Can’t decide which iPhone is best for you? We’re here to help with our rankings of the best iPhones on sale right now.
Knowing what the best iPhone is can be tough. It’s not just a matter of picking the newest or most expensive one as different models are perfect for different types of people. Fortunately, while Apple might not make as many phones as some companies, all of its handsets are great. Even better, thanks to Apple’s policy of supporting its phones for a long time, older models remain a viable option for quite a while, so there’s a surprisingly large number of great iPhone models to choose from. Keen to buy the latest and greatest? That’s the iPhone 12 range but even then there are four fairly different phones to choose from, including the standard iPhone 12, the premium iPhone 12 Pro, the massive iPhone 12 Pro Max, and the compact iPhone 12 mini. Look past the iPhone 12 and there’s the more affordable iPhone SE (2020) and a selection of older iPhones including the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR. Apple still sells these and a number of others that have been discontinued can still be found in third-party stores. To help you figure out what the best iPhone is for you, we’ve ranked every model that’s readily available from Apple or elsewhere. You’ll find all the key things you need to know about each phone too, including an overview of it, the main good and bad points, and a full specs list. Now is a good time to buy a new iPhone too, as the iPhone 13 range won’t land before September, and there may not be an iPhone SE 3 this year. With iOS 14.6 out now, the iPhone range also has constantly updated software – and even older models are up to date on that front. Plus many are set to get iOS 15, too. Of course, if you’re not set on an Apple phone specifically then there are loads of other options. Check out some of our other guides below to see some of the best alternatives. More expensive than the iPhone 11, the iPhone 12 makes up for that price hike with a wealth of new features that should prove useful in the coming months and years. That includes future-proofing courtesy of 5G support and the addition of MagSafe connectivity which enables you to attach things to your phone such as a charger or a case. The camera might be a little too similar to last year’s iPhone and the battery life remains merely okay, but there’s no denying that the iPhone 12 is a superior beast than the phones that have come before. Design wise, it’s returned to some of the stylings of the iPhone 4 or 5 and that’s actually a good thing, feeling comfier in your hands. There’s also the overdue switch to a colorful OLED display which reminds us again that Apple knows how to create a stylish looking as well as future-proof device. Read our in-depth iPhone 12 review Apple has introduced an iPhone mini for the first time in its history of making handsets, and it’s almost exactly the same as the iPhone you’ve just read about above but it’s smaller. There are a number of tiny spec differences – for example, wireless charging is notably slower on the iPhone 12 mini – but otherwise you’re getting top-end spec such as the powerful rear camera,5G support and MagSafe support as well. The design makes this phone easy to hold in a single hand, so if you’ve been crying out for a smaller iPhone that doesn’t lose out on the top-end specs that you get from other Apple devices this may well be for you. As with the iPhone 12, the display is also fantastic on this handset too. You may not enjoy the battery life as that isn’t fantastic on the iPhone 12 mini, but if that’s your main focus you’ll like one of the phones coming up below. Read our in-depth iPhone 12 mini review More advanced than the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 12 Pro is also more expensive and has better specs than the standard model. The internals are better, and there’s a superior camera. A fourth sensor alongside the standard iPhone 12 fare in the form of a LiDAR scanner makes it easier for the iPhone to work out what it’s looking at, doing a great job of detecting faces in low light situations.
