
It packs a dual-camera setup, with a 12-megapixel wide sensor allied to a fast f/1.6 lens. You’ll rarely whiff a shot with the iPhone SE.Įven so, the iPhone 12 camera is a notch or two above. In good light, images are routinely crisp and balanced, while colors are nice and accurate. We’ll talk about the A13’s performance in due course, but in camera terms this chip enables the iPhone SE to take pictures that are way better than its modest hardware would suggest is possible. And on that front, the iPhone SE (2020) benefits from packing a relatively modern A13 Bionic SoC. That’s fine, though, because Apple’s major skill when it comes to photography has increasingly become its image processing technology. You’re getting the exact same single 12-megapixel sensor and f/1.8 lens set-up. You can extend the iPhone SE’s iPhone 8 debit to include its camera hardware. Short of the Google Pixel 4a, it’s just about the best photographic experience you’re likely to get for less than $400. That’s not to say that snaps taken with the iPhone SE (2020) underwhelm in any way. It’s no surprise, then, to learn that the iPhone 12’s camera is significantly superior to the iPhone SE’s. When it comes to smartphone photography, you typically get what you pay for. It’s still only 60Hz, just the same as the iPhone SE (2020), whereas virtually every non-Apple phone at this price has moved on to 90Hz and 120Hz refresh rates. Let’s not get too carried away with the iPhone 12 display love-in though. But even then, you should probably consider the iPhone 12 mini, which is essentially the iPhone 12 shrunk down to a sub-iPhone SE size. There really is no contest - unless, that is, the ability to use a screen with the thumb of your holding hand is a priority. Just as with their respective designs, the iPhone SE display simply belongs to a different era to the iPhone 12’s. Although the latter does feature wide color gamut support, with the iPhone 12’s OLED display blacks are truly black, whereas LCD panels are invariably a dark shade of gray. This yields much richer colors and deeper contrast than the iPhone SE’s dated IPS LCD technology.
#Iphone se vs apple iphone 12 pro max pro
The iPhone 12 screen is better than the iPhone SE’s in every way, with a higher 1170 x 2532 resolution (versus 750 x 1334) for a sharper 460 ppi pixel density (versus 326 ppi).īeyond that, the iPhone 12 sees Apple switching to the OLED display panel technology that had previously been reserved for the more expensive iPhone X and Pro models. You could make a case against the iPhone 12 for its intrusive notch, but it’s still giving you way more space to play with. videos and games) than the 4.7-inch 16:9 iPhone SE. The reason the iPhone 12 is both bigger and proportionally longer than the iPhone SE (2020) is simple: its display is bigger and proportionally longer.Īt 6.1-inches and 19.5:9, the iPhone 12’s display is way better suited to widescreen landscape content (i.e. The old ones aren’t always the best, but they’re often more comfortable. In a nutshell, the iPhone 12 design is much fresher than the tired old iPhone SE, but the latter phone is more comfortable to hold and to lug around. It also benefits from an IP68 rating, compared to the iPhone SE’s IP67 rating, which means it can be immersed in far deeper water without issue. The iPhone 12 is the hardier phone of the two, with a toughened nano-crystalline Ceramic Shield up front for four times the screen protection. But Touch ID feels freshly relevant in a mask-wearing world, where Face ID has come to struggle.

This has necessitated the dropping of the iconic Touch ID-imbued Home button, with a Face ID notch eating into the top of the screen by way of a replacement.īoth biometric systems present fast, secure and reliable ways to unlock your phone and authenticate payments. It’s more iPhone 5 than iPhone 6, but with a more modern twist.Īround front, the iPhone 12’s all-screen design pushes back the chunky bezels of the iPhone SE, with an 86% screen-to-body ratio compared to the SE’s 65.4%. It’s proportionally taller, too, and its flat-edged industrial design comes from a completely different school of though. At 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4mm and 164g it’s bigger than the iPhone SE in every way.


The iPhone 12 is an entirely different kettle of fish.
