iPhone 12 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer’s Guide: 50+ Differences Compared

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The iPhone 15 Pro brings over 50 new features and improvements to Apple’s high-end smartphones compared to the iPhone 12 Pro, which was released three years prior. This buyer’s guide breaks down every major difference you should be aware of between the two generations and helps you to decide whether it’s worth upgrading.

The ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro debuted in 2020, introducing the A14 Bionic chip, MagSafe, improved water resistance, Ceramic Shield glass, 2GB more memory, a LiDAR scanner, Night mode portraits and Apple ProRAW images, HDR video recording with Dolby Vision, and a larger display on the smaller model. The ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro was discontinued upon the announcement of the iPhone 13 Pro in 2021, but it is still possible to get hold of it at fairly low prices second-hand.

Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two ‌iPhone‌ models is best for you by clearly showing all of the differences that the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ brings to the table. This article focuses on the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro and ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌, but to understand the differences between the iPhone 14 Pro and ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌, see our other buyer’s guide:

iPhone 14 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer’s Guide: 30+ Upgrades Compared

Although the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro and ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ share most of their basic features, the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ offers a large number of notable upgrades, such as a titanium design, always-on Retina display with ProMotion, Action button, USB-C port, 48-megapixel main camera, A17 Pro chip, and longer battery life.

‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro

‌iPhone 15 Pro‌

Surgical-grade stainless steel chassis with squared-off edges

Aerospace-grade titanium chassis with contoured edges

More repairable design

7.4mm depth

8.25mm depth (0.6mm thicker)

187g or 226g weight

187g or 221g weight

“Notch” TrueDepth camera array

TrueDepth camera array with ‌Dynamic Island

Thinner borders around the display for slightly smaller overall footprint

1,200 nits peak brightness (HDR)

1,600 nits peak brightness (HDR) and 2,000 nits peak brightness (outdoor)

ProMotion technology for refresh rates up to 120Hz

Always-On display

Ring/Silent switch

Action button

A14 Bionic chip (5nm)

A17 Pro chip (3nm)

4-core GPU

6-core GPU with with hardware-accelerated ray tracing

Dedicated AV1 decoder

6GB memory

8GB memory

12-megapixel main camera with ƒ/1.6 aperture

48-megapixel main camera with ƒ/1.78 aperture and larger sensor

12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with ƒ/2.4 aperture

12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with ƒ/2.2 aperture

12-megapixel telephoto camera with ƒ/2.0 aperture and sensor-shift optical image stabilization

12-megapixel telephoto camera with ƒ/2.8 aperture and larger sensor, folded tetraprism design, optical image stabilization, and autofocus 3D sensor-shift module (Pro Max only)

12-megapixel front-facing camera with ƒ/2.2 aperture

12-megapixel front-facing camera with ƒ/1.9 aperture and autofocus

Anti-reflective coating on camera lenses

True Tone flash

Adaptive True Tone flash

0.5x, 1x, and 2x optical zoom

0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 3x optical zoom (5x instead of 3x on Pro Max)

13mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, and 77mm focal length picker (120mm instead of 77mm on Pro Max)

24- and 48-megapixel super-high-resolution photos

Photonic Engine

Smart HDR 3

Smart HDR 5

Photographic Styles

Macro photography

Portrait mode with Depth Control

Next-generation portraits with Focus and Depth Control

Night mode and Night mode portraits

Improved Night mode and Night mode portraits

Shoot and instantly transfer 48-megapixel ProRAW images to Mac via USB 3

Record video directly to an external drive

ProRes video recording up to 4K at 60 fps with external recording

Cinematic mode for recording videos with shallow depth of field (4K HDR up to 30 fps)

Action mode

Log video recording

Academy Color Encoding System

Record spatial video for Apple Vision Pro

Improved audio quality on phone calls

Bluetooth 5.0

Bluetooth 5.3

Wi‑Fi 6 connectivity

Wi‑Fi 6E connectivity

Thread networking technology

First-generation Ultra Wideband chip

Second-generation Ultra Wideband chip (connects from 3x further away)

Precision Finding for Find My friends

Emergency SOS

Emergency SOS and Roadside Assistance via satellite

Crash Detection

eSIM optional

eSIM only (in the U.S.)

Lightning port

USB-C port

USB 2 transfer speeds (up to 480Mb/s)

USB 3 transfer speeds (up to 10Gb/s, 20x faster)

DisplayPort support for up to 4K HDR video output

Support for Qi wireless charging

Support for Qi 2 wireless charging

17- or 20-hour battery life

23- or 29-hour battery life

Setting to prevent charging above 80%

Battery manufacture date, first use, and cycle count information in Settings

128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options

128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage options (no 128GB tier on Pro Max)

Pacific Blue, Silver, Gold, and Graphite color options

Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium color options

Overall, the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ is a significant upgrade over the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, with significant changes in virtually every area of the device. The display’s ‌Dynamic Island‌, always-on functionality, ProMotion technology for refresh rates up to 120Hz, slimmer bezels, and considerably higher peak brightness make for significant changes on the front of the device, while the switch to a titanium chassis, USB-C port, and Action button are similarly noticeable elsewhere. The photography and videography capabilities of the devices radically differ, with over 20 of the differences between the smartphones relating to camera technologies. The ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌’s more repairable design, 2GB of additional memory, and A17 Pro chip also ensure that it will be a more future-proof device.

Due to the scale and breadth of these improvements, most ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro users will be able to justify upgrading to the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌, especially if they value its more refined design, USB-C port, Action button, and camera improvements. It is only worth sticking with the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro if you are holding off for an even more substantial upgrade with next year’s iPhone 16 Pro, but many users will see a multitude of tangible benefits by upgrading now.

Related Roundup: iPhone 15 Pro
Buyer’s Guide: iPhone 15 Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPhone

This article, “iPhone 12 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer’s Guide: 50+ Differences Compared” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

 The iPhone 15 Pro brings over 50 new features and improvements to Apple’s high-end smartphones compared to the iPhone 12 Pro, which was released three years prior. This buyer’s guide breaks down every major difference you should be aware of between the two generations and helps you to decide whether it’s worth upgrading.

The ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro debuted in 2020, introducing the A14 Bionic chip, MagSafe, improved water resistance, Ceramic Shield glass, 2GB more memory, a LiDAR scanner, Night mode portraits and Apple ProRAW images, HDR video recording with Dolby Vision, and a larger display on the smaller model. The ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro was discontinued upon the announcement of the iPhone 13 Pro in 2021, but it is still possible to get hold of it at fairly low prices second-hand.

Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two ‌iPhone‌ models is best for you by clearly showing all of the differences that the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ brings to the table. This article focuses on the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro and ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌, but to understand the differences between the iPhone 14 Pro and ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌, see our other buyer’s guide:

iPhone 14 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer’s Guide: 30+ Upgrades Compared

Although the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro and ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ share most of their basic features, the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ offers a large number of notable upgrades, such as a titanium design, always-on Retina display with ProMotion, Action button, USB-C port, 48-megapixel main camera, A17 Pro chip, and longer battery life.

‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro
‌iPhone 15 Pro‌

Surgical-grade stainless steel chassis with squared-off edges
Aerospace-grade titanium chassis with contoured edges

More repairable design

7.4mm depth
8.25mm depth (0.6mm thicker)

187g or 226g weight
187g or 221g weight

“Notch” TrueDepth camera array
TrueDepth camera array with ‌Dynamic Island‌

Thinner borders around the display for slightly smaller overall footprint

1,200 nits peak brightness (HDR)
1,600 nits peak brightness (HDR) and 2,000 nits peak brightness (outdoor)

ProMotion technology for refresh rates up to 120Hz

Always-On display

Ring/Silent switch
Action button

A14 Bionic chip (5nm)
A17 Pro chip (3nm)

4-core GPU
6-core GPU with with hardware-accelerated ray tracing

Dedicated AV1 decoder

6GB memory
8GB memory

12-megapixel main camera with ƒ/1.6 aperture
48-megapixel main camera with ƒ/1.78 aperture and larger sensor

12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with ƒ/2.4 aperture
12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with ƒ/2.2 aperture

12-megapixel telephoto camera with ƒ/2.0 aperture and sensor-shift optical image stabilization
12-megapixel telephoto camera with ƒ/2.8 aperture and larger sensor, folded tetraprism design, optical image stabilization, and autofocus 3D sensor-shift module (Pro Max only)

12-megapixel front-facing camera with ƒ/2.2 aperture
12-megapixel front-facing camera with ƒ/1.9 aperture and autofocus

Anti-reflective coating on camera lenses

True Tone flash
Adaptive True Tone flash

0.5x, 1x, and 2x optical zoom
0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 3x optical zoom (5x instead of 3x on Pro Max)

13mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, and 77mm focal length picker (120mm instead of 77mm on Pro Max)

24- and 48-megapixel super-high-resolution photos

Photonic Engine

Smart HDR 3
Smart HDR 5

Photographic Styles

Macro photography

Portrait mode with Depth Control
Next-generation portraits with Focus and Depth Control

Night mode and Night mode portraits
Improved Night mode and Night mode portraits

Shoot and instantly transfer 48-megapixel ProRAW images to Mac via USB 3

Record video directly to an external drive

ProRes video recording up to 4K at 60 fps with external recording

Cinematic mode for recording videos with shallow depth of field (4K HDR up to 30 fps)

Action mode

Log video recording

Academy Color Encoding System

Record spatial video for Apple Vision Pro

Improved audio quality on phone calls

Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.3

Wi‑Fi 6 connectivity
Wi‑Fi 6E connectivity

Thread networking technology

First-generation Ultra Wideband chip
Second-generation Ultra Wideband chip (connects from 3x further away)

Precision Finding for Find My friends

Emergency SOS
Emergency SOS and Roadside Assistance via satellite

Crash Detection

eSIM optional
eSIM only (in the U.S.)

Lightning port
USB-C port

USB 2 transfer speeds (up to 480Mb/s)
USB 3 transfer speeds (up to 10Gb/s, 20x faster)

DisplayPort support for up to 4K HDR video output

Support for Qi wireless charging
Support for Qi 2 wireless charging

17- or 20-hour battery life
23- or 29-hour battery life

Setting to prevent charging above 80%

Battery manufacture date, first use, and cycle count information in Settings

128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options
128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage options (no 128GB tier on Pro Max)

Pacific Blue, Silver, Gold, and Graphite color options
Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium color options

Overall, the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ is a significant upgrade over the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, with significant changes in virtually every area of the device. The display’s ‌Dynamic Island‌, always-on functionality, ProMotion technology for refresh rates up to 120Hz, slimmer bezels, and considerably higher peak brightness make for significant changes on the front of the device, while the switch to a titanium chassis, USB-C port, and Action button are similarly noticeable elsewhere. The photography and videography capabilities of the devices radically differ, with over 20 of the differences between the smartphones relating to camera technologies. The ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌’s more repairable design, 2GB of additional memory, and A17 Pro chip also ensure that it will be a more future-proof device.

Due to the scale and breadth of these improvements, most ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro users will be able to justify upgrading to the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌, especially if they value its more refined design, USB-C port, Action button, and camera improvements. It is only worth sticking with the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro if you are holding off for an even more substantial upgrade with next year’s iPhone 16 Pro, but many users will see a multitude of tangible benefits by upgrading now.Related Roundup: iPhone 15 ProBuyer’s Guide: iPhone 15 Pro (Buy Now)Related Forum: iPhoneThis article, “iPhone 12 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer’s Guide: 50+ Differences Compared” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums Read More MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors – All Stories #macrumor

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