17 Jan
Blog

Apple Mac Mini M1 Review: Mini Footprint, Max Performance

Apple Mac Mini M1 Rating2 04

"The Mac Mini M1 resets expectations of how fast a small, affordable desktop can be."

  • Bubble CPU performance

  • Incredibly fast SSDs

  • Excellent value

  • Compact, robust design

  • MacOS Big Sur is great

  • Below average gaming performance

The Mac Mini has often been viewed as the ugly duckling in Apple's Mac family. Without the sleek sophistication of the iMac or the portable beauty of the MacBook, it is often overlooked, categorized as a "niche", and viewed as a developer and data center only.

But now that it comes with Apple's M1 chip, the last thing you want to do is ignore it. Although it looks like the previous generation Mac Mini from the outside, from the inside it is nothing short of a revolution.

The Mac Mini is far from a serious competitor for your money – assuming you want a desktop computer and you already have all of the peripherals you need. It's still a niche, but it hits hard against the walls of this descriptor and is ready to break out.

design

The Mac Mini is by far the most compact desktop Mac from Apple. With a width of 7.7 inches and a height of 1.4 inches from top to bottom, this device can easily fit on your desk or slide under a monitor. The footprint is the same as the previous Intel Mini-based Mac Mini.

It's also one of Apple's most minimalist devices. Almost the entire surface of the device is covered in matte aluminum with just a large Apple logo on it to break up the evenness. There is no other branding or labeling, just a tiny white light on the front that comes on when the device is turned on. It's a Jony Ive fever dream, perhaps the ultimate expression of Apple's obsessive design mores.

As we are used to from Apple hardware, the build quality is excellent. The whole device is heavy and solid with no bends or bends to be found. It feels like a device that could take a few hits and still smile – not that you want that to happen.

However, there are some differences between the M1 and Intel models. Most obvious is the paintwork: the M1 model is available in silver and the Intel version in darker gray. The Intel Mac Mini is also a bit heavier, weighing 2.9 pounds compared to the M1 Mac Mini's 2.6 pounds.

A more significant difference is on the back. Apple long ago removed USB-A ports on its MacBooks, but its desktop Macs – including the Mac Mini – have caught on. While the Intel Mac Mini has four USB-A ports, the M1 version only has two (both with 5 Gbit / s). This is more of a limitation on the M1 than a plan by Apple to phase out the Mac Mini's USB-A ports, and I wouldn't be surprised if four ports were available again when more powerful Apple silicon chips come out. However, it's worth noting if you still rely on USB-A for your daily chores. An adapter or dongle may be required.

The M1 Mac Mini has an Ethernet jack, two Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4 ports with 40 Gbit / s, an HDMI 2.0 slot and a 3.5 mm headphone jack as well as a power switch and a slot for the power cord. This is all identical to the Intel Mac Mini.

What you don't get is a keyboard, mouse, trackpad, or other peripheral device. You'll need to provide all of these devices yourself, and a monitor to connect the Mac Mini to. If you already have these, the $ 699 starting price is all the more attractive. If you don't then you need to take them into account when purchasing.

performance

This is the first time the Mac Mini has come with an Apple-owned M1 processor. The basic version of the previous model was equipped with an Intel Core i3-8100H with four cores and 3.0 GHz and ran pretty well. Even on paper, the Apple M1 seems like a significant step up: Not only does it have twice the number of CPU cores than the old entry-level Intel Mini-based Mac Mini, but it also includes an eight-core and one GPU 16-core neural engine on the same system on a chip (SoC).

In addition, Apple uses a so-called "Unified Memory Architecture" (UMA), with which the CPU and GPU can draw from a single memory pool, which reduces the overhead for both. All of this jargon means that in theory everything should run a lot faster – something third-party developers have already told us.

We've already seen how well Apple's M1 chip performs in the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. So we already have an idea of ​​what to expect: this is an incredibly powerful processor. The question, however, is whether the extra space in the Mac Mini compared to these portable laptops can keep the chip cooler and provide it with additional headroom. Does the Mac Mini outperform these devices too?

The answer is yes, and in some cases unequivocally. In GeekBench 5, the Mac Mini scored a single-core score of 1744 and a multi-core score of 7659 ahead of the 1707 and 7337 on the M1 MacBook Pro. These numbers may not mean much to you. Let me put that way: The Mac Mini's single-core score is the highest we've seen in GeekBench 5. The multi-core score is the eighth highest we have measured. This thing flies.

It's the same elsewhere. The SSDs are lightning fast with an average of 2,144.1 Mbit / s write speed and 2,775.1 Mbit / s read speed. In Cinebench R23, the Mac Mini was only beaten by the Falcon NW Talon, which packaged a Ryzen 9 5950X, a machine that will cost you at least $ 4,000. The Mac Mini we tested costs $ 699. This is just a yardstick of course, and this Falcon NW machine is far more capable of doing heavy duty tasks like gaming or video editing. Still, it is amazing value for money.

The starting price of $ 699 for the Mac Mini is an almost absurd feat.

Synthetic benchmarks can only tell you so much, however. How does the Mac Mini work in real life situations? In HandBrake 1.4 (an app optimized for the M1), the Mac Mini encoded a two-minute 4K video in two minutes and 36 seconds – the same length as the M1 MacBook Pro. In Adobe Premiere Pro, the Mini outperformed both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro in the PugetBench benchmark. The Intel version of the Adobe app is used, which was translated with the Apple wizard for working on the M1.

If the Apple Silicon version of Adobe's video app comes out sometime this year, the performance will get even better. If this is your type of workload, the Mac Mini is going to make a world of difference, especially if you're currently using older Intel-based hardware.

The difference in performance between the MacBook Pro and the Mac Mini isn't that big. It's only 8% faster in Premiere. This should be considered when trying to decide between the two.

The Mac Mini is a workhorse and is great for CPU-intensive workloads. He's ahead of machines that cost twice (or more) as much. Oh, and it did it all without the fans turning. Not even. I had to put my head against the machine to hear something, and even then it was almost silent. Apple wasn't kidding when it said the M1 performed better in a more efficient way than anything Intel had to offer.

In fact, the $ 699 starting price of the Mac Mini feels almost absurd given the performance of the M1 chip. Sure, you don't get a screen, mouse, or keyboard and if you have to buy these the price goes up. However, if you already have a lot of peripherals on your desk, the Mac Mini is the cheapest way to get M1 performance.

Gaming performance

Despite all of this, the Mac Mini is not a slot machine. The M1 may have an integrated 8-core GPU, but it is still smoked by a computer with a discrete graphics card. That's not to say the gaming performance was terrible – it was respectable for a machine this size and price tag – but if you're looking for high frame rates, especially at higher resolutions, you have to look further.

The performance varied depending on the game. In games like Civilization VI that didn't put too much stress on the GPU, performance was acceptable with the right settings. At 1080p and medium quality, the Mac Mini averaged 48 frames per second (fps). At 1440p ultra, however, this value sank to 26 fps.

Gaming is an obvious weakness.

The tactical stealth game Desperados III ran smoothly on high settings, but the more demanding Deus Ex: Mankind Divided only managed 27 fps on 1080p medium. at 1440p ultra it barely cracked 12 fps.

So gaming is an obvious weakness, but I don't think there are many hardcore gamers out there who will buy a Mac Mini as their main device. If all you want to do is make a few easy games you should be fine, but don't expect too much more in this area.

App support

When Apple announced the M1 chip, it was clear that it had learned from the mistakes of its competitors as well as from its own past actions. When Microsoft introduced its own specially designed ARM chip in the Surface Pro X, it was in an app compatibility nightmare that it is still trying to break away from. Apple probably looked at it once and knew it had to be better.

The good news is that Apple has largely achieved this. If you buy a Mac Mini today, your favorite Mac apps will likely work fine, whether or not they are optimized for the M1. Many developers have already released M1-specific versions of their apps (e.g. Microsoft Office), but those who don't benefit from something Apple developed is called Rosetta 2.

This goes back to the last time Apple switched processor platforms and is translating Intel apps to work on the ARM-based M1. It's preinstalled on the Mac Mini and you won't even see it boot up – your Intel apps will just load with no issues. It's an exceptionally smooth process.

With apps optimized for the M1, the performance is likely to be much better than anything translated with Rosetta 2. For example, when I ran our HandBrake benchmark on version 1.0.7 of the app (which was developed for Intel systems), it encoded our 4K test video in 4 minutes and 44 seconds.

With an M1-optimized version of the app, this was possible in almost half the time. If you stick to Apple's own apps for most of your work, the performance is probably even better. Not everyone likes Apple's similar impact on their ecosystem, but hardware and software performance is one area where it really works.

There may be some apps that just don't work for some reason. When I first got the Mac Mini, Google Backup and Sync, which allows me to move work documents between my different devices, refused to load. It didn't end up being too bothersome – I switched to Dropbox, and a few weeks later, Google updated its app to fix the problem – but it's worth keeping in mind that you might have some app compatibility issues.

For the most part, however, I didn't have any problems with it. Google Backup and Sync was the only app I tried that didn't work right away.

Our opinion

The M1 Mac Mini is one of the most affordable desktop PCs money can buy right now. The performance is mind-boggling for a computer this small and affordable, and while it's not a gaming rig, it's nearly perfect for everything else.

Are there alternatives?

Some other companies offer miniature desktop PCs. There is the Intel NUC 10 with processor options from Intel i3 to i7. If you're looking for games, other companies like HP and Asus also have small PCs that might suit your needs.

Note, however, that all alternatives will run Windows. If you've got your heart on a tiny desktop computer running macOS, the Mac Mini is your only option.

How long it will take?

We're at the beginning of the Apple Silicon roadmap, so support for this Mac Mini will last for many years to come. Given the good performance compared to other items in the mount (and compared to devices way above the mount), it will be a long time before you notice that it is slowing down.

Apple doesn't update the Mac Mini as often as its MacBooks, but only one Apple Silicon Mac Mini model is currently available. So, Apple may bring out another option this year. That doesn't mean you will be disappointed if you buy this M1 Mac Mini, just that an even better model may be in the works.

Should you buy it?

Yes absolutely. The price-performance ratio is breathtaking. If you are looking for a desktop rather than a laptop in the market, the Mac Mini should be at the top of your list.

Editor's recommendations




03 Jan
Blog

Apple MacBook Air M1 Review: Fast, Fanless, and Fantastic

Macbook Air M1

"The MacBook Air M1 finally delivers on the promise of a small laptop with no performance restrictions."

  • Apple's M1 blows Intel around

  • Phenomenal battery life

  • Excellent keyboard and touchpad

  • Very solid build quality

  • Just good looking

  • Supports an external display only

Apple was never afraid to break with the past, even if the transition might be painful. For example, when it found the floppy disk was out of date, it dropped it and went all-in USB. The same thing happened with Motorola CPUs, which were dropped for Intel when the PowerPC could no longer keep up. Now it's that time again, this time the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro 13 and the Mac mini will be equipped with their own ARM-based silicon and Intel will be left behind.

For some MacBook fans, this could be a scary proposition because how well could the Apple M1 work if ARM's only showcase to date has been the very overwhelming initiative of Windows 10 on ARM? If you've read our MacBook Pro 13 M1 review, you already know the answer to that question. At least on this machine there is nothing to be afraid of. I put the MacBook Air M1 through its paces to see if the fanless version of Apple's initiative works too.

For this review, I got the entry-level MacBook Air M1 for $ 1,000 with just 8GB of RAM, a 256GB solid-state drive, and a 7-core GPU. There's another version that gives you 512GB of storage and an 8-core GPU for $ 1,250. My experience didn't even include the maximum 16GB of RAM that can be configured for a few hundred more dollars. Was I disappointed or did Apple pull a rabbit out of my hat?

performance

OK, I know it's not fair to imply that the Apple M1 is doing some kind of magic trick. After all, it is an eight-core CPU with four high-performance cores and four more that come into play for smaller tasks and a sip of electricity. It's just that it's an ARM-based technology that has pushed Intel's core CPUs into the background in terms of perceived performance for some time now. If the MacBook Air performs well, it's no magic. Rather, it is an impressive new technology that promises wonderful things to the MacBook range.

Macbook Air M1Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

There's no reason to keep you going: the MacBook Air M1 surprised me in a good way with its performance. And that's not just a comparison with the current Intel MacBook Air, which uses a 9-watt version of the Intel Core i3 and i5 CPUs that lag behind their 15-watt Windows 10 equivalents. No, the MacBook Air with the 10-watt Apple M1 is using the latest 12 to 28-watt Tiger Lake processors from Intel (this time, Intel gives a range rather than a static value) and in many cases gives them a good old value-fashionable beating.

Before we get into the numbers, let's get something straight. The Apple M1-based computers run the fastest with software written for the M1 architecture. This makes sense and includes all of Apple's software plus a few other applications and utilities. If it wasn't written for the M1, it runs through Apple's Rosetta 2 emulation layer. That means, of course, that it won't be as fast as native software. And sometimes, especially with software that requires hardware drivers, an application may not run at all.

Take Geekbench 5, for example, which runs natively on the M1. The fanless MacBook Air M1 performed slightly better than the fan-filled MacBook Pro 13 M1. We're talking 1,727 versus 1,707 in single-core mode and 7,585 versus 7,337 in multi-core mode, but it's still noteworthy that the less expensive and theoretically slower MacBook Air M1 was faster than the Pro. And with their four cores and eight threads, both machines achieved a significantly higher score than the currently fastest Tiger Lake laptops. The MSI Prestige 14 Evo, for example, has the fastest Tiger Lake CPU you can buy, the Core i7-1185G7, scoring just 1,593 and 5,904 points, respectively. Even the 45 watt Core i7-10850H with six cores in the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3 couldn't keep up with the M1 and only managed 1,299 and 6,372.

Worried Apple would force you to give up performance on its transition? Do not be so.

Next, let's look at Cinebench R23, another benchmark app written for the M1. Here the MacBook Air M1 couldn't beat the MacBook Pro 13 M1, but it was in close proximity. And it came almost close to the Lenovo Yoga 9i with its 6-core Core i7-10750H in high-performance mode that cranks up the fans. Notably, the MacBook Air M1 was completely silent (no fans, duh) and barely got warm – I was able to comfortably hold it on my lap while it ran the test. I said before that it wasn't magic, but maybe I'm wrong.

I also did our handbrake test which encodes a 420MB file in two iterations in H.265. The first used Handbrake 1.3.1 which runs in emulation mode and the second used Handbrake 1.4.0 Beta which was written for the M1. In the first case, the MacBook Air M1 took about 4.5 minutes to complete the test. This is roughly the time it would take for laptops with the 10th generation Intel Core i5. In the latter case, the MacBook Air M1 completed the test in 2.8 minutes. This is comparable to 45-watt Intel laptops with six cores and Handbrake 1.3.1 and just eight seconds behind the MacBook Pro 13 M1 with the native version. Again, the laptop barely warmed up. These results provide an insight into the effects of a native on the M1 on an application.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I ran some other tests in Adobe Premiere Pro (which is not yet optimized for the M1) using the PugetBench benchmark. MacBooks have been the go-to choice for many creatives in the past, but this has never been the game of the MacBook Air. Due to severe performance limitations on the Intel version, running one of Adobe's Creative Suites was a challenge. But the M1 changes all of that, even with the $ 999 MacBook Air.

The MacBook Air M1 competed heavily with the more powerful CPUs from Intel and made mince of the Tiger Lake laptops from Intel. I also ran a Premiere Pro encoding test that produced a 2GB 4K video and the MacBook Air M1 running in emulation was about 40 seconds faster than a Tiger Lake laptop.

Most impressive was that this level of performance ran through the emulation. Imagine how quickly Premiere Pro (and Photoshop, Lightroom, etc) will work if it's native in the M1. Getting that kind of performance on a laptop this thin, light, and fanless is a transforming moment for creative professionals who might want to carry around a smaller machine but don't want to compromise on performance. For the first time ever, you can get some serious creative work on a MacBook Air – and that's a big deal.

In practice, I've noticed some minor slowdowns in legacy applications like Microsoft Office (Microsoft released native versions right after the test report finished). This is especially true for the start: Office apps are only faster on Intel computers than on the MacBook Air M1. But the difference isn't so big that it bothered me, and if I didn't check the laptop, I probably wouldn't even notice. Of course, Mac OS itself and every application optimized for the M1 was incredibly fast.

What about games? I didn't run all of the gaming tests on the MacBook Air M1. This is supposed to be a productivity laptop, not a slot machine, after all. Fortnite ran at around 33 frames per second (fps), however, with a resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 and high graphics that are playable and faster than the Intel Iris Xe graphics from Tiger Lake. In Civilization VI, the MacBook Air achieved 51 fps with the same resolution and medium graphics and sank to 32 fps with ultra graphics. Again, this outperforms Intel Iris Xe laptops and competes with integrated low-end graphics such as the Nvidia GeForce MX350.

This completely silent, fanless laptop is a better slot machine than the equivalent Intel laptops, which you would never have expected from a MacBook Air. Note that I tested the seven-core GPU model. For $ 250 more, you can get an eight-core GPU model that will be … well … one core faster. This version also includes 512 GB of storage space.

Macbook Air M1Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Finally, I mentioned that not all applications will run on the MacBook Air M1, although I don't have many examples to give. The decisive factor was the software for my older colorimeter, which did not require the necessary drivers for the MacBook.

But most of the other apps I tried also ran in emulation and were as fast as I would get with at least a mid-range Intel laptop. There were outliers like the Epic Games Launcher, which was just as sluggish on the MacBook Air M1 as it was on the MacBook Pro 13 M1, but there were few.

Battery life

Performance is just one area in which the Apple M1 promises serious progress. The battery life is different – after all, it is essentially an ARM chip that is designed to be efficient. How efficient can a laptop be when it offers the same performance as CPUs that are purely designed for performance? Let's find out.

Macbook Air M1Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

First, I ran our standard web benchmark, which runs through a number of popular websites. This is the yardstick we use to emulate productivity longevity, and it works pretty well. The MacBook Air passed the 15.5-hour test, one of the longest results we've seen. The Lenovo Flex 5G with its own ARM processor – the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx – lasted about 50 minutes longer, but there is a catch. The Lenovo had a Full HD display (1,920 x 1,080), while the MacBook Air M1 has a Retina display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. That's a huge perk for Apple – give it a Full HD display (not what you want) and we'd expect a few more hours of it.

Next, I ran our video benchmark, which runs through a Full HD Avengers trailer until the laptop shuts down. The MacBook Air M1 lasted 18.5 hours. Again, this isn't as long as some of the longest-lasting laptops we've tested, but it's by far the longest-lasting device with a high-resolution display. The Lenovo Flex 5G was stronger again with almost 28 hours, but it also benefited from its lower resolution display.

We usually use the Basemark web benchmark test to see how long a laptop with its CPU and GPU will last under heavy load. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to complete the test on the MacBook Air M1 so I won't be able to report on its longevity if you press it hard. However, given the M1's inherent efficiency, we expect that the MacBook Air M1 will allow you to spend a lot of time, even if you ask a lot of it.

design

Macbook Air M1Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The design of the MacBook Air M1 is unchanged from the Intel version. Literally. That said, it's the same wedge of machined aluminum that feels like an alchemical amalgamation of glass and metal. It is completely stable, without twisting, bending or bending. Apple is doing a few things right, and designing and manufacturing laptops that exude rugged elegance is one of them. You can choose from three colors – space gray, gold, and silver – and they all look beautiful.

It's also a very thin and light laptop that is 0.6 inches and 2.8 pounds. Windows 10 laptops like the Dell XPS 13 and HP Specter x360 13 have caught up and are either thinner and lighter or close to it, so the MacBook Air generally no longer maintains its superiority in that regard. And the MacBook Air M1 isn't as small in width and depth as some of its 13-inch rivals, either, as it still has the same relatively large bezels it struggles with. When you add a display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, you'll find that the MacBook Air M1 doesn't fit into the same tiny silhouette as some others.

Really, these are nits because the differences between these sizes are tiny. Perhaps the MacBook Air M1 would look a little more modern with smaller bezels, but it's not like you'll struggle to find room for it in your backpack.

Macbook Air M1Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Connectivity remains a weak point in the MacBook Air M1. You get two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. That's it. There isn't even an SD card reader to get your photos and videos. Get ready to buy some dongles, and a Thunderbolt 3 dock would be a good idea. Note, however, that the M1 does not support external GPU cases.

The M1 version only supports a single external display, either via the Thunderbolt 3 ports or via a dock. The reasons are deeply technical and based on the M1 architecture. However, if you need more than one external display, the M1 version is not for you. Compare this to the typical Windows 10 laptop or Intel-based MacBook, which can support numerous displays of different resolutions. Even laptops in the same $ 1,000 price bracket can typically support more than one external display if they have a Thunderbolt 3 port, multiple USB-C ports, or even an HDMI port (hey, remember these?).

Display and speaker

Macbook Air M1Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Like the design, Apple kept the same display for the MacBook Air M1. It's a 2,560 x 1,600 IPS display that looks great. It's not in the same class as the MacBook Pro, but you still get good performance enough for everyone but the most demanding creative professionals.

The brightness was 389 nits, which is enough for a laptop with average productivity but not up to Apple's high-end standards. The color gamut is slightly wider than average at 100% sRGB and 79% AdobeRGB – most premium Windows 10 laptops are 98% sRGB and 73% AdobeRGB. These aren't that big of a difference, but if you're looking to edit photos and videos, you'll appreciate the extra percentage points. The accuracy is particularly good at 1.39, with 1.0 or less indistinguishable to the human eye and the quality standard and the contrast ratio of 1130: 1 is above average (we want to see at least 1000: 1, and so the MacBook Air M1 crosses our threshold here).

The bottom line is that you are going to love this display and you probably won't have many complaints. If you're a creative professional and need the widest color gamut, go for the Pro line. You can choose the MacBook Pro 13 M1, get the same performance, nearly the same battery life, and enjoy a higher quality display.

Macbook Air M1Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Another area where the MacBook Air M1 can't quite keep up with its Pro siblings is audio quality. The speakers are very nice, don't get me wrong. They are clear and bright, with excellent mids and highs and a hint of bass. There is no distortion at the maximum volume – the only problem is that the maximum is not very loud. So you're good at listening for yourself, but if you want to share with a crowd, you'll need external speakers. And when you want to rock, prepare to pull out your favorite headphones.

Keyboard and touchpad

The MacBook Air M1 features the new Magic Keyboard, which Apple designed to replace the unfortunate butterfly keyboard on previous models. And it's a damn good keyboard, maybe my favorite of all the laptops I've used and the only one that surpasses the excellent version that HP has added to its Specter range.

The keycaps are a nice size and there is enough travel that you don't feel like you are typing on a block of wood (I'm talking to you here, butterfly keyboard). Best of all, the switches are top notch, with superb precision and perfect ground action that lets you know you've pressed a button. I can type faster on this keyboard than any other, and I hate to give up on it when I switch to a Windows 10 computer.

Macbook Air M1Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The touchpad is also superior due to its haptic nature. It's bigger than most of the touchpads you'll find on 13-inch laptops, it's buttery smooth, and once you get used to the haptic aspect you probably have more control than most touchpads. Windows 10 touchpads have gotten a lot better over the years, but still haven't caught up.

Finally, use the Touch ID sensor embedded in the power button to sign in without a password. This works fine. It's comparable to Microsoft's Windows Hello technology, though you won't find facial recognition in the MacBook line-up yet. I missed this while using the MacBook Air M1, although I end up preferring to use a fingerprint reader.

Our opinion

We said the 2020 Intel MacBook Air is "a respectable choice for Mac fans on a budget". I'm going to change that here for the MacBook Air M1: it's a respectable choice for any MacBook fan looking for a smaller device that is perfectly quiet, charges forever, and is almost as fast as the MacBook Pro 13 M1. Not only will you save money anymore – you get a laptop that will blow your mind with its performance (especially since more apps have been developed for the M1) while being extremely thin and light.

However, there are some limitations. You can't get more than 16GB of RAM (neither with the Intel version) and are limited to just one external display.

Are there alternatives?

The same competition that applied to the Intel MacBook Air also applies here. Only you will find that in many cases they are slower and don't last as long on one charge. The Dell XPS 13 is the obvious choice that you can get for $ 980 with a Core i3-1115G4 CPU and the same amount of RAM and storage – but the MacBook Air M1 will blast it out of the water. Configure the XPS 13 with its fastest CPU and you will find that it is still slower than the MacBook in many applications.

The HP Specter x360 13 gives you the option of a better OLED display and the flexibility of a 2-in-1 for a few hundred more, depending on your configuration. But here, too, the MacBook Air M1 is the faster laptop.

Finally, the MacBook Pro 13 M1 is for anyone looking for the fastest M1 machine available (although the difference isn't nearly as big as you can imagine). The display gets better and the speakers will blow your mind. You'll also be spending at least $ 300 more.

How long it will take?

The MacBook Air M1 should have a lifespan of at least five years as Apple keeps its laptops up to date. Certainly the machine itself will last forever because of the build quality, and you'll love the support from Apple (if not the industry-standard 1-year warranty). And the MacBook Air M1 is getting faster and faster as more software is optimized for the M1 CPU.

Should you buy it?

Yes. The MacBook Air M1 isn't just for MacBook fans looking for something smaller. It is intended for any laptop buyer who is happy to move to Mac OS and wants to participate in the real future of ARM-based computing.

Editor's recommendations




13 Dec
Blog

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 Review: The iPhone of Laptops

Apple MacBook Pro 13 m1 review 06

"With the M1 chip, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is the most exciting Mac in years."

  • M1 is incredibly fast

  • Nice display, as always

  • Fantastic battery life

  • The speakers sound brilliant

  • Top notch keyboard and trackpad

  • Only two Thunderbolt ports

  • Touch Bar is still frustrating

Only Apple would dare to sell a laptop based entirely on its processor in 2020. The main audience is not exactly chip heads, who make purchasing decisions based on core count and power per watt.

And yet Apple has managed to spread a lot of hype around its new M1 chip and the familiar old Macs that run on it.

The design of the new MacBook Pro 13-inch itself has not changed at all with the M1 version. It's identical to the Intel-based model that came out earlier this year. But the M1 processor promises something that a new paint job could never do. It's ready to transform the 13-inch MacBook Pro from another laptop into something new. Something clearly Apple. And yes, finally something better.

performance

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is one of the first of a new generation of Macs that includes the new MacBook Air and the new Mac mini. They all run on the same M1 chip, although performance is different between the three systems. The performance of the professional should be somewhere between air and mini. At least that's the idea.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro was already the most powerful laptop of its size. The adapted 25-watt Intel chip that Apple uses already contains more juice than the typical 13-inch laptop. You can still buy this Intel model, but it starts at $ 1,799. Don't bother about it. It has two additional Thunderbolt ports, but Apple's own 8-core 5-nm ARM processor blows Intel out of the water in every way.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is still very fast. The results published in benchmarks made me do a double take, regardless of whether it is Geekbench 5 or Cinebench R23. In terms of single-core performance, it is on par with the fastest Intel and AMD chips such as the Core i7-1165G7 in the Dell XPS 13. When it comes to multi-core performance, the M1 is awesome. With eight cores, it clearly outperforms the quad-core laptops against which it has a price. The only laptops with faster multi-core results in Geekbench 5 are large 45-watt laptops like the Dell XPS 17 or the Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel.

This also led to similar results in Cinebench R23. Single-core scores top the list, and multi-core scores are way ahead of the competition. But remember: the MacBook Air has the same M1 chip. Although there is no fan in a slightly thinner case, it is only 11% behind the MacBook Pro in this benchmark. There's only a $ 300 price difference between the Air and the Pro, but the difference in performance is smaller than it used to be.

Of course, these benchmarks have already been optimized for the M1. This does not apply to the vast majority of the apps available. However, this doesn't mean you won't necessarily notice the ones that aren't optimized, especially if your basic workflow consists of basic internet surfing and word processing.

The MacBook Pro isn't technically fanless, but I haven't heard the fans spin yet.

However, you will notice how this laptop is cooled. You'll notice it when you start a Zoom call and don't have to shout over the fan noise. Or maybe if you've hooked up a couple of 4K monitors and are multitasking without it getting warm at all. In contrast to the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro is technically not fanless – it has a fan that can rotate if necessary. But I've never heard it spin. Not even. This is a far cry from the MacBooks of the past.

Good luck running a game like Fortnite on an Intel MacBook. Not only does it run poorly because of the lame built-in graphics, it turns your MacBook into a portable space heater. Your palms are sweaty, the keyboard feels hot, and the fans spin like they're trying to prevent a meltdown.

With the MacBook Pro 13-inch M1, the experience couldn't be more different. First of all, it easily reaches 60 frames per second (fps) at medium settings. More importantly, it does this without any slight heating. Even $ 2,000 worth of gaming laptops can't do that.

Of course, there are restrictions when playing. While these are built-in graphics, they are a huge leap ahead of what AMD or Intel can offer. Like the iPad or iPhone, the M1's built-in graphics ultimately turn the 13-inch MacBook Pro into a decent gaming machine.

Take all of this with a grain of salt. The performance you can expect from the M1 MacBook Pro depends a lot on the applications you need. So let's turn to the big elephant in the room: app compatibility.

App support

As mentioned earlier, the M1 chip marks a dramatic departure from Intel and traditional x86 systems. Such a drastic turnaround makes app compatibility a major hurdle. Apple has not shy away from making great demands on its solutions, but you are right to be skeptical. Look no further than Microsoft's app disaster with the original Surface Pro X for an example of how badly this type of transition can be handled.

The short answer is, almost any app or software you might need will run on M1 Macs. That doesn't mean it's going to go super fast, of course, but it's a promise you can make to the bank. So far, development support has not been in the charts.

It's no surprise that the MacBook Pro is insanely fast with Apple's own apps natively compiled for this new architecture. If you're running Safari, GarageBand, or even Final Cut Pro, you'll find that the MacBook Pro offers professional-quality performance. Would you like to produce music or edit videos on the side? No problem. The 13-inch MacBook Pro offers you protection, especially if you stick to Apple software. From what we've seen, even the MacBook Air can handle these workflows with no problem.

However, if you are a creative professional or hobbyist, you probably already have the applications you choose to work with – and they may not all come from Apple. Since the M1 is an ARM-based processor, it cannot run software written for x86. These are most of the applications you can download from the Internet. There are a handful of key developers who have already optimized their apps for the M1. Microsoft, for example, has already introduced its office suite. The same goes for Google Chrome. For many people, this covers the majority of their daily use.

There are some holes, however. Adobe's Creative Suite is the main example. Native versions of Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and Lightroom won't be available until 2021. They're coming, but for now the M1 needs an emulated version to run. But do not worry. Apple managed to make these apps work a lot better than you might think. Apple's solution is an app translation process called Rosetta 2 – and it's mind blowing how well it works.

Developers quickly update the software to be compatible with the M1.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro can export a video project to Premiere just as quickly as the average 13-inch x86-based laptop, including the Intel version of the MacBook Pro. That said, you can safely switch to the M1 MacBook Pro without worrying about performance in non-native apps.

Of course there will always be exceptions. For example, I tried downloading the Epic Games Launcher. It's extremely sluggish. Once you load a game, it's great – but the launcher and storefront itself are left behind. Legacy software tied to specific accessories or hardware might have similar problems.

It was also terribly slow coding video in Handbrake. It took five minutes and 28 seconds to complete a 4K video encoding for H.265. That is, until Handbrake released a new version (1.4) that was optimized for the M1. Now? This coding time is only two minutes and 38 seconds. That's 15% faster than the 10th generation Intel Core i5 MacBook Pro (13-inch) when performing the same coding task. It shows how quickly developers update software to ensure compliance.

Battery life

Of course, the advantages of the M1 processor go far beyond pure performance. The laptop starts up in a flash when you open the lid – and even connects quickly to external displays. The biggest quality of life improvement you will experience with it is battery life. The 13-inch MacBook Pro has never been a champion in battery life. It barely squeaked enough to be considered appropriate. But not with the M1.

This 13-inch MacBook Pro has the best battery life I've ever tested on a laptop, despite only having a 58-watt battery. The 13-inch MacBook Pro lasted well over 16 hours on a single charge when surfing the Internet lightly. That's a lot of screen-on time. It outperforms many of the best Windows laptops like the Dell XPS 13 or the HP Specter x360. On a lighter load like a local video loop, the MacBook Pro can last for more than 21 hours. Angry.

Nearly doubling battery life without changing battery size is a tremendous achievement.

The best part? Just because you see the low battery notification doesn't mean you are doomed. The 13-inch MacBook Pro can last for about an hour, especially if you turn the brightness down a bit.

ARM designed processors are known for their extreme efficiency. So I wasn't too surprised that the MacBook Pro excels in this area. Still, it's a tremendous feat to nearly double the battery life of previous models without changing the size of the battery.

design

A laptop is of course much more than just a processor. The display, keyboard, trackpad, speakers, port selection, portability, and battery life are all equally important. Not much has changed in that regard, but this is where the MacBook Pro still excels. Mainly.

The chassis is 0.61 inches thick and weighs exactly three pounds. When this design was first used in 2016, it broke new ground. Nowadays it is taken for granted. You can find thinner, lighter, and equally robust laptops like the Dell XPS 13, HP Specter x360, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and Microsoft Surface Laptop 3.

Still, it's a very mature laptop with no hint of flex or bend – and that includes the lid.

There is room for improvement, however. All I want is a MacBook Pro with some modern looking bezels. Laptop designers have made great strides in this department, but Apple seemed content with leaving things as they are. To make matters worse, the 720p webcam in that fat bezel isn't terribly good anyway.

I expect all of that to change in 2021 with the introduction of a 14-inch MacBook Pro to replace this one. If you buy a MacBook Pro today, it won't help you much.

This particular MacBook Pro only has two USB-C / Thunderbolt ports, both on the left. These handle DisplayPort, charging and data transfers at up to 40 Gbit / s. Personally, for reasons of convenience, I prefer a charging port on both sides of the laptop, for example on the Dell XPS 13.

The four Thunderbolt ports of the Intel version of the MacBook Pro are really the only advantage over the M1 version.

Display and speaker

There was never much room for complaint on the MacBook Pro screen. The 2,560 x 1,600 "Retina" display is sharp, bright and color-accurate. With the plethora of 4K screens available in laptops, the MacBook Pro is a few pixels short in comparison. Not that you would notice, of course. Just don't be surprised if Apple goes to great lengths to surpass 5K in pixel count over the next year. It can even use mini LED technology!

One caveat: I couldn't get our colorimeter software to work. It's a good example of niche software that just refused to run on the M1. However, I have confirmed with Apple that this is an identical panel to the previous model, with a maximum brightness of 485 nits, a contrast of 1470: 1 and 91% AdobeRGB color space.

With the M1 chip, Apple can do the audio processing itself.

The 16:10 aspect ratio has been used by Apple for many years, but is now finally being adopted by companies like Dell and HP. Apple has been right all along.

Speakers are another area where Apple has always been ahead. No competitors even come close. Apple has taken this new model further and made some improvements to the speaker tuning. With the M1 chip, Apple can do the audio processing itself and thus tinker with the stereo spreading and the equalizer. This was previously done with the T2 chip, but tighter controls mean more options to adjust.

The result is fantastic audio quality, especially when listening to music. Unlike most laptops, it is actually a joy to listen to. The speakers get loud without crackling or distorting, and there's even a ton of bass. It's a wonder considering how small these speakers are, but Apple's added tech takes them to the next level.

Keyboard and touchpad

I'm not going to spend too much time complimenting Apple on their keyboard repair. Gone are the days of unreliable and inconvenient butterfly keyboards. Apple's Magic Keyboard, which uses a more conventional scissor switch, was introduced in the 13-inch MacBook Pro earlier this year. It's still here and it's still awesome.

The same applies to the trackpad, which is particularly large and responsive. Force Touch technology means there is no physical mechanism under the glass – just a highly sensitive series of motors that simulate the sensation of movement.

In the meantime, I will continue to lament the missed opportunity the Touch Bar offers. I almost never use it. And when I do this e.g. B. to adjust the volume or the screen brightness, this is annoying. I just hope Apple now has improved tools for better implementation in the future, but at the moment it doesn't matter much.

Our opinion

The $ 1,299 MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 is a fresh start for the Mac. The physical design will eventually catch up, but right now we have the start of a season for the Mac where it will be difficult to compete with.

Are there alternatives?

The closest competitor is the Dell XPS 13. I prefer the slim design of the Dell laptop as well as the option for a 4K model. However, the MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 is now a more powerful laptop and outperforms battery life.

If you don't need the added power of the Pro, then the MacBook Air should be considered. It uses a slightly underperforming version of the M1, but it only starts at $ 999 (or $ 899 with student discounts).

How long it will take?

The MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 is based on Apple's new system architecture and is a safe purchase. It will be supported for many years. That being said, a major redesign of the MacBook Pro is slated to hit the market in 2021, though it may be a while before we hear more.

All Apple MacBooks come with a standard one-year warranty. Of course, you can get Apple's great AppleCare + service for up to three years, although it comes at an additional cost.

Should you buy it?

Absolutely. More than any other MacBook Pro in the past few years, Apple has finally created one that has an undeniable advantage over its competitors.

Editor's recommendations




18 Nov
Blog

Apple HomePod Mini Review: The Smart Speaker Apple Needs

Apple HomePod mini on the table

"The HomePod mini is exactly what Apple needs to be a relevant player in the world of smart speakers."

  • Computerized audio optimizes the experience

  • Clean sounding highs and mids

  • The compact size makes it discreet

  • It's the cheapest HomeKit hub

  • Siri lacks the advanced intelligence of her colleagues

  • Short power cord

Apple rarely has flaws in its products, especially in the dominant era that began with the release of the iPhone. The Cupertino, California-based company has been kicking it out of the stadium time and again, setting the bar for every product category it enters. Products like the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and AirPods have shown phenomenal appeal with consumers, but that doesn't mean Apple is infallible.

The HomePod is an example of one of those missed opportunities, and its failure has hampered Apple's ambitious smart home efforts. Pricing was partly the problem – a premium price of $ 349 out of the gates made it a tough sell for the masses. Now, however, there appears to be a redemption with the HomePod mini. While it looks like Apple has gotten smaller with this iteration, don't let its size fool you, as this decision has bigger implications that make it a great player in the smart home.

Smaller is better

Gone is the cylindrical, bulky design of the original HomePod, which has been replaced with a more subtle appearance thanks to its spherical shape. It's adorned with the same fabric as its predecessor – something I wasn't too excited about because my cats viewed it as a scratching post. However, thanks to its smaller size, it fits better in tighter, smaller spaces and out of the reach of cats. Eventually I decided to place it in my entertainment center in the living room where it won't overwhelm the rest of the material there.

Apple HomePod Mini Smart Speaker Size ComparisonJohn Velasco / Digital Trends

The HomePod mini has a backlit touch-sensitive lid. The animation of Siri listening and reacting gives it a sleek look, but it still can't lift my eyes from the echo LED ring of light. On the back is the power cord that ends with a USB-C connection. Surprisingly, the cable itself doesn't seem detachable. Since the original HomePod's cable could be removed with a bit of tug, I figured this would be the case here, too – but it doesn't seem to be. In addition, the length of the cord is quite short, which means it has to be placed near an electrical outlet.

Don't buy just one, buy two because this year's HomePod mini won't empty your wallet.

Apple's decision to go small is an interesting one. You'd think its size rivals the Nest Mini and Echo Dot, but it's actually meant to hold its own in the mid-range.

Computer audio at its finest

If you're all into raw audio, the original HomePod is the natural choice for you. You should stop now if this is your only priority. This is because the HomePod mini is nowhere near the performance of the original. HomePod mini really comes to life because compelling computer audio is able to analyze and optimize whatever is playing.

Apple HomePod Mini Touch controlsJohn Velasco / Digital Trends

From a technical specs perspective, the full-range driver of the HomePod mini and the two passive radiators don't let audiophiles drool too much. In fact, it's the combination of Apple's S5 chip and computer audio that provides an enticing and compelling audio experience. The HomePod mini doesn't disappoint with its size and produces plenty of mids and highs that are not drowned out by the bass. In fact, the focus on the mids and highs becomes even clearer as the volume is increased – it never loses contact with them and the bass never sounds tight.

If I have one criticism of audio quality, it is that the HomePod mini controls audio tuning. There is no way to customize or customize my special preferences. It's not a deal breaker, but I would still appreciate some degree of control over things like highs and lows.

John Velasco / Digital Trends

Back to my point about computer audio. This is most noticeable when I've paired the HomePod mini with my Apple TV 4K to watch videos. Unlike my soundbar, which seems to prefer the sound effects and scores over the dialogue, the computerized audio attenuates the scores and sound effects appropriately with each dialogue so that I can actually understand what people are saying. This kind of smart setting is also useful when playing commercials as my soundbar has a tendency to turn up the volume while playing. With the HomePod mini, however, the volume remains constant. When it comes to computer audio, I'm all-in.

Catching up with the competition

First and foremost, the HomePod mini is the cheapest home hub for Apple HomeKit devices at home. You need it so that your HomeKit devices can communicate with your needs when you are not on your home network. Previously, the only other alternatives were the more expensive Apple TV HD ($ 149), Apple TV 4K ($ 179), and HomePod ($ 299). You can also use an iPad, but I don't usually recommend doing this because you want your home hub to remain stationary at home. Therefore, the iPad is the least qualified candidate in my opinion.

Siri still has a lot of catching up to do, which is reflected in the fact that she is missing the performance of her colleagues. Google Assistant always surprises me for its intelligence, while Amazon Alexa can be exchanged for a celebrity voice like Samuel L. Jackson. Siri isn't as smart or as funny as the other two virtual assistants, but I really hope she catches up. For example, it annoys me that Siri doesn't want to reveal my appointments for that day when I ask about it. Instead, it tells me to check my phone, which is inconvenient. It's probably a setting somewhere that prevents her from announcing it, but it's annoying nonetheless.

Apple HomePod Mini Smart Speaker Size ComparisonJohn Velasco / Digital Trends

Even so, there are other features that I found useful. Use the intercom function, with which I can play an audio message on all connected HomePod speakers in my apartment. It's great when you don't want to shout from the kitchen to someone else in another room that dinner is ready. There's also Proximity Control, which lets me relay something I'm hearing on my iPhone to my HomePod mini – all by placing my iPhone over the HomePod mini’s touch-sensitive surface. The seamless functionality that allows different devices to communicate with each other in this way is what Apple is known for, and the proximity control is proof of that.

It's also about app support. Right now, music listeners only have a handful of options to choose from when it comes to streaming from an iPhone to a HomePod mini. Apple Music and Pandora work like a charm comfortably, but many other third-party apps like YouTube Music are missing.

The HomePod mini is the speaker Apple should bring out first.

Over the past year we've seen more and more HomeKit-compatible smart home devices, from smart locks to cameras. The lack of compatible devices undoubtedly reduced the consumer appeal of making Siri the virtual assistant of choice at home, but things have gotten better. While Apple still lags behind Google and Amazon in terms of overall devices supported, using HomeKit devices offers a higher level of security and privacy.

Apple HomePod mini in handJohn Velasco / Digital Trends

This is the untold story you won't hear too much about in the smart home wars. Apple doesn't require its users to install a new app or sign up for an account in order to use these smart home devices. All you have to do is set it up from the Home app and you're done.

Our opinion

The HomePod mini is the speaker Apple should bring out first. If so, the company would be in a far better position in the smart home market. Regardless, the $ 100 cost makes it an attractive proposition that is better positioned to bring Siri home. Sure, it's not as smart or powerful as some of the other smart speakers, but it doesn't have to be, as it's a logical choice for many more Apple due to its computerized audio, subtle design, and HomeKit home hub functionality. User is this time.

How long it will take?

Like all Apple devices, the HomePod mini is solidly built. The mesh should hold up if left undisturbed, but the cloth-like material is prone to staining if something is easily spilled on it.

Apple offers a one-year limited warranty that covers defects. However, you can also purchase them AppleCare + for the HomePod mini, which effectively extends coverage for two years and covers two instances of accidental damage.

Is there a better alternative?

You bet. For the same cost, Google Nest Audio is very present in the audio department. Audiophiles will appreciate its punchy and more powerful audio performance, while the Amazon Echo (4th generation) strikes a balance between design, performance and compatibility with other smart home devices.

Should you buy it?

Don't buy just one, buy two because this year's HomePod mini won't empty your wallet. Plus, if you are a home theater fan, you will be amazed at the computer audio you can get.

Editor's recommendations




18 Nov
Blog

Apple iPhone 12 Mini Review: Tiny Yet Mighty Phone

iPhone 12 Mini

"The iPhone 12 Mini is exactly what small phone fans have been waiting for: a full-featured iPhone in a tiny size."

  • Incredibly compact size

  • Great camera quality

  • First class performance

  • Any iPhone 12 function

  • Weak battery life

  • The screen can actually feel tight

The iPhone has not been "small" since the iPhone 8. Although Apple has kept its main models compact compared to major Android competition, your only choice for a really small phone from Apple was to buy or keep an iPhone SE with an older model. Either way, you had to choose between the latest features and capabilities and a phone the size you prefer.

That is no longer the case. Now we have it iPhone 12 Mini.

I'm so excited that Apple chose the $ 700 iPhone 12 Mini because there's no reason why people who want a small phone should be treated like second-class citizens. You should be able to get a fully functional modern iPhone in a size that won't challenge your hand. And with a few caveats expected, we have just that.

The basics: hardware, specifications and functions

Apple's consistency between iPhone models isn't exactly exciting, but when you think about it, it's exactly what you want to see. Considering the iPhone 12 Mini is smaller and cheaper than the base iPhone 12, there has been ample opportunity for Apple to sacrifice – just look at the iPhone SE. But that was not the case. Aside from the fact that the battery and screen shrink, which are obvious changes, the iPhone 12 Mini is identical to the iPhone 12.

iPhone 12 Mini

iPhone 12 Mini

It starts with the design, which translates very well when scaled down to that size. The lack of curves and the focus on sharp edges suits a small phone that tries to be as efficient as possible with space, and Apple's hardware finish is exquisite again. The lineup's bright color options also go well with the playful size – though I loved the completely incognito look of my black phone that was spiced up with a red leather case.

Apple had ample opportunity to sacrifice in the 12 Mini, and it didn't.

It's not typical for a phone of this size (and price) to match the rest of the top-end specs of the iPhone 12 Mini. The A14 Bionic chip in the controller is equally powerful when compared to the other iPhone 12 models, so the performance of the 12 Mini is excellent. You get good speakers, the latest in Ceramic Shield screen glass, IP68 water resistance, top-notch feel, face recognition, and more on the list. Apple will also remind you that this is the smallest phone that doesn't yet have a full 5G implementation with Sub-6 and mmWave, as well as global network band support.

I went through all of the specifics of this platform's features in my full iPhone 12 review. I recommend reading them for a complete picture of what the iPhone 12 series offerings are. After that, you can see here what makes the iPhone 12 Mini special.

A lovely little phone

Unlike modern mini cars, the iPhone 12 Mini is actually small. And it's not just "small" because it's smaller than the iPhone 12, which has now grown to a 6.1-inch screen – it's really small. It's shorter, narrower, and lighter than the iPhone 8 (and the latest iPhone SE) and one of the smallest fully featured modern smartphones.

iPhone 12 MiniAndrew Martonik / Digital Trends

You can't help but feel a sense of nostalgia when you get to the iPhone 12 Mini from another phone. Think back to a time when you could have a phone that was compact and yet was considered state of the art. But after a day with the 12 Mini, I didn't think of its size as something new – I just used it and enjoyed hell.

The iPhone 12 Mini doesn't expect anything from you. It's so light and your hand folds lightly around the sides for a secure grip. It actually makes sense to use your thumb to reach across the screen or up. And gosh, it doesn't just fit in a pocket, it doesn't even stretch the fabric. On several occasions, I kept the iPhone 12 Mini in my coat pocket and forgot it was there. Half an hour later, I caused a moment of panic when I feared I had left it somewhere.

The iPhone 12 Mini doesn't expect anything from you. Still, it's an incredibly powerful phone.

It's very liberating to have a small phone that doesn't feel like a burden to carry and use, but is more than capable of doing everything you need in the day.

iPhone 12 Mini

iPhone 12 Mini

With a 5.4-inch display, the 12 Mini has just enough screen space not to feel cramped. And iOS 14 is identical to a bigger screen on this smaller screen – you get the same icon grid and buttons, but things are just a little bit smaller. Every app works perfectly, and I never felt the need to go into settings and increase the font size or the screen zoom. Basically, when you view your inbox, you're just missing an extra email or reading an article in the browser, missing a few extra lines. Everything is just as lightning fast as it was on the iPhone 12 as I was able to run apps and multitask with no issues. To my surprise, I didn't have any thumb collisions with two-handed typing, but because it's so tight I really enjoyed typing with my finger.

Size comparison: iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 Mini vs. iPhone 12 Pro max

iPhone 12 modelsAndrew Martonik / Digital Trends

I admit that the 12 Mini doesn't provide an immersive video viewing experience, nor does the screen give you an expansive viewfinder for taking photos. But it's perfectly functional on both accounts. If you plan on using your phone for a lot of media operations, you probably won't even consider the 12 Mini in the first place.

I know the screen is the same as the iPhone 12, but I swear it won't get quite as bright as the larger phone's screen. There have been a few situations with the 12 Mini out in the sun where I've pulled the Control Center down to increase the screen brightness only to see that it was already set at 100%. Other than these cases, the screen is fantastic: great colors, good viewing angles, low reflectivity, and crisp text.

Battery life

When the rubber hits the road, the only place the iPhone 12 Mini falls short is in the fuel area. On a weekend trip to beautiful Mystic, Connecticut, I spent a lot of time outdoors with 100% screen brightness, taking tons of photos, and leaning on Google Maps while keeping up with my usual messaging and social media apps. And the results … weren't great.

Battery life is the only annoying part about using such a small phone.

On Saturday I took the phone off the charger at 8 a.m. and was discharged to 10% battery by 9 p.m. as we enjoyed a nightcap under a patio heat lamp. That's four hours of screen on, which is respectable, but when the battery is very low it's not to be trusted. Sunday brought more of this with it when the phone went off the charger at 8 a.m. After more than three hours of on-time, the battery was charged with a worrying 40% battery by 1:00 p.m. when I plugged in to use CarPlay to drive home.

iPhone 12 MiniAndrew Martonik / Digital Trends

Apple's cited estimates for video playback paint a rosier picture than reality. It is clear that if I use the iPhone 12 Mini the same way as the 12 or 12 Pro, I am going to exceed the limits of the battery life by the end of the day. On lighter days, with time inside and via WiFi, I got through the day by 20% to 30% – but that's still not a good sign for late evenings or days when I need a hot spot or have to spend a lot Navigate time in Google Maps.

If you get stuck to your phone all the time, this is not the phone for you. However, I don't think this will be a problem for so many people as the philosophy of many who want a small phone is also consistent with the expectation that there is no need to have a phone in hand all the time. Know what you are getting into and be ready to charge it up a little in some situations and you will be fine.

If you want to live connected to your phone, this is not the phone for you.

The advantage of a tiny battery is that it charges very quickly. With a 20 W charger, it accelerates from 0% to 50% in 30 minutes. And because the capacity is so small, it even charges a little quickly from a computer, a charger with a smaller wall thickness, or the MagSafe charger. Even my car's low-power USB port easily drained enough power to add a significant charge when running CarPlay.

Cameras

Perhaps the best thing about the iPhone 12 Mini is that Apple didn't skimp on its cameras in this small case. This was something you had to keep in mind when considering an iPhone SE as a small phone option. The 12-megapixel main camera and 12-megapixel ultrawide camera make a great pair – that's what the $ 999 iPhone 12 Pro does, and all the more so at the price.

Few people expect a camera to be this good on a $ 700 cell phone, but it delivers.

In daylight, you get bright and colorful photos with just enough pop and added warmth to make them feel a little more alive. The sharpness and level of detail are excellent, even with mixed lighting photos that require additional processing. In low light, photos are just as good as long as you can keep your hand steady. The camera relies on long exposures in night mode, but the results are excellent. And if you keep the lights on, the selfie camera is good too.

I'm so familiar with this camera setup that I often forget how impressively it relates to the competition. Anyone who picks up this phone will be amazed at the photos that come out of it. Same goes for video, where you can get crisp 4K 60fps footage with great colors and stabilization. You may choose not to shoot in Dolby Vision HDR due to limited playback compatibility. You can also skip it to save space. My friend Michael Fisher made maximum use of his 128GB Mini the first afternoon after installing apps, recording videos, and syncing iCloud Photos to the phone. You should spend at least an additional $ 50 on the 128GB model as the 64GB base feels very tight.

You won't be missing out on the camera features of the $ 300 iPhone 12 Pro anymore.

On rare occasions, I'd miss the 12 Pro's 2X zoom camera, but otherwise this is a camera setup that is perfectly on par with this phone. Anyone who buys the 12 Mini won't be missing out on the subtle improvements to this third camera and the promise to take RAW photos with a future software update.

Our opinion

The $ 700 iPhone 12 Mini plays in a category of its own: a really small phone with an otherwise first-class experience. It's small enough to be manageable in everyone's hands and pockets, but it has full iPhone 12 features, from the great hardware, to the processing speed, to the camera quality and software experience.

If the annoying decision of choosing between a phone with high-end features or a handgrip phone put you off, this is it iPhone 12 Mini should be your next purchase. But not everyone has such a strong sense of size, and if so, they should look out for the slower battery life and a screen size that after years of getting used to 6-inch displays may feel restrictive.

I absolutely like the size of the iPhone 12 Mini, but I don't think I can make it my main phone. I need more confidence in battery life and that means moving back to the iPhone 12. And as much as I love the size of the 12 Mini, I can handle the Standard 12 without feeling weighed down by its size – that makes it an easy choice to get the medium sized phone.

Are there any better alternatives?

In this size and price range, you really have no other choice. You can get one for literally half the price Google Pixel 4a It's the same size but not a competitor outside of the camera.

Then there are phones that are larger but still handy and comparable in price and options. You can buy these for a $ 100 premium iPhone 12This is a logical choice if you can handle more screen and want longer battery life. The Google Pixel 5 is still relatively compact and costs the same as the 12 Mini – it also has a great camera and streamlined software experience that iPhone owners will be familiar with.

How long it will take?

Because the 12 Mini was built on the same platform as the iPhone 12, it should have a long lifespan. There will be several iOS updates in the future, and the A14 Bionic chip is very powerful to run them. It also has strong water resistance should it take a splash or a dunk. The iPhone 12 Mini will easily last two years, or up to four years if you are tight on your budget.

Should you buy it?

Yes, if you feel disenfranchised by the ever-growing size of smartphones and are longing for a compact model that doesn’t save on functions.

Editor's recommendations




13 Nov
Blog

Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max Review: Amazing Camera, Massive Size

iPhone 12 Pro max

"This is the iPhone with amazing battery life and an exceptional camera experience, but it comes at a price that is too big for most people to manage."

  • Big and beautiful display

  • Excellent hardware quality

  • First class camera experience

  • Long battery life

  • Unbelievably big

  • Very difficult

It was frustrating for them in a way iPhone 12 Pro max a month later than the iPhone 12 Pro because we couldn't immediately compare them side by side. However, working in these conditions bought me a lot of time with the iPhone 12 Pro. Now that I finally have a 12 Pro Max in hand, I can take advantage of this considerable experience with the platform.

This way I can evaluate the three big aspects (emphasis on big ones) that make the iPhone 12 Pro Max stand out: the size of the phone, the subsequently larger battery and the improved camera system.

The basics: hardware, specifications and software

The "Max" iPhones have a short history but have gained an extremely enthusiastic following. Some people realized the value of a giant iPhone and never looked back. For these people, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is wonderful – it's another giant iPhone that was introduced into the modern era of Apple hardware design and features.

iPhone 12 Pro maxAndrew Martonik / Digital Trends

If you like the design of the new iPhones, like me, you'll love that you simply get more of them in the 12 Pro Max. The proportions of everything at this size are a bit strange when you really look at it, but I'm not looking – this phone is beautiful. The stainless steel frame and matte glass back feel amazing and look like a super expensive phone.

If you like the look of the new iPhones, you'll love that you can easily get more of them with the 12 Pro Max.

The whole matter is taken to a new level in this gold color that I have referred to as the "Kardashian Special". The hyper-shiny golden pages are just … a lot. They are so reflective that you regularly see strong reflections of light on tables and walls around you which is just amazing. Thank God. The back made of matt glass has a subtle mother-of-pearl color and dampens the overall effect. But I really enjoyed the phone in its absurdly expensive but excellent form Apple leather case. However, those golden shimmering sides still protrude a little bit from the edge of the case!

Everywhere else, you get the same specs and features as the Standard 12 Pro, without a single drawback. The same A14 Bionic processor, 6GB (supposedly) of RAM, 128/256/512GB storage options, 5G connectivity, Ceramic Shield glass, speakers, and a lot more on the list. Face recognition continues to be great (despite our current situation with wearing masks), as is the tactile feel of the buttons, mute, and haptic feedback – these are the little things Apple is so good at. This is just an enlarged iPhone 12 Pro – and that's a good thing most of the time.

If you haven't read all about the iPhone 12 Pro, I highly recommend that you read my full review of the 12 Pro first and find out the details about the 12 Pro Max here.

A really big phone

The iPhone 12 Pro Max's main selling point is the same as ever: you get a huge display. It's now up to 6.7 inches tall, and the effect of this year's smaller frames is enhanced by their size in proportion to the screen area. The OLED panel is absolutely great – incredibly bright, clear and colorful. It is perfectly visible in any lighting, including outdoors, even if the brightness is not increased when viewing HDR content.

iPhone 12 Pro maxAndrew Martonik / Digital Trends

I can't find a bug … other than not having a 90Hz (or higher) refresh rate like the Android competition. Even so, Apple does things with software that makes 60Hz still look good. These are all the same assessments I had of the iPhone 12 Pro's display mind you, but once again I appreciate it in this larger size.

It's not the largest phone display, but it's close.

Of course, it's not the largest phone display, but it's close. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is larger and combines its display with even smaller bezels, but is also a bit larger. Really, you wouldn't notice a usable difference between this 6.7-inch screen and any other large Android device. It is important that you have significantly more additional screen with the 12 Pro Max than with most cell phones in the lower 6-inch range.

Size comparison: iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 12 Mini vs. iPhone 12 Pro max

However, since the "normal" iPhones have gotten bigger and now have up to 6.1-inch displays, they don't feel as tight, making the iPhone 12 Pro Max feel less necessary. And iOS 14 looks and works exactly the same on this 6.7-inch display as it does on the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 Mini.

iPhone 12 modelsAndrew Martonik / Digital Trends

You can't multitask any other than any other iPhone, and viewing picture-in-picture video isn't much more useful either. Although you can now place widgets on the home screen, you don't have any extra space to place them. They still have the same grid size of 4 × 6. Apps can mostly only be adapted to the screen instead of keeping the elements the same size and displaying more content. For example, in Gmail, another email appears in the inbox. On Twitter, you might see an extra half of a tweet.

You can use the "zoom" feature to zoom in on anything on the screen, but you can't go the other way and zoom out, which is what a lot of people want. You can reduce the text size, which I did (by one notch) and that will at least help you get a little better use of the screen.

iPhone 12 modelsAndrew Martonik / Digital Trends

This bigger screen is still appreciated when watching videos, playing games, taking and editing photos and videos, browsing non-mobile websites, and typing with two hands. The media experience is only enhanced by this bigger screen, and some people really spend hours a day watching videos on their phones – the 12 Pro Max is a great experience there. There are also people who don't have great vision and appreciate a phone that just makes everything huge.

It seems like a missed opportunity not to give the Max a little more functionality in the software to take advantage of that screen size, especially now that we've been dealing with these Max phones for a few generations, and with developments in the same area on iPadOS .

The media and gaming experience is improved by the larger screen, otherwise nothing changes.

This is especially true because that bigger screen comes at a cost: a bigger phone overall. The 12 Pro Max is about 9% larger, 9% wider and 20% heavier than the 12 Pro. These are serious leaps, especially in terms of weight – at 228 grams, it is one of the heaviest smartphones currently available. This stainless steel frame adds up.

iPhone 12 Pro maxAndrew Martonik / Digital Trends

It's big enough to be awkward in a pocket, especially for weighing down gym shorts and stuffing jeans pockets. And it certainly doesn't fit in most women's pockets – it takes up space in a pocket instead. It hardly fits in my running beltand just without a case. Since it's so hard, I prefer to leave it at home for long runs.

The phone is extremely massive and difficult to use. Only you know if it is worth looking into.

It's downright awkward to do anything other than scroll through feeds or hold the phone to read with one hand. Even with my big hands, reaching across the screen or sliding my finger over the picture is a hassle. Fortunately, you can use the “reachability” gesture (swipe down in the lower center of the screen) to get to the “top” edge of the screen without fumbling with the phone. Most tasks are considerably easier with a second hand, some tasks require it. If you come to terms with this fact and stop even trying to use it with one hand, the overall experience improves.

Battery life

With the first Max iPhone, it seemed like most people bought it just for the battery life. A larger phone offers more space for the battery. If everything else stays the same, this should translate into significantly longer battery life. As usual, Apple does not offer battery capacities or realistic battery benchmarks for its phones. That's why I'm here.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max is a battery champion thanks to a very simple equation: It has a 30% larger (supposedly 3687 mAh) battery than the 12 Pro. If you need a phone that will work all day every day, regardless of battery saving, then this is it. On my usual day with messaging, listening to podcasts via Bluetooth, countless emails and using social media apps, mainly via WiFi, I ended the day after more than three hours of on with 40% battery.

The 12 Pro Max is a battery champion – you don't have to think about it.

The closest thing to low power mode, which triggers at 20%, was a day of three hours of hotspotting on my laptop, including streaming the Apple “One More Thing” event. Even so, I had a little over 20% when I went to bed. I've experienced solid battery life on the smaller 12 Pro, but found that it can get a little tricky if you squeeze it hard. This is just not the case with the 12 Pro Max – it will never lead to battery fear.

iPhone 12 Pro Max with MagSafe chargerAndrew Martonik / Digital Trends

We got used to the fast charging times offered by the iPhone's small battery, but that's not the case with the 12 Pro Max. If you ever run out of battery or miss a night charge, you need to consider how long it will take to charge.

You can go from dead to 50% in just over 30 minutes, which is good enough, but it takes over an hour to get to 95%. And that's if you buy a 20W charger (remember, there isn't one in the box). There are many good options from companies like anchor and Aukeyand it's basically a requirement for the 12 Pro Max. Charging with less is a real pain. The MagSafe charger is approximately 30% slower than a 20W wired charger. Plugging in an older plug under 10W will take several hours to complete – and worse with a generic wireless charger.

Cameras

Apple bifurcated the Pro line with an all-new main camera sensor on the Pro Max, and that's a big change. The 12-megapixel sensor is 47% larger, which means every pixel is dramatically larger for the same resolution. Larger pixels let in more light, which is always good – light is the currency you use to buy sharp photos. The sensor itself is also physically stabilized, much like the way dedicated cameras provide stabilization that is different from the OIS on most other phones (including the 12 Pro) that have the lens stabilized.

The advantages are immediately apparent when taking photos in poor lighting conditions. With larger pixels, the camera doesn't have to rely on long night mode exposures as often, which means you'll have less softness and blurring from handshakes or moving objects in your scene. This means that photos of people and pets are more likely to be crisp, even in difficult lighting conditions. But that's more of a side effect: the real impact is that every single photo you take with low or mixed flash is brighter, sharper, and more colorful.

Lowlight shots have great detail, texture, and sharpness, and for the most part, do without a fake, over-edited look. In some cases where night mode is used for a 3 to 4 second exposure, the contrast and saturation are a little over the top, to the point where it actually looks better to revert to a 1 second exposure. Other times, I just turn off night mode for a natural shot and the sensor easily pulls in enough light to keep things from getting loud or grainy. I think Apple could actually tweak more to really take advantage of the big sensor and rely even less on the night mode.

As the lighting improves, the 12 Pro Max's camera benefit diminishes. Most of the footage is indistinguishable from what you get with the 12 Pro's camera. But that's not a bad thing. The 12 Pro takes great photos. In the edge cases where you have shadows or mixed lighting, you will notice that the large sensor is working again – not to brighten these areas, but to get them right and without noise.

You'll see the big sensor in play again with close-ups of macros and portraits. Because the sensor is so large and has a f / 1.6 lens, you can get incredible natural bokeh (background blur) if you know your way around your goal of focusing. If you are strategically focused on a good focus, background defocusing is great. The effect is so far that I really didn't bother with portrait mode, which still has quirks and problems far too often. Natural bokeh is always better than fake, and this camera does it incredibly well.

The ultrawide camera is identical to the other iPhone 12 models – really good for ultrawide conditions and ideal for confusing the perspective of your recordings. The telephoto camera has a 25% longer focal length than the 12 Pro, but I still wouldn't call it "telephoto" with only 2.5x zoom over the main lens. Even so, any improvement is good, as the whole point of a telephoto camera is to get the specific look of a narrower field of view. It gives you that change of perspective and you can use it to get great zoom shots.

The Dolby Vision HDR video, which Apple is making a big deal of this year, remains unchanged on the 12 Pro Max as well. Recording with a larger viewfinder could be a bonus to your budding film career, but HDR video really shouldn't be a determining factor in your buying decision – and of course, it's available on all iPhone 12 models. Yes even the $ 699 mini.

The selfie camera is the same too; If you have good lighting, it will take great shots but will stall in darker scenes and rely heavily on the on-screen flash. The selfie camera's night mode is a hit-or-miss mode considering that you really can't get over how small a sensor and lens you're working with – and it's harder to keep your hand steady hold when arm is extended.

Our opinion

The iPhone 12 Pro Max is characterized by three things: its enormous size, its long battery life and its more powerful camera. If you buy it, it should be because of the first feature, not the latter two. I really believe that only those who want A big phone with a big screen and extra space to work and play should buy one. Anyone who buys the iPhone 12 Pro Max because they expect longer battery life and camera improvements even though it is bigger than they can be will be disappointed.

Yes, the battery life is exceptional, especially better than the iPhone 12 Pro. And the camera is more powerful at night, even by the high standards that Apple set with the iPhone 12. However, the phone is just too big for most people to comfortably use in one hand, and it's big enough to prevent your person from walking. This is not a situation to put yourself in if you don't immediately see a benefit in the size of the screen. No battery or camera improvement is worth constantly being upset that your phone is too big.

If the big phone is your thing, the starting price of $ 1,099 is reasonable. You pay just $ 100 more than the iPhone 12 Pro and get a lot more phone.

Are there any better alternatives?

There are few phones in this size class to compete with each other. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the obvious choice, with a huge display and great features that can go head to toe with the 12 Pro Max. It also has a built-in pen which is a real differentiator. However, most people don't regularly switch between iPhones and Androids, so it may not be an option.

The other obvious choice is to step up a notch to the iPhone 12 Pro. It is a “normal” size phone that is easy to use with one hand and never feels like an administrative burden, but has all of the core features of the 12 Pro Max. It's really a question of whether you can handle the weaker battery life (which is still fine by average phone standards) and a smaller display and come to terms with not having the best camera Apple makes. The size is a personal preference, but we're talking about minor improvements on the front of the camera. The 12 Pro's main camera is great too.

How long it will take?

Apple has had an excellent track record of supporting and updating its phones for several years. The iPhone 12 Pro Max has the hardware to run the next four (or more) versions of iOS without errors. The hardware with a stainless steel frame and IP68 water resistance should also hold up.

Should you buy it?

Yes, if you have two qualifications. The first is that you want or can manage such a big phone. Second, you expect to push the limits of the camera system. If you're not here for both things, you're better off with that one Base iPhone 12 Pro.

Editor's recommendations




05 Nov
Blog

Apple iPad Air (2020) Review: The iPad Pro for Everyone Else

iPad Air 4

“The iPad Air 4 is the iPad Pro for the masses. It's perfectly located to deliver an exceptional tablet experience without stepping into the territory of high-end laptop prices. "

  • Excellent hardware design

  • Strong battery life and USB-C

  • Wonderful display

  • Pro-level performance

  • Magic keyboard support

  • Fast fingerprint sensor

  • Base 64 GB memory

  • Expensive upsell to 256 GB

At first glance, the new iPad Air (4th generation) looks like a perfect Goldilocks iPad. Compared to the basic iPad, it offers dramatically better specifications, a completely new design, a much better display and twice as much basic memory. At the same time, it's $ 200 cheaper than the 11-inch iPad Pro, but it looks and feels almost identical. For all practical purposes, it delivers the same core experience, including support for Apple Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard.

Is the new $ 599 iPad Air the tablet? In fact, it is perhaps the best value you can get in an iPad today.

Hardware, design and display

Apple has done an exceptional job with the design of the latest iPad pros, so I'm not the least bit annoyed that the iPad Air is a copy. The metal case is perfectly flat on the back – apart from the unevenness of the camera – and bumps up against flat sides. It just feels fresh and modern compared to the old curvy style – especially now that it matches the design of the iPhone 12. It's also available in a wider range of colors that are far more playful than any previous iPad. While most people prefer a dull color like my Space Gray model, you can go bright if you want to express your personality a little. (The iPad Pro is initially in gray and silver.)

iPad Air 4Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends

It is reasonable to think that design is difficult for you, but it is not. The transitions from back to side are nice and smooth, and the corners have a large radius. So it's very convenient whether you support it with just one hand or hold it in landscape orientation with two. And with its extremely light 1 pound weight evenly distributed, it definitely deserves its nickname "Air".

Since face recognition is missing in the Pro, a Touch ID fingerprint sensor is integrated in the power switch. It's well positioned to use with your right index finger when holding it vertically and your left index finger when holding it horizontally. And the initial setup process makes it clear that you need to teach it both ways. After this quick tutorial, the sensor was quick and accurate. While it might not be as seamless as Face ID, it is a perfectly usable method of authentication – and it no longer requires a large screen bezel embedded in the home button.

iPad Air 4Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends

The 10.9 inch display is just wonderful. There's just enough bezel for easy thumb grabbing when needed, but it's not so big that it feels chunky. It's not the same display as the iPad Pro, but to most people it looks like it could be. It has the same pixel density, extremely low reflectivity, wide color gamut, and True Tone color matching. It's not that bright technically, but I've never had any problems seeing the screen indoors or outdoors. The fact that it is a laminated display and has incredibly low reflectivity means that you can easily use it even in direct sunlight.

The hardware is perfect and the display is just wonderful.

The only flaw, if you could call it that, that I found is a bit of a white-pink color shift when viewing the screen a little off-axis, which really only comes into play when someone sitting next to you does too tablet looks at the screen. You can also point out that this display only has a refresh rate of 60Hz, not the dynamic 120Hz pro motion of the iPad Pro. If you're used to an iPad Pro, you'll find that if you're used to a different iPad, you'll never complain because iPadOS is so fluid that it really helps make up the difference.

Another pro-level feature of the Air is its speakers. You get an equal-sized pair of speakers that are split on the sides (in landscape mode) for balanced sound that can get incredibly loud. The placement makes it nearly impossible to block out all of the sound, and the 50/50 split makes it much more immersive for video watching.

Whether it was just an easy way out or a stroke of genius, making the iPad Air compatible with existing iPad Pro keyboard accessories is a huge benefit. That means the existing $ 179 keyboard folio (which, by the way, is nicer than the one for the basic iPad) and the absurdly expensive, but absolutely amazing $ 299 Magic Keyboard work with the air. If the Air had a specific design, it would likely just get stuck with a folio and not get its own version of the Magic keyboard.

The iPad Air almost requires a keyboard – and that will get you at least $ 170.

I picked a regular folio with my Air because I think it's absurd to spend $ 300 on a keyboard for a $ 600 iPad. But I can easily make the argument that you can justify this high price tag by saving $ 200 if you can't get the iPad Pro. And if you want to use iPad Air for a semblance of work or computer-like tasks, you absolutely need a keyboard. The keyboard folio definitely does the job and I can type on it very quickly, but I wish one of the two angles was shallower. It also has the same problem as all keyboard iPads (without the Magic Keyboard) in that it can be a bit shaky when you actually use it on your lap. This is just part of trying to turn an iPad into a laptop-level productivity machine.

Another slightly cumbersome part of this horizontal first-time use is the front-facing camera, which is on the left side when docked to the keyboard. The 7 mega-pixel sensor is fine and does the job for video calling at 1080p resolution. However, if you put it on the left so it looks like you're not paying attention, it always feels weird compared to a laptop.

Software, features and battery life

We all know the details of iPadOS 14 at this point. Coming from another iPad will make you feel at home in the air. With that big screen and added power, you'll want to refresh your knowledge of the myriad of multitasking gestures on iPadOS. Without knowing how to open split view and pan around to manage multiple windows, or use the gestures to quickly switch apps and pull up the dock without going home, you're missing out on the power of this computer. While iPadOS continues to struggle with convergence, there is no real benefit to learning all of its features. Once you do, you'll be amazed at how much you can do.

iPad Air 4Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends

You can certainly achieve a lot in the air thanks to the A14 Bionic chip shared with the iPhone 12. It is technically faster for single-core performance than the A12Z in the iPad Pro, but also technically a bit behind for multi-core performance. Regardless, you wouldn't know the difference – the iPad Air flies through any task. You really only run into a limitation when using an intense graphical app and scrolling through Slide Over apps – but that's just a subtle delay. This is likely because the Air only has 4GB of RAM (storage) and the 6GB of the iPad Pro.

Apple is playing a big game with the multi-camera array and LiDAR sensor on the iPad Pro, but for most people, the simple 12-megapixel single camera in the air is more than enough for the occasional snapshot. Despite the hope that the high-end cameras and depth sensing would make the iPad Pro a revolutionary AR device for gaming and interior design, it just isn't. The vast majority of people will be happy that the Air has a smaller camera curvature and the price is lower.

The only spec that actually holds the iPad Air back is its storage, which is a meager 64GB in the base model. And there's only one upgrade option: 256GB for an additional $ 150. An upsell to more storage that is 25% off the base price is really tough, especially when you look at the easy storage upgrade for something like the iPhone 12, which is only $ 50 from 64GB to 128GB.

That being said, after two weeks I'm only using 22GB of my 64GB model, but maybe I'm not the heaviest iPad user as it is a secondary device to my MacBook Pro. However, if you want to use an iPad Air like most professionals would, loading huge "Pro" apps and loads of media content, that storage can quickly go away. Alternatively, you could really lean into iCloud – that $ 150 upsell fee could cover a 200GB storage plan for more than four years.

There's more than enough power here, and battery life continues to be a strong part of the iPad.

The main advantage of using an iPad over a similarly priced laptop is the battery. IPad Air can easily handle the heaviest workday, with more than 6 hours of on time and no battery degradation measures, and there's still plenty of battery left over. Simple tasks like streaming videos or surfing barely touch the battery, and iPadOS continues to be fantastic at using very little power when not in active use. Given that very few users use the Air as their sole computing device, there is no doubt that it can be part of your device usage every day and is chargeable for several days.

And gosh – I'm way too excited about this, but I don't care – the iPad Air now charges via USB-C! Yes, now I can charge my Air with the exact same cable and charger that I use with my MacBook and Android phones. Yes, I have an iPhone, so there are Lightning cables, but my apartment is littered with USB-C cables of all lengths and types, and charging my iPad is a breeze. It also has the nudge effect of being able to charge phones from the iPad, which is really nice in a pinch.

For your high price of $ 599, you also get a 20-watt USB-C charging brick in the box, as well as a nice (albeit short) USB-C cable. But I doubt I'll ever touch her.

Our opinion

The basic iPad is a tablet that you buy as a device – something you need, but you're not excited about. The new iPad Air is a tablet that you buy as a desirable tool – you want it and will strive to get the most of its features when it arrives. And it has to chop to deal with a whole lot of what you're going to throw at it.

The hardware is superb, as is the display, and nothing about the design or the feel in your hands makes you think for a second that you saved $ 200 on an iPad Pro. Apple has perfectly tailored the parts of the iPad Pro that most people don't care about and kept everything else that makes it great, including support for Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard. Pair it with a keyboard and learn about the quirks of iPadOS, and you can even turn it into a pretty powerful laptop replacement – as long as you know the limitations in the software, well beyond the ultra-capacitive specs.

The only downside for the air is the pricing if you don't need a keyboard and want to push the limits of the A14 Bionic. If this is just a tablet for media consumption and the casual browsing, then $ 599 is a steep price and you will lose the extra features of this hardware for you. But just knowing that you can do a lot more could be enough to spend the money and get this best all-around iPad model.

Are there any better alternatives?

There are only two alternatives to the iPad Air, and only one is a reasonable comparison. You can spend $ 429 on an 8th generation iPad with 128GB of storage, but honestly it's not a real competitor. The base iPad is a fine tablet for a lot of uses, but it's not in the same league in terms of performance or display quality and by no means exudes the feeling of being high-end in the manner of the iPad Air and doing Pro. It's also not compatible with Apple Pencil 2 or Magic Keyboard.

The real decision here is between the iPad Air and 11-inch iPad Pro starting at $ 799. For this money you get 128 GB of storage space as well as Face ID, a 120 Hz ProMotion display and additional cameras. Otherwise, the experience isn't that much different at the core functions and basics of what most people use the iPad for. Just like buying an iPhone 12 Pro or MacBook Pro, you're spending quite a bit more to get that last bit of extra power, performance, and features over the base model.

How long it will take?

One of the great advantages of purchasing an iPad of any tier is the great long term software support it provides. Expect iPad Air to get five more versions of iPadOS if you want to hang on to it that long. And even better, the iPad Air's incredibly powerful A14 chipset will keep these future iPadOS versions running smoothly.

Should you buy it?

Yes. If you've got your eye on an iPad Pro but don't want to spend that much money, the iPad Air is a great place to land. You'll get the most of your experience with an 11-inch iPad Pro, but you'll save a considerable amount of money.

Editor's recommendations




03 Nov
Blog

Apple Watch Series 5 Review: Very Close to Perfection

"The Apple Watch Series 5 is near perfect and the best smartwatch you can wear right now."

  • Stylistic look

  • Comprehensive fitness functions

  • Really helpful health traits

  • Useful always-on display

  • The cellular model can replace your phone for a short time

  • No significant changes compared to Series 4

  • No native sleep tracking

The only product I gave a perfect rating for is the Apple Watch. The Series 4 Apple Watch for 2018, to be precise, as not only was it Apple's best product of the year, but it was also the best smartwatch you could buy. Apple has updated the watch to that Series 5and brings a handful of new features while maintaining the same design.

Does that mean it is no longer excellent? Do not be absurd. It is still miles ahead of the competition.

Same iconic design

The Apple Watch Series 5 is visually unchanged from the Series 4. It is available in either a 44mm case or a slightly smaller 40mm size for those with slimmer wrists. The case is still a slim 10.7mm and the 44mm model I'm wearing in the pictures weighs only 36 grams. It is hardly noticeable on the wrist, never gets stuck under a shirt cuff and the curvy cover is wonderfully ergonomic.

Sounds like it was designed by someone who knows watches right? Yes it was and it really shows. The days of being upset about the Apple Watch not being round are long gone. It has become an iconic watch design, and Apple's improvements to the Series 4, which increased the viewable area of ​​the screen without enlarging the body, made it really attractive. I'm not saying I don't want to see a circular Apple Watch (I'd love to see the company approach one), but I definitely don't think we need one. This design has become a classic.

Then there is the build quality and the presentation. It comes in an elongated box that can be opened. The watch case is wrapped in a tiny, soft protective bag. The strap is separate and if you get the Sport Band version it even has medium and long options in the box. The watch case is delicate but durable, and even the cheapest aluminum model feels exceptionally high quality. The matt, room-gray housing, which was combined with the white sports band above, is simple, stylish and wonderfully finished. It is as high quality as mobile products.

The design of the Apple Watch Series 5 hasn't changed because it's simply not required.

Would you like to opt for the Apple Watch made of stainless steel, titanium or ceramic? Sure, go for it, but there's no noticeable difference in texture or build. Yes, they are more durable and you get extra "Boasters" points, but that's about it. Nobody will know if you don't tell them. So stick with aluminum (it's 100% recycled, so it's better for the environment anyway) and spend the money saved building a collection of alternative tapes instead.

The design of the Apple Watch Series 5 hasn't changed because it's simply not required. The only place you can go from here, if technology allows, is to make the case even slimmer and the bezels smaller. Until then, it's fabulous.

A display that is always available

Here is the big change for the Series 5 compared to the Series 4: It has a display that is always on, meaning it always shows the time. It sounds a bit silly, but this has never been an option on the Apple Watch before. It wasn't a huge issue as the Apple Watch was quick to react when you raised your wrist, but it cures the pain of not being able to glimpse the time. A not-so-subtle increase in the wrist to see the time wasn't always appropriate, after all.

This also applies to fitness tracking: if you want to do push-ups and look at the watch to see your data without stopping, it was previously impossible. Workouts are now shown on the always-on display so you can easily check your progress.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The Series 5's always-on display is more than just a skeleton-style environmental mode. Pick the right watch face and it's an almost identical copy of the usual version. Apple had to overcome battery life considerations to make it work.

Speaking of watch faces, there's a selection of new ones out there. While almost all of them are customizable, there are several standout winners. The Californian dial is attractive, but the Numerals Duo’s bold simplicity is my favorite. It's easy to match the color of the numbers with your watch's strap for a really put together look.

WatchOS 6, which is installed on the Series 5 and is also available for previous generations, has some fun novelties to offer. I like the little tap on your wrist to mark the hour. It's a wonderful recall to the hourly "beep beep" sound of a digital clock from my childhood, without the hassle that such a function would cause today.

I've set up every Apple Watch since Series 0 and it worked the first time every time.

The Noise app is an interesting continuation of Apple's commitment to health. It warns you when you are in a noisy environment and how continued exposure to the sound can damage your hearing. The app measures around 74 decibels in a busy pub and issues a warning when the sound level reaches 100 dB. This is one of those features that isn't immediately helpful, but it does add extra awareness of your surroundings.

The Apple Watch and WatchOS 6 work so well together that they put all other portable platforms to shame with great performance and a simple, quick-to-learn user experience. It's fun to use too. I like the haptic feedback that is impressively tactile against your wrist or finger, and using the digital crown to zoom in and out on the app screen still looks great after all this time. It's all so cohesive and smart.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

It's not without its problems, however. When the watch face sleeps over a displayed notification or app like the new compass, the background will blur and the time will appear in the top right corner. It's not attractive. Waking up the clock and performing your first task takes a little patience as you have to pause for a second before interacting with the screen after tapping the display. This is the only time the software is slow.

These are just small handles, not real problems. Even the setup process is flawless. After scanning the first screen of the watch with your iPhone's camera, the process takes about 10 minutes. It is so easy. There is no messing around during pairing and no graphics are rotated while waiting for updates. I've set up every Apple Watch since Series 0 and it worked the first time every time.

Fitness and health tracking

The Apple Watch is the only fitness and health tracker you'll ever need to wear unless you're focused on a specific sport like marathons or some other form of high-intensity workout that requires specific metrics. It takes care of steps, calories, hourly exercise, relaxation, VO2 max data, hours of standing, and exercise tracking for everything including swimming and cycling, as well as other activities like yoga and elliptical training.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

All of this is available elsewhere, but where Apple stands out is the comprehensive picture it creates of your health over time and the extra tracking that actually saved lives. All of this is one big reason to keep wearing the Apple Watch, and you can't say that about any other smartwatch. The longer you wear it, the more information will be gathered and the more trends will become apparent so that you can change your lifestyle for the better.

There is a new Trends tab in the Activity app on your iPhone (180 days of activity data is required to view these trends) that provides extensive data on your level of activity over time.

The Series 5 Apple Watch didn't add sleep tracking, a long-rumored new feature. Whether this is seen as a disadvantage depends on the importance you put on it. There are apps that monitor sleep using the Apple Watch. However, this and all future official Apple features require you to wear the watch to bed. This means making alternative plans so as not to charge the watch overnight. Is it a major oversight? In my opinion no, but it would be welcome in the future.

The Series 5 Apple Watch didn't add sleep tracking, a long-rumored new feature.

Data is stored and collected in the activity app on your iPhone. When you find that you have slacked off, it will suggest ways you can improve. There are also many daily motivational tools where "closing the rings" (an indication of achieving your activity goals) is addicting and lacking a goal one day is frustrating. It works because it is simple, but the simplicity doesn't mean you will lose interest or miss out on valuable data.

Introduced in WatchOS 5 and the Apple Watch Series 4, Electrocardiogram (EKG) monitoring is available to most owners around the world after an early launch only in the US. It's easy to use, but only meant to be used when you feel an irregularity in your heart rate. It doesn't resemble the heart rate monitor, which is useful for both fitness tracking and medical purposes, and instead falls into the same category as the watch's fall detection mode: you may not know you need it until you do. With it there, you can have peace of mind if you have an irregular heartbeat concern as a notification will be sent when one is detected.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

The data from the Apple Watch makes the activity and health app on your iPhone easier to use. The information displayed is easy to understand, there is a wealth of statistical and information about your daily activity. Even after just a few days of wearing the watch, you will find out where improvements can be made.

Everything is easy to use, the menus are large and clear, and the apps on the iPhone are both informative and attractive. There is no other fitness tracking system that is so well presented, instantly accessible, properly motivating, and durable.

Battery and performance

Has the screen always on ruined battery life? No. It is possible to get a full day (around 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and then half of the following day out of a single load. It takes about an hour to charge and a midday charge would easily take the remainder of the second day of use.

Your own usage will vary, and it is expected that battery life will decrease if you use the calling features of an Apple Watch or if you do extended periods of fitness tracking with GPS and heart rate monitoring. Even then, a day should still be possible. This also applies to the smaller 40 mm Apple Watch, which we also tested.

It goes without saying that you have to charge a smartwatch every day, and there are new features that put additional strain on the battery in the Series 5. However, it is disappointing that the new model failed to extend the battery to two days with regular use. Such an extension of the useful life would also make the addition of sleep monitoring more likely.

Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends

Early examples of the Apple Watch did not have the required level of performance. That has changed, and the only time the Series 5 suffers badly is when it is subjected to significant stress while using apps that require data. It's smooth, fast, and never frustrating, but the S5 chip inside doesn't offer any performance gains and instead focuses on efficiency.

The nice thing is that you can use apps on the watch if you want. When you set it up, iPhone automatically adds the Watch version of the apps already installed on your phone. You don't need to install the iOS version of an app on your iPhone if you don't want to as the App Store is now available on the watch itself thanks to WatchOS 6.

What else can the Apple Watch do? It works with Apple Pay, you can store music on it locally (or use Spotify / Apple Music), pair bluetooth headphones with it, make calls and leave your cellular phone at home, chat with Siri after long press digital Crown, reply to messages and emails, check the weather, use it as a remote shutter release for the camera, and even practice mindfulness with the Breathe feature. It is no exaggeration to call the Apple Watch the most complete, feature-rich, everyday smartwatch you can wear.

Price and availability

The Apple Watch Series 5 is available now in the Apple Online Store, in retail stores and at partner locations. The aluminum body costs $ 400 for the 42mm and $ 430 for the 44mm. Pricing is $ 500 for the GPS + Cellular 42mm model and $ 530 for the 44mm version. The stainless steel Apple Watch starts at $ 700, the titanium model starts at $ 800, the ceramic starts at $ 1,300, and the Hermés version starts at $ 1,250.

Apple offers a one-year warranty against manufacturing defects. AppleCare + also offers a more comprehensive coverage plan, but it'll cost you $ 50 for two years.

Our opinion

The Apple Watch Series 5 is superb. No other smartwatch offers nearly the same level of fitness tracking, comfort, performance, or portability.

Apple Watch Series 4 owners don't really need to upgrade, but those who didn't buy the last Apple Watch should go for this.

Is there a better alternative?

No. You would only consider another smartwatch if you have an Android phone and want a WearOS device for better integration. There is a problem with that, however. WearOS is light years behind WatchOS.

In 2020, Apple released the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE. The Series 6 should be viewed as the model that needs to be purchased now. However, if you have a Series 5, there isn't a compelling feature update to make an upgrade necessary.

How long it will take?

Three years, if not more. The Apple Watch Series 4 is a year old and strong. If you have an Apple Watch Series 2, it gets the latest software. So there's no reason why the Series 5 shouldn't be happy with your wrist for long.

Should you buy one?

Yes. Absolutely, completely, 100% yes.

Editor's recommendations




31 Oct
Blog

Apple iPhone 12 Review: The Best iPhone for Most People

Apple iPhone 12 review blue back angle 2

"The iPhone 12 is insane value for $ 799 and questions how many people need to buy a 12 Pro."

  • Excellent camera performance

  • Fast and consistent software

  • Nice and colorful hardware

  • Good battery life

  • 5G connectivity

  • Lightbody feels a little cheap

  • MagSafe currently offers little

The iPhone 12 Pro is the focus of press and technology enthusiasts. It's the full-featured, high-end model and the price is damn, we all want one. What it overlooks, however, is that most people have more reasonable expectations and budgets and are immediately interested in the standard iPhone 12.

The iPhone 12 is the phone people use to get in the door (or on the website) and have the option to change their choices to a Mini, Pro, or Pro Max. And that puts a heavy load on the iPhone 12: it has to be really good because most people choose it by default. Here's how well it meets expectations. And why it is, indeed, the best iPhone 12 model for most people.

Hardware, design and display

The iPhone 12 is exactly the same size as the 12 Pro – Apple's own cases are interchangeable. And with a case on the phone, all you can tell is that it's not a pro, but the missing third camera lens – although you still get that large case with a square camera that reminds you of the space that more sensors take up if you had done this you would have spent more money.

iPhone 12

However, if you're brave enough to use your phone without a case, or at least convinced you would wear it naked, there are plenty of other differentiators in the hardware. The first is the colors, which you've no doubt seen in a row that look like a bowl of cone. The colors of the iPhone 12 are fun, playful, and bright – even that blue, which is one of the relatively muted options alongside black.

The iPhone 12 is characterized by a fresh appearance and a familiar high quality of execution.

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro

The frame of the iPhone 12 is made of aluminum, not stainless steel like the 12 Pro, and the metal is kept in a matte texture that matches the hyper-gloss of the 12 Pro. Instead, the gloss is transferred to the rear glass. This is a boon to the handle, but an absolute fingerprint stain magnet – it will never be clean once you take it out of the box.

Aside from stains, which are just a reality of modern glass-backed phones, the iPhone 12 stands out. It's a really nice design and I'm so glad we're returning to those angular lines from the metal pillow shapes of the past few years. There's only more for your fingers and eyes to discover, and it's actually easy to hold. This is even more true of the 12, which is about 15% lighter than the 12 Pro, though that lightness helps make it feel a little cheap or weak. If you had never had the 11 Pro or 12 Pro in your hand, you wouldn't think about it – this is just a lightweight and easy to manage phone.

The brightness is impressive if you remember that the screen is larger than before (now 6.1 inches) thanks to a new OLED display with smaller bezels on all sides. And when you add the sharp transition from screen glass to metal sides, it feels even more compact. The Face ID notch is still visually annoying, but the Face ID itself is well worth the compromise.

iPhone 12

The display is excellent especially for this price point. It's clear, bright, and colorful with good viewing angles and minimal color shift. And since it is a laminated OLED, the visibility outdoors is of course also good.

The only difference, at least on paper, is that the iPhone 12 has a maximum brightness of 625 nits versus the 800 nits of the 12 Pro. The distinction is strange, as teardowns show that the displays are interchangeable, and Apple's own documentation shows that both can achieve the same 1200 nits when viewing HDR content. I can hardly say that the display on the 12 Pro is brighter, but I also don't know if that's just a mental trick. It certainly doesn't look like it's 28% brighter as Apple's numbers claim.

The new Ceramic Shield glass promises a 4-fold improved drop performance, which we all appreciate, but I'll make it clear: There is no claim that it is better against scratches. My test device had already noticed some normal scratches with normal use over the course of a week. So don't expect this display to be indestructible. I managed to clumsily drop the phone from waist height onto the sidewalk, luckily with a silicone case, and there were no ill effects.

Features, software and performance

For many people, the best thing about the iPhone 12 is that it offers the exact same iOS 14 software experience as the current phone. While this may seem boring to Android users, who supposedly have the opportunity to try a new twist on Android every time they upgrade their phone, this consistency is a big reason why so many people stick with iPhones.

iPhone 12 Pro blue

Depending on how old your current iPhone is, the only difference from the 12 is that everything just runs faster – and it will be fast for years to come too. The A14 Bionic chip is faster than anything you're currently using and is clearly designed for future iOS features.

The only differences in daily use between the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro can be noticed when you really press the phones. The iPhone 12 has 4GB of RAM (storage) for the 6GB of the 12 Pro. So if you multitask a lot or play an intense game while streaming media in the background, you may notice a small difference in performance. And we know the smaller storage capacity is why some of the most advanced camera processing features are limited to the 12 Pro.

With all my regular use, which is not that difficult, I did not notice any difference in the opening times of the app, the graphics or the like. Ultimately, the A14 Bionic is still running the show, and that is what matters. Nobody can blame the iPhone 12 for being slow.

Even with less memory than the 12 Pro, the iPhone 12 flies with everyday tasks.

There is no reason for me to repeat myself talking about 5G and MagSafe, the two big features of the iPhone 12 generation, after writing hundreds of words on both in my iPhone 12 Pro review. Hope you will read the details there as they are fully applicable to a discussion of the iPhone 12 as well. However, a brief summary is in order.

The gist of the 5G discussion is this: Right now you are mostly using Sub-6 5G which behaves like charged 4G. It's a little faster and smoother without using more power than you are used to – that's great, but not groundbreaking. The so-called mmWave 5G, which is mostly used by Verizon but is growing with T-Mobile and AT&T, is the dramatically faster but incredibly sparse network that is still years away from its ubiquity. There is no reason to buy the iPhone 12 to the 5G but it sure will be nice to have for years to come.

iPhone 12 MagSafe accessories

MagSafe is exciting, especially knowing that Apple has a good track record of getting these kind of ecosystems right (mostly) and will get the critical mass of supported phones and accessories soon enough. But at the moment there isn't much to say. Apple makes a charger that, while nice, isn't that much different from the way you use most wireless chargers. The enclosures, two of which are available, are just passages for other MagSafe accessories. We need to see a robust market for third-party MagSafe accessories before we can judge the success of this system – this may take a while.

Battery life

After spending a week on the iPhone 12 Pro checking out all the new features and running numerous 5G speed tests, I was able to settle into the iPhone 12 right away and use it even more normally, as I would later in the life after Review rush is over. This gives my rating of the 12 battery a better analysis of the "real use".

And if you stop testing the iPhone 12 and just start using it, the battery life is really good! Yes, the capacity is the same as the 12 Pro, which is actually lower than the iPhone 11 Pro, but Apple knows what it's doing here with a much more efficient chipset that the phone runs on.

You will easily get through a full day on a full battery.

With my normal usage, which includes much of my time on Wi-Fi and primarily keeping up with lots of email, messages, social media apps, utilities, and lots of podcasts over Bluetooth, 30% can get through a day without any problems remaining. That means I have a lot of overhead for those heavier days, with lots of photos and videos, streaming from YouTube or new podcast episodes, hotspotting over 5G, or taking video calls. Despite all of this, I usually only turn on the energy-saving mode (20%) for dinner – and make it to bed without charging.

If you chose the iPhone 12 rather than the 12 Pro, your expected usage is likely a little lower at first. And it doesn't matter: using the 12 and 12 Pro the same, battery life wasn't an issue on either phone. The iPhone 12 Pro Max is obviously going to be the true battery champion for people who have to push the limits of their phone every day.

Cameras

The main attraction for buying the 12 Pro compared to the 12 is the improvement in the camera. It's important to note, however, that the 12 provides most of the 12 Pro's camera experience. The 12 Pro offers a "telephoto" camera, lidar sensor, Dolby Vision HDR video at 60 fps (out of 30), and the promise to support Apple ProRAW files in the future.

The camera is identical to the 12 Pro where it counts: the main camera and the image processing.

This telephoto camera is just a 2x zoom behind the main camera, which is not strictly necessary. Lidar brings portrait mode to night mode, which is cool but not necessary. Remember that the normal night mode is otherwise the same on both phones. And if you want to shoot HDR at 60 fps, you've probably just bought an iPhone 12 Pro.

The main, ultra-wide, and selfie cameras are all identical hardware supported by the same camera processing, including Smart HDR 3, Deep Fusion, and every other Apple buzzword. That said, most people wouldn't notice any difference in camera features between the 12 and the 12 Pro – that is large for iPhone 12 buyers.

As I've mentioned many times, check out my iPhone 12 Pro review for more camera thoughts (and lots of sample photos).

Camera performance is fantastic with an iPhone 12 Pro for $ 999, which means it's particularly good here for $ 200 less. The main camera consistently produces bright, crisp, and colorful photos with a warm and punchy profile that is appealing but not overdone. HDR effects don't go crazy and usually do well at reducing highlights and enhancing lowlights. Portrait mode is still great for real chest portraits, but is better for full body shots or inanimate objects.

At night you will immediately see the advantages of the larger aperture and the improved processing in night mode. Photos go head-to-toe with the Pixel 5's night vision device, but the iPhone 12 has the advantage of not having to switch to a separate mode for these photos – the camera decides when to do so. And even though I didn't have lidar, I didn't have any problems with autofocus in the dark.

In most scenarios, it's easy to get great photos. And yes, Dolby Vision is cool too.

As I discussed in my iPhone 12 Pro review, the Dolby Vision HDR draw is interesting but not currently practical. DV HDR can only be viewed on modern iPhones, Macs, and Apple TVs connected to compatible TVs. Anywhere you view or share it, e.g. B. on social media platforms, the default dynamic range is displayed. You save large files: A one-minute 4K 30 HDR clip has a size of approx. 250 MB. Fortunately, Apple's typical 4K 60 fps video looks great in SDR too, with good stabilization for handheld recording.

Our opinion

Those who already have an iPhone and are looking to upgrade to the latest phones should start with the iPhone 12 as the default choice. It's a great phone that has all of Apple's usual strengths: great hardware, a beautiful display, consistent performance, and now an especially great camera. It also has good battery life, 5G connectivity for the future, and fascinating additions like MagSafe. Overall, it's a fantastic phone at a reasonable price.

Only consider upgrading to the iPhone 12 Pro if you can knows that you need what it offers. I recommend paying an additional $ 50 for 128GB of storage on the iPhone 12 The 12 Pro costs $ 150 more. For that money, you get a heavier stainless steel case in new colors, an additional camera with some additional camera features, and more memory for possible future performance improvements. Most people just don't care enough to make the money worth it, and better spend that $ 150 on a couple of suitcases and MagSafe accessories.

Are there any better alternatives?

This price range is competitive. For those willing to move beyond the Apple world, there are several Android competitors available. The Google Pixel 5 offers a similarly simple approach as the iPhone with comparable camera and slick software for $ 100 less. The OnePlus 8T is the same price, with better hardware, but weaker cameras. And the Galaxy S20 FE offers an Apple antidote with a bigger screen, more cameras, more flash, and more features.

Obviously, most of the people will stay in the iPhone ecosystem, so there really is only one other option: spend $ 200 more on it an iPhone 12 Pro. If you're pragmatic and buy a 128GB storage model, that's only a $ 150 upgrade. For this money you get a heavier stainless steel frame, an additional telephoto camera, a lidar sensor for extended camera functions and a subtle memory expansion. It won't blow most people who are likely satisfied with an iPhone 12, but it's a good choice when money isn't a big deal.

How long it will take?

With Apple's excellent track record of updating iPhones with new software for several years after it was released, and a powerful A14 Bionic processor, the iPhone 12 will no doubt stay safe for three years without a second thought. The aluminum frame isn't technically as strong as the 12 Pro's steel, but most other phones are also made of aluminum.

There are also some concerns that the Ceramic Shield glass, despite being severely cracked, could be very sensitive to scratches – but we cannot see the long term viability of Ceramic Shield until it has been in the wild for years.

Should you buy it?

Absolutely. If you are in the iPhone ecosystem, the iPhone 12 is an excellent all-round phone with an excellent price-performance ratio.

Editor's recommendations




29 Oct
Blog

Apple TV 4K Review: Stunning, But Strictly For Apple Fans

Apple TV 4K test: breathtaking, but exclusively for Apple fans

"The Apple TV 4K is a boon for Apple power users (but anyone else is better off with a Roku Ultra)."

  • Extremely intuitive user interface

  • Siri's search / control has been vastly improved

  • Powerful graphics and processing

  • Nice 4K HDR picture

  • In some cases the SDR content is dimmed slightly

  • No longer the only way to do AirPlay

  • Expensive compared to the competition

Apple introduced the Apple TV 4K in 2017. Despite ongoing software updates that can be expected as a streaming force, the hardware and price have stayed the same.

For the first year after its launch, Apple was able to justify the starting price of $ 179 for the 32GB model (the 64GB model costs $ 199). After all, it was one of the few streaming devices on the market that supported 4K, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos.

But it's 2020 now and Apple's competitors haven't stood still. Roku updated its flagship $ 100 Ultra, Amazon launched and continues to update its $ 120 Fire TV Cube, Nvidia is updating its game on the $ 150 Shield TV, and Google officially moved to the remote media category with the incredibly affordable $ 50 Chromecast with Google TV Streamer.

Apple's little black box does a few things better than these other products, but that list is dwindling, making it increasingly difficult to make an argument that you should be spending that much. Let's take an updated look at the Apple TV 4K and see if it's still the king of Streaming Device Hill.

Out of the box

Apple wrote the rulebook for the out-of-box experience, and the Apple TV 4K packaging proves that the company is still the master at this point. From the heavy cardboard box to the neat cable management to the first-class appearance of the box and the remote control, everything on the Apple 4K TV screams “premium”, which you should expect given the price of 180 US dollars.

For that sum, you'll get a streaming device that feels like loving care and attention has been put into its design. Most streamers are made of plastic, but Apple's is visibly superior. The remote control feels good too – it's just right in your hand and makes you want to swipe up on the touchpad.

Apple TV ReviewBill Roberson / Digital Trends

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

In addition to the Apple TV 4K, its power cord and its remote control, you also receive a lightning cable for charging the remote control and a quick start guide with all three sentences. That's all you need as setting up couldn't be easier.

configuration

If you own a relatively new iOS device (sorry, iPad 2 owners, you're excluded here), you can already experience the fastest set-up process we've seen from a set-top box so far. After selecting the language and country, simply hold your iPhone or iPad near the Apple TV 4K and a few clicks later your WiFi information and Apple ID have been copied. All of your iTunes purchases – music, TV shows, movies – are instantly available on your new Apple TV 4K.

Bonus, if you're a third or fourth generation Apple TV owner who saves device settings in iCloud, your tvOS layout will automatically sync so your new streamer looks almost exactly like your old one – only better.

If you don't own an iPhone or iPad, you'll quickly find that you're not getting the best that Apple TV 4K has to offer. As you would expect, the more you invest in the Apple universe, the more bonuses and amenities you will enjoy.

However, once you've manually connected to your WiFi router (or, better yet, plug in an ethernet cable for a better overall experience), you'll find that plenty of goodies are in stock. Either way, your Apple TV 4K will be set up in no time.

If this is your first Apple TV, or if you don't store your tvOS setting in the cloud, then Netflix, Hulu, and many of the other common suspects aren't pre-installed. So you have to go get them. Apple makes it a little easier for pay TV subscribers by collecting provider information and then automatically downloading the streaming apps that users can enjoy with their pay TV subscription.

You must also sign in to all of your apps. This is the most tedious process of setting up a streaming box or smart TV. Apple makes it easier by automatically offering text entry through iOS on the iPhone or iPad to enter usernames and passwords, or by using Siri to say the letters and numbers out loud and have them transcribed. Both methods are infinitely less of a chore than chasing and pecking through a virtual keyboard, although this option is also available.

User experience

Apple has always had a focus on user experience (known technically as "UX" because of acronyms), which has led to buzzwords like "it just works" and products that have a reputation for being easy for everyone to use . The Apple TV 4K is rich in UX, and the convenience and well-conceived features are deep. There is also a plethora of apps for Apple's set-top device. We cannot discuss all of them here, but we will address those who we consider to be the most notable.

Siri

Most people are already familiar with Apple's digital assistant, but Siri on Apple TV 4K is especially helpful.

Remote Tips and Key Features for Apple Digital Trends:

  • Ask Siri, "What should I see tonight?" A menu of suggested movies and shows is displayed in the lower third of the screen. All recommendations are selected daily by the editors to show what is particularly important.
  • Double tapping the Home button on the remote will bring up recently used apps. This allows you to seamlessly switch between apps without having to go back to the home screen.
  • Move your most used apps to the top line of the home screen for quicker access. For example, add Netflix to your mix. When the icon is selected, shortcuts to Netflix titles will appear at the top. Just click on a title to view it.
  • Easily organize apps on Apple TV with folders.
  • When you highlight a track in Next, hold the button and you'll get quick shortcuts like marking an episode as viewed.
  • You can add any iTunes movie to your Up Next queue using Siri by saying "Add Up to Up Next" on the movie page.
  • Press the play button on any song in Watch Now to start playing immediately.
  • Ask Siri to “Play TVShowX” from your Next list to continue watching.

One of Siri's most helpful uses is finding content that you want to watch – specifically, finding 4K and HDR content that you can watch.

Siri search results are no longer as exclusive as they used to be. Apple might have limited search results to iTunes listings, but Apple TV 4K now shows whether the TV show or movie you want to watch is available outside of iTunes. The quest for orange is the new black, and you have options to buy or rent through iTunes, or watch it for free on Netflix (assuming you have a Netflix subscription, of course). A search will give you similar results for The Handmaid & # 39; s Tale, which you can watch on iTunes but which is free with a Hulu subscription.

Additionally, a narrow search for a specific movie title or a more focused search for movies with specific actors will produce a long list of results from numerous streaming sources. We tried searching for “Movies With Charlize Theron,” and there were certainly many that we could only get through iTunes, but there were several available from other streaming services to which we subscribed. We even searched for “4K Movies on Netflix” and loved it when Apple TV 4K showed us a long list of titles we could watch in 4K.

Other search tricks include asking to see movies in 4K HDR from multiple sources and refining your search by saying, "Just show me the sci-fi movies."

If you miss a dialogue, ask Siri, "What did you say?" and it will backup the video for 15 seconds and enable subtitles for that period. You can also ask Siri to skip forward or forward for a specified amount of time instead of using the backward or fast forward buttons.

Layout: TV app or symbol grid

The layout of the Apple TV 4K is intuitive, especially for previous Apple TV users, with a big and bold grid of colored icons for each app. However, starting with tvOS 13, Apple TV users have a different way of using the Apple TV app as their home screen.

The TV app acts as a single point of contact for all of your streaming needs and has an interface that mimics what you watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. The difference is that the TV app pulls content from all major services, not just one, and makes recommendations based on your viewing patterns and subscriptions.

Supported services include Apple TV +, Disney +, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, and Pluto TV. For some services, such as Netflix, the TV app shows the programs that are recommended. However, to actually watch them, you will be directed to the Netflix app instead of watching them in the TV app.

It can keep track of which movies or episodes you've watched, thus providing "Watch Next" and "Watch Next" lists.

If you're a Spectrum or AT&T cable customer, you can watch your subscribed channels in the TV app instead of having to switch inputs on your TV.

With sections dedicated to sports and kids, plus the ability to access the same content on the go with the Apple TV app for iPhone, iPad, or Mac, it's a very robust experience.

Gaming, fitness and more

Apple Fitness PlusApple

You have to hand it over to Apple: Although the Apple TV 4K is quickly approaching its fourth birthday, it keeps getting new features.

In 2019, Apple added Apple Arcade, a subscription service for casual gamers. To enhance the experience, support for gaming controllers has been expanded from the very restrictive list of devices designed for iOS to include both the Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Xbox controllers. Unfortunately, developers and gamers haven't exactly made Apple Arcade a runaway success.

More recently, Apple announced its Fitness + subscription service, a virtual series of workouts guided by professionally hosted videos (via Apple TV, of course) and tied to the sensors built into the Apple Watch. We can't tell just how good Fitness + is (it will be rolled out later this year), but here's how it compares to Peloton on paper.

The latest version of Apple TV software, tvOS 14, has some cool extras like picture-in-picture, the ability to monitor HomeKit-compatible security cameras from your TV, and support for audio sharing if you have two Apple or two Pairing Apple Devices Suggests wireless headphones to Apple TV 4K.

The information

The Apple TV 4K makes it clear if 4K with HDR is available for the content you're watching, which is more than can be said for some of its competitors. There are also numerous reviews for TV shows and movies that are sourced from multiple outlets such as Rotten Tomatoes. You can also learn more about the cast and crew of your favorite movies and TV shows by clicking on the actors' profile picture. This is similar to Amazon's X-ray functionality, but is better implemented.

The speed

The Apple TV 4K is fast thanks to the A10X Fusion processor under the hood. If your internet connection can keep up, load times are lightning fast, info screens appear instantly when you click them, and even scrolling through long title tapes is remarkably smooth and fast.

The image quality

In HDR mode, the picture quality of the Apple TV 4K is excellent. The 4K content in Dolby Vision and HDR10 looks beautiful, especially with movies on iTunes. Most of the standard dynamic range (SDR) content also looks very good.

Pro Tip: Apple TV 4K converted 24fps movies to 60fps before they were delivered to the TV and there was no way to turn them off. Now there is an option to "match content" for audio and video in the settings we recommend.

Dolby Atmos

A key addition to Apple TV 4K, which was introduced with tvOS 12 in 2018, was support for Dolby Atmos, the leading surround sound format for home users. While not fully compatible with all apps (Plex can handle Dolby Atmos, for example, but only if the source is Dolby Digital Plus and not Dolby TrueHD), this was a huge win for home theater owners with Dolby Atmos sound systems. Here's how to find out if you're actually getting Dolby Atmos on your Apple TV 4K.

If you subscribe to Tidal's HiFi tier, you can use the Tidal app to listen to Dolby Atmos songs if you have a compatible home theater system or soundbar.

Dwindling benefits

There was a time when owning an Apple TV was the only way you could AirPlay screen mirroring or transfer content from an iOS device to your TV. It was also the only way to access iTunes movies and TV shows. Times have changed, however, and these once-exclusive features are increasingly being built into the latest generation of smart TVs and third-party streaming devices.

The iTunes Movies and TV app and the Apple Music app are available from 2018 and newer Samsung Smart TVs.

AirPlay 2 has been added to the latest smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Vizio, and Sony. There will also be 4K-capable Roku in the coming months. Along with AirPlay 2, most of these devices also get Apple's smart home platform, HomeKit, which Siri can use to control them.

The Apple TV app, arguably the nerve center for the overall Apple TV 4K user experience, also appears on the same devices as well as Amazon's Fire TV platform. The TV app isn't the entire Apple TV experience, but it's a significant part.

When you consider how much functionality is included in lower-cost streaming devices like Chromecast with Google TV, Fire TV Stick 4K, or Roku Ultra, how much value do you put in the exclusive features of Apple TV 4K like Apple Arcade? or Apple Fitness +.

warranty

The Apple TV 4K warranty provided by Apple protects against product defects for one year before purchase. Apple also offers an extended warranty for the AppleCare Protection Plan.

Our opinion

The Apple TV 4K is a fast device with Apple's unique design stamp. Those deeply immersed in the Apple universe will be delighted by the way the streaming set-top box integrates with other Apple devices, as well as the Siri integration which offers convenient search and voice control , be thrilled.

Is there a better alternative?

For Apple power users, the Apple 4K TV is just the thing. For everyone else, devices like the Streaming Stick + from Roku, the Roku Ultra, the Fire TV Stick 4K from Amazon or Chromecast with Google TV offer a much better price-performance ratio.

How long it will take?

With the A10X Fusion processor inside, the Apple TV 4K still has a lot of untapped potential. And even if Apple announces new hardware this year, you can bet the company will continue to support the current generation for many years to come.

Should you buy it?

Buy the Apple TV 4K if you are heavily invested in the Apple universe and / or have a large library of movies, TV shows, and music in the iTunes Store – and you don't intend to buy a new smart TV anytime soon. Don't buy the Apple TV 4K if you just want to get 4K HDR content through an easy-to-use device that's priced well below $ 100.

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