(Pocket-lint) – The smartphone market is as crowded as ever – there’s plenty of choice, almost too much in fact.
If you’re reading this feature, you have at least narrowed your options down to Apple’s iPhone. Even that isn’t totally simple, though, with a range of models to choose from.
Apple offers the iPhone SE, the iPhone XR, the iPhone 11, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. With seven options, the big question is which one is the one for you? Let us explain the differences to help you figure out where you should spend your cash.
Quick summary
The iPhone 12 mini is the base model of the most recent range of iPhones, and the smallest and lightest in the line up, offering a dual camera, OLED display, aluminium build, five colour options and a processor bump over the older iPhone 11.
The iPhone 12 offers exactly the same hardware and features as the iPhone 12 mini but on a larger scale, with a 6.1-inch display like the iPhone 12 Pro.
The iPhone 12 Pro has the same hardware as the iPhone 12 but it offers a more premium build and a triple rear camera with a few extra camera features compared to the iPhone 12 too.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max is the iPhone that has it all. Its hardware is the same as the iPhone 12 Pro, but it offers a more advanced camera and everything in a larger package with a 6.7-inch OLED display.
The iPhone 11 offers slightly older hardware to the iPhone 12 mini and 12 along with an LCD display over OLED, but it still comes in a good range of colours, offers water and dust resistance and has a dual camera.
The iPhone XR is the entry-level model into the Face ID iPhones with an all-screen front design and Face ID over Touch ID. It has the oldest core hardware of all the current phones offered by Apple though and it offers a single camera on the rear.
The iPhone SE (2020) carries over the design from the iPhone 8 with Touch ID over Face ID, so the display isn’t quite as impressive as the other models in the company’s portfolio. It has the same core hardware as the iPhone 11 models and it has a single camera on the rear.
Apple iPhone 12 mini
- Dimensions: 131.5. x 64.2 x 7.4mm, 135g, IP68 water resistant
- Display: 5.4-inch, 2340 x 1080 (476ppi), Haptic Touch, True Tone, HDR
- Storage: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
- Battery: Up to 15 hours
- Colours: Black, Green, Blue, White, Product(RED)
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The Apple iPhone 12 mini is the smallest iPhone available – smaller than the iPhone SE (2020) despite offering a larger display. It comes with Face ID like the rest of the iPhone 12 models and it features an aluminium body with squarer edges than the iPhone 11 and a ceramic shield front.
There is a dual camera on the rear – like the older iPhone 11 and the larger iPhone 12 – and it comes with Night Mode on the front camera, as well as improvements to Night Mode on the rear too.
Under the hood, the iPhone 12 mini has the A14 chip, which is the same as all the iPhone 12 models. It also has an OLED display with HDR, True Tone and Haptic Touch and it offers MagSafe, though it misses out on a couple of camera features compared to the Pro models, even if the results are still great.
The iPhone 12 mini is the iPhone to buy if you want some of the latest and greatest features Apple has to offer but in lovely small and light package.
Apple iPhone 12
- Dimensions: 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4mm, 164g, IP68 water resistant
- Display: 6.1-inch, 2532 x 1170 (460ppi), Haptic Touch, True Tone, HDR
- Storage: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
- Battery: Up to 17 hours
- Colours: Blue, Green, White, Black, Product(RED)
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The Apple iPhone 12 offers all the same features and hardware as the iPhone 12 mini, but in a larger package. Rather than a 5.4-inch display, it has a 6.1-inch display, which is the same as the iPhone 12 Pro.
It has the same aluminium frame, ceramic shield front and it’s available in the same five colours as the iPhone 12 mini, whilst also offering the same camera capabilities, with a dual rear camera.
The iPhone 12 is the iPhone to buy if you want most of the latest features and hardware in a larger package than the 12 mini, but you don’t want to pay the extra for the more premium build and additional camera features offered by the iPhone 12 Pro.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro
- Dimensions: 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4mm, 189g, IP68 water resistant
- Display: 6.1-inch, 2532 x 1170 (460ppi), Haptic Touch, True Tone, HDR
- Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
- Battery: Up to 17 hours
- Colours: Graphite, Gold, Pacific Blue, Silver
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The Apple iPhone 12 Pro is the iPhone with most of the latest and greatest technology from Apple. It’s the direct replacement for the iPhone 11 Pro and it features a stainless steel frame, matte glass rear and a very premium finish with an all-screen design.
An OLED screen dominates the front with Haptic Touch, True Tone and mobile HDR compatibility. Like the iPhone 12, the 12 Pro has the A14 Bionic processor with next-generation neural engine, no headphone jack and it supports wireless charging and fast charging. It also has a waterproof rating of IP68.
A triple-rear camera is present on the iPhone 12 Pro, featuring a wide-angle, ultra-wide-angle and telephoto lens and the iPhone 12 Pro. The same features as the iPhone 12 are offered in terms of camera, as well as a few extras including Night Mode Portraits, Apple ProRAW and optical zoom.
The iPhone 12 Pro is the iPhone to buy if you want a more premium finish than the iPhone 12 and some extra camera features.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
- Dimensions: 160.8 x 78.1 x 7.4mm, 228g, IP68 water resistance
- Display: 6.7-inch, 2778 x 1284 (458ppi), Haptic Touch, True Tone, HDR
- Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
- Battery: Up to 20 hours
- Colours: Graphite, Gold, Pacific Blue, Silver
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The iPhone 12 Pro Max is the iPhone with the largest display, offering a 6.7-inch OLED screen on its front, as well as the most advanced camera offered by Apple with a new telephoto lens and new main lens offering 1.7µm pixels.
Aside from physical size, display size and camera however, the iPhone 12 Pro Max has everything the iPhone 12 Pro does. This means you’ll get the A14 chip, a stainless steel body, textured glass back, wireless charging, all the display technology including HDR and Haptic Touch and it also has the IP68 water resistance.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max is the iPhone to buy if budget isn’t an issue and you’re after the best Apple offers in the largest possible format.
Apple iPhone 11
- Dimensions: 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3mm, 194g, IP68 water resistant
- Display: 6.1-inch, 1792 x 828 (326ppi), Haptic Touch, True Tone, HDR
- Storage: 64GB, 256GB, 512GB
- Battery: Up to 17 hours
- Colours: Black, Green, Yellow, Purple, White, Product(RED)
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The Apple iPhone 11 takes its design ethos from the older iPhone XR, with an aluminium frame and a coloured glass rear.
There’s a dual camera on the rear – like the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 – and it has a few extra camera features compared to the older iPhone XR, including Night Mode and Auto Adjustments, though a few less than the iPhone 12 models.
The iPhone 11 runs on the A13 chip, and it has a slight battery boost over the older iPhone XR. It offers the same size and resolution display as the iPhone XR however, meaning it sticks with LCD over OLED – and it lacks HDR too. It does have True Tone though, as well as Haptic Touch like the iPhone 12 models.
The iPhone 11 is the iPhone to buy if you want some great features, a great camera and a powerful phone despite running on last year’s hardware, and you don’t have the budget for the iPhone 12.
Apple iPhone XR
- Dimensions: 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3mm, 194g, IP67 water resistant
- Display: 6.1-inch, 1792 x 828 (326ppi), True Tone
- Storage: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
- Battery: Up to 25 hours
- Colours: White, Black, Blue, Yellow, Coral, (PRODUCT)RED
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The iPhone XR is the cheapest way to get your hands on the latest iPhone design with the full-screen front, no Touch ID home button and Face ID, sitting between the iPhone SE and the iPhone 11 in terms of price. The XR has a glass back with IP67 water and dust resistance and it comes in six colour options.
The display size increases from the iPhone SE to 6.1-inches but the footprint of the XR makes it slightly larger than the iPhone SE. It’s an LCD display that offers Haptic Touch. It also has True Tone technology.
The iPhone XR runs on Apple’s A12 Bionic chip and its battery life is good, longer than the iPhone SE. It supports wireless charging and fast charging, but it doesn’t have a fast charger in the box.
A single-camera is present on the back of the iPhone XR, differentiating it from the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12. It’s a 12-megapixel wide-angle sensor with OIS, but despite not offering the secondary telephoto sensor, the iPhone XR still has Portrait Mode with Depth Control, Smart HDR and Portrait Lighting features like the iPhone 11.
The iPhone XR is the iPhone to buy if you want a Face ID iPhone but aren’t that fussed about the dual camera of the iPhone 11.
Apple iPhone SE (2020)
- Dimensions: 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3mm, 148g, IP67 water resistant
- Display: 4.7-inch, 1334 x 750 (326ppi), Haptic Touch, True Tone
- Storage: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
- Battery: Up to 13 hours
- Colours: Black, White, Product Red
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The iPhone SE (2020) is the entry point into the the iPhone ecosystem. It picks up the iPhone 8 design, retaining the exact same measurements, while also offering IP67 protection.
That design means that the iPhone SE retains Touch ID, the only model that doesn’t have Face ID, and the display also sticks to the old 16:9 aspect, rather than the 19:9 aspect of the iPhone XR, iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models.
Outside of that design, the iPhone SE is powered by the A13 Bionic, the same chap that’s in the iPhone 11 models, meaning that it’s more powerful than the iPhone XR.
There’s a single 12-megapixel camera on the back offering the same functions as the iPhone XR, but going a step further to offer the same Portrait Lighting effects as the iPhone 11, as well as next-gen Smart HDR. That means that it’s a better offering on the rear camera than the iPhone XR.
Writing by Britta O’Boyle. Editing by Max Freeman-Mills.
