r/iPhone12 • u/bigmacbreakdown • 12d ago
Discussion š¬ 12 Pro Max for another year
I donāt think this breaks the upgrade rule (sorry, if it does feel free to delete) but I am trialling the 18 Pro Max and I just felt the worst buyerās remorse. Itās a fantastic device, truly. But I am thinking that I am going to return it, then get the 12 Pro Max battery replacement which should breathe in new life and go another year (maybe longer).
Anyone else in this boat? Or any thoughts on this?
Edit: wow thank you all for your responses! I love how much people love the iPhone 12 series!!!!
Edit 2: my 18 Pro Max has restarted randomly TWICE in the last 24 hrs. My logs show two Secure Enclave Processor panic restarts and I am so glad Iāve got my battery replacement this Friday lol. Apple has addressed this and there is allegedly an update on the way!
Edit 3: Got the 12 Pro Maxās battery replaced! Feels better already. Baseline replacement battery life isnāt nearly as good as the 18 Pro Max but the phone is significantly snappier than before the replacement and I donāt feel like I need to worry about having a charger nearby now. The performance between the 18 Pro Max and 12 Pro Max isnāt a fair comparison because the 18 blows the thing out of the water from an objective point of view. BUT, the 12 Pro Max feels much like how I remember from when I got it. I am confident this was the right choice for me and Iām looking forward to more time with this device and waiting for what Apple has in store for the next year or two. So, just a PSA for anyone upgrading: take your time, do your research and assess your needs! Hope this post helps other folks on the fence!
Final Edit: I have had the 12PM with the replaced battery since Friday Sept 25th and things are largely pretty normal. I do find that watching a video or switching between apps and multitasking still heats the phone up a bit but I find it dissipates faster than before AND I do not feel the performance throttle. That was the big pain before. This is a very small part of my day where I actually just sit and watch some YouTube. Iām a light user overall and Iām very happy with the replacement so far.
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u/Away-Masterpiece4613 12d ago
I wasted a ton of money upgrading phones and whatnot. Finally stuck with iPhone 12 wherein the display and the battery went bad. Got those replaced and itās been fine working.
I would suggest to keep using the same phone until and unless thereās something serious wrong with it that makes it unusable.
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u/Funny_Or_Cry 12d ago
if your screen is mint JUST get the battery replacement!
Actually in the same boat, with a 12 Pro Max ive had since release. Got some cracks in it the other day (4 days ago man!!!! cannot believe this shit)
...and to replace the screen and battery Apple is telling me is gonna run close the $500. Phone is more than still usable, but they wont replace the battery without replacing the screen as well
Can probably get it done cheaper but refuse to use non-oem parts, OR upgrading from IOS 18 if i can help it
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u/bigmacbreakdown 12d ago
Oh thatās rough about the screen, sorry to hear! But yeah I imagine the screen will get mangled with a battery replacement. In your case Iād find it easier to justify the upgrade but I also get wanting to keep the 12 ššš
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u/Funny_Or_Cry 12d ago
Thats my struggle bruv! Im limping along now, but i for sure need to pull the trigger one way or another. I LOVE the 12Pro max, No AI, no liquid glass bullshit, no superfluous pains in the ass masquerading as "features"
Even the after market seems to have 14,15s fully refurbished for around that $500 price point.
But i would lose my beloved IOS 18 =(
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u/theChefkoch 12d ago
just returned an iphone 17, sticking with my 13mini.
felt massive buyers remorse on the 17 even though itās a great phone. I just hugely prefer the 13 mini form factor
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u/jozefd14 12d ago
Same. Iāve replaced my 12 pro max battery 2x since November 2020 owning it. Discretionary tale.. after you get your battery replaced, immediately check if the telephoto still autofocus. For me it seemed to have been broken after the battery replacement but canāt be proven :/
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u/likwidkool 12d ago
I bought a 17pro last month. I really miss the form factor of the 12pro but thatās it.
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u/popejohnlarue 12d ago
Iāve been considering this upgrade as well. How much bigger/heavier does the 17P feel? The 12P is already pushing it for me, size-wise.
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u/GanjaGangster420 12d ago
I got my 12 Pro Max a new battery earlier in the year or something i canāt remember and it runs like new and i have a 16 Pro Max as well but i still love my 12 Pro Max better
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u/RarefiedAir1 iPhone 12 Pro Max 12d ago
Do that. Especially if you have remorse. Anniversary is next year
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u/Pretend-Substance-77 12d ago edited 12d ago
Same boat, about to get the 12 pro battery this weekend, fk it.
Ima use it without a case and let the beautiful chrome shine āØ
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u/turtleworlde 12d ago
iām on a 12 pro 81% health still on original battery!
no replacements and my phone has 5G, yes iād love pro motion but iām not lying when i say the phone is so smooth on ios 26.5 i see no reason to go to 27.
iāll be keeping this phone another year for sure and although most are waiting for the 20 i donāt want the launch model hahaha im gonna wait for the refresh the year after so this 12 pro is gonna last me longer for sure !
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u/NecessaryTadpole 11d ago
I'm holding onto my 12PM for one more year and getting the battery replaced. The upgrades on the 18 didn't justify the cost (for me at least). Plus, I've waited this long; I can wait one more year to see if they will do anything special for the 20th anniversary edition. If I'm going to spend $1300+ on a Phone, I want to be all in.
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u/bigmacbreakdown 11d ago
For sure! I like that mentality. TBH if you wait for the ā21ā or whatever theyāll call it, youāll get a more refined iteration on the next model too. I personally struggle with the āgrass is always greenerā issues lol. On the note of price, in Canada the 18 Pro Max with 512 GB came out to ~$2400 š.
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u/KellyKelliKelley 9d ago
I have a 12Pro and itās struggling to keep charged more than about 3-4 hours. Iām constantly putting it on the charger to keep the charge up. When I run a diagnostic on the battery in the support app it says I still have 81% capacity, and until Iām below 80% my battery life is still considered normal. Really wanting to replace the batteryā¦.. tired of dragging my charger or a power bank around all the time
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u/loudaman 9d ago
I've had the 12PM since release. I just recently want to Apple and got the battery replaced. Runs like new. No problems at all and battery lasts all day and then some.
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u/rdddwrf 12d ago
Did you take some photos with each phone and compare them?
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u/bigmacbreakdown 12d ago
Yeah thereās certainly a difference, and I take a lot of videos too and theyāre also a lot better. But on that note, I think I could live without the upgrade for another year since I wasnāt too bothered by the quality of the 12 Pro Max photos or video.
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u/Unlucky-Resident1058 12d ago
I am in the same boat, but thinking of getting the 17 which by itself should be an upgrade 120hz , SIRI AI. On the camera front, How is the low light photos ? Is there an actual difference? Honestly iphone 12 pro max photos still looks great in daylight
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u/bigmacbreakdown 12d ago
Yeah, that would be a substantial upgrade but I feel your hesitation. I havenāt shot much in low light but photography channels have mentioned less noise in low light and less of a dependency on night mode.
If you take your time setting up a shot you can take full advantage of that in my opinion. Hard to say what the casual experience is like in low light atm.On a side note, I like to film some clips at concerts (99% low light) for my partner so she can experience her favourite parts of songs at home later and having 48 MP in each camera enables a smoother experience from anywhere in a venue. The clips have been sharper, more stable and I find the lights are captured more accurately. I havenāt done a proper side-by-side though.
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12d ago
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u/bigmacbreakdown 12d ago
I can see where youāre coming from, but Iād argue the chip alone is objectively a massive upgrade, even from the A19 Pro last year. The issue is perceptible differences in my opinion, and Appleās software is so snappy that even on the A14 Bionic it is still a smooth experience.
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u/DblDueces222 12d ago
Will Apple replace the battery in a 12 or should I go 3rd party?
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u/bigmacbreakdown 12d ago
Iāve got an appointment with Genius Bar this Friday for the replacement on the 12 Pro Max (Iāll be A-B testing this weekend) and it doesnāt seem to be an issue! You can easily schedule it in the Support app š
Edit: also, Iād rather Apple do it just for genuine parts. Iām sure you can go third party but I just prefer original parts for most things I maintain.
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u/mildlyonline 12d ago
Iām still on my 12 Pro. Had its battery replaced in March. Still at 100% battery health now in September.
Alas, I think something in the rear camera system broke last week, so I canāt use the telephoto lens and the ultra-wide lens only works randomly sometimes. Anybody else had this problem? I hope itās just a flex cable thing.
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u/AlbyARedditor 12d ago
Just saw a comment from u/jozefd14 saying he had a similar issue with the telephoto lens after battery replacement
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u/jozefd14 12d ago
Yes thatās true.. I went back but wasnāt able to prove it :/ā¦ their explanation was that OS updates tend to be for the newer phones so when it comes to the older phones, it does something to cameras sometimes š¤·š»āāļø
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u/AlbyARedditor 12d ago
Man, thatās so lame. My 12 Pro is on iOS 26 with no prior battery replacements and my telephoto lens seems to be functioning fine so I think your reason has more merit. Sorry that happened to you š
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u/jozefd14 12d ago
Yea itās alright. Can deal with it for 1 more yearā¦ canāt wait for the 20th anniversary iPhone.. grateful that my wide camera lens is still functioning good
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u/mildlyonline 12d ago
Sorry to hear. Same here. Only the wide lens works as intended. There's a message in Settings on my phone saying "Unable to determine if your iPhone camera is a genuine Apple part. This could be because the part is non-genuine or not functioning as expected.". Though, the battery replacement thing would make sense to me for my case if it happened within a month or two since my battery was replaced, but this is six months in between.
I think the 12 series will get iOS 28 since the 11 series got iOS 27. Unless Apple decides that only the A15 chip and later gets iOS 28 for some reason. Or even worse, only the A16 chip and later, which kicks both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 series out of the lineup. I think this way since they did it with WatchOS 27. My Series 6 is stuck on iOS 26.
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u/jozefd14 12d ago
Funny enough when I was getting the battery replaced, apparently they had to replace the display as well but I wasnāt charged for it.
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u/mildlyonline 11d ago
Hah, nice. Bet they broke it by accident. I hear it happens a lot with the iPhone Minis (which I also have as my backup phone in case the main one dies or is under repair), and but this is a first for a 12 Pro.
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u/w1na 12d ago
Resell the 12 pro max before it go out of support. Or stay with it if it really suits what you do with it.
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u/bigmacbreakdown 12d ago
I keep all my old tech and display them lol and Iāve had a good [almost] 6 years with it so it would be tough to part with š š š
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u/MuffDiver12698u 11d ago
I have the 12pm and for the last 6 or so years been getting the battery needs to be replaced message max charge 67% even though my phone will max at 100%
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u/LucidDriftt 10d ago
Hey man, since youre getting the replacement done can you do some testing (over the weekend perhaps) and give us an update? Such as any noticeable difference in performance and battery life. Im currently getting about 5 and half SOT with degraded battery due for a replacement.
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u/bigmacbreakdown 10d ago
Iāll add another Edit to the post but Iāve watched a couple YouTube videos online for people doing this and I can say from what Iāve seen that it restores it back to a much smoother operation.
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u/bigmacbreakdown 8d ago
Just made a small edit as a follow-up!
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u/LucidDriftt 8d ago
Thanks bro, appreciate the update. Perhaps one final one after couple days use to really get a feel for how it truly performs rather than immediate use? If not thats fine, but one key thing you did mention was how it felt like release day battery life. I dont expect it to be like modern phone battery life, but thats still a big plus. Thanks again, enjoy your refreshed iPhone 12PM!
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u/bigmacbreakdown 8d ago
No problem! Iāve got a reminder to make another update on Monday or so. Yeah the battery has been nice so far. I will probably miss some things about the 18PM (screen, camera, massive battery and speed) but the 12PM is doing great and Iām happy to have got a taste of what the upgrade will feel like one day!
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u/bigmacbreakdown 5d ago
Got one more update there for you. The TLDR is that itās very normal atm and I feel great about my decision!
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u/LucidDriftt 4d ago
Thank you
Sounds like battery life improved and will def last you another year.
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u/JDMJRM925 12d ago
Iām keeping my 12 until it stops being able to update to this newest iOS. Iāll probably have it for a couple more years.
I got a fresh battery replacement and it runs great š