Apple iPhone 12 long-term review

Apple iOS restrictions are the not for everyone

Apple iOS 14 brought some long-awaited changes to the homescreen, finally brought widgets and even a new app drawer. Yes, everything that's new within iOS 14 aims to reduce app clutter and enhance usability - an area in which the iPhones have been lacking for a while.

And yes, there are even more new options like changing default browser and email client, enhanced privacy features, and refined interface with apps. But the one thing that will never change is iOS file restrictions. Apple's mobile OS operates with entirely different app logic from Android, and that's why you need iTunes to manage files from your PC.

So, let's start from the beginning. We do like the new widgets, and we are especially fond of the option to stack those on top of each other. The Smart Rotation of the topmost widget isn't that smart, or at least it always shows the opposite of what we wanted it to display. But that's fine; the algorithm can't read your mind (yet!).

We are also happy that many apps published widgets in the first weeks upon iOS 14 release, and the transition to the new widget-rich interface was rather seamless.

We don't use the App Library - a.k.a. the app drawer. This has always been a place where apps go to die, and it still is. If we don't use an app that's been there over a month - we are probably getting rid of it the next time we see its icon. Which can be next week or next year. Anyway, we did need this feature. And yes, it's done in Apple's way - it works as it sees fit (grouping of the apps in preset categories), and you don't have a say in what goes where. Well, it's an app graveyard, at least for us, so it's fine.

Apple relies on its users to go deep into its ecosystem, and even if you don't want it at first, you will eventually. Apple Music is a really nice service, well-integrated within iOS and Siri, and we eventually ditched Spotify for it.

Apple TV+ is still free for us, for some reason, and we thoroughly enjoyed shows like Defending Jacob, Tiny World, The Morning Show, Mythic Quest and For All Mankind. And you bet we are waiting for Foundation. We can't justify paying for Apple TV+ for the content alone - we'd stick to Netflix and Disney+ or Prime Videos for now, but we can consider it someday.

The iOS file restrictions are probably what it takes time to understand, and even then - some people won't be happy. Each app acts like a separate partition that's inaccessible to the rest of the apps. You want to save a PDF - it goes to Adobe PDR reader. You want to save a photo - you sent it to Photos. You want to save a .doc - you choose to send it to Word or Pages. You want to save a video - you save it within your favorite movie player. You get the idea.

This is the file management logic used by the phone, and this is also how you transfer files to and from your PC. It's sound logic for a number of security reasons, but it gets haywire the moment you need to share a file between two apps. No can do. You just copy it, and then if you want to give the edited file to another app, well, you make another copy.

Understanding how iOS works is essential to make use of its full potential. If you don't mind this peculiarity - you'd be happy with Apple's take.

Managing songs via iTunes is another headache, but it's doable once you get the gist of it - making a playlist and syncing it. You can even upload your music to Apple Music and listen to it from there - if you are a subscriber, of course. But if you have Apple Music, or Spotify, or YouTube Music, we doubt you'd be needing MP3 upload via iTunes.

We explained all of these things so you can understand why there is no File Manager on iOS. It will be just another app. There is, in fact, a Files app, but it's not what you think. Files is a place where you store files before sending them to other apps to view or edit them.

This reviewer isn't a power user - he uses the iPhone for games, music, videos, socials, photos and emails. That's it. No FTP uploads, no massive file exchanges between different apps, no numerous email attachments handling (though Microsoft overhauled their Outlook app nicely, and it's the place for heavy emailing). But we can surely see why iOS would not work for a large group of people, and that's fine. There is a rich Android market for those.

We still want to see more iOS customization options - like changing system icons, or applying some transparency to those, also custom live wallpapers and an always-on screen. And these are at the top of our heads, there are many more things that Apple is still hesitant to add.

Finally, we do love the simplicity of iOS. It's easy to use, most of the features are a no-brainer, and the issues are nothing like on Android phones. Maybe it's the reviewer's bad luck, but on each Android phone he's been using, he had to Google and solve random weird issues during the first weeks. On every.single.phone.

Performance

The new iPhone is always the fastest iPhone, so there is no doubt the iPhone 12 behaves like a flagship. Everything is smooth, there is no lag or stutter, games look gorgeous and play very well. Thanks to the powerful hardware, you can snap multi-stacked photos (Deep Fusion) or capture Dolby Vision videos in 4K.

The Apple A14 probably has the fastest processor inside a mobile phone right now, and the iPhone 12 feels like it. The same goes for the GPU. The thing is that Apple A14 isn't that big of a leap from A13, even A12. Sure, there is 5G and more RAM, but unless we believe in the awesome new DSP, the rest are minor upgrades that won't be felt if you are coming from an iPhone XS or 11 Pro. That's no secret, though.

Anyway, we can't say a single bad word about Apple's A14 Bionic. It's simply great. Benchmarks did reveal it is not as stable as we hoped, but unless it's a stress benchmark, we didn't notice any overheating and FPS drop in any game or app. It can sustain its snappy performance for at least an hour, probably more, if we only had the time to play for hours on a phone. And if we did, the hours would have been much better spent in front of the TV, with our Xbox or PlayStation. No offense, Apple Arcade.