What happened to my iPhone 12 after three years. It’s time to exchange for a new iPhone

In September 2020, Apple introduced the iPhone 12 and I immediately decided that I would buy it. In early November, I purchased a smartphone and have been using it for three years since then.

During this time, the iPhone survived a lot, but not everything. This article helps you understand what can happen to the iPhone 12, 13, 14 and 15 after 2-3 years of active and not always careful use.

Also, at the end, we’ll talk about which smartphone I switched to after the “twelfth” and why I did it in the first place.

1. The case performed well, but there are some small dents.

Almost all the time I carried my smartphone without a case. I have never glued protective glass or film, just like on smartphones. Roughly telling them, the way I took the phone out of the box was how I used it.

White not only looks good, but is also very practical. Of course, there are scratches on the rear window, but due to the white color they are not visible at all. I admit, after writing the application, I began to look at the back panel under the sun to find scratches, because otherwise it is impossible to see them.

Most attention is paid to operation on the side frame. The smartphone has fallen many times on asphalt, on tiles, on the ground, on laminate flooring, and under a car seat.

There are scratches and small dents on the frame, you can’t live without it. But outwardly they are practically not noticeable, and at first glance they are invisible.

2. The screen did not survive the fall on the asphalt.

The iPhone has never fallen on the asphalt and is always intact. But this spring he did not survive one fall.

The phone slipped out of my hands and fell onto the asphalt from a height of 50-60 cm.. This was enough to crack the screen, or rather the glass.

It was lucky that it was the glass that broke, but the matrix itself and the touchscreen remained intact.

So I decided to do nothing. The only thing is that I just stopped holding the iPhone under water so that it wouldn’t accidentally fall into the crack.

After this incident, the phone flew out of the car window once, but still remained intact. No new cracks appeared.

3. The battery has been in need of replacement for a long time.

iOS 17 currently estimates battery health at 79%. That is, in three years it has lost 21% of its capacity.

In this example, this is noticeable, especially in the summer, when the screen is often at the greatest distance, the smartphone heats up due to the heat, cools worse and works slower.

Typically you have to charge your phone twice a day.. Sometimes more often, and if the navigation works, then it is always on charge. But this is not a matter of such batteries, it’s just that GPS consumes a lot of power.

4. The speaker clogged up and began to sound quieter

Last year, I began to notice that the main speaker sounded quieter, but this did not make much difference.

Then I compared the sound on my iPhone 12 and my friend’s. My phone sounded a lot quieter. It felt like the difference was almost double, and I didn’t use it.

Using a toothpick, brushes and small pieces of tape, I cleaned the speakers, microphone and Lightning. Got a lot of dust, especially from the charging port.

As a result, the phone began to sound much louder and better. But it didn’t last long. This summer the sound became quieter again. I recently tried cleaning the speaker, but it didn’t help. Most likely, it also needs to be replaced.

5. Productivity is still good enough

iPhone 12 is equipped with the A14 Bionic processor, made using a 5nm process technology. Three years later, this chip still doesn’t raise any questions.

Any application runs quickly on the iPhone 12, the game runs with maximum graphics settings, even though performance is limited due to a weak battery.

4 GB RAM is not enough. This is the main drawback of the smartphone. There are situations when you write something in Safari, go to Telegram, and then return to Safari, but it has already flown out of your memory and opened again.

This may be due to the limitation of peak performance, but I still suspect that the small amount of RAM is to blame.

Getting 64 GB is also not enough, but only because the number of photos and videos taken is growing every year. In configuration, they take up about 30 GB, so the originals should be stored in iCloud.

6. The camera still takes great pictures

Shot with the main camera of the iPhone 12.

iPhone 12 is a good camera for every day. During the day it takes great pictures, the difference from new iPhones looks very difficult. Of course, it will be better in smartphones with Photonic Engine, but this still needs to be configured.

At night, if there is at least some light source, you can get a more or less acceptable picture thanks to the night mode.

Portraits are obtained in various ways. Apple’s software processing easily compensates for the lack of a backup camera.

I have no complaints about the video either. I shoot in 4K 30 FPS with HDR, the results are different. By the way, the manufacturer didn’t have 60 FPS; I don’t like too smooth video images.

In general, I don’t see the point in looking at respect in photographs under a magnifying glass, because in real life no one needs it. The main thing is that the picture is pleasing to the eye, and the iPhone 12 still copes with this.

After the iPhone 12, I took the iPhone 14 Pro Max. I like everything so far

I started thinking about buying a new iPhone last year, when the iPhone 14 appeared. But the standard iPhone 14 and 14 Plus models did not impress me, so I decided to look at the iPhone 15 until this fall. The regular models also did not produce a wow effect. I didn’t see any global difference between the iPhone 14 Pro Max and 15 Pro Max.

I only needed two things from a new iPhone: a large screen and good battery life, so I immediately discarded iPhones with a 6.1-inch display. Choosing between iPhone 14 Pro Max and 15 Plus.

On the side of the iPhone 14 Pro Max there is a 120Hz screen, 2000 nits of brightness under the sun and a triple bonus camera. Therefore, I chose the iPhone 14 Pro Max, although the iPhone 15 Plus has the same processor, Dynamic Island, USB-C and better battery life, but I decided on 120 Hz, and it’s cheaper now.

After the iPhone 12, the 14 Pro Max’s screen looks very cool. In the sun, all information is easy to read due to the maximum height of 2000 nits. In the iPhone 12 it is limited to 625 nits, and in the iPhone 15 it is limited to 1000 nits. I didn’t notice any difference in color rendition, but I immediately liked the smoothness of the picture.

There is a difference in the camera, but it is also not always visible. For example, during the day it’s really difficult to see it, night shots have become much better, and it’s also possible to take night portraits.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max is slightly faster than the iPhone 12, but the difference is so subtle that it can only be seen by looking directly at it. However, in some cases, the iPhone 12 loads sites faster than the 14 Pro Max.

Another change to the point: iPhone 14 Pro Max has much better connection than iPhone 12. Where the “twelve” had Edge, 14 years old, Pro Max catches 3G, and sometimes LTE.

iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max are the most interesting iPhones today

If you have an old iPhone and are thinking about buying a new one, we recommend that you pay attention to the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max.

The difference with the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max is small, and for some, not significant at all; the backlight of the flagships is much cheaper than a new one.

There is no point in switching from iPhone 12 to iPhone 13 and 14 because these smartphones are very similar to each other. Of the standard iPhones, the most interesting now is the “fifteenth” one, due to the new connector, USB-C and a 48 megapixel camera. But all this is available in the iPhone 14 Pro, which is now cheaper.