The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s developed and marketed by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

They are the flagship smartphones in the fourteenth generation of the

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

, succeeding the

iPhone 11 Pro The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are smartphones developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Serving as Apple's flagship models of the 13th generation of iPhones, they succeeded the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, respectively, upon their rele ...

and iPhone 11 Pro Max, respectively. They were unveiled alongside the

iPhone 12 The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini (stylized and marketed as iPhone 12 mini) are smartphones developed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the fourteenth-generation iPhones, succeeding the iPhone 11. They were unveiled at a virtually held Ap ...

and iPhone 12 Mini at an Apple Special Event at

Apple Park Apple Park, also known as Apple Campus 2, is the corporate headquarters of Apple Inc., located in Cupertino, California, United States. It was opened to employees in April 2017, while construction was still underway. It replaced Apple Campus as ...

Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose, California, San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The ...

on October 13, 2020, with the iPhone 12 Pro being released on October 23, 2020, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max on November 13, 2020. They were discontinued on September 14, 2021, along with the

iPhone XR The iPhone XR is a smartphone developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the twelfth generation of the iPhone, alongside the higher-end iPhone XS/XS Max models. Pre-orders began on October 19, 2018, with the official release on Octo ...

, following the announcement of the

iPhone 13 The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini (stylized as iPhone 13 mini) are smartphones developed and marketed by Apple. They are the fifteenth generation of iPhones, succeeding the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini. They were unveiled at an Apple Event in Apple ...

and

iPhone 13 Pro The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are smartphones developed and marketed by Apple Inc. They were the flagship smartphones in the fifteenth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max respectively. The ...

. Major upgrades over the

and iPhone 11 Pro Max include the addition of 5G support, the

lidar Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranging, ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected li ...

sensor, ProRAW ( DNG) allowing high quality lossless 12-bit image capture in the native photos app with the use of the new DNG v1.6 specification, the introduction of the

MagSafe MagSafe is a series of proprietary magnetically attached power connectors developed by Apple Inc. for Mac laptops. Apple also uses the MagSafe name for MagSafe Attach, a wireless power transfer and accessory-attachment feature for the iPhone ...

wireless charging Inductive charging (also known as wireless charging or cordless charging) is a type of wireless power transfer. It uses electromagnetic induction to provide electricity to portable devices. Inductive charging is also used in vehicles, power tool ...

and accessory system, the

Apple A14 Bionic The Apple A14 Bionic is a 64-bit ARMv8.4-A system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series. It appears in the iPad Air (4th generation) and iPad (10th generation), as well as iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhon ...

system on a chip A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or Electronics, electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with computer memory, ...

(SoC),

high-dynamic-range video High dynamic range (HDR), also known as wide dynamic range, extended dynamic range, or expanded dynamic range, is a signal with a higher dynamic range than usual. The term is often used in discussing the dynamic ranges of images, videos, audio or ...

Dolby Vision Dolby Vision is a set of technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories for high dynamic range (HDR) video. It covers content creation, distribution, and playback. It includes dynamic metadata that define the aspect ratio and adjust the picture ...

10-bit 4:2:0 4K video recording at 30 or 60 fps, larger 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays on the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, respectively, and the move to a base capacity of 128 GB from the prior base capacity of 64 GB, while retaining the other storage capacities of 256 and 512 GB. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, like the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini, are the first iPhone models from Apple to no longer include a power adapter or EarPods headphones found in prior iPhone models; however, a

USB-C USB-C, or USB Type-C, is a 24-pin reversible Electrical connector, connector (not a Communication protocol, protocol) that supersedes previous USB hardware#Connectors, USB connectors (also supersedes Mini DisplayPort and Lightning (connector) ...

Lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

cable is still included, and this change was retroactively applied to other iPhone models sold by Apple at the time, including the

iPhone 11 The iPhone 11 is a smartphone developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple. It is the thirteenth generation of iPhone, succeeding the iPhone XR, and was unveiled on September 10, 2019, alongside the higher-end iPhone 11 Pro at the Steve Jobs Th ...

and iPhone SE (2nd generation).

History

Official announcement

The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max were officially announced by

on October 13, 2020, during a virtual press event held at the Steve Jobs Theater at

in Cupertino, California. The event was conducted alongside the announcement of the

, iPhone 12 Mini, and

HomePod Mini The HomePod Mini (stylized as HomePod mini) is a smart speaker developed by Apple. It utilizes Apple's Siri digital assistant. Roughly a 10 cm sphere, it was released on November 16, 2020 as a smaller and less expensive version of Apple's Home ...

. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max alongside the rest of the iPhone 12 lineup were the first flagship iPhones to be announced via a pre-recorded broadcast rather than a live on-stage event, due to the

COVID-19 lockdowns During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Non-pharmaceutical intervention (epidemiology), non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar socie ...

. Apple would continue to announce future iPhones this way even after the end of the pandemic and return of in-person events.

Launch and availability

Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 Pro began on October 16, 2020, with the official release taking place on October 23, 2020. This release coincided with the launch of the fourth-generation iPad Air and the standard iPhone 12. The iPhone 12 Pro Max followed a staggered release schedule, with pre-orders commencing on November 6, 2020, and an official release date of November 13, 2020, alongside the iPhone 12 Mini. The pricing for the iPhone 12 Pro started at $999, while the iPhone 12 Pro Max began at $1099. This marked the first time since the launch of the iPhone XS and

in 2018 that multiple iPhone models were announced together but not released simultaneously.

Discontinuation and reintroduction

On September 14, 2021, following the announcement of the

and iPhone 13 Pro Max, the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max were officially discontinued and removed from sale on Apple's website. However, in March 2022, Apple resumed selling refurbished iPhone 12 Pro models starting at $759 through its Refurbished and Clearance section. The iPhone 12 Pro Max, however, was not made available as a refurbished option. The iPhone 12 series introduced several significant technological advancements, such as the inclusion of a Super Retina XDR display, improved camera capabilities, and support for 5G connectivity. It received positive reviews for its design, performance, and new features, making it one of the top-selling smartphone series of its release year.

Design

It is the first major redesign since the

iPhone X The iPhone X (Roman numerals, Roman numeral "X" pronounced "ten") is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the List of iPhone models, 11th generation of the iPhone. Available for pre-order from September 26, 2 ...

, similar to that of

iPad Pro The iPad Pro is a series of tablet computers, positioned as the premium line of Apple Inc., Apple's iPad brand. It runs iPadOS, a tablet-optimized Fork (software development), fork of the iOS operating system. Early models were distinguished f ...

s since 2018 and the 4th-generation iPad Air. The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max feature a flat chassis, a design seen with the

iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the iPhone 4s. Following a number of notable leaks, ...

through the iPhone 5S and the first generation iPhone SE. The notch size is similar to previous models. The bezels are around 35% thinner than the iPhone 11 Pro and previous models. The new design also comes with

Corning Inc Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company specializing in glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The company was name ...

’s custom ceramic-hardened i.e glass ceramic front glass, "Ceramic Shield", while the back retains the previous generation of Corning Inc's custom Dual-Ion Exchange strengthened glass. On the back is the same three-camera configuration found on the

, but with larger apertures and an added

LiDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranging, ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected li ...

scanner. The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max are available in four colors: Silver, Graphite, Gold, and Pacific Blue. Pacific Blue is a new color replacing Midnight Green, while Graphite is a renamed version of Space Gray and Gold is now updated in new yellow gold introduced with the Apple Watch Series 6.

Specifications

Hardware

The iPhone 12 Pro uses Apple's six-core A14 Bionic processor, which contains a 16-core neural engine. It has three internal storage options: 128, 256, and 512 GB. The iPhone 12 Pro has an IP68 water and dust-resistant rating along with dirt and grime, and is water-resistant up to for 30 minutes. However, the manufacturer warranty does not cover liquid damage to the phone. The iPhone 12 Pro, like the iPhone 12, is not supplied with EarPods (except in France) or the power adapter included with prior iPhone models. Apple claims this will reduce

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

and that most users already own these items. Apple still supplies the USB-C to Lightning cable that was introduced with the iPhone 11 Pro. In addition to Lightning and

Qi wireless charging Qi ( ) is an open standard for inductive charging developed by the Wireless Power Consortium. It allows compatible devices, such as smartphones, to receive power when placed on a Qi charger, which can be effective over distances up to 4 cm (1.6 i ...

, the phones introduce

, a new magnet-based charging and accessory system that allow accessories such as chargers and cases to snap onto the back of the phones. MagSafe wireless charging supports up to 15 watts, is fast-charge capable, and is a reimagining of the

brand that was introduced in 2006 with the original

MacBook Pro The MacBook Pro is a line of Mac laptop computers developed and manufactured by Apple. Introduced in 2006, it is the high-end sibling of the MacBook family, sitting above the ultra-portable MacBook Air and previously the low-end MacBook li ...

. The MagSafe Charger can be purchased separately, along with a variety of cases and other accessories. The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max support 5G cellular communications. This allows upload speeds of up to 200 Mbit/s (1 Mbit/s = 1 million bits per second) and download speeds of up to 4 Gbit/s. However, only models sold in the U.S. support the faster mmWave technology; those sold elsewhere in the world, including Canada, only support sub-6 GHz frequency bands. A new feature called Smart Data Mode provides 5G only when necessary to preserve battery life and data usage.

Displays

The iPhone 12 Pro has a 6.06 inch (154 mm) (marketed as 6.1 inch)

OLED An organic light-emitting diode (OLED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is an organic compound film that emits light in respon ...

display with a resolution of 2532 × 1170 pixels (2.9 megapixels) at 460 ppi, while the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 6.68 inch (170 mm) (marketed as 6.7 inch) OLED display with a resolution of 2778 × 1284 pixels (3.5 megapixels) at 458 ppi. Both models have the Super Retina XDR OLED display with thinner bezels than previous generation iPhones. The iPhone 12 Pro Max features the largest display on any iPhone to date. The phones also introduce a new

glass-ceramic Glass-ceramics are polycrystalline materials produced through controlled crystallization of base glass, producing a fine uniform dispersion of crystals throughout the bulk material. Crystallization is accomplished by subjecting suitable glasses t ...

covering, named 'Ceramic Shield', which was co-developed with

Corning Inc. Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company specializing in glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The company was name ...

Apple claims the Ceramic Shield has "4 times better drop performance" and that it is "tougher than any smartphone glass".

Batteries

The iPhone 12 Pro is supplied with a 10.78 Wh (2,815 mAh) battery, a slight decrease from the 11.67 Wh (3,046 mAh) battery found in the

, and is identical to the battery found in the standard iPhone 12. The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 14.13 Wh (3,687 mAh) battery, another slight decrease from the 15.04 Wh (3,969 mAh) battery found in the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The battery is not user-replaceable.

Chipsets

Both the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are supplied with the

, the first

ARM In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between ...

-based smartphone

system-on-a-chip A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with memory, input/output, and dat ...

(SoC) manufactured on the

5 nm process In semiconductor manufacturing, the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems defines the "5 nm" process as the MOSFET technology node following the 7 nm process, "7 nm" node. In 2020, Samsung Electronics, Samsung and TSMC entered volume ...

node. However, unlike previous years, the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are not the first Apple devices to receive the newest A-series processor, with the fourth-generation iPad Air being the first device from Apple to contain the A14 Bionic chip. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max also contain the Apple M14 motion coprocessor. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max use

Qualcomm Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...

's X55 5G

modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

Cameras

The iPhone 12 Pro features four cameras: one front-facing camera and three back-facing cameras, including a telephoto, wide, and ultra-wide camera. The iPhone 12 Pro also features a

scanner for AR and computer-aided photo enhancement services. The iPhone 12 Pro also adds Night Mode for time-lapse video recording on all four cameras. Unlike the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max where the only difference was the screen size and battery capacity, the iPhone 12 Pro Max adds a 47% larger sensor and sensor-shift image stabilization to the main camera lens, and replaces the f/2.0 aperture 52 mm telephoto camera lens with a f/2.2 aperture 65 mm lens, allowing for a 2.5x optical zoom. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are the first smartphones capable of shooting in 10-bit

high dynamic range High dynamic range (HDR), also known as wide dynamic range, extended dynamic range, or expanded dynamic range, is a signal with a higher dynamic range than usual. The term is often used in discussing the dynamic ranges of images, videos, audio o ...

4K video at up to 60 frames per second.

Sensors

The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max have largely the same sensors found on prior iPhone models going back to the

. These include an

accelerometer An accelerometer is a device that measures the proper acceleration of an object. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change (mathematics), rate of change of velocity) of the object relative to an observer who is in free fall (tha ...

gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining Orientation (geometry), orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in ...

barometer A barometer is a scientific instrument that is used to measure air pressure in a certain environment. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Many measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis ...

proximity sensor A proximity sensor (often simply prox) is a sensor able to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. A proximity sensor often emits an Electromagnetic field, electromagnetic field or a beam of electromagnetic radiati ...

ambient light sensor An ambient light sensor is a component in smartphones, notebooks, other mobile devices, automotive displays and LCD TVs. It is a photodetector that is used to sense the amount of ambient light present, and appropriately dim the device's screen ...

, and a digital compass. The devices also include the

Face ID Face ID is a Biometrics, biometric authentication facial recognition system, facial-recognition system designed and developed by Apple Inc. for the iPhone and iPad Pro. The system can be used for unlocking a device, making Apple Pay, payments, ac ...

facial recognition system, this is made up of several sensors: mainly a dot projector, flood illuminator, and an infrared camera, allowing a user's face to be scanned and stored by the Secure Enclave. A

scanner is the new sensor included in the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, similar to that of the fourth-generation iPad Pro, permitting additional

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

(AR) features to also be supported, such as the ability to measure a user's approximate height from the Measure app.

Software

The feature

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

, Apple's

mobile operating system A mobile operating system is an operating system used for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on the ...

. The

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

of iOS is based on the concept of

direct manipulation In computer science, human–computer interaction, and interaction design, direct manipulation is an approach to interfaces which involves continuous representation of objects of interest together with rapid, reversible, and incremental actions ...

, using multi-touch gestures. Interface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons. Interaction with the OS includes gestures such as ''swipe'', ''tap'', ''pinch'', and ''reverse pinch'', all of which have specific definitions within the context of the iOS operating system and its multi-touch interface. Internal

s are used by some applications to respond to shaking the device (one common result is the undo command) or rotating it vertically (one common result is switching from portrait to landscape mode). The iPhone 12 Pro was first supplied with

iOS 14 iOS 14 is the fourteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for the iPhone and iPod touch lines. Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 22, 2020 as the successor to iOS 13, it was rel ...

.1 alongside the

while the iPhone 12 Pro Max was supplied with

.2 alongside the iPhone 12 Mini. These phones come with the stock iOS apps, such as Safari, Weather, and Messages, and they also include

Siri Siri ( , backronym: Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) is a digital assistant purchased, developed, and popularized by Apple Inc., which is included in the iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, Apple TV, audioOS, and visionOS operating sys ...

, the personal assistant included in iOS since

iOS 5 iOS 5 is the iOS version history, fifth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 4. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6, 2011, and was released ...

with the release of the

iPhone 4S The is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, fifth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 4 and preceding the iPhone 5. It was announced on October 4, 2011, at Apple's Cupertino ...

. These phones support the current public release of iOS, which is currently

iOS 18 iOS 18 is the eighteenth and current major release of Apple's iOS operating system for the iPhone. It was announced on June 10, 2024, at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). It was made publicly available on September 16, 2024, as ...

Reception

The iPhone 12 Pro received generally positive reviews. ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

'' called it a "beautiful, powerful, and incredibly capable device", praising the new design reminiscent of the

iPhone 5 The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, 6th generation iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 4s, and preceding both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. It was formally unveiled as part of ...

, the speed of the A14 Bionic processor, and its 5G capabilities, but noted the decrease in battery life compared to the iPhone 11 Pro and the low number of upgrades compared to the

. ''

Engadget Engadget ( ) is a technology news, reviews and analysis website offering daily coverage of gadgets, consumer electronics, video games, gaming hardware, apps, social media, streaming, AI, space, robotics, electric vehicles and other potentially ...

'' also gave the iPhone 12 Pro a positive review, praising the

wireless charging and accessory system as well as the improved camera system, but noted the lack of upgrade motivation if users had already purchased a new iPhone in 2019. Apple was criticized for the continued reliance on

as the sole

biometric Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...

option to unlock the device, which is incompatible with face masks. This limitation was lifted with the introduction of the fifth revision of the

, which permits the user to unlock the phone while wearing a face mask, using the paired and password unlocked Apple Watch as its alternative authenticator. The iPhone SE (3rd generation) is the only phone that Apple currently produces that supports

Touch ID Touch ID is an electronic fingerprint recognition feature designed and released by Apple Inc. History In 2012, Apple acquired AuthenTec, a company focused on fingerprint-reading and identification management software, for $356 million. The acq ...

, an alternative option that is compatible with face masks. All models can still use a passcode to log in.

"OLED-gate"

Within two weeks of its public release, a thread was started at Apple Support describing a problem with pixels on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro

displays not shutting off completely in black scenes, resulting in what was described as an "ugly glowing"; over 3,500 other users have since clicked the "I have this question too" button in the thread. Additional users have provided photos and videos online that demonstrate the problem; one of whom—whose video amassed over 50,000 views—claims Apple responded that they were working on the problem. However, Apple has not officially acknowledged the problem, which persists despite multiple software updates, leading users and pundits to fear a hardware problem.

Removal of the power adapter and EarPods

Apple, through an "environmental initiative", have removed the EarPods (except in France until January 31, 2022) and power adapter (except in São Paulo) from all new iPhone boxes, including the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. According to Apple, removing the power adapter permitted Apple to avoid 180, 000 metric tons of in fiscal year 2021 thanks to a shift in the mode of transport and product weight. Apple now includes a USB-C to Lightning cable, incompatible with the existing USB-A power adapters that Apple previously supplied with its devices. Users can still use their existing USB-A power adapters and Lightning cables to charge and sync, but must purchase or use an existing USB-C power adapter to utilize the included USB-C to Lightning cable. Starting with the iPhone 8, a

USB Power Delivery The initial versions of the USB standard specified connectors that were easy to use and that would have high life spans; revisions of the standard added smaller connectors useful for compact portable devices. Higher-speed development of the USB ...

(USB-PD) compliant charger is required to permit fast charging when using the USB-C to Lightning cable, with Apple suggesting the use of a 20W or greater USB-PD compliant charger to fast charge the iPhone 12.

Environmental data

Carbon footprint

The iPhone 12 Pro has a carbon footprint of of CO₂ emissions, which is more than the preceding iPhone 11 Pro. The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a footprint of of carbon emissions, a increase compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Of all emissions, 86% and 82% released by producing the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max respectively are caused by device production and primary resource use with the remaining emissions released by means of first use, transportation, and end-of-life processing.

Repairing

Several weeks after its release, it was discovered by

iFixit iFixit ( ) is an American e-commerce and how-to website that publishes free wiki-like online repair guides and tear-downs of consumer electronics and gadgets. It also sells repair parts, tools, and accessories. It is a private company in San Luis ...

and Australian tech YouTuber Hugh Jeffreys that a number of key components such as the cameras malfunction or display warnings if they are replaced with new or those taken from an otherwise identical donor unit. Internal Apple documents also mention that, beginning with the iPhone 12 and continuing with subsequent models, authorized technicians would have to run the phones through an internal System Configuration tool to reprogram repaired units in order to account for hardware changes. While Apple has yet to comment on the issue, the inability to replace key system components have raised concerns about

repairing The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installat ...

and

planned obsolescence In economics and industrial design, planned obsolescence (also called built-in obsolescence or premature obsolescence) is the concept of policies planning or designing a good (economics), product with an artificially limited Product lifetime, u ...

Explanatory notes

References

{{Apple Inc. hardware *12 Pro Discontinued flagship smartphones Mobile phones introduced in 2020 Mobile phones with 4K video recording Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras