We do hope that this comparison will help you make a purchasing decision. We’ll first list the specifications of the two phones, and will then compare them across a number of different categories. We’ll check out their designs, displays, performance, battery life situation, charging, cameras, and audio performance. That being said, let’s get started, shall we?
Specs
Google Pixel 7 vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro: Design
These two phones do differ quite a bit in the design department. Google changed up the design quite a bit with the Pixel 6 series, and then refined that with the Pixel 7. The Pixel 7 has a frame made out of aluminum, while the iPhone 12 Pro has a stainless steel frame. Both devices include glass on the back. The Pixel 7 is taller, wider, and thicker than the iPhone 12 Pro, while also being a bit heavier. It does have a larger display, so… that is to be expected. Both phones have flat displays, but they look very different. The Pixel 7 has more curves, while the iPhone 12 Pro has flat sides all around. It is also flat on the front and the back. Both devices have thin bezels. The Pixel 7 includes a display camera hole, which is centered, while the iPhone 12 Pro comes with a display notch. Needless to say, the hole punch is more aesthetically pleasing, but that notch does serve the purpose of hiding 3D facial scanning hardware. The Pixel 7 has a camera visor on the back, which goes from one side to the other. It connects to the phone’s side frame, and is covered by aluminum. The iPhone 12 Pro has a more regular-looking camera island on the back, with recognizable Apple camera alignment. Both of these devices feel like premium pieces of hardware. The iPhone 12 Pro does cut into the hand more due to its design, while both phones are quite slippery. It’s really a matter of preference here, as they are so different design-wise.
Google Pixel 7 vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro: Display
The Pixel 7 sports a 6.3-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) AMOLED display. That display includes a 90Hz refresh rate, and it supports HDR10+ content. It also gets quite bright at 1,400 nits of peak brightness. Do note you’ll be able to reach those brightness levels only on adaptive brightness settings. The phone’s display is flat, and it offers a 20:9 aspect ratio. The Gorilla Glass Victus is included on top of it, for protection.
The iPhone 12 Pro has a 6.1-inch fullHD+ (2532 x 1170) Super Retina XDR OLED display. This panel is also flat, and it supports HDR10 content. It also comes with Dolby Vision support, by the way. This is a 60Hz display, it doesn’t offer a high refresh rate. The iPhone 12 Pro display gets up to 1,200 nits of peak brightness under auto settings, and under specific conditions, of course. The phone’s display has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, and the Ceramic Shield glass protects this panel. On paper, the Pixel 7’s panel does look better. It not only offers a high refresh rate, but it gets slightly brighter as well. The brightness difference is not that noticeable, to be quite honest, but the refresh rate difference you will notice, if you’ve used higher refresh rate displays. In terms of sheer image quality, both are excellent. They are sharp, the colors are vivid, and the blacks are deep. Even the viewing angles are excellent, as is the touch response. No complaints there.
Google Pixel 7 vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro: Performance
Google’s Tensor G2 SoC fuels the Pixel 7, while Google also included 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM here, and UFS 3.1 flash storage too. The iPhone 12 Pro, on the flip side, comes with the Apple A14 Bionic SoC, 6GB of RAM, and NVMe storage. They both do a great job when it comes to performance. The Apple A14 Bionic was a powerhouse when it launched, and it’s still very powerful. Both chips are made using a 5nm process. Despite the fact the iPhone 12 Pro is over two years old at this point, it still performs admirably. It does a great job in regular, everyday tasks, just like the Pixel 7. It even does great in terms of gaming. The Pixel 7 does struggle a bit with the most demanding games on the Play Store, such as Genshin Impact, but overall, it’s really good for gaming too, despite the fact it’s not a gaming phone. They both perform great, that’s for sure.
Google Pixel 7 vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro: Battery
There is a 4,355mAh battery inside the Pixel 7, while the iPhone 12 Pro hides a 2,815mAh battery. Do note that iOS devices usually have smaller batteries than their counterparts, as they need less battery juice to operate. When these two are compared, though, the Pixel 7 does come out on top. It usually runs between 6 and 7 hours of screen-on-time, but it went over the 8-hour mark for us on several occasions. It generally offers a really good battery life. The iPhone 12 Pro can’t really get to those levels, at least based on what we’ve seen. Your usage will have a lot to do with it, and your signal as well. So, you may get considerably different results than we did, as is the case with every phone. The iPhone 12 Pro should last more than enough for the vast majority of people. Its battery life may also be at a lower level if it’s not a new device, of course. When it comes to charging, the Pixel 7 offers 20W wired, 20W wireless, and 5W reverse wireless charging. The iPhone 12 Pro supports 20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless, and 7.5W Qi wireless charging. Neither of the two devices includes a charger in the box, though, so keep that in mind.
Google Pixel 7 vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro: Cameras
The Google Pixel 7 includes a 50-megapixel main camera, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit. The iPhone 12 Pro sports three 12-megapixel cameras, wide, ultrawide, and telephoto units. Both of these phones provide excellent results in the camera department, but they are quite different. The iPhone 12 Pro also lacks the improvements introduced with the iPhone 13 and 14 series devices, of course.
In good lighting, they both do a great job with detailed and colorful images. The iPhone 12 Pro images lean towards the more realistic side than the images Pixel 7 provides, but the images from Google’s phone look… richer, in a way. The same can be said for low light images, while the Pixel 7 also provides noticeably brighter results. The Pixel 7 also handles HDR conditions noticeably better, while the iPhone 12 Pro has a tendency to overblow the highlights. Their ultrawide cameras are also quite good, while the one on the iPhone 12 Pro is a bit wider. We prefer the results from the Pixel 7 overall, though. That goes for the comparison between the Pixel 7 and the newest iPhone flagship, actually, so the same applies to the iPhone 12 Pro as well. Both phones provide excellent video recording capabilities.
Audio
You will not find an audio jack on either of the two phones. You’ll need to utilize their respective charging ports for audio purposes. The Pixel 7 has a Type-C port, while the iPhone 12 Pro includes a Lightning port. When it comes to speakers, both are equipped with a dual setup. Those speakers are good, they’re punchy, and plenty loud. The sound output is also quite detailed. The Pixel 7’s setup seems to offer slightly richer tones, but they’re comparable.
