Apple iPhone 11 Pro long-term test: Stunning design, camera & battery (2023)

Apple released the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max on the morning of September 10, 2019. A few hours later I started testing all three phones. Even if I like the entry-level model, the iPhone 11, very much – you canRead my detailed review of it here- I quickly realized that every detail on the Pro and Pro Max models was a little bit better.

Read on for my in-depth review and the best place to buy the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 1 Pro Max right now. I'll be updating these listings every day or so, so please check back.

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Sometimes with a phone it's easy to get overwhelmed in the early days and become disappointed over time. Well, of course, that applies to more in life than just phones. So this review is about having used the iPhone 11 Pro over the long term to test if it can really keep its appeal as it gets a little older.

Whether you've been using the iPhone 11 Pro yourself for a while and want to see how my experience fares, or you're considering buying one yourself, read on to see how the Pro feels at four months and beyond.

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I've used both the Pro and Pro Max phones equally and almost everything is identical between the two, from the processor that powers both to the cameras, screen resolution and more. Almost everything applies to both models, even if the text only says iPhone 11 Pro. If it's not equally true, I'll say so, but as a rule of thumb, the differences between them are just screen size, battery size, and, oh yeah, price.

Battery life

There's an unwritten rule about the structure of many reviews: start with the design, then discuss the display, unlock system, cameras, and other features, almost always in that order. Then finish with words about performance and battery life.

But I'll start with battery life, because it's one of the truly standout iPhones of 2019. Beyond that, I believe it's a game-changing upgrade that matters to real people. And it matters more than megapixel numbers or even some of the latest features.

Of course, in many ways the phones have a lot more to offer than the previous models, but four months later I still can't get over how epic the battery is on the iPhone 11 Pro and especially the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Unlike my experience with almost all previous cell phones from many manufacturers, I have never had to charge the iPhone 11 Pro during the day. I've always had enough battery, even on days when I've flown west internationally when the day inevitably gets much longer.

When I've nudged the iPhone off its wireless charging pad during the night so it starts the day at say 65% ​​capacity, I still haven't worried.

It's hard to express what a difference it makes, that utter confidence that the iPhone will last you all day without a shred of worry.

Well, you got the point: the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max all have such long battery life that you no longer need to bother with carrying a portable charger.

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Offers

Where to buy the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max now.

From Apple

Prices aren't Apple's cheapest, but you can be sure of an unbeatably good experience, especially on land, including setting up the phone.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro, 64GB: $999, buyhere.

It's also available with 256GB of storage for $1,149 or 512GB for $1,349 via the same link once you've chosen your color.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, 64GB: $999, buyhere.

It's also available with 256GB of storage for $1,249 or 512GB for $1,449 via the same link once you've chosen your color.

Fancy something cheaper?

Apple iPhone 11, 64GB: $699, buyhere.

It's also available with 128GB of storage for $1749 or 256GB for $849 via the same link once you've chosen your color.

From Verizon

If you're buying two iPhones, Verizon is one of several stores offering a hefty discount. It says, "Buy one, save $700 on a second with Unlimited." A new line is required.” Find the offerherefor iPhone 11 Pro.

The same conditions apply to the iPhone 11 Pro Max,here.

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Design

Okay, now I'm going to be a bit more traditional with my rating structure. The design of the iPhone 11 Pro is enormous. It's a real eye-catcher. From the front, it looks the same as previous iPhone XS and XS Max models: a highly detailed OLED display that covers the entire front except for the true depth sensor at the top (some call this the notch). Same black frame around the display, narrow and even all around. It's black, even if you opt for the silver or gold version of the iPhone 11 Pro, which would have had a white frame on previous models. This means that the notch is of course not noticeable when the display is off.

The stainless steel frame is also like the previous iPhone XS but not like the iPhone 11 which has an aluminum edge. Depending on the selected color of the iPhone, the stainless steel is matched to it. In the silver version, the stainless steel is not colored at all. On the iPhone 11 Pro in Gold, Space Gray and Midnight Green, the frame is perfectly tinted to complement it. It's a nice detail that looks great.

Flip the phone over and the back is what sets the iPhone 11 Pro apart from both previous iPhones and the iPhone 11. First off, it's a matte glass that just looks and feels great. Even after four months, the phone feels different than other cell phones: smooth but not shiny smooth and deeply classy. Not too slippery either.

However, there is one part of the back that is glossy: the area where the three cameras sit. It's a slightly raised square (with rounded edges of course, this is Apple). It's color-matched to the back of the phone, but with a glossy finish. This is the stylistic inversion of the iPhone 11, which has a glossy back save for a matte camera square.

Because the square itself is color-coordinated with the rest of the phone, the overall look isn't created by the square but by the three protruding lenses.

Leaked versions and pre-launch renders almost all got the look of the back of the phone wrong. They thought the camera square would be bulkier, with lenses flush with a deeper bump and colored black. The end result was much, much better. The cameras are barely noticeable on darker surfaces like midnight green and space grey. They really stand out on the gold and silver models. In the weeks following its launch, people only recognized it as the new iPhone as I reviewed the gold iPhone 11 Pro, while the midnight green iPhone 11 Pro Max drew much less attention.

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The iPhone 11 Pro's OLED display looks amazing. It's razor sharp, with a resolution of 458 pixels per inch (ppi), much more than the 326ppi on the cheaper iPhone 11. Brightness levels are the highest ever on an iPhone, 800 nits for easy outdoor reading and up to 1200 nits for viewing HDR content. Both are brighter than last year's models.

Stats aside, what really sets this display apart is the fidelity, which offers amazing color accuracy so what you see on the display is recognizable as what you see in the real world. It is compatible with HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The screen has amazing contrast levels - Apple says it's 2 million to 1. Whatever the numbers, the result is what counts and this display looks pretty good. Video playback is buttery smooth and strikingly bright - and those contrast levels look fantastic.

Cameras

The iPhone 11 Pro's cameras are a real selling point. iPhone cameras have continued to be great in recent years, but other phones, most notably the Huawei P30 Pro, have overtaken Apple in terms of photographic virtuosity.

This time around, expectations that Apple couldn't catch up on lost ground were impossible to catch up.

As it turns out, the iPhone 11 Pro's cameras have put Apple back on top, contrary to all predictions. The 11 Pro's three rear cameras offer an irresistible combination of flawless lenses, groundbreaking software and great ease of use.

Apple's cameras don't have a Pro mode (ironically, not even on the iPhone 11 Pro) because they're designed to be effortless to use: let Apple do the heavy lifting, make the decisions. All of that could go wrong if Apple's engineers had bad taste, could lead to unrealistic results and poorly rendered images.

Thankfully, the folks at Apple have amazingly good taste, so Pictures, while definitely processed, do two remarkable things: faithfully capture the moment and make it look great.

The three lenses are a regular wide-angle lens, a telephoto lens (2x), and an ultra-wide-angle lens (0.6x the wide-angle lens). While even that doesn't quite match the versatility of phones like the Huawei P30 Pro, with its 5x optical zoom lens in the mix, it's a combination that works well in most situations.

Choose the telephoto lens and the display will show on the sides what the wide-angle lens would see. Choose wide and you'll see what the ultra-wide would offer around the edges. Wide and ultra-wide are identical to the iPhone 11's sensors.

As with every current smartphone camera, the optical zoom is missing here for reasons of space. There are "equivalent" 2x and 0.6x zooms by swapping lenses. Therefore it is always best to use any lens without zooming as this is purely digital zoom. Three lenses provide more versatility.

The ultrawide is particularly practical: instead of taking a few steps back, which is not always possible anyway, simply fold in this lens for a truly impressive distance view.

Multiple lenses also provide excellent bokeh effects when your subject is in sharp focus and the background is blurry. The iPhone 11 Pro is tremendous at this. And the portrait lighting effects continue to improve, offering compelling black and white studio effects that set your subject against a black or now a high-contrast white background. It doesn't always work well, but it produces some really striking results when it does.

Night mode is another new feature for the 2019 iPhone crop. In keeping with Apple's call for simplicity, this is invoked automatically; You don't have to turn it on.

A small icon of a moon appears at the top of the display when it's active, telling you exactly how long the exposure will last. But it's not done through a long exposure, which would inevitably be out of focus.

Instead, it works by taking multiple images over a second or longer and stitching them together to create the result. And these results are amazing. Not only does it make you feel like the camera can see better than you, but that the brighter image it provides is still reminiscent of the event itself. In other words, it doesn't lighten up too much.

The camera interface has also been improved with an on-screen swipe mechanic to reveal additional menu options.

The front camera is now also 12 MP and has a wider field of view. When you rotate iPhone to landscape, the camera knows to automatically choose that wider view. Apple also announced the Slofie (I know, I know), which stands for slow-motion selfie videos shot at 120 frames per second. These are actually quite funny.

The more I use these cameras, the more impressed I become. Sure, the interface is simple enough that you may crave more control (there are apps if you want that), but for most people and in most situations, what the iPhone does is exactly what is desired is to deliver exceptional results with minimal effort. That makes you want to use it again.

More recently, Deep Fusion has appeared, another auto-on feature. When capturing images in low to average lighting, nine images are needed and combined to offer great detail that surpasses a normal HDR effect. It doesn't work with every lens or in all lighting conditions, but it offers another gentle upgrade to your photos.

There are other outstanding camera phones at the moment –You can read my review of the seven best current ones here– but for my money, Apple stole a head start here with its stunningly good cameras.

Performance

The release of iOS 13 brought Dark Mode, which has proved very popular, offering a less intrusive design with black backgrounds instead of white. On the Pro phones, with their OLED screens, that also offers power savings as well as a clean, attractive look.

Face ID, the fast, reliable, and secure facial recognition system introduced on the iPhone X, is now more effective and works at more angles, so you don't have to crane your neck forward when it's on your desk, for example — although you do still have to lean on. This improvement also applies to the other iPhone models with Face ID as it is software based.

The processor called A13 Bionic is lightning fast. At the moment it's easy to notice how quickly apps launch and respond when in use, but as developers build more demanding apps you can expect the new processor to come out on top. Despite this, I haven't noticed an iota of slowdown in more than four months. It's still amazingly fast.

Note that the great 3D touch effect of the iPhone X and XS isn't present here. That's the subtle haptic feedback you get when you touch certain menus. It has been replaced on the iPhone XR by Haptic Touch, which works differently. Previously, Haptic Touch was limited in its functionality, but it has now been extended to all areas of 3D Touch. You can feel a difference and it doesn't feel quite as crisp as 3D Touch, but by and large I forgot about the change pretty much instantly.

Verdict

Four months later, the iPhone 11 Pro is still wowing. I've tested a lot of phones over the past year, and a few almost convinced me to switch my daily driver. But the combination of pleasing looks, standout cameras, and—perhaps most of all—epic battery life has kept me coming back to the iPhone time and time again.

True, there is no 5G iPhone yet, but until a killer app comes along that requires 5G to work, I won't miss it.

For many, the $699 iPhone 11 will suffice. In most cases it is just as powerful. But I love the super high definition OLED screen, the stainless steel antenna strap and the additional camera that the Pro version offers.

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