iPhone 12 Buyer's Guide - DON'T Make these 12 Mistakes!

For the first time ever, Apple has released 4 new iPhone models, now including the iPhone 12 Mini, so I can say with absolute certainty that it's never been this hard to decide which iPhone you should actually buy, especially since we also have the $400 iPhone SE that's still a great deal. So what I'm gonna do in this video is show you guys the real-world differences and recommend each iPhone for different use cases, helping you decide which iPhone you should buy. But before I get into the buyer's guide portion of this video, I want to go through 12 different mistakes that you must be aware of so you can avoid them when buying a new iPhone, so let's get started with mistake number 1. Don't buy the iPhone 12 Pro models thinking that you need them for the best 5G coverage. The fact is that the regular iPhone 12 and even the 12 Mini have the same 5G support, including mmWave 5G and everything else like WiFi 6, so don't spend the extra cash on the Pro if that's all you really care about. Mistake number 2 is buying the iPhone 12 Mini without considering the battery life impact. This phone is super small, in fact, smaller than the iPhone 6, so if you really care about battery life, I would steer away from the Mini model and just pay $100 more for the larger iPhone 12. Mistake number 3 is buying the iPhone 12 Pro models thinking you need them for the better display, water resistance or the thinner design. What's really shocking this year is that the regular iPhone 12 gets the same exact Super Retina XDR display with 1200 nits of peak brightness and the same crazy good 460 pixels per inch. The only downside is that in typical usage, it's limited to 625 nits compared to 800, that's it. And in terms of water resistance, the regular iPhone 12 models get IP68 at 6m for up to 30 minutes, exactly the same resistance as the Pro models, which wasn't the case last year since the iPhone 11 only had 2m of IP68. And what's even more surprising is that the regular iPhone 12 models have the exact same thickness as the Pro models, 7.4mm, which wasn't the case last year since the iPhone 11 was really thick at 8.3mm. Mistake number 4 is buying the iPhone 12 Pro if you want the absolute best camera quality. The iPhone 12 Pro Max gets massive camera improvements, including a much better main camera sensor that is 47% larger and improves low light by a huge 87%. It also gets the brand new Sensor Shift stabilization feature which is gonna make for super smooth video and sharp photos, and it gets an improved telephoto lens with a longer 65mm zoom compared to 52mm on the 12 Pro. So definitely buy the 12 Pro Max if you want the absolute best camera quality, and it's great that it's only $100 more. For mistake number 5, if you're planning on buying one of the regular iPhone 12 models, don't miss out on the crazy good value storage upgrade. For only $50 more, you get double the storage, up to 128GB, which is a must if you take a lot of photos and video. I currently have the 11 Pro Max with only 64GB of storage and it's nowhere near enough, so I definitely recommend that $50 upgrade for the regular models. Mistake number 6 is considering buying the iPhone 11 Pro model for less cash now that the iPhone 12 is out, and my answer is a very strong NO. Even if you can find the 11 Pro brand new for $800, absolutely 100% buy the regular iPhone 12 model instead because it's got almost all the same features like the OLED display, but it gets even better camera quality, it's got much better cellular service, it's quite a lot thinner, and it's got the new design with the flat sides which should be staying around for the next few years. So even though it's missing a couple of features like the telephoto lens, absolutely buy the regular iPhone 12 instead of the 11 Pro. For mistake number 7, don't buy third-party wireless chargers for the iPhone 12 lineup. You might not know this, but only MagSafe-branded chargers from Apple and other companies like Belkin get the new 15W fast wireless charging. And on top of that, these new chargers support the cool MagSafe magnetic feature, so you can actually use your phone while it's wirelessly charging. The issue with other third-party chargers is that if you don't get the placement perfect, you might wake up to a battery that hasn't charged at all, and MagSafe solves that. Mistake number 8 also has to do with MagSafe, and if you're interested in that feature, do not buy a regular or common third-party case. Apple added extra magnets into all of their new cases because there's a good chance that the magnetic connection isn't gonna be strong enough to hold onto other accessories if you use a basic case. So if you want to buy one of the new MagSafe adapters or even third-party accessories like a magnetic pop socket, buy a high-quality Apple-branded MagSafe case. But if you don't really care about that, I'm gonna have a couple of great case options down in the description below. Now for mistake number 9, this one hasn't really been confirmed just yet, but according to a bunch of leaks, including leaked benchmarks, there's a good chance that the iPhone 12 Pro models will actually come with 6GB of RAM, while the regular 12 models only get 4. For some people, this is a deal-breaking feature if the Pros actually get 6GB, making it more than worth paying extra for the Pro models. And in my experience, 4GB of RAM on the 11 Pro just isn't enough because apps like Facebook would randomly close on me, so double-check the RAM to confirm before you buy. For mistake number 10, if you need a new charging brick due to Apple taking it out of the box, do not buy Apple's 20W power brick. Instead, you should buy Anker's 20W fast charger on Amazon for two different reasons. One, it's currently on sale for only $16 if you use the coupon code, and number two, it's much smaller and more compact compared to Apple's version which is quite a bit larger, so I'm gonna leave a link down to the Anker charger down below. For mistake number 11, if you're using Verizon or AT&T cellular service, be sure to actually choose those options during checkout instead of buying it unlocked, since it'll save you $30 on the regular iPhone 12 models. And if you notice this little bit of fine print, only the AT&T models are actually locked, so Verizon users have no reason at all to choose the SIM-free version, so don't do that on accident or you'll be paying an extra $30 for nothing. And finally, for mistake number 12, if you're not planning on spending at least $1000 for a new iPhone, don't wait until next year to upgrade, thinking that you'll get features like 120hz ProMotion. That feature is almost certainly only coming on the Pro models, and in my opinion, I think there's gonna be even less of a difference next year compared to everything we got with this year's regular iPhone 12. With that, let's get into the buyer's guide portion of this video, and I'm gonna start with the iPhone SE, which is priced at $399. This phone is really meant for 3 different kinds of people. Number 1 is for people who want a fast, budget iPhone, like people switching from an Android phone. Number 2 is for kids or teens, since the size is small and the price is very low. And number 3 is for non-tech enthusiasts who are upgrading from an older iPhone, since the SE is very familiar with the Home button and Touch ID, and upgrading gets you a fresh battery and a new fast-performing chip. Now moving on to the iPhone 12 mini, these are the people who should be buying this phone. If you want an iPhone 12 for the new design, the great camera quality, 5G and other features like MagSafe, and you want to get it for the absolute lowest price, you've gotta go with the mini, since it's $699. On top of that, if you're someone who really loved the smaller iPhones like the iPhone 4, you're gonna love the 12 mini, since it's so small, so it's great for people with smaller hands. And the best part is that the feature set is identical to the regular iPhone 12, so the only downside is lower battery life due to the smaller size. Now for the regular 6.1 inch iPhone 12, I think it's gonna be the star of the show because it packs an incredible amount of value compared to the Pro models. Just like I said before, the iPhone 12 absolutely destroys the 11 Pro, and in terms of value, it easily beats out the iPhone 12 Pro as well. In fact, the 12 Pro literally only gets 8 advantages, the stainless steel sides, the telephoto camera, 800 nits typical brightness on the display compared to 625, the LiDAR scanner, potentially 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage instead of 64, the Apple ProRAW feature which isn't available yet, and Dolby Vision recording at 60 frames per second instead of 30. That's it! Because of that, I think most people looking at the iPhone 12 Pro should just go for the regular 12, since you could save $200 or $150 if you want to get the same 128GB of storage on the iPhone 12. We recently ran a poll asking people which iPhone 12 model they're gonna buy, and the 12 Pro was by far the least popular option, and that's because it barely improves on the regular iPhone 12. Moving on, I'm actually gonna skip ahead to who should be buying the iPhone 12 Pro Max before I finish off with the regular 12 Pro. First off, the 12 Pro Max gets the absolute best camera performance on any iPhone, with a much better main camera sensor that's larger, and it gets the new sensor shift stabilization feature and of course, the longer telephoto lens for better zoom shots. So if you really care about camera quality, buy the iPhone 12 Pro Max for sure, and we'll be testing the camera differences very soon, so subscribe right now if you haven't already! And looking back at that poll that we ran, most people wanted the Max model, and I can guarantee you, it's because of the camera improvements. Other reasons to go for the Pro Max are of course, the massive 6.7 inch display for immersive media consumption and gaming, you're also getting the best battery life due to the larger size, and of course, you're getting the other advantages like potentially 6GB of RAM and the LiDAR scanner. So if you're considering buying the iPhone 12 Pro, just go for the Pro Max instead because you really get a lot of camera improvements for the extra $100. But of course, not everyone wants the massive Pro Max, so let's finish off with who should actually buy the 12 Pro. If you care about camera quality and you really really want that telephoto lens and other features like ProRAW, the LiDAR scanner and things like that, but the Pro Max is simply way too big for your hands, then sure, go for the 12 Pro. But other than that, there are really only 3 reasons why anyone should buy the 12 Pro over the less expensive iPhone 12 model. The first reason is if you really care about RAM, since the Pro models are most likely coming with 6GB compared to 4, and to some people, that's a dealbreaker. The second reason is if you really enjoy the feel of the premium stainless steel band compared to aluminum, and if that difference is worth it for you, then get the Pro. And the final reason is if you're a T-Mobile customer like myself who has to pay an extra $30 for the regular iPhone 12, and you also really want at least 128GB of storage. At that point, the difference in price is only $120, which could be worth it for the few bonus features you get on the Pro. Now with all of that said, if this video helped you make a decision, go ahead and click the circle above for our hands-on comparison videos coming very soon, and if you're still wondering which one you should buy or if you should upgrade, comment down below and I'll do my best to help you make a decision. And if you're still struggling, check out one of those two videos right over there. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you in the next video!