[Closed] How's your new iPhone going?

How’s face ID compared to touch ID?

I thought it was great until...😷
😂

Upgraded from my ageing (but still working/update-able) 6S to a 12 Pro. Face ID is excellent (apparently people have had some success training it to work with a mask, might try that now...)

Not really a photog myself so can't comment on the HDR thing... the Pro does have ProRAW though which is supposed to be the killer feature & would presumably solve those issues... might have to do some reading up!

Night mode is excellent... not sure how much the Lidar helps, think it's supposed to work in the background? Did a quick 3D scan of my living room, fun gimmick, think it's really a case of waiting till app developers get on board & fully exploit it really. Not downloaded Snapchat though which apparently uses it already for AR. Battery life excellent.

Switched to the 11 from a 7.

Camera is outstanding portrait and night mode especially.

Face recognition is so simple of course a bit trickier just now.

Very much faster, good battery life and lovely screen.

Remember the new SE is basically iPhone 11 parts in a iPhone 8 case. Battery life tends to be stable as batteries get better, processors get more efficient, but the apps/OS become more demanding.

I got a refurb XR to replace my aging 6S (which a kid now has). Face ID was a positive feature for when I'm out riding as I don't have to take my gloves off to quickly see something. Then Covid happened... and yes it's a bit annoying waiting for the password popup to appear. The most annoying thing is when I use Reminders as a shopping list and I have to unlock with passphrase ever minute.

The glorious future would be optional face/finger, I believe Apple have a patent for a fingerprint reader embedded in the sleep button. Obviously didn't make the 12, fingers crossed for the 13!

The native camera app is *definitely* more aggressively processing photos compared to the older models, but this is in comparison to the 6S. My wife has a new SE and it's just as aggressive. I tend to take my photos in Lightroom anyway, so that takes a raw and processes itself.

The best thing about any X-onwards phone apart from the SE is the huge screen. It's wonderful, so much more screen space!

Not got a 12 but have an 11 Pro.
The camera is outstanding, particularly the wide angle lens, you can take brilliant shots with it.
FaceID is also great, I've just been issued with a new work phone without it's only using that that I've realised how good it is. Mask's are not ideal of course.
Battery life is loads better than the 6s I had previously, though that as obviously an old model.

Due to get my Pro Max on the 13th, upgrading from an 8.

TBH I'm mostly excited because the charging/data port on my 8 is so worn that it's constantly disconnecting from Car Play / Charging.

I've drawn out the new dimensions of the digital behemoth I've ordered a few times... there's still a niggling doubt I've got too big, I have a feeling I'll end up buying a cheap watch device thing to track for Strava as it's a bit too big and expensive to have in my pocket riding.

TBH I’m mostly excited because the charging/data port on my 8 is so worn that it’s constantly disconnecting from Car Play / Charging.

You have tried cleaning the inside of the port out with a thin stick? It doesn't take a huge amount of lint to jam it up.

I’ve drawn out the new dimensions of the digital behemoth I’ve ordered a few times… there’s still a niggling doubt I’ve got too big

ALSO re. Night Mode, just googled it and apparently the Lidar on the 12 Pro enables Portrait Mode in Night Mode, whereas normally that function would not be available...

TBH I’m mostly excited because the charging/data port on my 8 is so worn that it’s constantly disconnecting from Car Play / Charging.

Magsafe with a car kit is going to be ace I feel (not that anyone has actually released any MS accessories yet 🤣), although I have got the Apple silicone Magsafe case now!

Yeah it’s probably not worn out, they get lint jammed in them which stops the lead seating securely. I took my 8 to an Apple store and they cleaned it all out for me and it’s worked perfectly ever since, now 4+ years old.

What robust dustproof/waterproof cases are you all using? The brands I’ve previously used don’t have anything suitable for the 12 pro max

(I know the phone is waterproof but as I’m out in the elements all day I’d like to have a fully enclosed phone case)

Any recommendations for a used iphone. My daughter want's to upgrade her 6S, and I want to keep it under £400.

The X or SE (2020) seem to be in the running.

I really like my X which I bought on launch day (Nov 2017 I think), although I think that's technically older than OP's SE2. But the form factor is great - a real step up from what I had before (5s) and still feels great today. The camera is really good. Genuinely haven't touched my dSLR since I got it really - not that I'm a huge photo nerd. The newer one have more colours options (love the new blue pro one), although I can't see the colours at all when it's in a case, and better cameras but I don't feel compelled to upgrade. Maybe next year if there's a bigger improvement.

Face ID is great, I'm reminded of this every time I remove my face mask (which obviously render it really annoying).

What robust dustproof/waterproof cases are you all using? The brands I’ve previously used don’t have anything suitable for the 12 pro max

fossy: if the new SE is in the running that's a great option. It's actually got a newer CPU than a lot of models (the XR, for example) so should still be supported in five years time.

My wife and I both replaced our phones earlier this year, she went for a new SE and I went for an Apple-refurb XR. The XR was a little more expensive, but I valued the larger screen. My wife didn't really want a larger phone (although there's not a lot in it) and found FaceID "creepy". The SE has a CPU that is a generation newer. Now, I expect they'll both be the same price and to be honest it comes down to faceid vs touchid vs screensize tradeoffs. They're both great phones.

Any recommendations for a used iphone. My daughter want’s to upgrade her 6S, and I want to keep it under £400.

If you're not in a rush and I plump for a 12 of some sort, then I'll have a mint SE 128GB for sale, still with box and untouched accessories. I think the best options for a £400 budget are either the SE or the XS.

Face ID is great, I’m reminded of this every time I remove my face mask

So, what's the process for making a payment with Face ID, then?

Touch ID is: 1. double tap the button, 2. that's it.

Obviously Touch ID is a pain with gloves (but then using a phone is a pain with gloves*) or sweaty/wet hands, but apart from that I've got on really well with it.

* I really miss the ability of my old Nokia 1020 to open the camera directly from the hardware shutter button… it totally transformed the usability of a phone as a camera and I don't know why all phones don't have that.

The Otterbox isn’t a full/360 case though? Happy to be corrected as it’d be ideal if it was

So, what’s the process for making a payment with Face ID, then?

Touch ID is: 1. double tap the button, 2. that’s it.

The Otterbox isn’t a full/360 case though? Happy to be corrected as it’d be ideal if it was

So, what’s the process for making a payment with Face ID, then?

Double tap button, look at screen, hold near reader.

If you're in that London, you can set up one card to use as "Express Transit" which doesn't need face id to work, just hold near the Oyster reader.

9/10 I use my watch though...

I've just got a 12 Pro (got £280 trade in for my Xs).

Considered the Max for the fancy camera, but it's too big for me.

Only taken a few shots so far, but think it's going to be good.

Been running 14.2 on my old phone, this isn't appreciably faster or different.

Thanks zilog, it’s hard to tell from the pictures on their website. I’ll get one ordered

Fair enough 🙂 Power button, I assume, given the absence of a home button…

You don’t need to double tap the button, it’ll pick up the card reader and present option for which card to use.

I went from an 8 to 11pro

Genuine upgrade, the camera is brilliant.

Face ID works very well.

Whether they are truly worth the premium 🤷‍♂️

I’ve just gone 12 pro from xs, I’ve always liked Face ID and it seems the same on this one.
Speed wise it’s a step up, however the camera seems very good, I took a picture today on south head which I thought would look really dull, but it pulled out all the blue in the sky and the clouds looked really detailed, what surprised me was it pulled out a low level of mist that was hanging over kinder.

(apparently people have had some success training it to work with a mask, might try that now…)

Wouldn't that teach your phone to unlock for anyone wearing a facemask?

Fair enough 🙂 Power button, I assume, given the absence of a home button…

Yeah. But they don't call it a power button any more since it has to do all the button-y things now.

Wouldn’t that teach your phone to unlock for anyone wearing a facemask?

Aside from masks I wear large-framed glasses and, at this time of year, normally a hat too, so it’d have nothing to go on—if it works with that then a 1970s IRA terrorist or Buzz Aldrin could unlock my phone 🙂

I upgraded from an 8 Plus to a 12 Pro and am very happy with it.
The screen is bigger than the 8 Plus screen but the phone is smaller so it is easier to hold and fits my pocket a lot better. The new form factor also feels more comfortable in my hand.
The camera on the 12 Pro is excellent. I was looking through some photos on my iMac earlier and the improvement in clarity and depth of colour of iPhone photos over the years is astounding.
Battery life is proving to be very good and certainly better than the 8 Plus.
Face ID is great. It is fast to recognise me and so far hasn’t caused any problems. There is an option to set up an alternative appearance but I haven’t had any luck getting it to work if I am wearing a mask.
The sound from the phone speakers is also very good.

And those of you with the Pro… do you think the differences over the base model are compelling? (I mean, presumably you at least did otherwise you wouldn’t have bought it… but is there a must-have feature for you?)

If I were to get one I’d be a bit torn… the mini would be great in the hand/pocket and is the cheapest, but has lesser battery life; the 12 has the big screen and better battery life; the Pro adds the tele and Lidar and ProRaw; but I suspect the Pro Max would probably be too big to live with, never mind they eye-watering price.

Got to be worth it for the proper zoom alone if you’re a serious snapper

Aside from masks I wear large-framed glasses

I trained my 11 pro while wearing my contacts. No problem unlocking while wearing reading glasses or standard glasses when the contacts are out. I haven't managed to get it to work with a mask on my face.

I wouldn’t bother with anything more than a silicon wraparound gel case to protect the sides and back from impacts, and a toughened glass screen protector, to avoid direct impacts on the glass. That’s what I’ve put on my 11Pro Max, and it’s all it needs; I’ve cracked the screen protector once and replaced it in the year I’ve had the phone, but going for an Otterbox is an unnecessary extravagance - I had one on my 6+, it was really bulky, the built-in plastic screen protector was useless, to the point that I ripped it out shortly after getting the case, because it wouldn’t lay flat across the screen so I had to press down on the screen rather than touch it.
As the 11 has been tested in up to 30ft of salt water without any issues, the amount of harm a 12 is likely to suffer while being used in the rain is pretty much zero.
Regarding FaceID, leaving aside C19 and mask wearing, and there are clear masks available, FaceID is practically faultless, I think it’s only failed a few times, and most likely due to the mirrored lenses of my sunglasses, although it has worked with one pair I have. In the meantime, I just use my bank card, it’s quicker than using the passcode.
The camera on the 11 is excellent, Night Mode is amazing, although there is noticeable artifacting going on at higher enlargement; it’ll be interesting to see how the increased zoom along with the LIDAR improving focussing in very low light improves things even more.
As far as TouchID is concerned, it really wasn’t all that on my 6+, I actually went back to using my card, because even damp fingers stopped it working, but the TouchID using the power button like on the recent iPad might be an ideal setup in the next phone - nobody could have anticipated C19 and mask wearing affecting FaceID like it has, having both would cover all bases. Having said that, there’s some indication that Apple have got a new TouchID that works under the screen using some sort of infrared system, but if the TouchID in the button combined with FaceID works, I think it might be a bit easier to use, just because of the way you hold a phone.
Whatever, my phone’s a year old, my 6+ was five years old when I got the 11, so it’s unlikely I’ll be replacing it for another four years at least!

Placed preorder for 12 mini today. Currently on a 4.5 year old original SE. Was looking at the new SE but better camera of the 12 but still in a smaller package swung it. Can’t stand the size of some of these new phones.

Snap Clubby! I’ve pre-ordered a 12 mini to replace a 6s. Been waiting months for the 12 to come out so I was pleasantly surprised to hear about the 12 mini.
My wife has spent all summer trying to get me on to a new SE but it wasn’t for me. Hopefully I won’t regret it. Like you I didn’t want a huge phone so I’m expecting the 12 mini to do me great.

Got to be worth it for the proper zoom alone if you’re a serious snapper

I’ve always much preferred prime lenses on film and digital cameras so actually the zoom doesn’t bother me (though if it’s easy to use as effectively two primes, rather than a continuous zoom, then it’s no bad thing). It’s the larger/better sensor in the main camera and the associated low light/reduced noise capability that would be the compelling factor for me.

The prospect of ProRaw has me quite excited, though, so the Pro is very tempting on that basis.

Can’t stand the size of some of these new phones.

Mm, even with my big hands I recall picking up the 11 in the shop and disliking the size of it, so the Mini is very tempting. It’s just the reduced battery life that would bother me. Though a larger screen would certainly be helpful for photo editing. In the case of the Max it might even be big enough to make my ageing iPad obsolete; I only use that for watching TV.

I think I could probably use those 3D printed dummies to try for a while; do you want to sell them @zilog6128 ? 🙂

If Apple could give me the Pro in the Mini size, but thicker so it’s got better battery life, I’d have an easy decision 😀

Bez, on the 12 Pro there are three (2 on the 12) ‘buttons’ in the camera app. .5 (wide) x1 (standard) and x2 (tele) which swaps between the three cameras in standard (none digital zoom) configurations, so you can swap between the three prime lenses easily and ignore the digital zoom options in between easily.

Nice, thanks 🙂

I bet they still haven’t introduced a 3:2 format though 😬

Bought an 11 pro as it was about the smallest decent phone around at the time, then see they've launched a smaller one. D'oh. It's not quite small enough with a case on.

Unlocks *most* of the time with a mask on. Main problem I have is I find the typing much worse than Google's keyboard, especially if you have to correct a word. Half the time you just have to type it again, you can't get the cursor in the right place to correct the wrong letter. Maybe that's better on the bigger screens?
Keyboard doesn't support a language I use (Google does), and it refuses to remember/suggest swearwords which is a bit puritanical.

Half the time you just have to type it again, you can’t get the cursor in the right place

Holy smokes, I never knew about that! 😀

I’ve just switched from an old SE to the new SE2.

Can’t stand it, awful phone. It’s too big, and the virtual/haptic button is a truly shit piece of design.

@zilog6128

you know you can just hold down the spacebar and it turns the keyboard into a trackpad to position the cursor?

That is brilliant, thanks
Never RTFM obviously

I was disappointed that they lost the old SE form factor but TBH with age and degrading eyesight the new SE fills the bill pretty well for me. Anything bigger really would get to be a struggle for pockets etc. Though I said that before upgrading as well 🙂

Never RTFM obviously

Well, there isn’t really one. This is one of my few gripes with iOS: the usability is good once you know (and remember) all the tricks but Apple aren’t so good at discoverability.

(Mind you, you can drag the cursor itself in much the same way; the space bar mainly just helps you do it with your finger well out of the way.)

I just swapped from an SE 2020 to a 12 pro.

The UX is (obviously) unchanged and I have used Face ID before with the iPhone XR... it totally doesn’t work with masks.

The camera is absolutely stunning, a game changer for me.

I also like the return to a chunkier design, it reminds me of a jacked up iPhone 4

Lifeproof fre cases work for me. Had them on all my iPhones back to a 4 and they are waterproof, drop proof and pretty low profile, not tacky so they go in your pocket easily. Even the contactless charging thing in my car works with it. Not cheap though but worth it for protecting an £800 quid phone or whatever.

I also like the return to a chunkier design

Yeah, the angular sides are so much better when it comes to actually holding the thing. (Mine always lives in a case, but case designs tend to follow the cues of the actual phone.)

Well, there isn’t really one. This is one of my few gripes with iOS: the usability is good once you know (and remember) all the tricks but Apple aren’t so good at discoverability.

Lifeproof fre cases work for me.

Whether anyone has actually ever read it is another matter 🤣

Back to my previous remark about discoverability 😀

That’s only because no-one can be bothered though! It’s actually a testament to how well the devices are designed that no-one even thinks they need to read the instructions. I bet it’s mentioned somewhere in the iPhone packaging anyway... It’s also the first link when I google “iPhone manual”!

Compare it to tech devices from back in the day which could be virtually indecipherable despite having read the massive instruction book cover to cover!!

You have tried cleaning the inside of the port out with a thin stick? It doesn’t take a huge amount of lint to jam it up.

This - I was struggling with my XS disconnecting so I cut a matchstick in half down its length and used it to poke out the fluff that had built up.

I haven't tried re-scanning my face for Face ID while wearing a mask, I wonder if that would work..

... having now bothered to look, I see an option to "Set Up An Alternative Appearance" under Face ID and Passcode settings.

Update: No. You get a "Face obstructed" error if you try scanning your face while wearing a mask.

I haven’t tried re-scanning my face for Face ID while wearing a mask, I wonder if that would work..

It doesn't. At least, not for me. There is apparently a 'trick' where you cover half your face with a (folded) mask when training FaceID, but that didn't work for me either.

I'd be interested to hear how anyone has got FaceID to work with a mask.

I went from the 8+ to the 11, the camera is much better.  I'm sure the 12 would be even better but I can't justify it at this point.  Maybe when we have the next Family phone shuffle down.

As far as cases go, I went for a Mous Limitless case having used a variety of Supcase and Spigens on previous phones .  It's much nicer not massive but has protected it from a fair few clumsy drops onto a variety of surfaces.

Regarding the discoverability of features, use the "Tips" app by Apple. I've discovered a few useful features using that, very useful tool, especially when there is a iOS update and they have changed existing features or added in new one.

A few weeks later than hoped for, my new 12 Pro Max arrived yesterday.

It's taken a little bit to get used to the 'non home button' way of working it, but it's okay... I wonder if a virtual home button might have been a good idea, but hey.

As for the rest:

It's way too big, this is my fault, I went 'balls out' and it's too big. Even after I drew the size of the thing out said "it's too big" I still ordered it because I wanted to be a flash git and it's too big - have I mentioned the size? maybe there's a function to shrink the home screen a bit to use it one-handed, but I haven't discovered it yet, but it's not really possible to use it one handed.

The camera is amazing. With my 8 you could take 'snaps' with this you can take 'photos' if that makes sense, that said it's not all the camera, some of it is down to digital effects that make them look better, and some of it is down to the screen, they lose a little bit of their sparkle viewed on say a Monitor.

As above, the screen is amazing, I read an article on the BBC yesterday saying that we should watch vids on our phones in SD to help the environment, not HD as it's not really visible on such a small screen... anyway, 4K youtube vids are lovely...

General Performance, snappy, responsive, quick and other meaningless words. Yes, one of the most powerful phones in the world is unsurprisingly quick to use, but it's only really about as quick as every iPhone I've had since about the 6 I think was, on the version of iOS it launched with. My 8 was very quick on iOS 11 and 12, a little buggy on 13 and frankly a buggy, laggy crashy mess on 14. I'm sure 2 years from now, even though it's the baller Pro, it'll run like hot crap on iOS 17 or whatever.

The device it lovely, I like the Blue colour I chose (which caused the delay) the weight doesn't bother me, it's not heavy, the battery supposedly last two days... given the level of use for ours in work, going 8-6 without a charge would be nice, but nothing can hide the massive bulk of the thing. I struggle to understand why such a thing exists really, other than for stupid flash gits like myself to buy. I'm due an operation in the next few weeks/months, it'll mean I'll have my hand bandaged for a few weeks, I'm keeping my 8 to use when I'm down to one hand because the Max is too big to use one-handed, which is mad when you think about it.

I like your honesty P-Jay 🙂 I got the 12 mini and it’s fantastic. All the good things of the 12 but it actually fits in my hand/pocket!

Yeah was seriously tempted by the Max myself mainly for the slightly better camera and battery life, but it is obviously too big (plus I asked everyone I knew who had a "max" sized phone and 9/10 regretted it 🤣)
If you need a way to feel better and justify your decision, the big screen & battery would make it an excellent monitor for a drone such as the new Mavic Mini 2 😃... I bet it's not even too much of a chore to do video editing on the phone due to the screen size

I read an article on the BBC yesterday saying that we should watch vids on our phones in SD to help the environment

maybe there’s a function to shrink the home screen a bit to use it one-handed

Reachability?

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iph77bcdd132/14.0/ios/14.0#iph145eba8e9

Re: issue of phone being too big...

Back in the good ol’ days when apple took away the headphone jack you could drill a hole where it was in previous models and keep using your headphones.

In the max models a friend tells me you can use a hacksaw to trim it down from the top by 1.5cm. The phone will recognise you’ve done this and move the notch down accordingly.

You’re welcome.

Seems legit.

I got the 11 earlier in the year. All I can say is I have my fingers crossed for the new Blackberry in 2021.

The wife regrets not going for more storage than her 64gb iPhone 11. She got an unexpected bonus so I think she's going to trade her 11 in for a 12 Pro.

I went for the middle-ground 256GB - the 512GB is a massive price bump. I use a lot of cloud storage these days as well as streaming so there's less I need to actually keep on the phone, however if you're going to be shooting a lot of Pro Raw and especially Dolby Vision HDR, that's going to chew through a fair bit of space.

iPhone 12 pro max user here. I'm used to the size because I had the Xs Max before and it's not that much bigger. Yes it's bigger than the Nokia 8800 I found in the bottom of the drawer the other day but it can do a helluva lot more, better and quicker (that was a proper 2000's bling phone)

It still goes in my pocket easily enough and I like the larger size for watching videos, sailing through the south atlantic, reading the forum etc. If needed you can use the accessibility shortcut to swipe down and bring the top icons down but to be honest I rarely do.

Camera quality improvement is very noticeable from the Xs Max.

I do have to declare that I'm an Apple fanboy though so this may jade my view a little when comparing to other handsets.

So… having decided it’s a Pro (for ProRaw, mainly) or not bothering to upgrade at all, I’m leaning towards the “in for a penny, in for a pound (well, lots of pounds)” Pro Max.

The battery life and the improved main camera are the compelling factors… but the size… oof. Jersey pockets will be marginal, and my Rickshaw Pipsqueak will barely close over it, but I dunno… it’ll probably be things like being able to use the Waitrose app one-handed while shopping that will determine whether it drives me nuts. I type two-handed even in the SE, and a bigger screen will be a big bonus for photo editing, but if it’s too hard to hold without it toppling out of my hand then maybe it’s too much. And at the moment no phone shops I’ve tried are letting anyone actually pick phones up.

Aside from the contrasting views above, anyone else finding the Max great/awful?

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jk1980
Free Member

I’ve just switched from an old SE to the new SE2.

Can’t stand it, awful phone. It’s too big, and the virtual/haptic button is a truly shit piece of design.

Posted 1 month ago

Did you get used to the size of your phone?

Pro max here, love it. Came from a Xs but had a 6S+ in the past. I am big tho.

I like the 2.5 tele (on the Xs in 2 years 47% of my pics were with the tele) - wanted the tele so had to be pro.

Battery, screen obviously ace.

Video is phenomenal, really the big camera step up more so than stills.

Stills vs my Xs, I notice better low light (night mode and shorter exposures) and the newer smart HDR is more subtle (better).

Ultra wide is nice to have but I prefer teles in general, but that’s a personal preference.

It’s heavy but that’s fine. I don’t use a case.

Bear my “it’s great and I love the camera” in mind against:
- I’m big (6’4” so phone not so big for me)
- I made cameras for a living (effectively) so I care about and notice cameras.
- I’d had a plus before.

That all said, buy from Apple you’ve 14 days to return it.

Jersey pockets will be marginal,

Not had a problem there.

Zippykona - A little more comfortable with it, but still find it bigger than I’d like. Decent battery life is welcomed of course!

Despite my outburst above, it only took a little while to get used to the size of the Max. It manages to sit on my pocket when I’m riding etc

Battery life is amazing for a smart phone, despite how much we use them in work I’m getting about 3 days from a full charge, admittedly it’s plugged in when I’m in the car, but that’s pretty rare these days. I’d risk saying it’s getting close to Nokia levels of battery life... it’s only taken a decade.

Fired up the new Pro Max yesterday. First impressions:

- Still not sure about the size. I mean, it’s too big, obviously, but it’s not as daunting as when I first picked up a 7 Plus. The question is whether the main camera and improved battery life are worth it—if not then I might return it and get the smaller Pro.
- Face ID works great. Haven’t yet figured out how to open Wallet from the lock screen; need to do some reading. Haven’t tried face masks but I picked up a cheap Apple Watch which will eliminate mask-related payment faff.
- I was wondering whether the screen would blow me away compared to the older tech on the SE. It doesn’t. It’s fine, it’s just not much different. (Haven’t watched any HDR video yet but that’s not something of great interest to me).

Beyond that, it’s an iPhone, works like any iPhone. Just a really bloody expensive one 😀

Time to get out and test the camera against the SE. Hoping for big things, we’ll see. Again, if it doesn’t blow me away then I’ll probably swap for the more sensibly-sized Pro.

Haven’t yet figured out how to open Wallet from the lock screen

I was wondering whether the screen would blow me away compared to the older tech on the SE. It doesn’t.

Time to get out and test the camera against the SE.

The pixel density is about 40% greater, so if you can’t tell the difference, maybe time for some (new) glasses? 😉

Heh. Already well into glasses age, and to my eyes resolution is good enough on all of them. But I was mainly thinking of contrast and colour reproduction; I was anticipating more difference in shadows and blacks. Might become more apparent once I start editing photos if different environmental lighting.

double click the side button.

That was what I thought, didn’t seem to work. I’ll give it another go.

don’t forget to turn on the ProRAW mode!

Main reason I went for a Pro model, so one of the first things I did 😉

Haven’t yet figured out how to open Wallet from the lock screen

As above, double click the side button - which is also exactly what you do on the Watch if you haven't got that far. There's also location awareness going on eg. when I am in Tescos the phone puts the Clubcard in my wallet on the home screen, so no need to go into the wallet to 'grab' my clubcard to scan the barcode to get a shopping scanner.

I was wondering whether the screen would blow me away compared to the older tech on the SE. It doesn’t. It’s fine, it’s just not much different.

It's all about the black levels. I'm used to watching content on an OLED TV, and combined with my OLED phone that I must spend hours a day looking at, non OLED screens just look broken to me now with their horrible approximation of black. eg. I now find my $$$$ iPad Pro with it's top spec LED screen a grim experience to watch stuff on if it is in a dark room.

And I should offer up those 3D printed dummies for anyone else who’s contemplating different sizes, too. PM me if you want them.

I've gone from a 7 to 12 mini, and it's been great! Upgrade in photo quality is the main benefit (especially at night), but I like that it's slightly smaller, and I was constantly hitting the storage limit on the old phone.

Face ID is much better than I was expecting, works well from a variety of angles and distances, and either with or without glasses on. Mask thing is annoying, but hopefully that's a relatively short term problem.

I did make the mistake of not putting a screen protector on straight away, and now have a scratch on it; apparently their new glass is more shatter resistant but softer!

Well it eventually dawned on me why Wallet isn't opening… I haven't added my cards yet 😉 (I'd confused myself by adding them to an Apple Watch around the same time.)

Also tried watching a film on Netflix with the two phones side by side and yes, the blacks on the new screen are properly black, unlike the SE. A definite improvement.

Not yet blown away by the camera (though I've only been in the house so far and need to get out, I"m sure it's got much more potential) or ProRaw (which doesn't have the texture I saw from some of Halide's initial sample images—it's much more noise-suppressed and less detailed than I was expecting, which is a shame—and editing it seems a little challenging at times; Lightroom in particular seems to be a bit inconsistent in figuring out whether an image is raw or not).

In any case, still very much undecided as to whether the 12, Pro or Max is the one for me (I suspect it's the Pro… the Max has become largely a question of whether the size is worth the battery life), but I have a week or so to figure that out 🙂