[ad_1]
I don’t want the title to imply that I’ll be buying future giant iPhones – the jury is really out on whether I’ll keep this one – but I do feel like I’m trying a whole new category of product here.
In the old days of Apple, there were small screens, aka iPhones; medium screens, aka iPads; and large screens, aka Mac. But things are not that simple these days …
I have an iPad with a larger screen than my old 11-inch MacBook Air, and almost the same display size as the last two MacBooks. And I now have an iPhone with a screen that doesn’t look too far from an iPad mini.
I got a practical look at the size when the case arrived before the phone. I noticed then that it was comfortable to hold and that it fits all the pockets of my jacket, but fails the pants test. However, even holding the case in my hand didn’t completely prepare me for the size of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. It really looks more like a new generation iPad mini than an iPhone.
I love the design next to the slab. It was, frankly, one of the factors that prompted me to “downgrade” from the iPhone 6S to the original iPhone SE at the time.
However, unlike the matte finish of classic iPhones, the highly polished surface shows every speck of dust and attracts fingerprints as that was its sole purpose. I really wish that were dull.
Granted, that makes little difference in practice, as almost all of us will be keeping it in a case, and I’m happy to say that Apple’s MagSafe Leather Case does nothing to mask the shape.
In my world, gadgets have to be silver or black. Apple seems to have a drop on black, so I mostly went for this year’s version of Space Gray. For the iPhone 12, this is a color that Apple calls Graphite, and that I would personally describe as a silver gray. I have to say that despite my silver or black preference, I like it a lot.
Restoring the phone from an encrypted Finder backup was pretty quick, although it reminded me of some very minor grunts about the process. Namely, the sync graph ceases a bit before the restore is complete so you get a slightly disturbing period from the Mac apparently saying the process is complete while the phone still says it’s still restoring. Second, it keeps downloading apps even after saying it was done.
I understand there is a reason for this – it allows us to start using the phone after all the data is copied – but for me, one of the benefits of a Mac restore rather than a restore iCloud is that it is faster and more complete, so I would prefer it to complete the process before pretending to be ready.
The different sizes of banner ads here hide the fact that there is a lot more screen space than my iPhone 11 Pro.
I will be interested to see the benefits that I feel in everyday use.
I haven’t bothered to get a MagSafe charger yet. I’m a charging stand guy, not a horizontal pad, so I’m waiting for third-party versions. In the meantime, it loads the case well on my existing Choetech stands.
Of course, the only reason I bought the Pro Max over the mini is the improved camera capabilities. I described these in this previous article and highlighted the ones that appealed to me the most. Low light and night shots are key here, and I hope to put both to the test this weekend.
Another thing I think I will appreciate is the larger “viewfinder” when taking pictures. The lack of a viewfinder filling the eyeball is, for me, one of the downsides of using an iPhone as a camera. Without filling my field of view with the shot, a larger screen beats a smaller screen.
So check out this space for a first verdict next week once I’ve tried the camera. In the meantime, did I mention that this thing looks… big?
Previous articles:
FTC: We use automatic income generating affiliate links. More.
Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more information on Apple:
[ad_2]
Source link