But this is slightly behind the 663 nits we saw from the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and more notably behind the 761 nits achieved by the iPhone 11 Pro Max last year. The iPhone 12 Pro Max holds up well in bright environments with 654 nits of peak brightness. The primary difference here is that you don’t have a choice to go more vivid on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. You can opt to turn on a “natural” mode on the Galaxy, which drops it to a nearly identical 122%. However, it’s important to note that not everyone likes the saturated look on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Turning to the benchmarks, the iPhone 12 Pro Max displays 119.7% of the sRGB color gamut, a respectable result, but miles away from the 201% of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Scrolling to a more vibrant scene every color just pops beautifully. I happened to jump to a desert scene and even with that fairly bland palette I was impressed by the depth of hues and the deep blacks.
I pulled up an episode of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus (Don’t worry, first season no spoilers) which supports Dolby Vision. For example, watching video content on the iPhone 12 Pro Max is fantastic thanks to support for Dolby Vision HDR. This is hardly a deal-breaker as support for 120Hz isn’t global and there are many experiences where you don’t want or need that speed.
iPhone and iOS have always had a leg up on Android when it comes to the smoothness of animations and general responsiveness, but 120Hz changed that, and Apple finds itself behind this year. Apple offers this on the iPad Pro and, while it is the kind of feature you don’t notice until you’ve used it, it’s impossible to miss once you have. The biggest missing piece for the iPhone 12 Pro Max this year is the lack of a high refresh rate like the 120Hz display found on all of Samsung’s latest flagships. I actually find the display on the iPhone 12 Pro Max slightly more convenient to use from a pure usability standpoint as it isn’t quite as tall as the 6.9-inch Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. That honor goes to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, but the Pro Max's display is gorgeous nonetheless. It’s neither the largest nor the most vibrant display we’ve seen this year. The iPhone 12 Pro Max features a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with a 2778 x 1284 resolution. (Image credit: Laptop Mag) iPhone 12 Pro Max display One critique for all of the Pro models is that the surgical-grade stainless steel sides are a fingerprint nightmare, which stands out quite a bit on the glinting gold. It’s a bold look and I do appreciate companies giving us something beyond the standard black, white and gray options.
The frosted matte back of the phone is a more subtle gold with a white tinge, but when you get to the camera lenses the gold trim is back in full effect.
This isn’t rose gold or some shade of yellow, it’s gold-brick gold and it makes me feel a bit like a villain in a Bond movie when I’m carrying it (although Apple won't let a Bond villain carry an iPhone). My review unit, the gold model, is a statement piece. The hard edges remain comfortable and despite the added thickness, it felt even better with the Apple leather case on it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t find it any more unwieldy than other large smartphones like the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. If the new squared-off and boxy redesign was going to be problematic for any of the iPhone 12 models, it would be the iPhone 12 Pro Max given its large 6.7-inch display. The iPhone 12 Pro Max gets the same overall redesign as the rest of the iPhone 12 lineup, which I said in my review of the iPhone 12 “is Apple reclaiming its hardware design identity, and I love it.” There are four total colors available for the iPhone 12 Pro Max: Graphite, Silver, Gold and Pacific Blue. A middle option is also available, offering 256GB of storage for $1,199. I reviewed the top-of-the-line 512GB iPhone 12 Pro Max in Gold on T-Mobile, which is priced at $1,399.