Reviews iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max: where the X led us

Last year, the Apple iPhone XR was an interesting story in the lineup, while the high-end iPhone XS was only a modest upgrade to day compared to its predecessor, the iPhone X. But this year the roles have reversed: the iPhone 11 Pro take a step forward for the lighthouse level, while the iPhone 11 n & rsquo; Is a slight improvement over the iPhone XR as the company's latest entry-level phone.

With the iPhone 11 Pro, the best smartphone screen in the market is significantly improved, the processor and graphics processor of the fastest smartphone have become even faster and Apple has caught up with its competitors with new features of camera.

On the contrary, the new iPhones of the last two years have shown that the upgrade habits of many users every two years should be changed every three or even four years. And nothing here can convince you to switch to an iPhone if the ecosystem of devices, software and services Apple did not interest you already. Aside from the fact that iOS 13 has opened a few things for hard-working users this year, all the strengths and weaknesses of Apple compared to Android remain the same.

For those who know that they want an iPhone, the iPhone 11 is a better offer than the flagship products based on our recent times with both handsets – and we'll publish a brief review of this phone in the coming days . But for those who want an iPhone and At the forefront of smartphone technology, the iPhone 11 Pro is the best new iPhone for a long time. It may not be really "pro", but it is as qualitative as possible.

Contents

Characteristics

The iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max are only slightly heavier and thicker than the XS and XS Max. The iPhone 11 Pro comes in at 144 × 71.4 × 8.1 mm (5.67 × 2.81 × 0.32 inches) and weighs 88 grams (6.38 ounces). The iPhone 11 Pro Max measures 158 × 77.8 × 8.1 mm (6.22 × 3.06 × 0.32 inches) and 26 grams (7.97 ounces).

Some users have criticized Apple for focusing on the iPhone more and more thin, especially on the battery life and on other improvements, but this trend has continued so gradual and intermittent in recent years. It's not much thicker, but it's certainly not slimmer.

The configurations for both phones are 64GB, 256GB and 512GB. Prices range from $ 999 for a 64GB iPhone 11 Pro to $ 1,449 for a 512GB iPhone 11 Pro Max.

The heart of these new phones is Apple's A13 system-on-chip, which, according to Apple, is up to 20% faster than last year's A12 for processor, graphics processor and of the machine. (We will test some of it later.)

A novelty in the A13 is a new silicon coin called U1, an ultra wideband wireless chip designed to give the iPhone a spatial visibility from other nearby devices. In iOS 13.1, Apple introduced the first use of this chip: the ability to physically route your phone to another iPhone to share wireless files via the existing AirDrop service. But we could see many other apps for this in the future, including the Find My application of iOS 13 or multi-user augmented reality applications. For the moment, it's largely untapped.

Still about wireless, Apple has brought Wi-Fi 6 to the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max. Wi-Fi 6 is a new standard, but its specifications have been finalized. Therefore, there is little risk to preserve the future of Apple, although most consumers do not have yet another Wi-Fi hardware 6. As standard, Wi-Fi 6 claims to offer Wi-Fi speeds up to 50% faster, as well as lower latency in environments where multiple wireless devices are present simultaneously.

Both flagship iPhones claim faster LTE speeds and up to 30 LTE bands compared to last year's models. Although we have not been able to test it regularly in this dense and disturbed part of the LTE in Los Angeles, others have confirmed Requirement.

There was a lot of wild speculation about the amount of RAM that new iPhones would have, but disassemblies and other investigations by the community over the past few days have confirmed that these two new phones have 4 GB of RAM, just like the cheapest. iPhone 11 (without "Pro").

Apple claims that the phones have an IP68 water resistance rating and that they can withstand up to 30 minutes at four meters deep. The company also claims that the back of the phone has been made more durable compared to previous models, with a stronger glass.

Lightning and headphones: yes, always frustrating

As in recent years, these phones each have only one port: the Apple Lightning connector. Sorry, the lawyers of the USB-C! Apple EarPods Lightning headphones are delivered ready to use, but unlike some previous phones, they do not include 3.5mm headphone jack adapter for use with other headphones.

Apple co-markets the iPhone and the AirPods and hands over an AirPod verification unit to any press from the iPhone to the press, indicating that the company is really expecting users to buy AirPod instead of relying on wired headphones for optimal results. experience.

As I wrote previously, the AirPods work perfectly and, once I got used to it, it was hard to imagine going back to the wired headphones. But it's still (too) difficult to expect users to spend nearly $ 200 in addition to the already high prices of these phones for an elegant personal audio solution.

Batteries and power

Apple does not generally disclose its battery's capacity in its spec sheets to critics or the public, but regulatory findings indicate that the iPhone 11 Pro has a battery of 3,046 mAh and that the 39; iPhone 11 Pro Max is equipped with 3 969 mAh. This represents an increase of 2,658 mAh and 3,174 mAh for the 2018 XS and XS Max models, respectively.

Apple says that significant improvements in the efficiency of the A13 will result in a battery life up to four hours longer than that of the iPhone XS for the iPhone 11 Pro and up to five hours longer than that of the iPhone XS Max for the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

If this is true, this represents the biggest leap of a year of battery life for iPhones, a requirement of consumers for a very long time.

The inclusion of an 18 watt charger, which exceeds each iPhone 5 watt for centuries, is also interesting. As we got closer to these huge battery capacities in the last two years, it became very clear that the 5-watt charger did not cut it out.

This new version is similar to the one that comes with the iPad and has a USB-C connector. So you are now using a Lightning-to-USB-C cable instead of Lightning-to-USB-A.

Display

When the iPhone X arrived in 2017, I called it the best screen ever seen on a smartphone. The true blacks and the outstanding contrast of the OLEDs, coupled with flawless adjustments and crisp color accuracy, have had an incredible impact. More than facial identity or other features, I consider the screen as the main reason to buy an iPhone X, XS or 11 Pro compared to one of the cheapest Apple phones.

The iPhone XS has made some small improvements, but the iPhone 11 Pro takes an exceptional screen and makes it switch to a brightness of 1,200 to 1,200 nits. That's the theoretical maximum that you could see in some HDR content, anyway. According to Apple, a maximum brightness of 800 nits is typical when you go up in the sun.

This is a clear improvement over the 670 nits of the iPhone XS. When I looked at this phone, I wrote that even though the display was excellent, it could not really make HDR movies and the like of today's best TVs, because these TVs frequently reach 1,000 nits of brightness.

Maximum brightness is crucial for rich content such as movies, photos, and games, as it increases the potential contrast ratio, allowing more granular details not only between black and white, but also colors. This is the heart of what is the HDR.

I watched some excerpts from Blade Runner 2049 and the new Godzilla film – the two exceptional showcases for the HDR – and felt that the screen of the iPhone 11 Pro matched a LG OLED TV of USD 2,500 in quality. It's quite an achievement.

In addition, the phone should be easier to read in bright sunlight when the brightness is at its peak. (I found that it was true during my time with phones.)

Even though Samsung's flagship phones offer similar or even slightly higher peak brightness levels, iPhone screens have a more accurate color and other optimizations that make them superior, regardless of their performance . Although, once you reach this level, it may be that only the real geeks of display technologies notice it.

Apple uses the term "Super Retina Display XDR", which rolls the eyes, to describe this screen. And although I think the sentence is ridiculous, confusing and unnecessary in that it seems enthusiastic but has no connection with any industry standard, it is nevertheless attributed to a remarkable panel , the best of its category.

Apple tends to give features or specifications to strange proprietary names, which contributes to an industry problem that prevents perplexed consumers from not knowing what elaborate marketing terms mean real benefits over nonsense . In this case, there is evidence in this pudding. But between you and me, let's call it simply HDR, even though Apple confirmed to me that it was still an 8-bit panel, not a 10-bit panel.

If I were Apple, I would sing HDR on the rooftops, because it is the first phone that the company made with the contrast and brightness capabilities to really deserve the label. The Apple specifications page for the phone is good for HDR, but the branding strategy may be confusing.

In any case, it is a fantastic screen and it remains one of the main reasons to buy this phone on the iPhone 11, more affordable.

l & # 39; Audio

This is not the end of the improvements related to media consumption. The iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have a feature called spatial audio. This essentially means simulated surround sound from stereo speakers, with Dolby Atmos support.

The benefits of Dolby Atmos for stereo speakers are limited – it really shines in cinema surround sound systems with five or more speakers – but it's nice to have. Although the audio is not as present as what we could get from the very powerful iPad Pro 2018, I have noticed a noticeable improvement over the iPhone. XS.

Most of the time, you will probably still want headphones, but if you have to watch a video or listen to a song on the phone's speakers for any reason, the quality of your experience will be better than before.

Samuel Axon's inscription image