mini vs Max: an iPhone 12 Battle Royale (with cheese)

Too much or not enough?

Do you remember in Casino Royale when Vesper Lynd gave James Bond a tailored suit? He exclaimed that he already had a dinner jacket, and she replied, “there are dinner jackets and dinner jackets; this is the latter.”

Well, that’s kinda how I’m feeling as I hold the iPhone 12 Pro Max in my hands.

I’ve been using iPhones for quite a long time. I’ve used numbered models, S models, the original SE, and a few Pluses. But I’ve never before used an iPhone Pro.

There was a time when there weren’t “pro” iPhones. Because of that, I’m hesitant to say that I’ve never used a “premium” iPhone before, because arguably every current iPhone I’ve ever used was the “premium” model of its time (and I never owned the singular plastic iPhone). But I have to say, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the most premium feeling iPhone I’ve ever used.

It isn’t, however, the first iPhone 12 I’ve used. I started my iPhone 12 journey with the iPhone 12 mini, and I fully intended to stick with that. And I would have, too, if it hadn’t been for a crippling camera issue that I experienced with that device (you can read about that here).

I’d intended to just order a replacement 12 mini, but then I got to thinking that it wasn’t too…