Apple iPhone 11 Pro Smartphone Review
Autonomous work and charging
The iPhone 11 received a battery of 11.91 Wh (3110 mAh, 3.8 V). a solution for Apple is quite typical, the company has never been particularly generous with batteries for its smartphones. In combination with a 6.1-inch LCD screen and a rather resource-demanding platform, the iPhone 11 ran out of power in my usual use cases (okay, with a large percentage of involvement in games. I actively plunged into the Apple Arcade catalog) in about a day. from the moment waking up until the moment I went to bed (that is, 16-17 hours). Quite a normal cycle that did not require me to necessarily look for an outlet in the middle of the day.
In our traditional HD video test with notifications on and connected to Wi-Fi, the iPhone 11 achieved the expected result of a smartphone with an LCD screen. just over nine hours. But for the iPhone, I must say, this is very good progress. in previous models with LCD screens (and not only), we talked about 5-6 hours in this test.
Unfortunately, the iPhone 11 kit did not include a fast charging adapter. there is only the most ordinary, 5-watt one, with which the smartphone’s battery is fully charged in about two and a half hours. An 18-watt charger, like the iPhone 11 Pro Max, is also supported, but must be purchased separately. Apple’s legendary greed at its finest.
IPhone 11 Review: Apple vs. the Toad
We already planned to review not only the flagship iPhone 11 Pro Max (miss?), But also this year’s iPhone Xr. the “regular” eleventh, with a 6.1-inch LCD display, dual rather than triple cameras, smaller dimensions and the battery is weaker. Well, and, of course, a more affordable price. if such terms are generally applicable to Apple products. The iPhone Xr can only be called successful at a stretch, but the iPhone 11 is made taking into account the main problem of last year’s “inexpensive iPhone”. too large a gap between it and the older Apple smartphone. and looks much more promising.
But already in the process of preparing the material, a beta of iOS 13.2 was released with the advertised Deep Fuison image processing system, which was supposed to throw the iPhone to a new level in terms of photography. This news created a new dimension for the material, in which we compared the iPhone 11 in photo and video quality with the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. Well, we talked about other features of this smartphone.
I’ll make a reservation right away that there are no sections on hardware and wireless connections. the iPhone 11 in terms of hardware filling repeats the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which passed all the benchmarks and proved to be the most powerful smartphone to date. The iPhone 11 also received an Apple A13 Bionic and 4GB of RAM. Only the storage options differ: 64, 128 and 256 GB versus 64, 256 and 512 GB for the Pro version. It is worth mentioning that the new iPhones use non-volatile memory of the UFS 2.1 standard, while the latest Android flagships, one after another, receive much faster UFS 3.0 memory.
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
Wireless connections iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro are also almost identical: Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac / ax, a scheme with one slot for a SIM card with LTE support (all the necessary bands in place). but the LTE modem in the “younger version” is weaker. the declared maximum download speed is 1024 Mbps versus 1600 Mbps for the Pro version.
Specifications
| Apple iPhone 11 | Apple iPhone Xr | Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max | Google Pixel 3a | OnePlus 7 Pro | |
| Display | 6.1 inches, IPS, 1792 × 828 pixels, 326 ppi, capacitive multitouch |
6.1 inches, IPS, 1792 × 828 pixels, 326 ppi, capacitive multitouch |
6.5 inches, Super AMOLED, 2688 × 1242 (19.5: 9), 458 ppi, capacitive multitouch, TrueTone technology | 5.6 inches, OLED, 2220 × 1080 pixels, 441 ppi, capacitive multitouch | 6.67 inches, Fluid AMOLED, 3120 × 1440 pixels, 516 ppi, capacitive multitouch |
| Safety glass | No information | No information | No information | Asahi dragontrail glass | Corning Gorilla Glass (version not specified) |
| CPU | Apple A13 Bionic: six cores (2 × Lightning, 2.65 GHz 4 × Thunder, 1.8 GHz) | Apple A12 Bionic: two Vortex cores, 2.5 GHz four Tempest cores, 1.6 GHz | Apple A13 Bionic: six cores (2 × Lightning, 2.65 GHz 4 × Thunder, 1.8 GHz) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 670: Dual Kryo 360 Gold, 2.0 GHz Six Kryo 360 Silver, 1.7 GHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855: Single Kryo 485 Gold, 2.85 GHz Three Kryo 485 Gold, 2.42 GHz Quad Kryo 485 Silver, 1.8 GHz |
| Graphics controller | Apple GPU (4 cores) | Apple GPU (4 cores) | Apple GPU (4 cores) | Adreno 615, 700 MHz | Adreno 640 |
| RAM | 4 GB | 3 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | 6/8/12 GB |
| Flash memory | 64/128/256 GB | 64/128/256 GB | 64/256/512 GB | 64 GB | 128/256 GB |
| Memory card support | No | No | No | No | No |
| Connectors | Lightning | Lightning | Lightning | USB Type-C, 3.5mm | USB Type-C |
| SIM card | One nano-SIM and one eSIM | Dual nano-SIM | One nano-SIM and one eSIM | One nano-SIM | Dual nano-SIM |
| Cellular 2G | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz CDMA 800/1900 | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz CDMA 800 | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz CDMA 800/1900 | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz CDMA 800/1900 |
| Cellular 3G | HSDPA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz | HSDPA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz | HSDPA 800/850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100 MHz | HSDPA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz CDMA 2000 | HSDPA 800/850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100 MHz |
| 4G cellular | LTE-A Cat.16 (up to 1024/150 Mbps), ranges 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26. 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 48, 66 | LTE: bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 30, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66. 71 | LTE-A (up to 1600/150 Mbps), ranges 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 48, 66, 71 | LTE Cat. 11 (600 Mbps): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 38, 40, 41, 66 | LTE Cat.18 (up to 1200 Mbps): bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32, 34. 38, 39, 40, 41, 66 |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| NFC | Yes (Apple Pay) | Yes (Apple Pay) | Yes (Apple Pay) | there is | there is |
| Navigation | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo |
| Sensors | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer / gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass), barometer, Face ID | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer / gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer / gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass), barometer, Face ID | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer / gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass), barometer | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer / gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) |
| The fingerprint scanner | No | No | No | there is | Yes, on the screen |
| Main camera | Dual module, 12 12 MP, ƒ / 1.8 ƒ / 2.4, dual-LED flash, phase detection autofocus and five-axis optical stabilization. in the main module | 12.2 MP, ƒ / 1.8, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash, optical stabilization | Triple module, 12 12 12 MP, ƒ / 1.8 ƒ / 2.0 ƒ / 2.4, LED flash, phase detection autofocus and five-axis optical stabilization. in the main and telemodules | 12.2 MP, ƒ / 1.8, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash, optical stabilization | Triple module: 48 MP, ƒ / 1.6 8 MP, ƒ / 2.4 16 MP, ƒ / 2.2, hybrid autofocus, dual LED flash |
| Front-camera | 12 MP, ƒ / 2.2, no autofocus, no flash | 7 MP, ƒ / 2.2, fixed focus | 12 MP, ƒ / 2.2, no autofocus, no flash | 8 MP, ƒ / 2.0, fixed focus | 16 MP, ƒ / 2.0, fixed focus |
| Food | Removable battery: 11.91 Wh (3110 mAh, 3.8 V) | Removable battery: 11.18 Wh (2942 mAh, 3.8 V) | Removable battery: 15.04 WH (3969 mAh, 3.8 V) | Non-removable battery 11.4 Wh (3000 mAh, 3.8 V) | Removable battery: 15.2 Wh (4000 mAh, 3.8 V) |
| The size | 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3 mm | 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3 mm | 158 x 77.8 x 8.1 mm | 151.3 x 70.1 x 8.2 mm | 162.6 x 75.9 x 8.8 mm |
| Weight | 194 grams | 194 grams | 226 grams | 147 grams | 206 grams |
| Hull protection | IP68 | IP67 | IP68 | No | No |
| operating system | iOS 13 | iOS 13 | iOS 13 | Android 9.0 Pie | Android 9.0 Pie, shell OxygenOS |
| Actual for the 64 GB version, 64,990 rubles for the 128 GB version, 73,990 rubles for the 256 GB version | 49,990 rubles for the 64 GB version, 54,990 rubles for the 128 GB version, 64,990 rubles for the 256 GB version | From 99,990 rubles | 37,990 rubles (https://biggeek.ru/products/smartfon-google-pixel-3a-64gb-chernyjblack) | 38,500 rubles for the 6/128 GB version, 40,000 rubles for the 8/256 GB version |
IPhone 11 Specification and Subsystem Information
Design, ergonomics and software
If there were many external differences between the iPhone Xs and the iPhone Xr, which, despite the inevitable status losses, did not prevent the “youngest” from becoming popular, the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro outwardly hardly differ.
In front, they don’t differ at all. except that you can instantly and by eye determine the difference between LCD and OLED displays and have an ideal eye. after all, the dimensions of the regular iPhone 11 are different (it is larger than the iPhone 11 Pro, but smaller, than the iPhone 11 Pro Max). A large cutout with a speaker, front camera and Face ID sensor, atypically serious bezels around the display. everything is similar to last year.
Apple iPhone 11 bezel: notched display housing Face ID, earpiece, and front-facing camera
Behind, it is not difficult to identify the younger model. in the “stove” located in the upper corner, there are two burners, not three. On this we will finish, perhaps, with irony. it looks, frankly, not bad. Apple has inscribed camera lenses in large glass and achieved unambiguous and one hundred percent recognition of its new smartphones, while maintaining a certain elegance. as much as is possible in modern devices with multi-camera systems.
Apple iPhone 11, rear panel: in the corner. a dual camera with dual LED flash and a microphone, covered with an elegant grille
The iPhone 11 also differs in colors. as in the case of the Xs / Xr, the younger model is more fun: instead of dark / gray / marsh tones, green, yellow, purple, red and white colors are offered here, along with the inevitable black. The names do not always correspond to reality, by the way. we had a “purple” iPhone 11 on our test. in fact, lavender.
Apple iPhone 11, left-hand side: Sound profile toggle and volume / shutter keys
Apple iPhone 11 right-side: power / lock key
The iPhone 11 is a large device, despite the relatively small display by modern standards: under 200 grams of weight, you can’t put it in a shirt. but in a pants or jacket. it’s quite normal. The smartphone is quite comfortable to operate, the materials are familiar. glass on the front and back panels, metal on the sides. At the same time, the glass, unlike the Pro version, is glossy, not matte. due to the fact that the back is straight and not curved, the smartphone does not creep from various surfaces, but it is still scary to use it without a cover.
Apple iPhone 11, the top face is devoid of functional elements
Apple iPhone 11, bottom: main speaker and Lightning port
The functional elements are familiar to the iPhone: all keys are in place, as well as the sound profile switch; there is no mini-jack (3.5 mm), but there is protection according to the IP68 standard. like the older model. iPhone Xr, remember, was protected only by the IP67 standard.
So much has already been written about the situation with the fingerprint scanner and Face ID that, in fact, there is nothing to add. I will just note that Apple is clearly waiting for some kind of breakthrough in sub-screen sensor technology (like the availability of fingerprint recognition in any area of the display), so that at least in this area it does not chase everyone, but demonstrates technological superiority. In terms of speed and, especially, the quality of face recognition, Apple still has the advantage. the Face ID system performs much better than all competitors offer. But its lack of alternative still somewhat saddens.
Apple iPhone 11, the top face is devoid of functional elements
We wrote about the iOS 13 operating system in detail in the review of the iPhone 11 Pro Max. IOS 13.2, with which I tested the smartphone, brings almost nothing new to it, except for the already mentioned Deep Fusion system, which improves the quality of shooting; it also has several blanks that will allow the smartphone to better interact with the new AirPods and HomePod, but what exactly will change. without these gadgets on hand you cannot say.
Display and sound
Apple wouldn’t be itself if it didn’t cut down the characteristics of the “younger iPhone” (which is sold at a price of 60 thousand rubles, let me remind you). yes, this year the gap is really not very big, but the iPhone 11 did not OLED screen, which has become the norm for everyone for several years, and LCD with IPS matrix. And the iPhone 11 thus automatically receives the title of the most expensive smartphone with an LCD display.
There is a 6.1-inch IPS-screen with a resolution of 1792 × 828 pixels. The pixel density is low. 326 ppi. And this can be noticed, in principle, with the naked eye. the clarity of the image is frankly lacking in comparison with at least full-fledged Full HD screens. No matter how much Apple once said about the fact that Retina is the limit of human discernible clarity, it is not, and the company itself has since increased the resolution of older devices, having long gone from the 300 dpi level.
No LCD display can boast of extreme contrast, and the one in the iPhone 11 is no exception. Although the level for IPS is not bad. 1480: 1. It’s pointless to just talk about any rivalry with OLED screens.
At the same time, everything is expectedly good with the iPhone 11 display with a brightness of 549 cd / m2.Taking into account the measurement error (we always take them in a room with dim artificial lighting), we can talk about close compliance with the declared level of 625 cd / m2
Support for HDR10 is declared, but we are still talking about the playback of clips in this format, and not the absolute compliance of the screen with the standard.
The display settings are familiar to the iPhone. you cannot manually adjust the color rendition, you can only turn on / off the True Tone mode of automatic adjustment of colors for ambient lighting, choose a light or dark skin theme (here they are, the true innovations of the new iOS!), Activate the night mode and “play with fonts “. I measured the color rendering of the display both with True Tone enabled, and without it. however, in the first case, the measurement results can be considered more or less arbitrary.
iPhone 11, gamma. Yellow line. iPhone 11 indicators, dotted. reference gamma
iPhone 11 color temperature. Blue line. iPhone 11 indicators, dashed line. reference temperature
iPhone 11 color gamut. Gray triangle is sRGB coverage, white triangle is iPhone 11 coverage
In its default mode, the iPhone 11 demonstrates the quality of display customization we’re used to in Apple products. The average gamma is an ideal 2.25 with very stable curves. The color temperature line is almost perfectly flat and keeps close to the reference level of 7,000 K. The average DeltaE deviation on the Color Checker scale, which includes both a wide range of colors and shades of gray, is 2.50, which is within the normal range. The picture is absolutely honest, although the color gamut does not correspond to the declared (P3), but keeps very close to the usual sRGB.
iPhone 11, gamma with True Tone on. Yellow line. iPhone 11 indicators, dotted. reference gamma
iPhone 11 color temperature with True Tone on. Blue line. iPhone 11 indicators, dashed line. reference temperature
iPhone 11, color gamut with True Tone on. Gray triangle is sRGB coverage, white triangle is iPhone 11 coverage
When True Tone is activated, the picture changes visually. it becomes warmer and more pleasant to the eye. But the measurement results show, on the contrary, a noticeable “cooling”. the color temperature is already around 7 750 K. The gamma is still almost ideal (2.27), but the color space does not expand, but slightly shifts, the average deviation of Delta E in the Color Checker scale is already outside the normal range. 3.18. But this is still extremely close to the truth. Apple continues a great tradition with great customization of its smartphone screens.
The sound of the iPhone 11 is exactly the same as the iPhone 11 Pro Max. there is no mini-jack, but support for high-quality wireless audio standards. But there is no adapter from Lightning to mini-jack. Apple, well fucking! The sound quality for wireless data transmission is good, you will not find fault. The built-in speakers are also in order. there are two of them, it’s stereo. One is directed conditionally “to the side” when watching video / playing in landscape orientation of the screen, the other. directly at the listener. The sound is far from outstanding, but not bad.
Camera
The second important difference between the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 11 Pro is the rear camera system. However, the difference is not as dramatic as it could be. There is simply no portrait module here, and the regular and wide-angle ones are preserved without any changes: both with 12-megapixel sensors (the main one is 1 / 2.55-inch in physical size, there is no information about the wide-angle one), with lenses with an equivalent focal length of 26 and 13 mm and aperture ratio ƒ / 1.8 and ƒ / 2.4. An optical stabilizer and phase detection autofocus work with the main camera, the wide-angle module is devoid of both autofocus and stabilization.
But interesting, as usual, not the characteristics of the cameras themselves, but how the smartphone processes the results obtained with this “hardware”. Some of the questions were removed in the review of the iPhone 11 Pro Max. the progress compared to the previous generation of “iPhones”, especially in night photography (multi-frame exposure supported, Hallelujah!) Is very serious. So serious that many are again talking about Apple having the best mobile camera. Perhaps these statements are not entirely true.
The iPhone 11 test took place in two stages. before installing the beta version of iOS 13.2 and after. I will also split the camera test into two parts.
Left. shooting with the main camera, right. with wide-angle
Above you can see examples of shooting on the main and wide-angle camera modules of the iPhone 11 without Deep Fusion technology. In any case, we can see very high-quality color rendition and decent working out of scenes in low light, although it’s still not worth saying that Apple has caught up with Huawei, Google or even Samsung in one leap in terms of night photography. Firstly, the night mode does not work with a wide-angle camera, which greatly interferes with its use in dark conditions. Secondly, the noise level is still very high. the picture looks good on the smartphone screen, but already on the monitor it is noticeable that there are problems, and considerable.
Nevertheless, this is a normal flagship level of photography, and in street / landscape photography, the iPhone 11 is in no way inferior to the Pro version, letting it go forward only when shooting portraits. a camera with an adequate focal length is greatly lacking in the younger “iPhone”. At the same time, there is a portrait mode, and it works quite decently. the object and the background are separated qualitatively. just optics are not suitable for shooting close-ups.
Left. shooting without night mode, right. with night mode (since iOS 13.2 beta)
Unfortunately, we didn’t have an iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 Pro with “regular” iOS 12 for comparison, so it’s impossible to compare a head-to-head picture using Deep Fusion and without it. But it will be possible to compare it with the one issued by Huawei Mate 30 Pro. a smartphone with the best mobile camera according to DxO Mark (and not only). First, a few words about Deep Fusion technology. Its meaning is not much different from that used in their cameras by Google or the same Huawei and described in the article “Computational photography”. The device continuously captures everything that enters the “viewfinder” screen when the camera application is on, and then, when you “pull the trigger,” takes four frames taken before you gave the command to shoot, and four after. All. with different exposure. Then they are combined into one, collected from them literally pixel by pixel. the “brains” of the smartphone selectively and using neural network calculations apply noise reduction to different areas of the image, tighten the detail. The system works very efficiently. the images are really very detailed, and it looks natural, and not “overshadowed”. Examples can be seen below. Another thing is that Deep Fusion does not work in all situations now (the technology is very selective with the night mode) and only with the main and portrait cameras. Deep Fusion does not work with wide-angle module yet.
Left. a picture taken on the iPhone 11 (with iOS 13.2 beta and, accordingly, Deep Fusion), on the right. on the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. The conditions and settings are identical (as far as possible for different smartphones)
Above, you can see the pictures taken under the same conditions on the iPhone 11 and Huawei Mate 30 Pro. The main advantage of the device from Cupertino is more accurate and pleasant work with colors and, perhaps, softer processing. Huawei sometimes tries to “stretch” both dark and light areas and with an increase in contour sharpness. On the other hand, the iPhone 11’s night mode is much more limited, the wide-angle camera is inferior to that of Huawei in all respects, and the advantage in detail using Deep Fusion does not seem dramatic. We will prepare a more detailed comparison of the iPhone 11 Pro Max with the main Android flagships later in the month.
4K 60p video captured with Huawei Mate 30 Pro
In terms of video shooting, the iPhone has always had a big advantage over all competitors. the softest frame stitching with effective stabilization leads to the fact that the picture is almost not twitching, while all Android smartphones have problems with this to one degree or another. This advantage continues to this day. Also Apple is very cool to implement switching between the wide-angle and main camera when shooting video. seamlessly and with virtual “zoom in / out” of the sound. But at the same time, in terms of video quality in the dark, the iPhone 11 does not surpass the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. This is especially true for shooting in 4K60p. the shadows completely fall through, the noise reduction is too diligent.
The front camera is the same as on the iPhone 11 Pro Max: 12 megapixels, ƒ / 2.2, no autofocus, no flash, with the ability to record slow-motion videos (Slofy. I bet that neither the videos themselves nor the term will catch on) and with different viewing angles for vertical and horizontal shooting (which is great). Front camera as front camera. rather good than bad.
Apple iPhone 11 is, in my opinion, a much more successful attempt to make an “inexpensive iPhone” than the iPhone Xr, which with the sum of its compromises (and body colors) reminded of the forgotten iPhone 5c. But very good sales figures, which Apple even provoked on purpose, show that the compromises and the strong gap between the older and younger iPhones do not scare the public.
iPhone 11 should become even more popular than Xr and without additional stimulation. the gap between it and the Pro version is not so great, the design is almost identical, the user experience too. I was pleased that the younger version uses a two-camera system, while retaining the wide-angle module, not the portrait module. it seems a little more relevant in everyday use. Portrait is not as popular a genre for mobile photography as landscape or street photography. Night mode is effective, but not perfect (and does not work with a wide-angle camera), Deep Fusion technology is also good, but also limited in scope.
Of the shortcomings of a smartphone that is more adequate than the Pro version, I will only note the outdated LCD display, Apple’s classic greed for a complete fast charging adapter, large frames around the screen and a huge cutout, which can already be called an anachronism.
Advantages:
- this is a new iPhone, which costs from 60 to 74 thousand rubles, not from a hundred;
- highest performance;
- high quality sound;
- good quality of shooting with the main camera;
- moisture protection;
- nice body colors.
Disadvantages:
- no mini-jack or mini-jack adapter included;
- weak charger included;
- bright and well-tuned, but still LCD display;
- the plug zoo show continues. Lightning again;
- a portrait camera is still lacking.
Performance
Like the iPhone 11, the Pro models run on a new platform. now the Apple A13. The amount of RAM in the iPhone 11 Pro Max, according to Geekbench 5, is 3.65 GB. the same as the iPhone Xs Max. There we have ideal conditions for comparing the performance of two SoCs.
Let’s start with the browser benchmarks: SunSpider 1.0.2, Octane Benchmark, Kraken Benchmark and JetStream of the second version. We used the Safari browser on all smartphones. At the same time, iOS on the iPhone Xs Max was updated to the current version 13.1.
| 104 ms | 124 ms |
| 49137 points | 34019 points |
| 611 ms | 750 ms |
| 129 points | 113 points |
The novelty is noticeably faster, and this can be seen in all browser benchmarks. The average growth is 20 percent, but that’s not bad either.
In the complex benchmarks AnTuTu and Geekbench 5, the results are also clear and predictable. In Geekbench, the new product is faster by about 20%.30%. But in AnTuTu, the gap is even greater: almost twice.
| 454707 | 266967 |
| 1333 | 1113 |
| 3501 | 2399 |
| 6359 | 4290 |
The last group of benchmarks is dedicated to GPU performance testing. We used 3DMark, GFXBenchmark Metal, and Basemark Metal, designed specifically for devices with Metal technology.
In GFXBenchmark Metal, all Offscreen tests render images at a fixed resolution, regardless of the actual screen resolution (thus it is convenient to compare devices with different screens).
| 40 fps | 22 fps |
| 27 fps | 16 fps |
| 58 fps | 37 fps |
| 75 fps | 48 fps |
| 48 fps | 31 fps |
| 63 fps | 40 fps |
| 56 fps | 36 fps |
| 59 fps | 49 fps |
| 100 fps | 63 fps |
| 60 fps | 59 fps |
| 157 fps | 97 fps |
As you remember, when testing the iPhone 11, we found a lot of oddities in the GFX Benchmark results. Here everything is exactly as it should be. The difference is about one and a half times, and in almost all tests!
The next test is 3DMark. All results are in points.
| 5164 | 3092 |
| 410767/1922145 | the test hung |
Not everything went smoothly with 3DMark. Sling Shot didn’t work on both smartphones, API Overhead stuck on Xs Max, but at least the comparison in Sling Shot Extreme was successful. And the picture turned out to be very flattering for a novelty.
Finally. Basemark Metal. And here we see a completely similar picture.
| 3463 points | 2162 points |
Based on the results of all tests, we can conclude that Apple has provided a stable performance gain, which is evident in all benchmarks. Not everywhere it is huge. in most cases we can talk about about 20 percent superiority of the new product in terms of CPU and 40 percent in terms of GPU, but this is a good result. We cannot say that we are amazed, but yes, everything is as it should be in the new generation of iPhone.
Autonomous work and heating
We used the iPhone 11 Pro Max for about a week in normal mode, using it exactly as the main smartphone. The result was the following: he lives for two days, hardly more. We did not notice a fundamental increase in comparison with its predecessor.
The results of tests of autonomous operation in different modes with a screen brightness of 100 cd / m2 are presented in the table.
| 22 hours 40 minutes | 21 hours 10 minutes |
| 11 hours 30 minutes | 10 hours 35 minutes |
| 4 hours 28 minutes | 4 hours 15 minutes |
Well, the new product demonstrates a good result. But there is no radical payoff that would seriously impact the user experience. In addition, in everyday life we use a smartphone differently: no one plays on the iPhone for several hours and does not watch a dozen hours of video. That is, not the fact that you will feel the difference.
Another thing is that the fast charging mode really works and allows you to recharge the device by 50% in about half an hour. But to charge the entire iPhone, it will take at least one and a half hours.
Now let’s talk about heating. Below is a thermal image of the rear surface taken after 15 minutes of running the Manhattan 3.1 battery test in the GFX Benchmark Metal:
Heating is localized on the right side of the device, which, apparently, corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was 45 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees). Apple iPhone XS Max has the same heating.
Design
We tested the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Hereinafter, we will talk about this particular model. However, the iPhone 11 Pro should differ from it only in the battery life and, of course, in the screen size / resolution. Everything else is identical.
So, the appearance of the novelty largely inherits the iPhone Xs Max, it is almost impossible to distinguish them from the front. All visual differences are concentrated on the back. First of all, of course, this is the camera block. It is located on a transparent glass platform that rises slightly above the level of the main glass. But the cameras themselves protrude a little.
Immediately after the presentation, the Internet was filled with memes that played up their location. The iPhone 11 Pro was not compared to anything: with a stove, where the cameras are burners, with an electric razor, with the Terminator’s weapon. I must admit that this decision really looks rather extravagant. But on the other hand, it provides one hundred percent recognition of the model.
The second feature of the Pro is the body materials. The device is made of stainless steel and polished frosted glass. Those who dislike the slippery surface of the iPhone Xs Max should love the new design. Firstly, it is assumed that it is more reliable in terms of holding the smartphone in hand, and secondly, it is simply beautiful. We had a silver version on testing, and in it the back has an almost pearlescent shade.
Apple claims the new chassis is also more durable. We, of course, did not dare to arrange a crash test for the device for 132 thousand rubles.
The location of the buttons, slots and connectors has not changed at all compared to the Xs Max, so we won’t even dwell on that. But what you immediately feel when you take the Pro Max in your hands is that it has become heavier. Maybe not very much, but you can feel it right away.
Is this good or bad? Everyone decides for himself. Many, as you know, like heavier devices. “so that the hand can feel.” Some, on the contrary, prefer light weight and compactness. In general, this is a matter of taste. But we liked it.
Packaging and equipment
The smartphone comes in a striking black box and a contrasting light image of the back of the smartphone body. Note that at some point Apple began to focus on black in the Pro versions of its devices. just remember the black mouse and keyboard in the iMac Pro. And now it has come to the iPhone. However, why not?
The package bundle of the iPhone Pro is almost the same as the iPhone 11, with one significant exception: instead of the standard 5 V 1 A charging, there is fast charging. 9 V 2 A. over, with a USB-C connector.
The iPad Pro is equipped with exactly the same chargers. And this is very convenient: if, for example, you have both an iPad and an iPhone, you can only take one charger and two cables with you on a trip. But it is also convenient that the cable included with the iPhone Pro is Lightning / USB-C, so if you have a MacBook of the latest generations, then you can charge your iPhone from a laptop charger.
Otherwise, the equipment is standard.
The protagonist of Apple‘s September presentation was undoubtedly the new iPhone 11 Pro Max. Here, for the first time, three rear cameras are used, for the first time it is allowed to submerge in water to a depth of four meters, and the name itself differs from previous generations: the Pro prefix was not added to the iPhone before. So how did the flagship go??
We presented and analyzed the general information and all the details voiced by Apple in the report on the results of the September presentation, so we will not repeat ourselves and proceed to testing. Let’s just recall the characteristics of the novelty for a start.
Specifications Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
And here is the traditional comparison of the characteristics of new items with other Apple smartphones.
| 5.8 ″, OLED, 2436 × 1125, 458 ppi / 6.5 ″, OLED, 2688 × 1242, 458 ppi | 5.8 ″, OLED, 2436 × 1125, 458 ppi / 6.5 ″, OLED, 2688 × 1242, 458 ppi | 6.1 ″, IPS, 1792 × 828, 326 ppi |
| SoC Apple A13 Bionic, 6 cores 3rd generation Neural Engine | SoC Apple A12 Bionic, 6 cores 2nd generation Neural Engine | SoC Apple A13 Bionic, 6 cores 3rd generation Neural Engine |
| 64/256/512 GB | 64/256/512 GB | 64/128/256 GB |
| Gigabit LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) | LTE Advanced, Wi-Fi 802.11ac | Gigabit LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) |
| 3 modules of 12 megapixels (video. 4K 60 fps): standard, telephoto and wide-angle (120 degrees) | 2 x 12 Mp modules (video. 4K 60 fps): standard and telephoto | 2 modules of 12 Mp (video. 4K 60 fps): standard and wide-angle (120 degrees) |
| 12MP (4K 60fps video), enhanced FaceID | 7 MP (video. Full HD), FaceID face recognition | 12 MP (video. 4K 60 fps), FaceID face recognition |
| IP68 (enhanced protection against water and dust) | IP68 (enhanced protection against water and dust) | IP68 (enhanced protection against water and dust) |
| iPhone 11 Pro Max up to 5 hours longer than iPhone Xs Max / iPhone 11 Pro up to 4 hours longer than iPhone Xs | – | up to 1 hour longer than iPhone Xr |
| there is | no | there is |
| 144 × 71 × 8.1 / 158 × 78 × 8.1 | 144 × 71 × 7.7 / 157 × 77 × 7.7 | 151 × 76 × 8.3 |
| 188/226 | 174/208 | 194 |
As a result of the presentation, we analyzed all the details of the characteristics, so now we will proceed directly to testing.
Cameras
As noted, the iPhone 11 Pro Max has three rear cameras: wide-angle, ultra-wide-angle, and telephoto. In addition, like the iPhone 11, it has a night mode. We took comparison shots on the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the Xs Max. The results were commented by Anton Soloviev.
We have already discussed the main camera in detail in the article about the iPhone 11. As you can see from the laboratory test results shown in the graph below, the main cameras in smartphones are the same. Perhaps the Pro Max was a little more fortunate when testing night mode.
The higher result of Pro Max “at night” is really an accident, since the cameras of the younger and older models work in this mode in the same way. In the last article, we have already discussed the so-called “night mode” and the simplicity of taking snapshots of this mode from the snapshots of last year’s flagship using the simplest graphics editor. It’s likely that the newer cameras’ night mode is trying to use stabilization to shoot at slower shutter speeds at lower sensitivity. In theory, this should increase detail, in practice, the difference with the iPhone XS Max camera is barely noticeable even though the XS Max JPEG was processed.
We again talked about the new addition to the focal length range. 14 mm. in the article about the iPhone 11. Apart from the results of the laboratory test given above, there is nothing more to add. At first glance, 70% resolution at 130 lux is not a bad result. However, it’s all about the contrasting world, which the sharpening algorithm handles well. At the same time, the program does not cope with real small details, such as grass and foliage, and we get a mess of low-contrast details even in good lighting. However, for Instagram and this quality will be enough.
But the telemodule remained only in the top versions. Over the past year, it has been thoroughly worked on, and now it is almost 10% better in a lab test than the iPhone XS a year ago. The difference is also visible in field shots: the lens is now noticeably less soapy, and the sensor is less noisy. over, judging by the characteristics, the module has practically not changed: the sensor diagonal is still the same 1 / 3.4 ″, and the aperture has become a little larger. f / 2.0 instead of f / 2.4. Lack of lighting is still critical for the camera, but not so much.
Since bokeh in portrait mode is created programmatically, the result is practically independent of the focal length. However, over the years the program is getting smarter, and now the result looks really good. This is still synthetic, obvious to any seasoned photographer, but it looks believable on a small screen.
Also note that the front camera now shoots 4K video and 12 MP photos.
Review of the flagship smartphone Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
Screen
The iPhone 11 Pro Max has a 6.5 ″ OLED screen with a 2436 × 1125 resolution, which gives a decent 458 ppi pixel density. Same options as iPhone Xs Max. However, we decided to test the display of the novelty to the fullest extent of our methodology. The editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev got down to business.
The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are slightly better than that of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the turned off screens (on the left. Nexus 7, on the right. Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, then they can be distinguished by their size):
The screen of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max is slightly darker (brightness in photographs is 107 versus 111 for the Nexus 7). The doubling of reflected objects in the screen of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the matrix). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (such as glass / air) with greatly different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense ambient light, but their repair in the case of cracked outer glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (effective, better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are much easier to remove, and appear at a slower speed than in the case of regular glass.
With manual brightness control and when displaying a white field in full screen, the maximum long-term brightness value was about 750 cd / m2 (up to 800 cd / m2 in normal mode and up to 1200 cd / m2 in HDR mode), the minimum. 1.9 cd / m2 m². The maximum brightness is very high and, given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors will be good. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable value. In the presence of automatic brightness control by the light sensor (it is located above the slot of the front speaker), which is enabled by default. In automatic mode, when the ambient light conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider: with it, the user sets the desired brightness level for the current conditions. If nothing is changed, then in complete darkness, the brightness drops to 1.9 cd / m2 (very dark), in an office lit with artificial light (about 550 lux), the screen brightness is set to 100-115 cd / m2 (acceptable), in very in bright surroundings (corresponds to illumination on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight. 20,000 lux or slightly more) rises to 750 cd / m² (up to the maximum, this is necessary). The result did not quite suit us, so first in the dark, and then in the office, we slightly moved the brightness slider up (in the quick access menu), and for the three conditions indicated above, we got 13, 130 and 750 cd / m² (ideal). It turns out that the automatic brightness control function works adequately, and it is possible to adjust the nature of the brightness change to the user’s requirements. At any brightness level, modulation is present with a frequency of about 240 Hz. The figure below shows the dependence of brightness (vertical axis) on time (horizontal axis) for several brightness settings (approximate values):
It can be seen that at maximum and average brightness, the modulation amplitude is not very large, as a result, there is no visible flicker. However, with a strong decrease in brightness, modulation appears with a large relative amplitude, its presence can already be seen in the test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement. Depending on individual sensitivity, such flickering can cause increased fatigue. However, the modulation phase differs across the screen area, so the negative effect of flickering is reduced.
This screen uses a Super AMOLED matrix. an active matrix on organic light-emitting diodes. A full color image is created using subpixels of three colors. red (R), green (G), and blue (B), but there are half the red and blue subpixels, which can be referred to as RGBG. This is confirmed by a fragment of a micrograph:
For comparison, you can see the gallery of photomicrographs of screens used in mobile technology.
In the fragment above, you can count 4 green subpixels, 2 red (4 halves) and 2 blue (1 whole and 4 quarters), while repeating these fragments, you can lay out the entire screen without gaps and overlaps. For such matrices, Samsung has introduced the name PenTile RGBG. The manufacturer considers the screen resolution for green subpixels, for the other two it will be two times lower.
The screen has excellent viewing angles. True, when deviated even at small angles, the white color acquires a slight bluish tint, but the black color remains simply black at any angle. It is so black that the contrast setting is not applicable in this case. For comparison, we present photographs in which the screens of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max and the second participant of the comparison show the same images, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to about 200 cd / m2, and the color balance on the camera was forced to 6500 K.
Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.
And the test picture:
The color balance is slightly different, the color saturation is normal. Recall that a photograph cannot serve as a reliable source of information about the quality of color rendition and is provided only for a conditional visual illustration. In particular, the pronounced reddish tint of white and gray fields present in the photographs of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max screen is visually absent when viewed from a perpendicular view, which is confirmed by hardware tests using a spectrophotometer. The reason is that the spectral sensitivity of the camera matrix does not exactly match this characteristic of human vision.
Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen. White box:
The brightness at an angle on both screens has noticeably decreased (to avoid severe darkening, the shutter speed is increased compared to previous photos), but in the case of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, the drop in brightness is much less pronounced. As a result, with formally the same brightness, the screen of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max visually looks much brighter (in comparison with LCD screens), since you often have to look at the screen of a mobile device at least from a slight angle.
And the test picture:
It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens and the brightness of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max smartphone is noticeably higher at an angle. The switching of the state of the matrix elements is carried out almost instantly, but at the turn-on front there may be a step approximately 17 ms wide (which corresponds to a screen refresh rate of 60 Hz). For example, this is how the dependence of brightness on time looks like when switching from black to white and vice versa:
In some conditions, the presence of such a step can lead to plumes trailing behind moving objects. However, dynamic scenes in films on OLED screens are distinguished by high definition and even some “jerky” movements.
The gamma curve, plotted using 32 points with equal intervals in terms of the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.20, which is equal to the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve deviates very little from the power dependence:
The color gamut is sRGB:
We look at the spectra:
Such spectra are typical for OLEDs. the components are well separated, which allows achieving a wide color gamut. However, in this case, the gamut is neatly adjusted to the sRGB borders. As a result, visually the colors have a natural saturation.
This applies to those images in which the sRGB profile is registered or no profile at all. However, the Display P3 color space with slightly richer greens and reds is native to today’s top-end Apple devices. Display P3 is based on SMPTE DCI-P3 but has a D65 white point and a gamma curve of approximately 2.2. In addition, the manufacturer claims that since iOS 9.3, color management is supported at the system level, which makes it easier for iOS applications to correctly display images with a prescribed color profile. Indeed, adding the Display P3 profile to the test images (JPG and PNG files), we got a wider color gamut than sRGB (output in Safari):
Note that the coordinates of the primary colors almost exactly coincided with those prescribed for the DCI-P3 standard. Let’s look at the spectra in the case of test images with the Display P3 profile:
It can be seen that in this case there is a slight cross-mixing of components in the red area, that is, the color space native to the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max screen is slightly wider than Display P3.
The gray scale balance is very good, as the color temperature is close to the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the black body spectrum (ΔE) is less than 10, which is considered acceptable for a consumer device. At the same time, the color temperature and ΔE vary little from shade to shade. this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of the color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance there does not really matter, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)
This Apple device has a Night Shift function that makes the picture warmer at night (how much warmer. the user indicates). For a description of why this might be useful, see the iPad Pro 9.7 ″ article. In any case, when having fun with a tablet or smartphone at night, it is better to lower the screen brightness to a minimum, but still comfortable level, and there is no point in turning the screen yellow with the Night Shift setting.
There is a True Tone function that, if enabled, adjusts the color balance to the environmental conditions.
For example, we activated it and placed the tablet under LED lights with cool white light, resulting in values of 2.1 for ΔE and 6800 K for color temperature. Under a halogen incandescent lamp (warm light). 3.2 and 4900 K, respectively, that is, the color temperature has become lower. The function works as expected. Note that the current standard is to calibrate display devices to a white point of 6500 K, but in principle, correction for the color temperature of external light can be useful if you want to achieve a better match of the image on the screen with what is seen on paper (or on any medium where colors are formed by the reflection of incident light) under current conditions.
According to the criterion for outputting frames, the quality of video playback on the screen of the device itself is very good, since frames (or groups of frames) can be output with a more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without frame drops up to 4K and 60 fps files. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly at the height of the screen (in landscape orientation). The clarity of the picture is high, but not perfect, since there is no escape from interpolation to the screen resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the actual for the given video file, except that in the shadows a couple of shades merge with black. Note that this smartphone has support for hardware decoding of H.265 files with a color depth of 10 bits per color, while displaying gradients on the screen is performed with much better quality than in the case of 8-bit files. Display of HDR files is also supported: colors are saturated, the number of gradations is not reduced.
Let’s summarize. The screen has a very high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable value. It is permissible to use the mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. The advantages of the screen also include an effective oleophobic coating, support for sRGB color gamut (with the participation of the OS) and a very good color balance. At the same time, let us recall the general advantages of OLED screens: true black color (if nothing is reflected in the screen), noticeably less than LCD, drop in image brightness when viewed from an angle. The disadvantages include the modulation of the screen brightness, which appears at low brightness. Users who are particularly sensitive to flicker may experience fatigue as a result. However, the overall screen quality is very high.
