iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini: What should you buy?

iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini: What should you lot buy?

(Paradigm credit: Tom's Guide)

Stack the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini side by side, and y'all'll get quite a dissimilarity to any iPhone 12 Pro vs. iPhone 12 Pro Max comparison. While there are a number of differences between Apple's now-discontinued iPhone 12 Pro models, an iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini face-off will lead you to conclude that the two phones are pretty much identical.

Oh, there are some obvious differences — the iPhone 12 is the bigger of the two, as the iPhone 12 mini's proper noun would suggest. The iPhone 12 mini debuted at the lowest cost of any iPhone 12 model in 2020. But in terms of the things that determine how a phone performs in everyday use, these two iPhone 12 models share a lot of the same parts, from the processor to the camera setup.

iPhone 12 mini vs. iPhone SE: Which modest phone is all-time?
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Plus: iPhone thirteen review: The all-time iPhone for near people

While the focus is shifting to the iPhone xiii vs. iPhone 13 mini, as those two phones replace the iPhone 12 models, our iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini face-off details the similarities and differences betwixt the iPhone 13'southward predecessors.

iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini specs

	iPhone 12 mini	iPhone
Debut cost	$599	$699
Screen size (Resolution)	5.4-inch OLED (2340 x 1080)	6.i-inch OLED (2532x1170)
CPU	A14 Bionic	A14 Bionic
Storage	64GB, 128GB, 256GB	64GB, 128GB, 256GB
Rear cameras	12MP wide (ƒ/i.6), 16MP ultrawide (ƒ/ii.4)	12MP wide (ƒ/1.6), 16MP ultrawide (ƒ/ii.4)
Front camera	12MP (ƒ/2.2)	12MP (ƒ/two.2)
Battery life (Hrs:Mins)	seven:28	8:25
Size	five.18 x two.53 x 0.29 inches	5.78 x 2.81 x 0.29 inches
Weight	four.76 ounces	five.78 ounces
5G compatibility	Sub 6Ghz, mmWave	Sub 6Ghz, mmWave
Colors	White, black, blue, green, royal, [Product] Blood-red	White, black, bluish, dark-green, purple, [Product] Carmine

iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini: What's the same

The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini have some differences, as nosotros'll get to. But on rest, these ii phones take a lot in common, from the way they look to how they perform. Here'south a look at the iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini similarities.

Processor: The A14 Bionic powers each and every member of the iPhone 12 family, from the mini all the way up to the iPhone 12 Pro Max. So the ii phones perform similarly, especially since Apple includes equal amounts of RAM in each device. (Or at least, that's what teardowns reveal, since Apple doesn't consequence official numbers on the amount of retentivity in its phones.)

We've run iPhone 12 benchmark tests on both phones. On the Geekbench 5 general performance, the iPhone 12 posted single- and multicore scores of 1,593 and 3,859, respectively.

The iPhone 12 mini posted a higher multicore score at four,123 points, but the phones turned in substantially equal times when nosotros had them transcode a 4K video using Adobe Premiere Rush. (The iPhone 12 did it in 26 seconds, the iPhone 12 mini took 27 seconds.)

Put another way, if yous perform the aforementioned tasks on an iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, yous won't spot whatever departure in how these phones run your favorite apps. Even you get the less expensive iPhone 12 mini, y'all tin can expect performance that matches any iPhone 12 model.

5G connectivity: Just as all the iPhone 12 models run on the A14 Bionic, they also all connect to 5G. That means every kind of 5G, as Apple tree included support for a wide variety of bands.

And then both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini tin connect to whatever kind of 5G network, whether it's built on the far-reaching sub-6GHz spectrum or uses faster mmWave technology.

Cameras: Apple fabricated subtle changes to the different lenses used by the iPhone 12 Pro models, which produces some differences on shots that use the telephoto lenses. Just there's no such distinction with the iPhone 12 and iPhone mini.

The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini each feature two rear cameras — a 12MP broad angle lens with a larger f/ane.6 aperture and a 12MP ultrawide angle lens. Forth with the f/i.6 aperture on the chief camera, Apple now uses a 7-element lens, and those changes should improve low-light performance past 27%.

Software changes are the same across both phones as well. Both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini support the enhancements Apple tree's made to Deep Fusion and Smart HDR for more detailed images than previous iPhones could capture.

Displays: Ignore the size difference for a moment, and focus on the fact that Apple now uses OLED panels across its entire iPhone lineup. That's a change from past years when phones like the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR even so made do with an LCD screen.

Both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini offer a 60Hz refresh rate — a similarity you probably wish they didn't take in a globe where a growing number of phones offering faster refresh rates for smoother scrolling. (Our Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12 face up-off reveals what a difference a faster refresh rate makes.)

Both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini miss out on faster refreshing, but the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max did go 120Hz refresh rates. (For more, read our guide to the 120Hz display on the iPhone 13 Pro.)

Getting dorsum to the iPhone 12, lab results from display testing revealed two substantially identical devices. The iPhone 12 captured 114.5% of the sRGB color spectrum to 117.8% for the iPhone 12 mini.

Near the biggest difference is brightness, with the iPhone 12 just a bit brighter when we measured it using a light meter. We tallied 569 nits on the iPhone 12, versus 505 nits for the iPhone 12 mini.

Pattern: Apple didn't skimp on the design flourishes for the less expensive iPhone 12 mini. It'south made out of the same materials as the iPhone 12, including the Ceramic Shield display which Apple claims is four times more probable to survive a driblet than previous phones. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini both take Apple's improved IP68 water resistance rating, allowing them to survive in up to 6 meters of h2o for xxx minutes.

Software: Both phones run the aforementioned software — the latest version of iOS 14 — so you'll become the same software features whether you lot own an iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 mini. That continues to be the case now that iOS 15 is available, as both phones support the update (equally yous'd imagine new iPhones would). We've been running the iOS 15 beta on the iPhone 12 without an issue — check our our iOS 15 beta review.

iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini: What's different

As much every bit the two phones take in common, there are some noteworthy differences between the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini.

Price: The larger screen and bigger battery translate to a $100 price difference for the iPhone 12, which is currently bachelor for $699 (or $729 if you purchase the phone unlocked). The iPhone 12 mini matches the iPhone 11's old starting toll of $599 ($629 for an unlocked iPhone 12 mini).

Both phones are bachelor from Apple tree, where yous tin can buy them unlocked or through a carrier. While the either the standard iPhone 12 or the mini version are among the all-time unlocked iPhones, you lot will pay an extra $30 for either unlocked model over the price of a carrier-tied phone.

We're tracking the best iPhone 12 deals, which include savings on both the 5.four- and half dozen.1-inch phones. Purchase your phone from Apple and y'all tin go a rebate when you trade-in your electric current handset — between $seventy to $540 off when you trade in an iPhone 7 or newer.

Screen Size: As we've noted, the iPhone 12 features a six.1-inch display, and the iPhone 12 mini goes small with a 5.4-inch display that will surely appeal to meaty telephone fans. In fact, Apple pulled off a great trick with the iPhone 12 mini: even though it's got a bigger display than the iPhone SE Apple tree released a twelvemonth ago, the mini is both shorter and not equally wide equally that latter phone.

As y'all might imagine, the different screens require unlike-sized phones to accommodate them. The 5.8 x two.viii x 0.29-inch iPhone 12 is noticeably taller and wider than the five.2 x two.v x 0.29-inch iPhone 12 mini. The iPhone 12 also outweighs the mini by more than than 1 ounce.

Bombardment size: Here's one difference that's not visible to the naked eye — the iPhone 12 mini has a smaller battery than the iPhone 12. That's not official, as Apple doesn't announce battery sizes. But once again teardowns have come to our rescue, confirming that the mini uses a ii,227 mAh power pack to the iPhone 12's 2815 mAh battery.

As you'd imagine, that doesn't interpret to much battery life for the iPhone 12 mini. In our tests, it lasted a meager 7 hours and 28 minutes. Non but was that 2.five hours less than the average smartphone, it also trailed the iPhone 12'south fourth dimension of viii hours and 25 minutes.

Nosotros should note that battery life improves when you lot plough off 5G connectivity. Retesting the iPhone 12 with 5G disabled, the telephone turned in a better-than-boilerplate fourth dimension of nearly x.5 hours. Of class, 5G is a major addition to all the iPhone 12 models, so nosotros can't imagine too many people going and so far equally to turn off 5G connectivity for better bombardment life, unless they live somewhere without much 5G coverage.

MagSafe charging speed: One iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini difference outline in an Apple support document, is that the phones charge at dissimilar speeds when using the new MagSafe accessories. While MagSafe has a summit speed of 15 watts, the iPhone 12 mini tops out at 12 watts.

There's no official reason given for the difference, simply nosotros suspect it has something to practice with preventing the smaller telephone from overheating when charging.

iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini: Which one should you get?

Our iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 mini face-off finds ii phones and then evenly matched that the device you buy will ultimately come down to your personal preference — if you fifty-fifty want an iPhone 12 at all at this signal. After all, the iPhone 13 is arriving shortly.

But many of the same comparisons apply here. If you like phones with pocket-sized screens or yous desire to pay the to the lowest degree amount possible and all the same walk away with all the key upgrades, the iPhone 12 mini model is for you. Simply fans of larger screens will observe the 6.1-inch display on the iPhone 12 more to their liking.

Philip Michaels is a senior editor at Tom's Guide. He has strong opinions most Apple, the Oakland Athletics and old movies. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.