’t reach the top corner with one hand, I get around this with one-handed mode when required. When I type I like to use both thumbs and hold the phone in two hands anyway.
That all being said, the iPhone 12 Pro Max isn’t going to be for everyone and many may choose the smaller Mini for its diminutive form factor instead. This year, more than any other, iPhone fans have more choice than ever.
The new larger screen in this year's Pro Max is stunning and one of the reasons to buy the Max. It supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision and has a peak brightness of 1200 nits. Watching HDR content is incredible using streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube and of course, Apple’s own TV service. Everything looks incredible on this screen including photos, games and social feeds like Instagram or Facebook.
I was already impressed by the iPhone 12’s stereo speakers but the Pro Max is slightly louder, with stronger bass and a wider stereo soundstage which is especially when watching movies. The iPhone 12 Pro Max is easily the best smartphone in 2020 for media consumption. It has it all — the large screen and class-leading sound system.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max uses the A14 Bionic process which breezes through any game you run on it. There’s a ton of high-quality games on the App Store and subscribers to Apple Arcade can choose from over 100 quality titles for €5 a month. Again, the sound and screen make this one of the best gaming smartphones around without it looking like a dedicated gamer phone.
The A14 Bionic is based on Apple's first 5-nanometer process technology. Like the iPhone 12 Pro, the Pro Max has 6GB of RAM with storage starting at 128GB and going up to 512GB. The larger screen makes editing videos and photos a more enjoyable experience too and the A14 Bionic has all the power to make it fly through any workload you throw at it.
If you buy an iPhone 12 you’ll need a power adaptor with a USB-C connection if you intend on using the new USB-C to Lightning cable that comes in the box. Alternatively, you can purchase the new 20W USB-C power adaptor from Apple for €24.55. The new iPads come with USB-C power adaptors too and will work fine with the new iPhones.
The MagSafe charging is like a massive version of an Apple Watch charger but takes the pain out of charging. I use lots of different wireless chargers and it can be a pain trying to find the sweet spot where the phone, any phone, will start charging at its optimal rate.
With MagSafe, thanks to magnets on the back of the iPhone 12, it finds the right spot every time. I did have issues with the iPhone 12 Pro Max refusing to wirelessly charge occasionally, on regular Qi-compatible chargers. The only way I was able to fix this was to restart the phone. I have not experienced this with any of the other iPhones, so it may be an issue with my review device.
Battery life is excellent and despite supporting 5G, I didn’t see much of a difference from the already excellent iPhone 11 Pro Max. Most days with a mix of video streaming, listening to audio over Bluetooth headphones, gaming and gaming I had no problem getting through a day on a single charge.
In the world we live in where we have to wear masks all the time, Face ID isn’t ideal. It’s not the end of the world because you can still use a pin code. I don’t understand why more people don’t use their phones for contactless payments?
It’s far more convenient and a lot more secure than using a card. By far the easiest way to do contactless payments is the Apple Watch. Just double-tap on the side button and bring the watch close to the terminal for a fast and secure way to pay. Also, you’re not stuck to the €50 limit when you use a phone or watch.
The new cameras on the iPhone 12 Pro Max are similar to the ones found on the Pro model with the same selfie and ultrawide lenses and sensors. On the Max, the main camera has a larger sensor and the telephoto camera is 2.5x instead of the Pro’s 2x optical lens.
The main camera is 12MP but is 47% larger than the iPhone 12 Pro and can capture up to 87% more light. The increase from 2x to 2.5x on the telephoto lens is negligible on the surface or untrained eye, but for those who like to take tight headshots, the difference is more significant. Traditional cameras commonly use 75-135mm (35mm equivalent) focal lengths for portraiture for a more true-to-life look. Once you go below 50mm for headshots the face starts to look distorted and unflattering.
The aperture of this lens is only f/2.2, which is fine when there’s plenty of light, but in low light, the camera will automatically use the main lens without changing the focal length. This is a technique used by most smartphone cameras because the main lens has a wider aperture to let in more light allowing for a faster shutter speed and a lower ISO value.
The main camera uses sensor-shift stabilisation rather than the lens optics to compensate for camera shake. This isn’t new to mirrorless cameras but it’s the first time I’ve seen it on a phone. Instead of moving a lens element to compensate for camera shake, the sensor itself moves to keep the image steady. This is very effective in the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
The two areas where image stabilisation is important is in low light photography and videography. Video captured using any of the three lenses is like the camera is on rails, especially when shot on the main lens. Video stabilisation on the iPhone 12 Pro is excellent, however, the Max is slightly better.
The new iPhone 12’s can now shoot Night mode with all cameras and the results are spectacular. The larger sensor on the Max means the camera doesn’t have to use Night mode as often either with the larger sensor being able to gather more light naturally.
Video is where the iPhone 12 Pro Max excels and is easily best-in-class. The iPhone 12 Pro Max can capture video in Dolby Vision HDR in 4K at 60 fps and features improved image stabilisation. The 10-bit HDR video recording means iPhone 12 Pro Max captures 60x more colours, now up to 700 million. Comparing footage taken with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro Max using Dolby Vision HDR, I could see a night and day difference. Of course, playback is dependent on your display's capabilities, but if it doesn’t support HDR, it will still play in SDR (standard dynamic range).
I’ve been using this in its beta form for the last couple of weeks and only a day on the final release and I can already say it’s a game-changer.
Those who like to point-and-shoot will not get too excited about this but anyone interested in processing their photos in post will be blown away by the scope of adjustments that can be made. By default, ProRAW is off and you have to enable it in the Camera app in settings.
Even then you can toggle it on or off in the Camera app and it works on all four cameras.
Being able to shoot and edit RAW photos on an iPhone isn’t new. However, the only way to access the RAW data from an iPhone photo is to use third-party software and then you are getting exactly what the sensor captured. In good light, this can allow greater control over how much detail you can recover from highlights and shadows but in darker lighting conditions you can end up with a noisy image that looks garbage.
ProRAW captures all of the RAW information but includes all of the computation data as well from Smart HDR 3, Deep Fusion and all the other magic Apple cooks up using their CPU, GPU and Neural Engine. Unlike a fully baked HEIF photo file, the ProRAW files provide incredible colour bit depth and dynamic range. This means you can take full control over the way you want your photos to look by editing them directly in the Photos app or in software like Adobe Lightroom. The ProRAW files are incredibly clean with little noise and incredible detail recovery possible in highlights and shadows.
Again, this isn’t for everyone but for those used to editing RAW files, it’s a big deal and a big enough reason to want an iPhone. Unfortunately, and I’m not sure why ProRAW is currently only available on the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max is a massive phone and won’t be for everyone. I’ve always preferred larger phones and the iPhone 12 Pro Max is my favourite to date. The ProRAW is a big selling feature for me as is the fabulous screen, sound system, battery life and superb cameras. If big phones are not for you then check out the iPhone 12 Pro which has most of the same features as the Pro Max.
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