Apple iPhone 11 Pro review: the best camera and screen on a phone
Welcome to T3's iPhone 11 Pro review, where we'll put Apple's new top-of-the-line phone through its paces to find out if it deserves its 'pro' moniker.
Apple made a big deal about the new triple camera system during the phone's announcement, and also highlighted an improved screen and better battery life… but it turns out that this year's upgrades are more comprehensive than you might think.
Of course, the camera is still the standout, and we'll go on a deep dive to show you why. But there's lot more to consider when it comes to the questions of updating from an older model.
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APPLE IPHONE 11 PRO REVIEW: PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
The iPhone 11 Pro starts from £1,049, for the 5.8-inch model with 64GB of storage. There's also the , which has a 6.5-inch screen and longer battery life, but is otherwise identical when it comes to specs. That starts from £1,149 for 64GB.
You can upgrade to get more storage space. £150 more gets you 256GB. Another £200 on top of that gets you 512GB. It's a pretty hefty premium in both cases, and Apple still doesn't include a microSD card slot.
For most people, 64GB is a pretty reasonable size anyway, but if you like to keep a lot of movies downloaded (or take a lot of your own), or will download loads of games through Apple Arcade, the 256GB version is a solid upgrade in terms of size.
These are damn expensive phones, though the £1,000 mark is now not uncommon – the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ comes in at £999, and just like that model, these are Apple's highest-end offerings.
If it's more than you're willing to spend on a phone, it's totally understandable – the (non-Pro version) starts from £729, with far fewer cut corners than you'd expect.
The iPhone 11 Pro is available in four colours: Space Grey (black on all sides), Silver (silver edges and a white back), Gold (warm gold edges with a back that's like a dark peach), and the new Midnight Green (with dark green edges, and kind of moody forest green back).
The latter is apparently wildly popular, which is no surprise for a new colour. It looks lovely – it's really dark, and in dim lighting could be mistaken for black, but it clearly has this rich green tint in all other lights.
APPLE IPHONE 11 PRO REVIEW: SHOULD YOU UPGRADE?
If you have an iPhone numbered 8 or lower, I think this is the perfect time to upgrade generally. Both the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro get you better screens, brilliant cameras, great newer designs, much better battery life, as well as faster performance. Across the board, they're full of big improvements that you'll notice every day. But it doesn't matter too much whether you go for the £729 iPhone 11 or £1,049 iPhone 11 Pro – both are a big leap forward.
I know a lot of iPhone SE users really don't want a bigger phone, and have always hoped Apple would accommodate them, but those phones are getting long in the tooth, and Apple (like other manufacturers) doesn't seem interested in smaller phones. I think the iPhone 11 Pro is the best option for those people: it doesn't match the SE for cheapness, but it's the most compact of the new phones.
If you have an iPhone XS, it's probably not worth the upgrade – you've already got a screen that very nearly as good, and a camera system that's not far off. Those who travel a lot and love taking pics while on the move should consider that the ultra-wide lens will give them some excellent new creative options, and there's no denying that Night mode is a huge thing. But I think the battery life will probably be what wins you over if you do decide to upgrade – it's a powerful change. If you haven't been finding the battery on your XS limiting, then I think you should seriously consider waiting a year.
APPLE IPHONE 11 PRO REVIEW: VERDICT
It's the best iPhone ever, of course, but how could it be anything else? But it's also better than it looks, and better than Apple's own announcements seemed to let on.
I'm reminded of the Ship of Theseus, which asks: if you replace every beam and bolt of a ship with a new one, is it still the same ship?
The iPhone 11 Pro looks so similar to its predecessor, but almost every single part has been switched out for something new and better. The screen is brighter, the camera is far better, the speaker is improved, the wireless is faster, the battery is bigger, the processor is more powerful… the individual changes don't feel that big, but the sum makes for a really solid year-on-year upgrade. This is absolutely a new, shinier ship.
It does come at a very high price, though. We'd expect the iPhone 11 to be the more popular model by a long way, because it strikes a superb balance of features to price. But if you want the very best technology that you can get in an iPhone, you won't feel short-changed here.