Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max review

LiDAR capabilities

Apple made a big deal of the new LiDAR scanner. The miniaturization of the LiDAR (Light Radar, Light Detection and Ranging, and know also known as Laser Imaging, Detection and Ranging) technology is one of Apple's more prominent achievements, and after the iPad Pro, it now premieres on the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max.

The LiDAR scanner measures distances by firing laser beams and measuring their reflections with a dedicated sensor. This way, the phone can make a super accurate 3D representation of an object and later place it virtually anywhere. Thinking of new furniture? This will be perfect. Want to compare the size of objects you can't put next to each other - LiDAR will help.

The LiDAR scanner is also very accurate at measuring distances, and you can use it just for that - like a fancy digital tapeline. Or you can set a distance and see virtual walls in real-time at the predefined distance. Professionals such as interior designers may find the LiDAR scanner a handy tool.

Thanks to the powerful AR capabilities that also come as a bonus with LiDAR, you can also have an amazing AR experience with compatible apps and games.

Another benefit of this technology is the speedier (and more accurate) focus in low light. And because the sensor doesn't care about light conditions and can work even in pitch dark room, you can now shoot low-light portraits for the first time with great subject separation and blur.

Long story short - you can use LiDAR-compatible apps (such as 3D Scanner App) to scan and place objects wherever you like, export such objects to use in your projects, and even measure distances. Of course, you can also enjoy the boosted AR experience in various games.

3D Scanner App

Performance and benchmarks

The Apple A14 Bionic chip powers the entire iPhone 12 generation. It is the first commercially available 5nm chipset in the world, packing 11.8 billion transistors or 40% more than A13.

The A14 chip has a six-core processor, just like the last Apple chips. It has 2 big Firestorm cores clocked at 3.1GHz and 4 small Icestorm cores working at 1.8GHz with TurboBoost capability to go to 3.1GHz when necessary.

There is also an updated 4-core Apple GPU, which should offer some increase in performance over last year's iPhones.

Then there is the new 16-core NPU for machine learning that brings a 70% increase in AI performance.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max has 6GB of RAM, while the non-Pro models come with 4GB of RAM.

The Apple A14 Bionic also comes with Qualcomm's X55 5G modem, and that's why the entire iPhone 12 lineup supports 5G connectivity.

The new A14 Bionic chip and its ISP are also at the heart of the improved camera quality - the Smart HDR 3, Deep Fusion, Night Mode, Dolby Vision recording, and more - these new features are all possible thanks to the sheer power of the A14.

The iPhone 12 phones are the fastest iPhones so far, of course. The Apple A14 has the most powerful processor to date, as usual, and is about 20% faster than the A13-powered iPhone 11 series.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
  4240
• Apple iPhone 12 mini
  4174
• Apple iPhone 12
  4067
• Apple iPhone 12 Pro
  4056
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  3503
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro
  3466
• OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  3374
• Apple iPhone SE (2020)
  3237
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  2603

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 12 Pro
  1611
• Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
  1606
• Apple iPhone 12
  1605
• Apple iPhone 12 mini
  1599
• Apple iPhone SE (2020)
  1334
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro
  1333
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  1332
• OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  902
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  880

The improved GPU indeed offers more raw power, though it's about 10% increase over the A13's.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
  135
• Apple iPhone 12
  132
• Apple iPhone 12 Pro
  132
• Apple iPhone 12 mini
  131
• Apple iPhone 11
  121
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  120
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro
  118
• Apple iPhone XS Max
  99
• Apple iPhone XS
  98
• Apple iPhone X
  65

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 12 mini
  60
• Apple iPhone 11
  60
• Apple iPhone 12
  58
• Apple iPhone 12 Pro
  58
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  57
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro
  57
• Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
  55
• Apple iPhone XS
  47
• Apple iPhone XS Max
  47
• Apple iPhone X
  28

Of course, the latest iPhone is doing great on the AnTuTu test.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
  638584
• Apple iPhone 12 Pro
  596244
• Apple iPhone 12 mini
  589616
• Apple iPhone 12
  579048
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  536883
• Apple iPhone SE (2020)
  462253

The Apple A14 Bionic chip, even if it makes the iPhone 12 Pro Max the fastest smartphone on the planet, will not be among the top reasons to upgrade on Series 12. Performance has always been top-notch on the iPhones, even if it's a four-year-old model. It's the A14 chip's new features that matter - such as the improved machine learning and the new ISP, which take computational photography on the next level.

One thing we can definitely say is that judging by those high frame rates achieved on the offscreen benchmarks, the iPhones' 120Hz screens are already a few years overdue.

Gaming is great on the iPhones, though it turns out the iPhone 12 Pro Max provides a better cooling system and thus less throttling over long gaming sessions or benchmarks. Just like the iPhone 12 and 12 mini, the Pro Max becomes very warm around its frame and one specific spot on the back, it doesn't overheat and throttle even under the long stress tests we ran.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a stability score of 89.1% on the 3D Mark Wild Life Stress Test, which runs 20 loops of the Wild Life graphic test. The iPhone 12 Pro has the same score (90%).

The iPhone 12 achieves 84% stability on a newly configured phone, but it drops to 75% when we populated it with apps such as Facebook, Skype, Whatsapp, Messenger, Bluetooth accessories, etc. The iPhone 12 mini is much worse - it skips a whole loop as it stops everything for a minute to prevent overheating but then it continues rather normally.

It seems the iPhone 12 Pro Max is well-suited for gaming with better cooling and stability than the iPhone 12 and 12 mini. It does get hot in stress tests, but elsewhere (games or apps) we couldn't warm it that much.