OnePlus’ flagship is still quite a compelling smartphone, especially if you live in the US or China. it’s considerably more affordable there than in Europe, for example. The OnePlus 13 is right around the corner, but it’s not here just yet. With that being said, we’re here to compare the best OnePlus and Apple have to offer at the moment, the OnePlus 12 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The OnePlus 12 has been on the market since December last year. Well, it arrive to global markets a bit later than that, but still, it has been around for a while. The new iPhones arrived last month. As per usual, we will first list the specs of both of these phones and will take it from there. Following the specs, we’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio output. Let’s get to it.
Specs
OnePlus 12 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, respectively
– Screen size:
6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED display (curved, 120Hz LTPO, HDR10+, 4,500 nits)
6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED ( flat, 120Hz, HDR, 2,000 nits)
– Display resolution:
3168 x 1440
2868 x 1320
– SoC:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Apple A18 Pro (3nm)
– RAM:
12GB/16GB (LPDDR5X)
8GB
– Storage:
256GB/512GB/1TB (UFS 4.0)
256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe)
– Rear cameras:
50MP (f/1.6 aperture, 23mm lens, 1.12um pixel size, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS), 48MP (ultrawide, 14mm lens, 114-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture, 0.8um pixel size, PDAF), 64MP (periscope telephoto, 0.7um pixel size, OIS, PDAF, 3x optical zoom, 6x “in-sensor” zoom)
48MP (wide, f/1.8 aperture, 1/1.28-inch sensor, 1.22um pixel size, sensor-shift OIS), 48MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF), 12MP (periscope telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 1/3.06-inch sensor, 1.12um pixel size, 3D sensor-shift OIS, 5x optical zoom).
– Front cameras:
32MP (f/2.4 aperture, 0.8um pixel size)
12MP (f/1.9 aperture, PDAF, 1/3.6-inch sensor size, OIS)
– Battery:
5,400mAh
4,685mAh
– Charging:
100W wired, 50W wireless, reverse wireless (charger included)
38W wired, 25W MagSafe, 15W Qi2 wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, 4.5W reverse wired (charger not included)
– Dimensions:
164.3 x 75.8 x 9.2mm
163 x 77.6 x 8.3 mm
– Weight:
220 grams
227 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.4/5.3
– Security:
In-display fingerprint scanner (optical) & facial scanning
Face ID (3D facial scanning)
– OS:
Android 14 with OxygenOS 14
iOS 18
– Price:
$799.99+
$1,199+
– Buy:
OnePlus 12 (Best Buy)
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max (Apple)
OnePlus 12 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Design
These two smartphones are considerably different design-wise. The OnePlus 12 is made out of aluminum and glass, and it has plenty of curves. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is made out of titanium and glass, and it’s nowhere near as curvy. OnePlus’ handset has a curved display, curved backplate, and a thin frame on the sides because of that. The new iPhone flagship has a flat display, flat back, and flat frame all around the device, though it does round up towards the edges for the sake of comfort.
These differences make them feel entirely different in the hand. They’re both slippery, but the in-hand feel is different. It’s all a matter of preference. The OnePlus 12 is more slippery, though, simply due to its design. You’ll likely want to use a case with both phones, though. The OnePlus 12 has a display camera hole on the display, it’s centered at the top. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a noticeably larger pill-shaped cutout, the so-called ‘Dynamic Island’. Both smartphones have very thin bezels around their displays.
Their camera islands sit in the top-left corner, but they’re noticeably different-looking. The OnePlus 12’s camera island is circular, but it also has a layer of metal around it, which connects to the side frame. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a squarish camera island with rounded corners and a different camera layout. Even the buttons on their sides are vastly different. The OnePlus 12 includes a power/lock button and volume rocker buttons on the right. An alert slider is placed on the left.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the flip side, has a power/lock button on the right, along with the Camera Control button. The volume up and down buttons are on the left, along with the Action Button. The OnePlus 12 is slightly taller and thicker than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but it’s also narrower and lighter. That device comes with an IP65 certification for water and dust resistance. The iPhone 16 Pro Max offers the IP68 certification.
OnePlus 12 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Display
The OnePlus 12 includes a 6.82-inch 3168 x 1440 LTPO AMOLED display. That panel is flat, and it offers an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. It can project up to 1 billion colors, and Dolby Vision is supported, as is HDR10+. The peak brightness of this display, in theory, is 4,500 nits. You’ll never get that high, though. The screen-to-body ratio is around 90%, while the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protects this panel.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the other hand, has a 6.9-inch 2868 x 1320 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. That panel is also flat, and it has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. HDR10 content is supported, as is Dolby Vision. The peak brightness here is 2,000 nits, while the screen-to-body ratio is at around 91%. The display aspect ratio is 19.5:9, while the Ceramic Shield glass is used for protection purposes.
Both of these displays are great, there’s no denying that. They’re both vivid, have great viewing angles, and they’re more than sharp enough. The blacks are deep too. Both panels do get more than bright enough, though the OnePlus 12 does offer a bit more in that regard. OnePlus’ panel also offers high-frequency PWM dimming, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s panel does not. If that’s something you care about. In general, however, you’ll likely be happy with either panel. Just keep in mind one is curved and the other is not.
OnePlus 12 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Performance
The OnePlus 12 is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a 4nm processor. OnePlus also used up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM here, and UFS 4.0 flash storage. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the flip side, is fueled by the Apple A18 Pro, a 3nm processor. It offers 8GB of RAM and utilizes NVMe flash storage. Neither smartphone offers storage expansion, in case you were wondering.
The performance both of these smartphones offer is outstanding. They’re amongst the smoothest smartphones on the market. Anything you can think of during day-to-day performance these two phones can do without a hitch. They’re great with browsing, messaging, emailing, running various other apps, jumping between them, image processing, video processing, and so on.
Even when it comes to gaming, both of these do their job without a problem. They can run the most demanding games fluidly. Both of them get warm, but nothing that you should be worried about. They never get too warm to hold, or anything like that. Any heat that they produce also does not affect the gameplay, at least not that we’ve seen. So, in regards to performance, it’s really not that difficult to recommend both of these phones.
OnePlus 12 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Battery
There is a 5,400mAh battery included in the OnePlus 12. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the other hand, sports a 4,685mAh battery on the inside. Apple’s iPhones do usually offer smaller battery packs than their Android counterparts, mainly due to the software differences. That battery pack inside the iPhone 16 Pro Max is more than enough, though. In fact, these two smartphones are amongst the best-performing flagship smartphones when it comes to battery life.
The vast majority of you will easily get to the end of the day without needing to charge these two. Even if you’re a power user, that shouldn’t be a problem. You can technically kill the battery early, of course if you end up delving into long gaming sessions or something like that. In general, however, they managed to handle a lot of intense use. Getting to 7 or even 8 hours of screen-on-time is possible without many problems, at least based on our experience.
In regards to charging, the OnePlus 12 shames the iPhone 16 Pro Max. It supports 100W (80W in the US) wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. The iPhone 16 Pro Max offers 38W wired, 25W MagSafe wireless, 15W Qi2 wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, and 4.5W reverse wired charging. The OnePlus 12 does charge a lot faster. That goes for both wired and wireless charging. On top of that, it comes with a charger in the box, unlike the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
OnePlus 12 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Cameras
Both of these phones have three cameras on the back. The OnePlus 12 includes a 50-megapixel main camera (1/1.43-inch sensor), a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera (114-degree FoV), and a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (3x optical zoom). The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the flip side, has a 48-megapixel main camera (1/1.28-inch sensor), a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto unit (5x optical zoom).
These two devices do provide considerably different photos, but they both do a good job. The OnePlus 12 does prefer more contrasty shots, as the influence of Hasselblad is noticeable. The iPhone 16 Pro Max goes in the opposite direction and prefers to offer warmer color tones in images. The results are different, but both smartphones do a great job. That even goes for low light, it’s all a matter of preference.
Their ultrawide cameras are also on par, though the iPhone 16 Pro Max handles macro photography better in general. When it comes to periscope telephoto cameras, well, most of you will likely prefer the iPhone 16 Pro Max due to its higher optical zoom capability, but it all depends on what you’re trying to capture. For 3x and 4x shots, the OnePlus 12 is the better option, for example, at least in our opinion. Both of these phones have rather capable cameras.
Audio
Stereo speakers are also included on both smartphones. The ones on the iPhone 16 Pro Max are a bit louder, however, and we also preferred the sound coming from them. It seemed a bit richer, even though the OnePlus 12 is not far behind.
Neither smartphone includes an audio jack. If you want to use wired headphones, you’ll need to connect them to the Type-C port available on both smartphones. Alternatively, the OnePlus 12 offers Bluetooth 5.4, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max has Bluetooth 5.3 support.
