Since there was some interest to my unboxing blogs and videos, I decided to continue that series – today I will review my new purchase – iPhone 12 Pro Max.
I had iPhones since iPhone 4S – I purchased it on my birthday a while ago. As a matter of fact, I was never a big fan of Apple devices, but this model was released literally on my birthday and around the time of Steve Jobs death, so I took it as a Universe’s signal to give it a try. And not that I was particularly excited about it, but I did like it – it was nice, sleek, solid and had a premium feel to it.
I had quite a few models since then and they always delivered. Well… almost always – I had quite a few issues with almost every device at certain point and in each and every case it was paired with some odd service experience, like a “genius” at Apple store in Toronto accusing me of “using 3rd party components” and then taking it back as soon as I spoke to a manager, or a super condescending telephone line advisor at Apple just turning a routine procedure into a bureaucratic disaster. The last and the most memorable issue was the rapid decline of my iPhone 6 right before the release of a new model. Suspicious coincidence… and later there was a lawsuit that Apple lost (at least to my knowledge) – they forgot to tell customers that they slowed down iPhones “in order to save battery”. Yeah, that was very nice of them!
Nevertheless, I was quite excited to get the newest iPhone as it was also the largest one and had an excellent camera in it. In general, the idea was to have one device that I could use to surf internet, to watch YouTube videos, to read e-books, and to use some educational and reference apps that I already had purchased for iOS.
My impressions are as follows:
- Slight annoyance by the fact that they do not include power adapter anymore. Seriously, the actual price of the phone I had was close to $2000 CAD (or even over, I am not sure now) and I have to buy this adapter separately? Come on, Apple, you can do better!
- The weight and the feel were great – device feels solid, and it has a beautiful look and feel. One funny aspect of it is that since it is larger and heavier than regular models, or at least than my previous one, it started falling out of my pockets at a dangerously high rate. Most common occurrence was when I was getting into my car – it slid out of my pocket almost every time.
- Ergonomics: This part is a bit funny – I knew what I was getting into when I got myself a 6.7” model, but typing became a bit complicated, especially when wrapped in a case as my thumb is not long enough to reach the farthest side of the on-screen keyboard.
- The screen: Obviously, one of the most important aspects of this device is its screen. Excellent, fluid, with dynamic colors, and of course – large enough for my purposes! All these features solidified my new iPhone 12 Pro Max as my main driver since the upgrade.
- Camera: The camera is fantastic and groundbreakingly innovative! I have been using it progressively more since the purchase. Once, I used it to make a video about my new home gym and I had a chance to compare the camera on iPhone with the webcam on my HP Spectre x360… I used only several seconds of the HP Spectre footage as it was just terrible, whereas iPhone managed to get the colors in very poor light conditions. Also, it is my impression that it does a better job in video capturing than my prosumer level camcorder… I might switch to it in the future. Except the fact that transferring files to PC is often a pain.
- Sound: Sound is ok, I don’t have much to say about it to be honest, it just works and feels right.
- Storage: I got the 512 Gb model as I has been planning to store lots of files on it and it’s plenty, I feel that it’s future-proof.
- Ease of use: Apple is known for its intuitive approach and minimalism, but I always feel that my intuition is different from the intuition of its creators. But still, it’s very easy to use. The autocorrect is annoying though... Does anybody use the word “fir” ever? Lol
- Ads… Yes, Ads! I am a bit annoyed by Apple for constantly offering me to buy something from them – either iCloud storage, or Apple music subscription, or Apple pay… seriously, I don’t need it – I already bought this device, it should be enough!
- Updates: There have been quite a few updates and I noticed that my phone stopped charging when using specific peripherals after one of the updates. For example, I cannot charge it in my car anymore, which is quite problematic. Especially, given that I often need to charge on the go when I am on call and that the power adapter is not included!
Summary
With minor reservations, I must say that the device is just amazing – it looks and feels good, it is fast, has an absolutely fantastic camera, large screen and serves so many functions in my life that I don’t know how I lived without it. Highly recommended! Also, it shifted my thinking towards getting myself a new MacBook instead of PC, and I did try doing it, but Apple managed to lose the device I purchased and I ended up trying Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga, check my blog and video on that too.
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Stay safe, strong, and healthy!
Dr.Sam
Video: Unboxing: iPhone 12 Pro Max