Apple iPhone 16e vs iPhone 12 Pro
74
out of 100
VS
62
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.1-inch Apple iPhone 16e (with Apple A18) that was released on February 19, 2025, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 4 years and 5 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16e
- Comes with 1190 mAh larger battery capacity: 4005 vs 2815 mAh
- Shows 35% longer battery life (26:44 vs 19:45 hours)
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- 21% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1612K versus 1328K)
- The phone is 4 years and 5 months newer
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A18
- 52% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3281 and 2160 points
- Weighs 22 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 Pro
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1170 x 2532 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 457 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Ceramic Shield | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.1% | 87.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | 99.6% |
| PWM | 60 Hz | 277 Hz |
| Response time | 10 ms | 3.6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 167 g (5.89 oz) | 189 g (6.67 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
| Repairability | Average (2.79/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Good (C) · 90 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A18 | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 4040 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | 4 core Apple GPU | Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 640 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1490 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 24041 | 16822 |
| Single-core score | 3281 | 2160 |
| Multi-core score | 8035 | 5104 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 485100 | 372871 |
| GPU | 445832 | 322471 |
| Memory | 185536 | 168174 |
| UX | 496320 | 464616 |
| Total score | 1612788 | 1328132 |
| Samples | [5 tests] | [15 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 82% | - |
| Graphics test | 9 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 1226 | - |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 76% |
| Graphics test | 21 FPS | 10 FPS |
| Section 1 | 26 FPS | 13 FPS |
| Section 2 | 21 FPS | 10 FPS |
| Section 3 | 15 FPS | 7 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5507 | 2668 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 71% |
| Graphics test | - | 12 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2149 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone 16e
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-03-11 (Matviy) | AnTuTu 11 | 1600106 |
| 📘 2026-02-27 (iPhone user) | AnTuTu 11 | 1591246 |
| 📘 2026-02-10 (Virtuose) | AnTuTu 11 | 1721718 |
| 📘 2026-01-14 (Glib) | AnTuTu 11 | 1656396 |
| 📘 2026-01-13 (киря) | AnTuTu 11 | 1612788 |
Apple iPhone 12 Pro
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-06-29 (Kirillkryt) | AnTuTu 11 | 1284629 |
| 📘 2026-06-02 -> FoolishJevinTECH | AnTuTu 11 | 1378105 |
| 📘 2026-05-31 (Cour27) | AnTuTu 11 | 1340740 |
| 📘 2026-04-21 (PANDUSHA LOVER) | AnTuTu 11 | 1236057 |
| 📘 2026-04-15 (Flaffer) | AnTuTu 11 | 1341072 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR4X |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 18.3 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) |
| OS size | 24 GB | 14 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | - |
| Security updates | 7 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 4005 mAh | 2815 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (7.5 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:50 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | 11:59 hr | 07:12 hr |
| Watching video | 15:01 hr | 12:00 hr |
| Gaming | 05:04 hr | 04:33 hr |
| Standby | 127 hr | 101 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#112th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8064 x 6048 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 2x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 48 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.6 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX972 | Sony IMX372 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 12 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | - | 52 mm |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 12 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Stabilization | - | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 70 |
| Preview | - | 77 |
| Zoom | - | 111 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4290 x 2800 |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX714 | Sony IMX514 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | Yes | Yes |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | - | 127 |
| Video | - | 140 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 2 | - |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| DisplayPort | No | - |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2025 | October 2020 |
| Release date | February 2025 | October 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $599 | $1000 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPhone 17 Pro |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | - |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16e:
- The smartphone doesn’t have a cinematic mode like the higher-end models in the series.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 16e is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 38