Camera Comparison: iPhone 12 Pro vs. iPhone 11 Pro

Apple last week released the iPhone 12 Pro, which is being sold alongside the ‌iPhone‌ 12, 12 mini, and 12 Pro Max. The Pro Max has the best camera of the bunch, but since it's not out yet, we thought we'd take a look at the improvements introduced in the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro and see how camera quality compares to the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro.



The ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro has the same triple-lens camera setup as the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro with a Wide lens, Ultra Wide lens, and Telephoto lens, but there are improvements across all three cameras plus the addition of the LiDAR Scanner, which improves low-light performance. The faster A14 chip and new image signal processor also bring new photographic capabilities, ultimately introducing quite a few improvements.

TrueDepth Camera

When it comes to the front-facing camera, it's still using the same f/2.2 12-megapixel lens with no real improvements to the hardware, but thanks to the A14 chip, it now supports Night Mode selfies, ‌Night Mode‌ time-lapse videos, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 3, and Dolby Vision HDR video recording, none of which are available in the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro.

iphone12pronightmodeselfie
Deep Fusion's addition to the front-facing camera allows it to pull out the best pixels from multiple exposures to make one crisper image with more detail and less noise, and it primarily activates in medium lighting conditions.

Smart HDR 3 improves highlights, shadows, and white balance so you get more natural lighting that looks truer to real life, and Dolby Vision HDR recording lets you record and edit HDR video from the front-facing camera for selfie videos that look better than ever.

In practice, you need specific conditions to see the improvements that the software brings to the front-facing camera, and so you might not always see huge differences between the 11 Pro and 12 Pro, with most changes being subtle. ‌Night Mode‌ selfies are where you'll see the most noticeable updates.

Rear Camera Improvements

Smart HDR 3 and improved Deep Fusion have also been added to the rear cameras of the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, plus there's a new 7-element Wide lens with an f/1.6 aperture that lets in 27 percent more light for improvements to low-light photography.

iphone12prowideanglelens

A Wide lens comparison

Auto stabilization is improved, and there's a new f/2.0 telephoto lens with a 52mm focal length, and while the Ultra Wide lens hasn't changed, it does offer a Lens Correction feature to account for distortion that can come from a wider-angle lens, and it supports ‌Night Mode‌ thanks to the LiDAR Scanner. Deep Fusion works across all lenses for improvements to color and texture, and Smart HDR 3 includes scene recognition that allows the ‌iPhone‌ to recognize everyday scenes and adjust accordingly to make photos look more true to life.

Pictures in Ideal Lightning

In practice, standard photos in good lighting from the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro look fantastic, and Smart HDR 3 does an excellent job with white balance and preserving important image details for photos that look crisper and slightly more realistic than those that come out of the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro. The new lens ekes out a bit more sharpness and detail by cutting down on noise and getting a better balance between varying lighting in photos.

iphone12prowideanglehill

A Wide lens comparison

While images do look a little bit better out of the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, it's subtle. Comparatively, photos from the 11 Pro and 12 Pro look a lot alike unless you're pixel peeping and zooming in for detail. The ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro could put out some sensational images in ideal lighting conditions, so it's no surprise to see only subtle improvements here.

iphone12protelephoto

A telephoto comparison

Portrait Mode Images

Apple's A14 chip and the LiDAR Scanner (which takes a depth map of the scene) improve Portrait Mode photos by better separating the subject from the background, and this is noticeable in the fine details. Edge detection is better than before, especially for fur and hair.

iphone12proportraitmodeleaf
The LiDAR Scanner even allows for ‌Night Mode‌ Portrait images, so you can get some incredible low-light portrait shots that just aren't possible to capture in the same way with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro.

iphone12pronightmodeportrait

Low Lighting and Night Mode

In lower lighting conditions, there are more noticeable improvements in the photos coming from the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, again thanks to the A14 chip and LiDAR Scanner. ‌Night Mode‌ photos capture more detail, are sharper, and are just a bit more vibrant.

iphone12prowidenightmode
‌Night Mode‌ photos can also be taken with the Ultra Wide lens for the first time, for impressive night time wide-angle shots, and LiDAR brings much faster autofocus in poor light.

iphone12proultrawidenightmode

Video Capture

The camera improvements introduced for photos also apply to videos, and there are some improvements to the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro over the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro. In our testing the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro was able to focus faster because of the LiDAR Scanner, and HDR Dolby Vision is a new A14-enabled feature that's not possible on the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro.

iphone12proultrawideparking
HDR Dolby Vision recording looks great as you can see in the video up above, but it's limited right now. Video you capture is easiest to edit right on the ‌iPhone‌ because of a lack of Mac compatibility for editing Dolby Vision video, and playback needs to be on a Dolby Vision-compatible device like your ‌iPhone‌ or a Dolby Vision TV.

iphone12proultrawidecolors
If you capture a video in Dolby Vision on the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro and then play it back on the ‌iPhone‌ it looks fantastic. Elements in the video are bright, crisp, and well-defined, but again, you need the right device to see the improvements over ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro video. Dolby Vision HDR comes on by default so keep in mind video you're recording might not look as great to someone you send it to. Dolby Vision HDR is a big deal for those who want to capture movies on their iPhones and do serious ‌iPhone‌ video recording, but it's less useful for the average ‌iPhone‌ user.

For video mode, there's a new ‌Night Mode‌ Time-Lapse option that's fun if you want to take longer exposure night sky videos, but most people likely won't get a ton of use out of this because it requires a tripod.

Bottom Line

The ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro definitely offers camera improvements over the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro, but the differences aren't super major except for when it comes to new features and some low-lighting photography, so camera tech alone probably isn't a reason to upgrade except for the most dedicated ‌iPhone‌ photographers.

iphone12proportrait 1
This year's iPhone 12 Pro Max has even more improvements than the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, so we'll be doing another comparison when the larger model is released. Let us know in the comments what you think of the 11 Pro and ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro comparisons and whether you're seeing image improvements in your own usage.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Mayday Calendar

Apple Acquisition Hints at Upgraded Calendar App on iOS 19 or Beyond

Friday May 9, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple acquired Canadian startup Mayday Labs in April 2024, according to a European Commission listing, spotted by French blog MacGeneration. The acquisition had not received widespread attention from tech publications until now. Apple is legally required to report certain acquisitions to the European Commission, under the terms of the EU's Digital Markets Act. Mayday Labs founder Jeremy...
Nineth iOS 19 Feature

iOS 19 Beta is a Month Away With These New Features for Your iPhone

Thursday May 8, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is just one month away, and there are already many new features and changes that are expected with it. Apple should seed the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key iOS 19 rumors...
fortnite apple featured

Epic Games Submits Fortnite to U.S. App Store

Friday May 9, 2025 9:57 am PDT by
As promised, Epic Games today submitted Fortnite to the U.S. App Store, and if approved by Apple, it will mark the first time that the Fortnite app has been available in the United States since 2020. Fortnite will include options to purchase in-app currency from the web rather than through in-app purchase, which is what got the game banned to begin with. This time, though, Apple has been...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full iOS 18.5 Release Notes

Tuesday May 6, 2025 2:17 pm PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate version of iOS 18.5 to developers and public beta testers, giving us a look at the final version of the update that will be provided to the public next week. With the release candidate, Apple provided release notes, so we have a more complete look at the new features that are included in the update, including those that weren't found during the beta...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Tuesday April 29, 2025 1:30 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
top stories 2025 05 10

Top Stories: iOS 18.5 Release Imminent, iPhone Rumors for 2025 and Beyond, and More

Saturday May 10, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
With Apple's developer conference where it will show off iOS 19 just a month away, the company is wrapping up work on iOS 18.5 ahead of an imminent release to deliver a few new features and updates. This week also saw a number of iPhone-related rumors, encompassing not only this year's iPhone 17 lineup but also Apple's plans for 2026 and 2027, even as Apple's Eddy Cue suggested AI could make ...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

WSJ: Apple Weighing Price Hikes for iPhone 17 Lineup Without Blaming Tariffs

Monday May 12, 2025 3:36 am PDT by
Apple is considering raising prices for its upcoming iPhone 17 models set to release this fall, according to people familiar with the matter cited by The Wall Street Journal. The company reportedly aims to pair the potential price hikes with new features and design changes to justify the increased cost to consumers, rather than attributing them to U.S. tariffs on goods from China. The...

Top Rated Comments

evgenyfeldman Avatar
59 months ago
There clearly are some details the new camera is just not capable to capture...

Attachment Image
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
59 months ago
The colour on the 11 pro looks a bit better
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)
myrtlebee Avatar
59 months ago
Cute portraits!

I'm no photographer, but I have to agree with the other poster that in some photos the 11 Pro looks better - at least as far as color. The 11 Pro pic looks much better to me with the trees in the Rear Camera Improvements section.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darcyf Avatar
59 months ago
These cameras are so similar in daylight photography, it’s like comparing lollipops before and after one lick. I don’t see a lick of difference ?
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechRemarker Avatar
59 months ago
I don't understand why in these comparisons they never simply have the same photo for both. That is yet they are simialr scenes, but totally different expressions when people in, or including people in one and not the other, and not even trying to get the same field of view/angle. Makes comparing device quality when the photographer doesn't try to minimize differences between their shooting. Overall most of the 11s look better, perhahps 12s are more 'accurate' but the 11s look more pleasing other than of course comparising night mode vs when night mode wasn't available and hdr in video of course looks better.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xander09 Avatar
59 months ago

The colour on the 11 pro looks a bit better
Agreed. I much prefer the warmth of the 11 Pro. In some of the shots the 12 Pro did a significantly better job with greens in grass, but overall the 11 Pro wins for me. It'll be interesting to see if this is consistent in other comparisons in coming weeks. And, of course, how the 12 Pro Max performs.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)