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Apple iPhone XS Max vs iPhone 12

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Apple iPhone XS Max vs iPhone 12

59 out of 100
Apple iPhone XS Max
VS
71 out of 100
Apple iPhone 12
Apple iPhone XS Max
Apple iPhone 12

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.5-inch Apple iPhone XS Max (with Apple A12 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2018, against the Apple iPhone 12, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 25 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XS Max
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
  • Comes with 359 mAh larger battery capacity: 3174 vs 2815 mAh
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12
  • 59% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1061K versus 665K)
  • Shows 28% longer battery life (32:27 vs 25:23 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
  • The phone is 2-years and 1-month newer
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone XS Max and iPhone 12 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
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
iPhone XS Max
vs
iPhone 12

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.5 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1242 x 2688 pixels 1170 x 2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.4:9 19.5:9
PPI 456 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 625 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Tempered glass Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 85.41% 86%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 98.8% 99.4%
PWM 240 Hz 226 Hz
Response time 11.2 ms 16 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
iPhone XS Max +3%
663 nits
iPhone 12
646 nits

Design and build

Height 157.5 mm (6.2 inches) 146.7 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 77.4 mm (3.05 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) 7.4 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 208 g (7.34 oz) 164 g (5.78 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Gold, Gray White, Black, Blue, Green, Red
Fingerprint scanner No No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Apple iPhone XS Max and Apple iPhone 12 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Apple A12 Bionic Apple A14 Bionic
Max clock 2490 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex 		- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm
Lithography process 7 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Apple A12 GPU Apple A14 GPU
GPU shading units 256 256
GPU clock 1100 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS ~576 GFLOPS ~654.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
iPhone XS Max
665855
iPhone 12 +59%
1061696
CPU 167833 221376
GPU 157230 336882
Memory 121395 136582
UX 215799 363783
Total score 665855 1061696
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 45.2 °C 41.2 °C
Stability 66% 77%
Graphics test 34 FPS 45 FPS
Graphics score 5704 7603

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64, 256, 512 GB 64, 128, 256 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17)
OS size 16 GB 7 GB

Battery

Capacity 3174 mAh 2815 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes, Qi (10 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (58% in 30 min)
Full charging time 03:29 hr 1:30 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:13 hr 11:23 hr
Watching video 10:50 hr 12:11 hr
Gaming 04:38 hr 05:05 hr
Standby 80 hr 119 hr
General battery life
iPhone XS Max
25:23 hr
iPhone 12 +28%
32:27 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 2x Digital
Flash Quad LED Quad 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°
Lenses 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) 2 (12 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 28 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.5", Apple iSight X (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- 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/2.4
- 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
- Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS)
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support 		- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Samples Photo samples of Apple iPhone XS Max from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 7 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 3088 x 2316 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 32 mm 23 mm
Sensor type BSI CMOS BSI CMOS
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) 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 5
Bluetooth features SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type No No
USB version 2 -
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG 		- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo 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 * 16 18
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
iPhone XS Max
77.2 dB
iPhone 12 +5%
81.1 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2018 October 2020
Release date September 2018 October 2020
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 0.99 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor 		- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
* Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 12 is definitely a better buy.

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