iPhone 11 Pro review
The iPhone 11 Pro is Apple's most powerful phone that come in a one-hand-friendly size. It has a triple-lens camera to capture best-in-class photos and video from a variety of perspectives, a new night mode to enhance low-light photography and extra battery life prowess. Even if the design hasn't changed, this is the camera and battery upgrade iPhone users have been after.
Two-minute review
The iPhone 11 Pro is Apple's latest iPhone that has people asking us "What's really changed?" It's a fair question because it looks very similar to last year's iPhone. But use the new cameras for a few minutes and both that question and inquisitive looks from doubters quickly fade.
Apple put a lot of effort into its triple-lens rear camera, offering a trio of 12MP lenses that shoot regular, telephoto, and brand new ultra-wide perspectives. Not having to back up to fit everything into the widened frame is a big perk. Also, all of our friends appreciate not having their heads cut off in portrait photos.
'Night Mode', meanwhile, addresses the single biggest complaint we've heard from iPhone users over the years: photos in dimly-lit bars and restaurants don't look very good – not next to their Android phone-touting friends. The shame!
Good news: the iPhone 11 Pro has the best low-light camera we've tested on a phone – any phone. Apple brightens with the best of them and its night mode is automatically applied, topping Samsung, Huawei and Google's interfaces.
Video looks and sounds best-in-class from the oversized rear cameras, yet we found the biggest year-over-year leap in the physically smaller 12MP front camera. It now records in 4K and shoots slo-mo video. Apple's 'Slofies' work best with long, flowing hair to whip back and forth, so we had to get creative in our tests.
So much of the iPhone 11 Pro is about the camera, but there's a bit more. We found battery life noticeably better than the iPhone XS – we've gone longer than a day with heavy use. You don't need the Pro Max for its battery prowess. Its matte finish back cover looks nicer and feels less slippery, though it won't wow as much if you immediately stick an iPhone 11 Pro case on it (which we do recommend).
The 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro is the one to get if you want the most advanced iPhone that's easy to use with one hand. It feels a lot smaller than the 6.5-inch iPhone 11 Pro Max and 6.1-inch iPhone 11. Don't be fooled by its size, though, it's pricier than the telephoto-and-OLED-lacking entry-level iPhone 11.
It doesn't look different from past iPhones on the front, so it may seem hard to justify the price. But if you've been waiting for better photos and video out of a new iPhone, this is it – and that's more important than a new look or 5G, at least in 2019.
iPhone 11 Pro release date and price
- iPhone 11 Pro release date was September 20, 2019
- iPhone 11 Pro price started at $999 / £1,049 / AU$1,749
The iPhone 11 Pro was announced on September 12 2019 and the official release date was later that month on September 20. It sells for Pro-level pricing, although in most regions, you're going to pay the same amount as you did for the iPhone XS and iPhone X.
It costs $999 (£1,049, AU$1,749) at launch for the iPhone 11 Pro 64GB version. That's not enough storage for most people with a decade worth of iPhone photos and video, even with iCloud to offload some files. And there's no 128GB option, sadly.
You may instead pay $1,149 (£1,119, AU$1,999) for the 256GB version, the ideal size for most iPhone 11 Pro shoppers, or go all-in for the 512GB size at $1,349 (£1,399, AU$2,349). There's no expandable storage here, like all iPhones before this one, meaning you'll get better storage-for-price value from top Android phones.
You'll also get Apple TV Plus for a year when you buy the new handset, and you may be able to find more appropriate deals for you through carriers and networks using the links below.
Triple-lens camera versatility
Welcome to what's basically the iPhone 11 Pro camera review – we're going to talk a lot about the four cameras and show you plenty of photos from each lens.
Its rear camera trifecta offers wide, 2x optically zoomed and all-encompassing ultra-wide perspectives, the latter being a first for the iPhone. We found the iPhone 11 Pro cameras tout incredible versatility – even in our own daily tech reporter lives.
We were able to zoom in on Apple CEO Tim Cook and the first iPhone 11 customer at the 5th Avenue store re-opening in New York City with the telephoto lens, and then immediately punch out to take in the surrounding celebratory crowd.
Battery
The iPhone 11 Pro battery consistently lasted us more than a day during our testing, often stretching close to a day and a half, even with heavy use. When enabled, the iOS 13 low-power mode really extends the life of this battery.
Apple claimed that the iPhone 11 Pro can last four hours longer than the iPhone XS, and true enough, we did see a noticeable increase over last year's 5.8-inch phone. But the bigger the phone, the larger the battery Apple is able to fit in; the 6.1-inch iPhone 11 and 6.5-inch iPhone 11 Pro Max lasted longer.
We made a conscious decision last year to favor the iPhone XS Max for its battery life over the iPhone XS, but that's not as big of a deal here. Apple eliminated 3D Touch to fit in a bigger battery and the new display has more efficiency, so we're able to recommend this smaller iPhone to power users without hesitation.
The fact that the 18W charger and lightning-to-USB-C cable are included in the box is a big deal. Our iPhone 11 Pro went from 0% to over 50% in 30 minutes, whereas the old 5W charger, which hung around for far too long, took forever to reach this point.
We're still dealing with slow 7.5W wireless charging speeds, and the rumored reverse wireless charging feature never panned out as a way to charge your Apple Watch or AirPods from the back of the iPhone 11 Pro. There's always hope for the iPhone 12.