Review of iPhone 11 Pro - Apple's new smartphone with 3 cameras

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Successor to the iPhone XS with a new processor and frosted glass on the back.

Table of contents

• Positioning
• Specifications
• Equipment
• Design and ergonomics
• Screen
• Sound
• Camera
• Performance
• Autonomy
• Protection
• How the iPhone 11 Pro differs from the iPhone 11 Pro Max
• How the iPhone 11 Pro differs from the iPhone 11
• How the iPhone 11 Pro differs from the iPhone XS
• Outcomes

Positioning

Apple introduced three smartphones this year: iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. The company is improving the hardware on the iPhone X chassis, which was released two years ago. In 2018, Apple released the iPhone XR, a more affordable model with an IPS screen and larger bezels, as well as the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, which became the company's main flagships.

The iPhone 11 is the successor to the compromise iPhone XR. This means that the iPhone 11 Pro has taken over the baton from the iPhone XS, becoming Apple's leading flagship in 2019.

Specifications

Colors	Space Gray, Silver, Gold, Midnight Green
Display	5.8 inches, Full HD + (1,125 × 2,436 pixels), Super Retina XDR OLED
CPU	Seminanometer Apple A13 Bionic (2 × 2, 65 GHz Lightning + 4 × 1, 8 GHz Thunder, according to GSM Arena)
RAM	4 GB
Built-in memory	64/256/512 GB
Cameras	Rear - 12 MP (main) + 12 MP (telephoto) + 12 MP (ultra wide angle). Front - 12 MP
SIM card	One slot for nanoSIM
Wireless interfaces	Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac / ax, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, NFC
Connectors	Lightning
Unlocking	Face ID, PIN
Operating system	iOS 13
Battery	3 190 mAh (according to GSM Arena), wireless and fast charging supported (18 W, USB Power Delivery 2.0)
Dimensions (edit)	144 × 71, 4 × 8, 1 mm
The weight	188 g

Equipment

The package includes a smartphone, stickers, documentation, paper clip, EarPods and adapter cable. The adapter is now 18-watt, and the cable has a USB Type-C connector. Apple fans have been waiting for a long time to replace the usual 5V and 1A charger, and it happened.

Design and ergonomics

The first thing that catches your eye is not even a new camera unit, but glass on the back. It is matte. At the same time, the apple remained glossy, like on the iPhone of the early, "aluminum" era.

The surface of the new iPhones looks nice and reminds the owner that he does not have last year's iPhone XS, but the new flagship from Apple. The problem with greasy spots was also solved: the panel is absolutely non-marking.

The glass of the iPhone 11 Pro is not the gloss of the latest iPhones or the aluminum of earlier models, but something in between.

iPhone 11 Pro is available in four colors: space gray, silver, gold, and dark green. Older colors look a little different due to the matte back.

But the new dark green color, despite the expected popularity, seems inconspicuous and looks a bit like “gray space”.

Let's move on to the main external innovation - three cameras arranged in a triangle. It is clearly prettier live than on the first renders. However, when the screen is horizontally oriented, the telephoto lens, which is located in the center, constantly gets your finger, and greasy spots can affect the quality of photos. Also, dust sticks to the new camera block.

"Ten" and subsequent models staggered noticeably when pressing the corner of the smartphone when it lies on a horizontal surface. The increased area of the camera block slightly compensated for this backlash.

Also in the range of Apple there are transparent cases for new models. They are not made of silicone like some other brands, but hard plastic. However, with it, the smartphone still loses some of its charm. And the cover noticeably slows down the side buttons.

In terms of ergonomics, nothing has changed - this is the same iPhone XS, which is ten grams heavier. It is weighty and fits well in the hand, and is also narrower than most of today's flagships. Feels like the vibration response has slightly changed. The arrangement of the buttons remains the same: the power key is on the right, and the volume key is on the left. Above the latter is the silent mode toggle switch.

Screen

The impressions are about the same as from the displays of top-end Samsung: the iPhone 11 Pro also has some of the best screens. When comparing head-to-head with the iPhone XS, qualitative changes are visible: the 11 Pro displays colors more correctly at an angle and has a slightly larger margin of brightness.

The main change concerns brightness: Apple claims it has grown to 800 nits. Text on the iPhone 11 Pro's screen is easy to read even in bright sunlight and can only be lost in direct light. For comparison, the iPhone XS screen, which already had no complaints about the brightness, produced 625 nits.

True Tone, which adjusts the color temperature to the environment, and Night Shift, which makes the image warmer for sleep, remain in place. The Always On Display feature that many have been expecting from new iPhones has not arrived.

This year, the manufacturer decided to abandon 3D Touch. According to Apple, this is not due to savings, but to the desire to make the company's smartphones the same (the iPhone 11, as the successor to the XR, did not receive this feature). It's hard to get out of the habit of good things, but it's real: in many scenarios, 3D Touch has replaced a long press. Most of all, users were confused by the need to long press on the icon to uninstall the application: first, the system shows a new context menu, and only then crosses light up above the program icons. It will take some getting used to: it seems that Apple "killed" 3D Touch.

Sound

The sound has become noticeably better: louder, cleaner, more spacious. When listening to music, it can be compared to the sound of a simple Bluetooth speaker, while watching a movie, it can create a believable sense of space. Well, relatively plausible: after all, we have a gadget in our hands, not an audio system.

Camera

There are three cameras on the back of the smartphone: ultra-wide-angle, wide-angle and telephoto. Apertures - f / 2, 4, f / 1, 8 and f / 2, 0, respectively. The resolution of each lens was 12 megapixels. The last two cameras have received optical stabilization. Everything can be shot in 4K resolution at 60 FPS.

Apple isn't the first to add a third lens. We have seen a similar set even in the sub-flagships of Samsung and Xiaomi. Let's tell you again why three lenses are needed.

An ultra wide-angle lens has a shorter focal length, which allows it to fit more space into the frame. The lens will help to photograph a person against the background of the Eiffel Tower, without cutting off its tops, to make a frame of the interior of the room to announce the surrender, or just a photo from an unusual angle. The ultra-wide-angle lens of the iPhone 11 Pro, although not very good in low light, still bypasses most competitors in image quality, sometimes blotting an extra lens on the panel for show. Here are some sample photos taken with the iPhone 11 Pro.

In video, the use of an ultra-wide angle lens also gives unusual angles. You can switch between lenses while shooting.

The wide-angle lens is the main camera we are used to taking pictures with in all scenarios. A telephoto lens is a lens with an increased focal length, which is suitable for shooting portraits and is responsible for the zoom.

Apple has seriously redesigned the camera interface and made switching between lenses seamless. You don’t think about which camera to take a photo with, you just control the zoom slider, and the system itself determines which lens to use. This is very convenient and, most importantly, makes you really use additional lenses.

Now, when shooting, you see not black fields above and below, but the blurred part of the frame, read by the "larger" lens. Also in the settings you can enable automatic shooting with two lenses. Then the photo you took will be saved in the library, and when editing the photo you can add an additional area taken by a wider-angle camera.

A new useful feature in the camera interface: now with a long press on the capture of a frame, you will automatically switch to video recording mode, and with a swipe to the right, you can release your finger, and the shooting will continue. Comfortable.

In general, the camera application has become a little more complex: some of the icons have gone into a hidden panel with an arrow. A couple more functions - and it will become overloaded, and for this we often scold the manufacturers of Android smartphones.

Another innovation that Apple came up with last, but implemented best of all, is the night mode. It turns on automatically when there is a lack of light when shooting with wide-angle and telephoto lenses. It works like this: the iPhone realizes that the frame may turn out to be dark, increases the shutter speed, and then the magic happens. The photos are amazing. Sometimes in the frame those details are worked out that are almost invisible to the human eye, for example, clouds after sunset.

Night mode will handle most shooting scenarios when there is a lack of light, but cannot cope with total darkness. For example, when used in a room without windows with a slightly open door, the camera offered to take a photo with a 10-second exposure - it turned out badly. Of course, the scenario is extreme, but a failed test reminds that miracles do not happen and it is better to shoot in the light.

The portrait mode has improved: there is a new lighting scenario "Light tonality - BW". He makes the photo black and white and fills the background with white. With the help of a special slider, you can edit the light and shadow. This update came to older devices along with iOS 13, but it seems that shadow editing works more accurately on the 11 Pro.

Here are some examples of portraits. Now they can be done both on the main camera and on the telephoto lens.

The front camera hasn't changed for regular selfies. But now you can shoot slow-motion videos on it.

Portraits taken with the front camera are of the same quality as those taken with the rear lenses.

Apple has improved the work of microphones: now they try to capture the sound of what is directly in the frame. Demonstrate this clearly does not work - we will take our word for it. Apple also talks about pumping Smart HDR, with the help of which the camera works through sections of the frame separately. The dark ones are more detailed, and the light ones are not overexposed. Here are some shots taken with the main lens of the iPhone 11 Pro.

In most scenarios, the iPhone 11 Pro captures prettier footage than any of the premium flagships we've reviewed, such as the Mi 9 and Galaxy Note 10. The Verge also claims the iPhone 11 Pro's camera is better than the Pixel and Galaxy Note. 10 Plus.

Performance

All three iPhones, presented this fall, received a new six-core A13 Bionic processor with a frequency of up to 2.65 GHz (according to GSM Arena) and 4 GB of RAM. In the AnTuTu test, the iPhone 11 Pro scored 454,843 points, behind only the iPad Pro 3.

Comparing the iPhone 11 Pro to other smartphones in terms of specs and benchmarks is not entirely correct. Apple has its own processors, they do not need to increase the RAM, and the performance is affected by the operation of iOS, which devices of other brands do not have.

Perhaps the best test is installing dozens of applications, setting up the system, and testing all the functions in a short period of time. Not a single lag. The speed of Face ID should increase, but either it is completely imperceptible, or the sensor is still "getting used to" - usually face recognition is faster over time.

Autonomy

The new iPhones have added autonomy: the 11 Pro, according to Apple, began to run 4 hours longer than the iPhone XS. According to GSM Arena, the battery capacity was 3,190 mAh. This is enough for 18 hours of video playback and 65 hours of music. In addition, with an out-of-the-box adapter, the smartphone gets half the charge in half an hour.

Feels like charging really began to be enough for a day. I don't want to praise Apple especially for this: almost all flagships live up to the evening table. But I'm glad that now the top-end iPhone is capable of this too.

Protection

Moisture resistance has increased: iPhone 11 Pro can be submerged for half an hour to a depth of 4 meters. True, what a joy the user is from this is not clear.

How the iPhone 11 Pro differs from the iPhone 11 Pro Max

There are only four differences:

• Dimensions. The 11 Pro retains the XS size, while the 11 Pro Max retains the XS Max size. This is very noticeable. If you are used to larger models, take the Max.
• Display. 5.8 inches in the 11 Pro versus 6.5 in the 11 Pro Max, and the corresponding difference in resolution - 1,125 × 2,436 pixels versus 1,242 × 2,688.
• Autonomy. Max lives a little longer and provides, for example, 20 hours of video versus 18 for the 11 Pro.
• Price. The larger model is 10 thousand rubles more expensive.

	64 GB	256 GB	512 GB
iPhone 11 Pro	89,990 rubles	103,990 rubles	121 990 rubles
iPhone 11 Pro Max	99,990 rubles	113 990 rubles	131,990 rubles

How the iPhone 11 Pro differs from the iPhone 11

There are much more differences here.

• Colors. Four discreet colors of the iPhone 11 Pro versus six for the iPhone 11, including new ones: yellow, green and purple in pale shades.
• Glass. Glossy in iPhone 11 versus matte in iPhone 11 Pro. Both look gorgeous. A matter of taste.
• Display. The iPhone 11 has an IPS screen - great and fit by all Apple standards, but still dated. In addition, this smartphone has thicker bezels.
• Telephoto lens. The iPhone 11 doesn't have one.
• Memory. IPhone 11 configurations: 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. iPhone 11 Pro is sold in 64, 256 and 512 GB of ROM.
• Autonomy. iPhone 11 Pro uncritically bypasses iPhone 11: it lasts one hour longer in video mode.
• Price. iPhone 11 is 30 thousand cheaper when comparing modifications with the same ROM size.

	64 GB	128 GB	256 GB	512 GB
iPhone 11 Pro	89,990 rubles	-	103,990 rubles	121 990 rubles
iPhone 11	59,990 rubles	64 990 rubles	73,990 rubles	-

How the iPhone 11 Pro differs from the iPhone XS

The changes are, by and large, evolutionary, not revolutionary. Here are the key ones:

• Colors. iPhone 11 Pro is available in dark green, XS is not.
• Glass. 11 Pro frosted glass vs. XS gloss.
• Cameras. The wide-angle and telephoto lenses have been replaced by a set of three lenses: ultra-wide-angle, wide-angle and telephoto.
• Autonomy. Now the iPhone lasts until the evening on a single charge.
• Price. Apple has discontinued the iPhone XS, but it can still be found in stores. It will cost 10-20 thousand cheaper than the new item.

	64 GB	256 GB	512 GB
iPhone 11 Pro	89,990 rubles	103,990 rubles	121 990 rubles
iPhone XS (approximate price)	79,990 rubles	91,990 rubles	99,990 rubles

Outcomes

Apple did it again. We were not shown supernovae chips - they did what the Android leaders are racing to brag about, updated the design and added a new camera unit, slightly finished the software component and made the iPhone live a little longer. But that turned out to be enough: I really want to use the iPhone 11 Pro, and many made the decision to buy, without delving into what happened there with the cameras, speakers and processor.

At the same time, the trends in the Android smartphone market cannot be ignored. One gets the impression that their manufacturers are no longer catching up, but anticipating some of Apple's steps and offering innovations at a much lower price.

iPhone 11 Pro is the best choice for iOS aficionados in the Apple ecosystem. Everything is clouded by the price: it bites again. And this is perhaps the only reason to choose the iPhone 11, some of the previous models, or a flagship running Android.