I’ve gone and treated myself and bought a new iPhone. I’ve been sensible this time and gone for the standard iPhone 12 rather than the Pro model. I’ve sacrificed a third lens and a slightly classier finish to the phones chassis, but saved myself £200. Otherwise, there’s no further difference between the two models. Maybe I’ll miss that third Len a little, but I doubt it. The superior steel chassis? It might look and feel much nicer, but it’ll be buried in a silicone case out of sight, so…
First impressions? It’s no different than my two year old XS model to look just at the screen. The XS is a beautiful device though. It’s the nicer device to look at and hold. It is, in fact, the finest looking phone I’ve ever had. Looks wise, I’ve maybe downgraded a bit. But my new phone has 5g. I get some storming speeds sometimes. Over 300mbps download. And there’s no sign it’s given me coronavirus yet. This was the chief reason for the upgrade. To be honest, I could see me keeping this phone for three years, rather than the usual two.
The latest operating system allowed me to shoot at a perspective of 16.9. But when you close the camera it goes back to the default 4.3 setting, which hugely irritated me. I’ve finally worked out how to fix it at 16.9. As ever, the solution was easy once you looked for it in the camera settings. The quality of the photos coming out of the iPhone 12 look a little bit better than I got from the XS. But not hugely so. The photo today was taken last week on a blowy and overcast afternoon at Chapmans Pool in Dorset.
The Mexile 
I was wondering if you were going to spring for one this time around. Carm and I got new phones two year ago, she for an LG ThinQ and I for the XR. The photos from the XR are so good I’ve started framing a few of them. I think I’ll wait another year or two before buying another one though. We don’t have 5g locally that makes the purchase worth it. It will be awhile before they get infrastructure in place and anyway we are screwed as regards our distributors. Another minus if you will is our proximity to the US border, this comes into play if your are roaming as you can get your signal from across the border and you can get an exciting bill added to your monthly for that excursion!
Buying the phone outright would be the best of $1500, buying on a plan would be about $140 a month plus tax. When I was shopping for the XR most of the retailers were looking for $143 plus taxes but I was lucky to spot a one off offer of $100.80 with five gigs including tax and sprung for it. That plan ends in a month, the phone will be mine and off contract.
Any plan here really starts at about $60 plus plus just for just a few gigs. So it makes more sense to just wait a few years for the price to drop substantially before taking the plunge again.
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You really pay through the nose in Canada. I think we’ve discussed this before and I feel your pain. My new phone cost the equivalent of about $1340 in your money. I just paid outright to keep it separate from my calls/data plan Which I pay about $35 a month for, and get unlimited 5g/4g data, unlimited talk minutes and unlimited texts.
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Interesting your article, came right on time, where I have to decide for a new I phone. I’m debating between the IPhone 11 and IPhone 12. Any thoughts on that you can share. I am not necessarily to keen on the photography, as I am a professional photographer using most of the time my “Real camera”.
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It’s fair to say that you’re not going to use an iPhone camera on a wedding shoot! But as an everyday carry about camera, smart phone cameras are pretty decent these days.
I guess whether or not you go for an 11 or 12 will depend on what deal you can get (I imagine the 11 will have some decent Black Friday discounting) and whether you want to be 5g future proofed, in which case the 12 is the one.
Having said all of that, if you spot an iPhone XS out there at a great price, perhaps that’s still worth a look. Sure, it’s a two year old model, but for most things you’d do with a phone you’re just not going to notice much of a difference. And I still think it’s the best looking iPhone ever.
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Thank you so much for getting back to me, about my question, I was very indifferent which one to choose, that is very kind of you. Today I actually purchased the 11 and I think I will be very happy with it. Nevertheless I really appreciate sharing your expertise.
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I think for my next phone I will spring for a larger model. The XR is a definite improvement over the iPhone 6S it replaced but not as well built but you don’t see that as its ensconced in a sturdy case with a glass screen protector. The photos are much better with the XR and although it has just the one back lens it’s amazing the clarity and how crisp the photo is when shared to the iPad. Don’t get me wrong I love the photos from the Fuji-X although it is a bit dated now. I used to wear a camera on me everywhere first a Kodak 110 and then an Olympus Trip in a cavernous pocket. I tend to buy clothing with deep and plentiful pockets rather than carry a bag so I can pop a lens in here or there or what have you. I was once accused of being a walking hardware store however those days are in the past!
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Very informative! Just upgraded from the 6 Plus all the way to the 12 Pro, and I’m loving it so far! Can’t really tell the difference between this and the IPhone X though!
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Now that is a big upgrade! You’ll love the 12 Pro.
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Loving it already!! 🙂
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