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The iPhone 11 Pro is water resistant to IP68 standards of up to 4 metres for 30 minutes, which is 2 metres deeper than last yearโs iPhone XS
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Bluetooth performance is much improved, with stronger connections to even the weakest of headphones
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Face ID is still best-in-class, now slightly faster and working at slightly wider angles
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The new U1 chip enables enhanced location abilities, but so far itโs used only for directional AirDrop file sharing
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The highly polished stainless steel is easy to mark and dull after even careful general use
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The pressure sensitive screen of previous iPhones is gone and with it 3D Touch, so you canโt press harder on things anymore
Price
The iPhone 11 Pro costs
ยฃ1,049 for 64GB of storage,
ยฃ1,199 for 256GB or
ยฃ1,399for 512GB in black, green, silver or gold.
For comparison, the iPhone 11 Pro Max costs ยฃ1,149, the iPhone 11 costs ยฃ729, the iPhone XR costs ยฃ629, the OnePlus 7 costs ยฃ499, the Samsung Galaxy S10costs ยฃ799 and the Huawei P30 Pro costs ยฃ799.
Verdict
After a misstep last year, Apple is back on top with what is simply the best smaller phone available. The iPhone 11 Pro has longer battery life, a better screen and excellent performance all round.
The camera is also a big improvement in terms of clarity and performance, particularly in fine detail and very low light, with the added night mode now matching rivals. It wonโt yet replace a digital SLR for my professional photography, but itโs closer than anything there has been before.
The design is still a winner at this size, but is starting to look a little dated three years on from the mould-breaking iPhone X. And thereโs no 5G to be seen either, when weโre right on the cusp of it being a key differentiator for 2020.
Itโs not perfect, but in the sea of ever-larger, hand-stretching phones, itโs refreshing to have a model thatโs comparatively easy to pocket, hold and use one-handed that doesnโt compromise on power or features.
The biggest issue with the iPhone 11 Pro is its price. The starting cost of ยฃ1,049 comes with only 64GB of storage, meaning you will likely have to rely heavily on cloud storage if you shoot a large number of photos, videos or download apps or movies.
I wonโt pretend the iPhone 11 Pro is even remotely good value, because itโs not. Even if you do get five years of software support. For ยฃ1,049 and up youโre buying a product that is unrivalled at this size and paying a hefty premium price for the privilege.
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