Apple iPhone 15 vs iPhone 12 Pro

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Apple iPhone 15 vs iPhone 12 Pro

77 out of 100
Apple iPhone 15
VS
71 out of 100
Apple iPhone 12 Pro

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Apple iPhone 15 (with Apple A16 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2023, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 36 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15
  • 63% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1368K versus 838K)
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Comes with 534 mAh larger battery capacity: 3349 vs 2815 mAh
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5
  • Reverse charging feature
  • Weighs 18 grams less
  • 15% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2241 and 1953 points

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone 15 and iPhone 12 Pro crucial features
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
Scores with a red asterisk ( * ) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1179 x 2556 pixels 1170 x 2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 460 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 2000 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1600 nits -
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Ceramic Shield Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 86.1% 86%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space - 99.6%
PWM - 277 Hz
Response time - 3.6 ms
Contrast - ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)

Design and build

Height 147.6 mm (5.81 inches) 146.7 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 71.6 mm (2.82 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) 7.4 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 171 g (6.03 oz) 189 g (6.67 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Yellow Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue
Fingerprint scanner No No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Apple iPhone 15 and Apple iPhone 12 Pro in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Apple A16 Bionic Apple A14 Bionic
Max clock 3460 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Apple A16 GPU Apple A14 GPU
GPU shading units 640 256
GPU clock 1398 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS ~1789.4 GFLOPS ~654.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
1368531
CPU 381218 235725
GPU 470366 264025
Memory 198739 152158
UX 309335 182343
Total score 1368531 838760
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature - 38.1 °C
Stability - 76%
Graphics test - 44 FPS
Graphics score - 7430

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256, 512 GB 128, 256, 512 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 17 iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17)
OS size - 14 GB

Battery

Capacity 3349 mAh 2815 mAh
Max charge power 20 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (7.5 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes (60% in 30 min) Yes (59% in 30 min)
Full charging time - 1:30 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 09:54 hr
Watching video - 12:40 hr
Gaming - 05:29 hr
Standby - 104 hr
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 48 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 8000 x 6000 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 2x Optical, 2x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 2 (48 MP + 12 MP) 4 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 48 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0
- Focal length: 52 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4" (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS)
Depth lens - Yes
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples - Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro 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 type CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.6" -
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) 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 2 -
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM * 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
eSIM support * Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat * 18 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 2023 October 2020
Release date September 2023 October 2020
SAR (head) - 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) - 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 -
* Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the display, performance, gaming, battery life, connectivity, and design are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 15 . But if the camera is more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 12 Pro .

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