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Last September, Apple announced the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max as updates to the iPhone XR , XS and XS Max, respectively. The new phones have significantly upgraded cameras, a blazing fast processor and overall better build quality. To top it all off, the iPhone 11, which starts at $699 (£729, AU$1,199), is $50 cheaper than the iPhone XR was when it was first released. (Still too expensive? Don’t forget about the $399 iPhone SE 2020.) Between the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, it may be difficult to figure out which one you should get. All three phones have the same processor, same main, ultrawide and selfie cameras, and run iOS 13. In fact the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max are identical in nearly every way aside from price, size, weight, battery life and screen resolution. The iPhone 11 represents one of the best values for a flagship phone you can buy today, and has many of the same 11 Pro features. On the other hand, the iPhone 11 Pro has a few key additions that make it the best iPhone ever made. At $999 (£1,049, AU$1,749), it also starts at $300 more than the iPhone 11. For six months I used the iPhone 11 as my daily driver and the 11 Pro as my work phone. I took lots of photos and Game Patches videos with the new ultrawide-angle camera, pushed the A13 processor to its max with games and photo edits and explored all of what iOS 13 has to offer. For most people, including myself, the iPhone 11 is more than enough, and taking that one step further, I’d actually pay $50 more for the 11 to upgrade the storage from 64GB to 128GB. But here is the wrinkle: size. The iPhone 11 Pro is a bit smaller and lighter than the 11, which I personally love, and it could be the reason to go Pro. (FYI, if you want something bigger though, with the longest battery life, the iPhone 11 Pro Max is there waiting to fill your pocket and empty your bank account even more.) <iframe id="iframe_youtube" class="optanon-category-3" website
The iPhone 11 is a great phone value for the price, <a website only to the iPhone SE 2020. Following in the footsteps of 2018′s iPhone XR, Apple smartly pitched the 11 as the iPhone for most people. Despite a lower resolution LCD screen, the iPhone 11 has the same A13 processor and relatively the same camera setup (more on that later) as the more expensive 11 Pro. It also comes in six different colors, survived <a website drop and <a website tests and earned a <a website Editors' Choice Award.
At the heart of the iPhone 11 Pro is an iPhone 11. But with upgrades such as a high-resolution OLED display, a matte-glass finish and a stainless steel side band it gets the VIP treatment. It has a third rear camera that, combined with Apple’s new Deep Fusion image processing, takes better zoomed-in photos. But probably the most-welcomed upgrade on the 11 Pro is how much longer battery life is over the previous-generation iPhone XS. In fact, the 11 Pro lasts almost as long on a single charge as the 11.
Perhaps the most obvious and important reason to buy the iPhone 11 Pro over the iPhone 11 is size. They are very differently sized phones and they will fit in your hands differently. With a 5.8-inch screen and a weight of 6.63 ounces (188 grams), the iPhone 11 Pro is the smallest of the three iPhone 11 devices. (Though, if a small phone is what you’re after, the new iPhone SE might be a better option, at 4.7 inches and 5.22 ounces.) The solid-feeling phone is the easiest to use one-handed. Weighing 6.84 ounces the iPhone 11 is heavier than the 11 Pro but doesn’t feel as dense. The iPhone 11 is 0.2 millimeters thicker than the 11 Pro, which makes it feel a tad chunky. Everyone’s hands and needs are different. I have large hands, but prefer the svelte feeling of the 11 Pro. But if you are willing to compromise a heavier weight for a larger screen, get the 11 and save $300. And if you want the absolute biggest screen you can have, go for the $1,099 iPhone 11 Max that has a 6.5-inch OLED screen but weighs 7.97 ounces (226 grams). Winner: For its small size, the 11 Pro is the way to go for me. <iframe id="iframe_youtube" class="optanon-category-3" website
The iPhone 11 Pro (and 11 Pro Max) has a third telephoto camera that the iPhone 11 doesn’t. At times it was nice switching to the telephoto camera. And compared to the iPhone XS, the updated telephoto camera combined with Deep Fusion processing meant I took photos with better image quality. There were also times when I framed a shot better with the 11 Pro’s telephoto camera than I could with the main camera. For example, when I took a top-down shot of a plate of food with the main camera, I could see the phone’s shadow on the plate. But when I switched to the telephoto camera and moved the phone higher away from the table there was no shadow. There are a couple caveats about the iPhone 11 Pro’s telephoto camera though. When you take Night Mode photos at 2x, the 11 Pro doesn’t use the telephoto camera. Instead, it takes a crop of the main wide-angle camera. Also, the telephoto camera excels in bright conditions, but when taking photos in medium-to-low light, I noticed better image quality when I took the same photo with the main camera and cropped in. <iframe id="iframe_youtube" class="optanon-category-3" website
All in all, the telephoto lens is useful on the 11 Pro, but I didn’t miss having it when I used the 11. If I needed to zoom in on a photo, a 2x crop of a photo I took with the main camera worked fine. I do recommend looking at the photos you have on your current phone and see how many were taken zoomed in and how many photos would look better had you been able to zoom in a bit. If you have a lot of pictures where you wished you had a dedicated telephoto camera, then you should consider an iPhone 11 Pro. For more on the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro cameras, check out our comparisons below: Winner: The 11 Pro’s telephoto camera is a nice-to-have if you value iPhone photography, but it’s certainly not necessary
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Angela Lang/CNET
Angela Lang/CNETHow we tested
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iPhone 11: 3 phones, reviewed. Which do you choose?
Detailed comparison of iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone 11 Pro Max
Display size, resolution
6.1-inch LCD Liquid Retina; 1,792×828 pixels
5.8-inch OLED Super Retina XDR; 2,436×1,125 pixels
6.5-inch OLED Super Retina XDR; 2,688×1,242 pixels
Pixel density
326 ppi
458 ppi
458 ppi
Dimensions (Inches)
5.94×2.98×0.33 in
5.67×2.81×0.32 in
6.22×3.06×0.32 in
Dimensions (Millimeters)
150.9×75.7×8.3 mm
144×71.4×8.1 mm
158×77.8×8.1 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)
6.84 oz; 194g
6.63 oz; 188g
7.97 oz; 226g
Mobile software
iOS 13
iOS 13
iOS 13
Camera
12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide)
12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), 12-megapixel (telephoto)
12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), 12-megapixel (telephoto)
Front-facing camera
12-megapixel with Face ID
12-megapixel with Face ID
12-megapixel with Face ID
Video capture
4K
4K
4K
Processor
Apple A13 Bionic
Apple A13 Bionic
Apple A13 Bionic
Storage
64GB, 128GB, 256GB
64GB, 256GB, 512GB
64GB, 256GB, 512GB
RAM
Not disclosed
Not disclosed
Not disclosed
Expandable storage
None
None
None
Battery
Not disclosed, but Apple claims it will last 1 hour longer than iPhone XR
Not disclosed, but Apple claims it will last 4 hours longer than iPhone XS
Not disclosed, but Apple claims it will last 5 hours longer than iPhone XS Max
Fingerprint sensor
None (Face ID)
None (Face ID)
None (Face ID)
Connector
Lightning
Lightning
Lightning
Headphone jack
No
No
No
Special features
Water resistant (IP68); dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM); wireless charging
Water resistant (IP68); dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM); wireless charging
Water resistant (IP68); dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM); wireless charging
Price off-contract (USD)
$699 (64GB), $749 (128GB), $849 (256GB)
$999 (64GB), $1,149 (256GB), $1,349 (512GB)
$1,099 (64GB), $1,249 (256GB), $1,449 (512GB)
The smaller iPhone was better
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