Hi everyone aaron here for Zollotech and the iphone 12 pro max has been out for a year it
seems like just yesterday we started using this and now we have the iphone 13 pro max and for the
entire last year i used the 12 pro max as my main phone when i wasn't reviewing other phones and so
i wanted to talk about the overall durability since i don't use a screen protector or a case
since i like the feel of the phone and i want to talk about the battery life and whether or
not you should pick one up whether or not you should upgrade and help you decide on what's
the best phone for you and now the first thing is it's durability like i said i don't use a screen
protector and that's typically because i like the feel of the glass and i'm also durability testing
it for videos like this and i like the feel of the phone now the first thing i noticed right
away is the weight is definitely less than the 13 pro max while it's not significantly less you can
feel the difference when you switch between the two you easily get used to the heavier 13 pro
max but the 12 pro max is a little bit lighter and is slightly thinner so you can feel that if
you use these every single day you can tell the difference but like i said you can get used to it
and it's not really an issue but the 12 pro max is a little bit better in that regard in my opinion
now as far as the durability goes well the overall frame of the phone is held up well there's not
really any noticeable scratches and it seems to be fairly durable you'll see i do have some dirt and
things within the speaker or the microphone and you need to use some sticky tack or something to
get that out but it's held up really well there's not really any noticeable scratches on the silver
version you'll definitely see some more but on this version it seems to be pretty good and the
camera has held up well also so the camera doesn't have any scratches on it i set it down on a table
it gets some dust on it but it doesn't have any scratches and i just set it down on a table and
have no issues with it there the display is held up well also now i'm not sure if you're going to
be able to see this due to the light but you can see there's a slight scratch right there
and then there's some very fine micro scratches on it but for the most part there's not really
anything noticeable except for that scratch there and that's completely my fault where i dropped it
on a tripod and it just fell and then sort of put that little scratch in there early on that fell
off a desk onto a tripod stand and hit a metal piece other than that though the micro scratches
are so fine that you have to be in just the right conditions in order to see it so really no issues
there so it's held up very very well definitely better than the 11 promax that had scratches all
over it at this point and is heavily scratched if you've seen my one year review or two-year review
on that you'll see how many scratches are on it so ceramic shield is definitely more durable now
i have not dropped this phone so it's held up really well that way i don't have any dings on
the frame or anything but it's held up well like i said now as far as the durability of the battery
well this is still an all-day phone with ios 15 15.1 no problems there but if we go to
the battery my battery health over the past year went down to 94 apple says 80 after two years is
normal so about 10 percent a year is normal and i put this on a fast charger every single night
so i would put this on a magsafe charger and then just put it on a regular charger from
time to time or when i was in the car i always wirelessly charged it and rarely did i plug it in
to charge i'll probably do that since my battery is getting low now and it's doing okay 94 is fine
after an entire year of regular use and not paying attention to it at all in fact i've said this many
times i wish apple would get rid of this and just replace it with good or bad and time to replace
since it causes anxiety for a lot of people now you can see this has not been my main phone since
the 13 pro max has come out but it does easily get me through a day there is not one single day
unless there was an issue with a software update where i thought i needed more battery i can get
through about a day and a half by the time i went to bed i easily had 40 to 50 percent battery life
left now if i compare that with the 13 pro max which i'm actually recording this video with
the 13 pro max is definitely better it gets two days of use for most people it's got a
huge battery in it apple did a great job this year with that and it seems to hold up very well as far
as the battery the 12 pro max is still the best phone as far as iphones other than the 11 pro
but the 13 pro max just beats them both out when it comes to battery life overall but either way
it's still fine and it's more than enough for most people and then it fast charges pretty quickly 50
in 30 minutes or so so no issues there if you need to just charge it up now it's overall speed does
not feel slow whether you're using the latest version of ios some people say that apple slows
this down and i heavily disagree with that i don't really see any slow downs whatsoever it feels fast
and fluid like it always did now it doesn't have pro motion like the 13 pro max does so
you can notice a difference there with scrolling if you use that but for the most part it's super
fluid and smooth just like any other iphone ever has been so going into different applications
load nice and fast if you go to listen now or library everything seems to load pretty quickly
i don't really have any issues there i definitely recommend this to people if they're still wanting
something with a great display it's super bright as you can see we're in bright sunlight and i
have the screen not all the way turned up but it's up quite a bit now one issue with the 12 pro max
is it will overheat a little bit if you turn the screen all the way up it will actually get really
hot and then sort of pull the screen down if it's warm outside or in a case where it gets too warm
so that's something that's unfortunate about the 12 pro max that doesn't seem to affect the 13 pro
max as much so i've had many instances where i'm recording video and it will pull the screen down
because the phone's getting too hot it's trying to cool itself off and that's pretty understandable
but it's something that's annoying when you're in bright sunlight and you can't see it
however currently it seems to be okay and it's fairly cool outside today so it's about an ambient
temperature of just under 70 degrees Fahrenheit in that sort of weather it's fine but if you
live in a hotter climate the 12 series phones definitely get very very warm from time to time
and seem to have an issue cooling themselves down from time to time the 13 definitely fixes that so
if that's a concern maybe you'd want to go to the 13 if you don't have the 12 already so like
i said speed is fine and you'll have updates for many years to come probably until 2025 2026 or
beyond so that's something that i think apple will support this for many many years speakers
have held up well they still sound great they don't have any sort of crackles to them they
haven't blown or anything although i have heard from a few people that did have that issue so
you can bring that to apple if it's still under warranty and you have apple care but otherwise
it hasn't been an issue for most people now like i said i'm recording this video with a
13 pro max however the camera on the 12 pro max is phenomenal so if we go to video you still have 4k
hdr no issues there the only thing i notice that's different is really the autofocus system
the autofocus system on the 13 pro max seems to keep the focus a little bit better as i bring
objects closer it stays in focus a little bit better and you see now i'm in low battery because
i'm running the camera but focus seems better on the 13 pro max than the 12 pro max while the
12 pro max cameras are great the 13 pro max are a little better if you're recording a lot of video
they have better low light but the 12 pro max up until now was the best video camera out there so
you still have ultra wide and of course that 2.5 times zoom but you get three times zoom on the
13 pro max so if you don't already have a 12 pro max i would opt for the 13 pro max however if you
have a 12 pro max there's not really a reason to upgrade if you just want a better video camera as
it is a little bit better in the newer phones but it's not tremendously better so you'll still get
great photos and video of course and i use them all the time for recording this as well as audio
since the microphones are so good as well so the cameras apple really spends a lot of time on those
and the video cameras are top notch until maybe some new generations of other phones come out
it's hard to beat any of the iphones for video recording or even audio if you want to use this
microphone maybe for voice memos just set it nearby or use it with a wireless mic or a wired
mic they really work very well and you can rely on it and it's dependable as far as anything else
well i still highly recommend the 12 pro max but apple no longer sells it new so that might be an
issue of course if you're trying to find one but they do sell it refurbished and through other
retailers so i still think it's a great phone it's super fast it's very fluid of course you don't
have pro motion and the notch is a little bit larger but the new notch is narrower but protrudes
a little bit further into the display so that may be a concern for some but otherwise i think
the notch is here to stay for a little while maybe they'll remove it later on but if you don't like
the notch then of course you'll want to wait until maybe a future phone is released or stick with
maybe an 8 pro 8 plus so those are great phones as well let me know if you're still using a 12 pro
max or 12 pro or any of those phones again like i said they're gray phones and there's no reason to
upgrade unless you really want better battery a little bit better camera and that pro motion
display otherwise everything's just as good it's very durable and seems to be holding up very well
if you'd like to get your hands on this wallpaper of course i'll link it in the description like
i normally do and if you haven't subscribed already please subscribe and if you enjoyed
the video please give it a like as always thanks for watching this is Aaron i'll see you next time