Apple and OnePlus have very compelling flagship smartphones to offer at the moment. We’re here to compare those two phones, the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs OnePlus 12. The OnePlus 12 global variant launched quite recently, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max arrived in September last year. These two smartphones are very different, but they’re both big flagship units, so comparing them makes all the sense in the world.
Before we get into this, do note that the OnePlus 12 is considerably more affordable than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. You may not be able to tell while using them, but that’s the case. With that in mind, we’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance.
Specs
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs OnePlus 12, respectively
– Screen size:
6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion (flat, 120Hz, HDR10, 2,000 nits)
6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED display (curved, 120Hz LTPO, HDR10+, 4,500 nits)
– Display resolution:
2796 x 1290
3168 x 1440
– SoC:
Apple A17 Pro
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
– RAM:
8GB
12GB/16GB (LPDDR5X)
– Storage:
256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe)
256GB/512GB (UFS 4.0)
– Rear cameras:
48MP (f/1.78 aperture, second-gen sensor-shift OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree FoV, macro photography), 12MP (telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 5x optical zoom)
50MP (f/1.6 aperture, 23mm lens, 1.12um pixel size, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS), 48MP (ultrawide, 14mm lens, 114-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture, 0.8um pixel size, PDAF), 64MP (periscope telephoto, 0.7um pixel size, OIS, PDAF, 3x optical zoom, 6x “in-sensor” zoom)
– Front cameras:
12MP (f/1.9 aperture) + TrueDepth
32MP (f/2.4 aperture)
– Battery:
4,422mAh
5,400mAh
– Charging:
20W wired, 15W wireless (MagSafe & Qi2), 7.5W wireless (Qi), reverse wired charging (charger not included)
100W wired, 50W wireless, reverse wireless (charger included)
– Dimensions:
159.9 x 76.7 x 8.25mm
164.3 x 75.8 x 9.2mm
– Weight:
221 grams
220 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3/5.4
– Security:
Advanced facial scanning
In-display fingerprint scanner (optical) & facial scanning
– OS:
iOS 17
Android 14 with OxygenOS 14
– Price:
$1,199
$799.99+
– Buy:
Apple
Best Buy
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs OnePlus 12: Design
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is made out of titanium and glass. It has flat sides all around, with slightly curved edges. The OnePlus 12, on the other hand, is made out of aluminum and glass, and it’s considerably more curvy than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple’s flagship has a flat display and a pill-shaped camera cutout on the front. OnePlus’ offering includes a curved display, and a centered display camera hole, a single one.
On the back, both devices have three cameras. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has its recognizable camera layout in the top-left corner. The OnePlus 12’s camera island sits in a similar spot, and it looks reminiscent of what the OnePlus 11 offered, design-wise. Apple’s power/lock button sits on the right-hand side, while the volume up and down buttons are on the left, along with an Action Button. The OnePlus 12 includes physical buttons on the right side, while the alert slider sits on the left.
The in-hand feel is completely different in comparison, but both devices are quite slippery. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is a bit shorter and a bit wider, while it’s also a bit thinner. They weigh almost the same, there’s only a 1-gram difference between them. Both smartphones come with an IP certification for water and dust resistance. The iPhone 15 Pro Max offers IP68 certification, while the OnePlus 12 has IP65 certification. Both devices are immensely slippery in the hand, so using a case could be a good idea. They do feel great to hold and use, though, very premium.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs OnePlus 12: Display
Apple’s flagship features a 6.7-inch 2796 x 1290 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. That panel is flat, and it offers an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz. Dolby Vision is supported, as is HDR10 content. This panel goes up to 2,000 nits of theoretical brightness, and it has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Apple is using the Ceramic Shield glass in order to protect the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s display.
The OnePlus 12, on the other hand, features a larger 6.82-inch QHD+ (3168 x 1440) LTPO AMOLED display. Its display is curved, and it can project up to 1 billion colors. It also has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and Dolby Vision is supported. HDR10+ content is also supported, while this panel has a theoretical display brightness of 4,500 nits. It is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
When it comes to displays, there’s really not much to complain about on either side. Both displays are bright, vivid, and have great viewing angles. They also have those deep blacks we’re used to in AMOLED displays. The OnePlus 12’s panel does technically get brighter, but both panels are bright enough, even outdoors in direct sunlight. The touch response is also good on both. You can’t go wrong here, it’s only a matter of preference between flat and curved panels.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs OnePlus 12: Performance
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is fueled by the Apple A17 Pro processor. That 3nm chip is backed by 8GB of RAM and NVMe flash storage. The OnePlus 12 includes a 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, along with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM (up to 24GB in China), and UFS 4.0 flash storage is also included here. They’re both quite powerful from the hardware standpoint, and that does show on the performance side of things too.
Both smartphones do a great job in regular, day-to-day performance. They’re immensely smooth with great animations. Jumping between apps is very fluid, apps load fast, and all actions ranging from browsing the internet to processing images and video can be done without a hitch. Both software iterations are well-optimized, and albeit completely different, both offer great performance.
What about gaming? Well, the same can be said for gaming, actually. Both of these phones can tackle anything you throw their way, though it’s worth noting that the OnePlus 12 has a huge vapor chamber, and does stay cooler during longer gaming sessions. They both can tackle any game you’ll find in their respective app stores, though, and on the highest possible settings, so no worries there. These are actually some of the best-performing smartphones on the market at the moment.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs OnePlus 12: Battery
Apple’s flagship has a 4,441mAh battery on the inside, while the OnePlus 12 comes with a 5,400mAh battery pack. Apple’s iPhones usually have smaller batteries, but the OnePlus 12 actually has an unusually larger battery for its form factor. OnePlus did a great job fitting it in there, as many people expected a 5,000mAh battery pack at first. Both devices do offer great battery life, but the OnePlus 12 is a level above the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
What is interesting is that the iPhone 15 Pro Max lasted longer in our battery drain test, a bit longer. However, the OnePlus 12 offered more in day-to-day performance in terms of screen-on-time. The iPhone 15 Pro Max managed to cross the 8-hour screen-on-time regularly, while the OnePlus 12 beat that with over 9 hours of screen-on-time on a regular basis. Do note that gaming was not a part of usage on almost all days, as we did that only for testing. The phones were used for various other tasks, though. Either way, both of these smartphones managed to reach those levels, and still have some battery juice left in the tank. You will be happy with battery life on both of them, that’s for sure
When it comes to charging, the OnePlus 12 has a huge advantage. It supports 100W wired (80W in the US), 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. It also comes with a charger in the box. The iPhone 15 Pro Max, on the other hand, supports 20W wired, 15W MagSafe and Qi2 wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, and 4.5W reverse wired charging. Not only does it have much slower wired and wireless charging, but its reverse charging is slower, and it doesn’t come with a charger in the box.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs OnePlus 12: Cameras
There is a 48-megapixel main camera included inside the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The phone also has a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom). The OnePlus 12 features a 50-megapixel main camera, a 48-megapixel ultrawide unit (114-degree FoV), and a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (3x optical zoom).
Both smartphones do provide great results, and quite frankly, there is no clear winner here. They trade blows based on the scene they’re capturing. During the day, they provide very detailed images that pop, and the HDR situations are also handled with ease. We preferred the colors that the OnePlus 12 provided most of the time, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max images were warmer more often than not. Their ultrawide cameras do a great job of keeping the color palette of their main cameras, and both do a great job. The periscope telephoto cameras do a great job on both sides, and trade blows depending on the scene and how far you’re zooming in. The OnePlus 12 mostly does better at 3x and 4x, while the iPhone usually comes on top at 5-10x zoom ranges. As I said, that’s not the rule.
In low light, both do a great job but provide different images. The iPhone 15 Pro Max tends to offer images that are a bit brighter, while the OnePlus 12 images are usually more contrasty, and closer to real life. Both smartphones do a great job of capturing details in low light. The main cameras do perform the best in such scenarios, but other cameras are also usable in low light, definitely.
Audio
You will find a set of stereo speakers on both of these phones. The ones that the iPhone 15 Pro Max provides do get a bit louder at the highest of volumes, but both sets are very good in general. They’re well-balanced and are pleasant to listen to.
There is no audio jack here, on either phone. They do have Type-C ports that you can utilize to connect your headphones via a wire. If you prefer to go wireless, the iPhone 15 Pro Max offers Bluetooth 5.3, while the OnePlus 12 comes with Bluetooth 5.4.
2024-02-02 15:06:08