When faced with the option of the new iPhone or its elder sibling it’s always going to be difficult to pick a favourite. Which phone you choose will depend on what is more important to you.
Stacked up side by side you’d expect that the newest iPhone will have bigger and better specs and of course you would be right. If however there are just a few aspects that matter to you, say camera, affordability and design then you can easily get away with an older model without making a huge sacrifice.
Here are how the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 compare:
iPhone 11 vs iPhone 12: Specs
| iPhone 11 | iPhone 12 | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.1-inch LCD | 6.1-inch OLED |
| Resolution | Liquid Retina | Super Retina |
| Rear Cameras | 2x 12MP | 2x 12MP |
| Front Camera | 12MP | 12MP |
| Processor | A13 chipset | A14 chipset |
| Storage | 64GB - 256GB | 64GB - 256GB |
| Water resistance | IP68 - Up to 2m depth |
IP68 - Up to 6m depth |
| Connectivity | 4G |
5G |
| Price | From $999 | From $1,349 |
iPhone 11 vs iPhone 12: Price
When you’re comparing last year’s iPhone to the newest release it’s pretty clear that one will reign supreme in price. Here are how the two stack up side by side;
| Storage | iPhone 11 | iPhone 12 |
|---|---|---|
| 64GB | $999 | $1,349 |
| 128GB | $1,079 | $1,429 |
| 256GB | $1,249 | $1,599 |
These price points are reflected when purchasing outright or on a plan. All Australian telcos offering the iPhone 11 or iPhone 12 on a plan follow the same structure - the outright cost is divided by the number of months in the repayment period (12, 24, or 36 months) and then added to the cost of your mobile network plan.
Over a 24 month period you’ll end up paying about $15 more each month by opting for the iPhone 12 over the iPhone 11, or $10 if you choose a 36-month plan instead.
Telcos occasionally discount older handset models, but this is more likely to happen across discontinued models such as the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. Unfortunately where Apple is concerned, the price is the price so you’re unlikely to be able to nab a significant price reduction on iPhones. Unfortunately, we cannot show plan pricing on these devices as both the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 are out of stock across Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.
iPhone 11 vs iPhone 12: Camera
Both the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 share an almost identical camera set up with a 12MP primary lens and a 12MP ultra-wide lens. While the lens are similar on paper, the iPhone 12 should take better photos in most situations. Apple says the iPhone 12 will perform 27% better in lowlight than the iPhone 11, for example.
In addition, the iPhone 12's ultra-wide lens supports long exposure night mode for even better lowlight photography, while the iPhone 11's ultra-wide lens doesn't.
iPhone 11 vs iPhone 12: Connectivity
The iPhone 12 family is the first generation of all 5G Apple handsets available. Despite it’s slow emergence within the Australian market 5G mobile networks are growing. Although right now 5G connectivity goes into the ‘nice to have’ basket, if you’re going to lock yourself in to a new phone for the next two to three years it’s probably worth future-proofing yourself.
iPhone 11 vs iPhone 12: Design
Style wise, the two devices are glaringly similar apart from the more squared-off edges on the iPhone 12.
The new iPhone is also slightly trimmer in every sense of the word, but maintains the same 6.1-inch display size. Where the iPhone 11 measures in at 150.9mm x 75.7mm x 8.3mm, the iPhone 12 sits at 146.7mm x 71.5mm x 7.4mm. These snippings amount to a handset that is around 32 grams lighter than its predecessor.
Other minor differences between the two include a more squared off camera bump on the iPhone 12 and varying colour shades. You can get the iPhone 11 in purple, yellow, green, black, white and red, while the iPhone 12 comes in blue, green, white, black and a slightly different tone of red.
Notably the iPhone 12 has also been equipped with a Ceramic Shield glass front, which apparently makes it four times more drop resistant. With this upgrade comes further water resistance as well with the handset now rated to six metres for up to 30 minutes, as opposed to the two metres for 30 minutes on the iPhone 11.
iPhone 11 vs iPhone 12: Display
Once again the iPhone 12 has a few small step ups when compared to the iPhone 11. Where the 11 has a Liquid Retina HD display, the 12 has a Super Retina XDR display which in the simplest terms means iPhone 12 = better.
In more complex terms, the 12 has a high resolution display with sharper and more vibrant colours and improved contrast. All around it will just look sleeker than the iPhone 11. You'll see deeper blacks, text will be clearer, and life will be better in general. There's nothing wrong with the iPhone 11 display, but the iPhone 12 is just that bit nicer.
iPhone 11 vs iPhone 12: Performance
Equipped with the latest processor, the iPhone 12 is said to be 50% faster than the iPhone 11 according to Apple.
The A13 Bionic chipset as seen in the iPhone 11 is capable of performing six-trillion operations per second whereas the A14 is able to deliver 11-trillion operations in the same timespan. Clearly that is a significant improvement, but we’re not entirely sure how this looks in real life until we get our hands on an iPhone 12.
Both phones should perform admirably, however.
iPhone 11 vs iPhone 12: Battery
According to Apple’s stats the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 are almost identical when it comes to power and battery life. Each will last for 17 hours of video playback and 65 hours of audio playback, although the iPhone 12 outlasts the 11 by one hour for streamed video allowing for 11 and 10 hours respectively.
Practically speaking the iPhone 11 lasted about a day-and-a-half of normal use so we would expect that the iPhone 12 would be on par with that according to these specs.
It is important to note however that we have seen 5G blast through battery on other handsets such as the OPPO Find X2 Pro, so there is a possibility that this may negatively affect the iPhone 12. Unlike other 5G connected phones however, the iPhone 12 is designed to only use 5G mobile networks when you need it. If 4G will do the trick then your phone will stick to that which should, in theory help extend the battery life.
Anula Wiwatowska
Offsite Editorial Lead | Instagram
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