I didn’t go for the “Pro” model of the iPhone this year. I just didn’t think it was worth the extra money. But maybe you’re considering it. Maybe it’s because of the telephoto camera, or the screen. Maybe you just want the biggest iPhone with the best battery life. Whatever your reason, the iPhone 11 Pro might be the right phone for you. So, since I won’t be reviewing it this year, I thought I’d pull together a few reviews from the websites that are reviewing Apple’s insanely expensive iPhone this year.
Let’s see what they have to say.
In This Article:
The Best Smartphone Screen – DisplayMate
You’ll never guess what DisplayMate tests. If you guessed “Mates,” you’re wrong and just came up with an interesting alternative to Tinder, where your mates rate your dates. If you guessed “Displays,” good on you! DisplayMate knows a thing or two about displays. They put new devices through a series of rigorous tests to find the best displays. They just awarded Apple’s their “Best Smartphone Display” judgement, with an “A+” score. The best looking smartphone screen? It’s the iPhone 11 Max.
“For the Love of Cameras!” – Marques Brownlee
“I don’t think there’s enough ‘Pro’ about these phones that could have been to warrant putting ‘Pro’ in the name.” That’s how MKBHD introduces his review of the iPhone 11 Pro. His reviews are good hands-on looks into the devices he’s testing out, and, like me, he likes to spend a lot of time with a device before reviewing it. If you prefer your reviews in video form, check it out above.
“Unless you have the XS, it’s probably worth the upgrade, just for the love of cameras.”
iPhone 11 vs Pro: The Cameras – Andrew O’Hara, AppleInsider
There are a few differences between the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 11 Pro. The Pro model has a larger battery, more efficient OLED display, and a third camera, a telephoto lens. However, the other cameras are identical, and does the telephoto lens add a whole lot? Not really. While Apple did finally add a larger aperture to the zoom lens and optical image stabilization (OIS), the 2x lens just doesn’t add enough to make the upgrade a very large one.
“With the 2019 iPhones, what we’ve found in real-world use is that the iPhone 11 is far closer in performance to the iPhone 11 Pro. That makes a difference to your budget, too, and to which is the best iPhone for you.”
“Nothing ‘Pro’ About It” – Jason Cross, Macworld
Cross goes on to say that it’s the best iPhone ever, but one theme seems clear, the iPhone 11 Pro is a lot more expensive than the iPhone 11, but doesn’t add enough to the experience to live up to that $1,000+ price tag or the “Pro” name.
However, Macworld’s testing did reveal a leap forward in battery life. The smaller iPhone 11 Pro has substantially better battery life than even the giant iPhone XS Max.
Cross seems to find little value in the iPhone 11 Pro over the iPhone 11 though.
“The iPhone 11 Pro is the best iPhone, but it’s about 50 percent more expensive than the regular iPhone 11 and just not that much better. It’s hard to justify that price gap to most buyers.”
“If Apple is going to continue the Pro branding and drastic price gap, it needs to do more to justify them both.” (Emphasis added)
Expensive Power – Lauren Goode, Wired
Goode gave the iPhone 11 Pro a rating of 9/10, and the iPhone 11 an 8/10. But what does that really mean? The rating, it seems, comes down to her discomfort with the 6.1″ screen on the 11 and “playing catch up” with the dual camera setup. She also points out the lack of rich colors and deep blacks in the LCD screen. But that 10% difference accounts for an at least $300 difference. But she points out something I haven’t addressed yet. That $1,000 iPhone? It comes with only 64GB of storage.
For a comfortable level of storage, you’ll need to shell out $1,150, an extra $150, for the new iPhone 11 Pro.
“The iPhone 11 Pro costs $999 for a model with 64 gigabytes of internal storage, which is barely enough for anyone considered a “pro” user. Bump up to 256 GB or 512 GB and you’ll end up paying $1,249 or $1,349, respectively. The iPhone 11 Pro Max caps at $1,449, for the maximum amount of storage.”
On the iPhone 11, a comfortable amount of storage will only cost you an extra $50, $750.
The iPhone 11 also starts at 64GB, but at $700. For just $50 more, not the $150 leap in price, you get an actually usable 128GB. So we’re not talking about a $700 phone vs a $1,000 phone. We should be comparing a $750 phone and a $1,150 phone. That’s a $400 difference just to get a phone you could comfortably use for a few years.
iPhone 11 Pro: The Extreme Mobile User’s Phone – Scott Stein, CNET
The CNET review by Scott Stein starts off criticizing the marginal upgrades over the iPhone 11, pointing out that the “only functional benefit is that third camera on the iPhone Pro.” Sure, it has a better screen and better battery life, but when it comes to the processor speed, night mode, and portrait mode, there’s no difference. And, in fact, due to driving fewer pixels, the iPhone 11 may be able to maintain higher speeds for longer than the iPhone 11 Pro.
However, he points out that the “telephoto camera makes a difference.” He uses optical zoom frequently, and found it very useful on previous iPhones. As I noted in my iPhone XS review, I was extremely disappointed by the telephoto lens quality on the iPhone. Apple has improved it this year, allowing it to collect more light and featuring OIS.
“I miss 3D Touch, but I didn’t need it — and Apple never figured out how to evolve iOS to make the most of it.”
He did bemoan the lack of 3D Touch, but seemed perfectly fine with its exclusion, saying, “Those peek and pop-up moves seem to take a bit longer now.” Truthfully, in my experience with Haptic Touch on the iPhone 11, I’ll admit it is better fit than I expected, but still not at the quality of 3D Touch.
“I wouldn’t want to spend this much. But if you really are using your phone as a professional camera and you want to see every pixel, you want the best viewfinder and editing display you can get. And, well, this would be that phone. It’s also more fun for movies and games, but at these prices, I’d just buy a separate iPad for that.”
Then again, if you’re looking for a $1,250 camera, you can get a professional mirrorless camera for around that price, or a decent interchangeable lens camera for half of that. Those will serve your photography needs much better.
Basically? It’s the Best iPhone Ever
But not by enough to justify its price.
This is certainly the best iPhone ever. It’s the fastest (along with the iPhone 11). It has the longest lasting battery life, slightly more than the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR. It has the best display in a smartphone ever. There’s a very cool triple camera system that features a wide angle lens, an ultra-wide angle lens, and a telephoto lens. It’s an impressive phone.
However, it’s over $1,000. The benefits it has over the $700 iPhone are negligible. The telephoto zoom only halves the distance between you and your subject, and still relies on digital zoom for anything in between or greater than 2x. That telephoto camera isn’t as good as the main camera. The drastically improved battery life? It’s not much better. It seems the best reasons to get the iPhone 11 Pro are if you’re obsessed with that 2x zoom camera or you need inky blacks in your media, as the LCD screen will wash out black pixels. At the end of the day, the iPhone 11 Pro doesn’t offer enough over the iPhone 11 to justify a “Pro” moniker or a $400 price jump over a $750 phone.
Apple could reduce the price in the future, which would make the iPhone 11 Pro an easy purchase. The iPhone 12 Pro, for example, could cost less. Alternatively, it could add features to the lineup that the lower model lacks, making that $400 price jump more valuable. The truth is, Apple’s introducing an idea here, a “Pro” iPhone. They’ll flesh it out better in the future as they improve their smartphone technology. For now, we should be happy that Apple made an iPhone for sensible purchases and one for buyers who want the absolute best Apple can give them, at any cost, even if the high cost doesn’t buy them as much.