Looks like the iPhone 12 will have to go through a lot of trouble to prove its worth. The latest experiment to befall it is a durability test that compares the toughness of the iPhone 12 coated with a new ceramic shield against that of the iPhone 11. Simply put, the iPhone 12 is better constructed to withstand pressure than the iPhone 11. But the difference in the amount of pressure both devices can take before cracking is also worth noting.
iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11 screen toughness
The test by MobileReviewsEh used a force meter to determine the pressure required to crack the display. The iPhone 11 went through it first and broke at 352 Newtons of pressure. The iPhone 12 was markedly tougher and took 443 Newtons of pressure before caving in. The spider webbing, or the pattern of the crack on the screen, was also much finer on the iPhone 12 despite it cracking at a higher pressure.
iPhone 12 vs iPhone 11 scratch resistance
The video also compared the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 on their varying promise of scratch resistance. They were put through a test based on the principle of the Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness, which typically involves a scratch kit to determine what materials can scratch a substance and rate it accordingly. It’s also used by electronic manufacturers to test other screens such as LCD and OLED panels on TVs. In smartphones, it has been used to test the toughness of Corning’s Gorilla Glass — the ubiquitous protection on mobile screens.
The iPhone 11 lightly scratched at point 6 and much more prominently at point 7. But the new iPhone 12 withstood point 6 with no scratches and got faintly scratched at point 7, proving itself to be more scratch-resistant than last year’s iPhone 11. The point 8 material left deep and clearly visible marks on both the phones. The video also noted that the aluminium sides of the iPhone 12 were much better at resisting scratches from things like coins and keys than the glossier stainless-steel sides of the iPhone 12 Pro, but was at par with the iPhone 11. The glass panel on the back of both the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 12 scratched at point 7 and the sapphire crystal coating on their camera lenses scratched at point 8. In conclusion, the ceramic coating on the iPhone 12 makes its screen much tougher and more scratch-resistant than that on the iPhone 11, but the rest of its materials resists scratches only as well as the iPhone 11 does, and not better.
The iPhone 12 lineup starts with the iPhone 12 mini priced at Rs. 69,900 and goes up till the iPhone 12 Pro Max priced at Rs. 1,29,900 for the starting 128GB variant. Both phones can be pre-ordered starting November 6 and will become available from November 13. The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, starting at Rs. 79,900 and Rs 1,19,900, respectively, are now up for pre-orders and will become available from October 30.
Are iPhone 12 mini, HomePod mini the Perfect Apple Devices for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.