Introduction

Ease of Use

Rear of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro

In terms of the outer construction of the iPhone 11 Pro, size and shape hasn’t changed a huge amount from its predecessor the iPhone XS - but it is ever so slightly bigger.

The stainless steel frame has been retained, while there’s also a glass back as well as that famous “notch” at the top of the screen.

The new iPhone’s notch is much larger than those we’ve seen from many other recent Android phones, so if you like your screen unencumbered, you’re out of luck.

The screen size remains the same from its predecessor, with 5.8-inches on offer. It’s also still a super-retina OLED device with 2436 x 1125 resolution and HDR display, but the brightness has been upped a little for the iPhone 11 Pro, with 800 nits being available.

Front of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro

Apple also says that the technology has improved to make the screens more efficient and therefore have a positive impact on battery life.

Apple claims it has improved the iPhone 11 Pro to the tune of an additional four hours of life when compared to the iPhone XS, but of course this can vary depending on the intensity of the tasks you’re asking the iPhone to perform.

Apple has stuck with its Lightning charger for the iPhone 11 Pro, but it does come with a USB-C to Lightning cable in the box, which makes it more compatible with current MacBook Pros which don’t have standard USB ports.

We have been using the “gold” version of the iPhone 11 Pro, but there is also other colours available including “Space Grey”, “Silver” and “Midnight Green”. The biggest physical change you’re likely to notice from the iPhone 11 Pro’s predecessor is the lens setup on the rear of the phone.

Front of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro

There are now three lenses, with each one also appearing to be physically larger than the previous two found on the iPhone XS. Like the iPhone XS, there’s a “standard” lens which offers 26mm, plus a telephoto optic giving you 52mm - which now has a wider f/2.0 aperture.

A new introduction is the super-wide-angle “0.5x” lens, which gives you an equivalent of 13mm, with an f/2.4 aperture. These are arranged in a triangle formation on the back of the phone.

If you’ve ever used an iPhone before, you’ll be at home with the native camera app as it hasn’t changed a huge amount right from the very first iPhone. It’s a simple and straightforward app, which has been streamlined even further in some ways for the iPhone 11 series.

You can launch the camera from the lock screen by performing a long press on the camera icon on the screen. Here you’ll see that by default it launches in the standard “Photo” mode, which is probably what you’ll be using most often.

Front of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro / Camera Mode

Something to note here is that if you tap in the bottom left hand corner of the screen you’ll be able to see the images you’ve previously taken - but if you’ve opened the camera from the lock screen and the phone is still locked, you won’t be able to see any previously taken photos, just those captured in the current shooting session.

As the iPhone 11 Pro's app has been simplified a little, you’ll notice that there isn’t a huge amount of options to choose from in this main window. The first thing to take note of is the three small circles displaying “.5”, “1x” and “2” - this is how you’ll switch between the three lenses.

A fun new quirk is that when you tap between the lenses, the on-screen display will appear to zoom in and out, rather than creating a blackout as it switches between the lenses.

With that in mind, you can also pinch to zoom to choose between the different lenses, including choosing focal lengths between and beyond what the optical lengths offer.

Front of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro / Settings

At the top of the screen you’ll see there’s an option to switch on or off the flash at the top left, or an option to switch on or off “live photos” (whereby a short amount of video is recorded with each image - which you can also use for other effects, too) - on the top right. 

Other options which were more prominently displayed have been hidden away to give an overall cleaner interface - but you can access them again by tapping the arrow at the top of the screen.

Once you’ve done that you’ll find an array of extra options, including further flash settings, further Live Auto settings, the option to adjust aspect ratio (plus there is a new setting available here, giving you the choice of shooting in 16:9), timer settings and access to digital filters. If Night Mode is activated, you’ll also find additional Night Mode options in this space too.

Moving to the left and right of the main Photo window, there are a range of other shooting modes which you can take advantage of. To the left is Video, Slo-Mo and Time-Lapse, while to the right is Portrait and Pano.

Rear of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro

Video recording is available up to 4k at 60fps, although frustratingly to choose between the different resolutions and frame rates you have to head into the iPhone 11 Pro’s main menu, rather than adjust it directly from the app itself. Slo-Mo and Time-Lapse are fairly explanatory modes, and again you can change the resolution of Slo-Mo from the main menu.

Portrait mode is something we’ve seen on the last few iPhones, it allows you to create a shallow depth of field effect. Although it’s called Portrait you can use it with other subjects, with particular optimisation for certain subjects such as pets.

You’ll need to be a certain distance away from the subject in order for it to be activated, but it’ll indicate on screen if you’re too close to the subject.

By default, the Portrait mode will shoot with the standard “Natural Light” effect, but there’s a range of other “lighting effects” you can also use, including “Contour Light”, “Stage Light Mono” and the new “High-Ket Light Mono”. You can alter the portrait effect in editing afterwards, by reducing or increasing the amount of blur, as well as choosing a different lighting effect.

Rear of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro

You’ll notice that there is no “Night mode” that you can actively choose. Instead, this mode automatically activates if the iPhone 11 Pro detects that there is not much light available in the scene.

It works by shooting a series of short exposures then blending them all together for the effect of a longer exposure. We have seen similar shooting modes before from other manufacturers, including Huawei with its own night mode, and Google with the “Night Sight” mode found on the Pixel phones.

Although automatically activated, you can take a little extra control of it if you wish - tap the night mode icon when it’s in use and you can reduce the amount of seconds it shoots for if you prefer. Disappointingly, night mode can only be used with the telephoto or standard lens, and not the super-wide-angle.

If you’ve ever used an iPhone before, you won’t be surprised to learn that there’s no manual, advanced or pro modes with the iPhone 11 Pro.

If you’re somebody who’s coming from an Android phone it can be frustrating to be so limited, but if you crave additional control, there are plenty of more advanced third-party apps which can be downloaded.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 12 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

With the latest iPhone we have the best-ever image quality from an iPhone to date. What’s particularly impressive is how well colours, tone and dynamic range are matched across the three lenses - having used an extensive array of other double and triple-lens phones in recent years, this is definitely something the iPhone 11 Pro has over others on the market.

Although we’re only working with a 12 megapixel sensor here (x3), details are very well reproduced, especially on the beautiful iPhone 11 Pro screen. If you have hopes to print out your iPhone shots at the size of a billboard, then you may be left disappointed, but otherwise this amount of pixels is more than enough for every day use.

We’ve been waiting a while for Apple to implement a super-wide-angle camera, plus a night mode. Happily, both have been done very well - but it’s a shame you can’t use them together. Overall, the super-wide-angle delivers images which keeps distortion to a minimum making it very handy for capturing landscapes, architectural detail and other subjects where 26mm just isn’t quite wide enough.

Night mode works very well, but we would perhaps like to see it being available as a standalone mode that you can select, while comparing like-for-like shots reveals that the Huawei P30 Pro just about captures more detail than the iPhone 11 Pro.

The 2x telephoto lens is something we’ve seen since the iPhone 7. While others have gone for 3x or 5x lenses, having 2x can sometimes feel a little, well, short-sighted, but it’s a practical choice that gets you just close enough in most situations. Perhaps one day we’ll have an iPhone with four lenses to incorporate an even longer focal length.

That aside, it performs well, with a new wider of f/2.0 meaning it also puts in a better performance when shooting in lower light conditions - as well as when Night Mode is activated.

Focal Lengths

Super-wide-angle Lens

Standard Lens

Telephoto Lens

Macro

The Apple iPhone 11 Pro will focus accurately for close-up shots down to around 10cm from your subject.

Night

The following long exposure photo was taken at ISO 1250 for 1/2 second.

Flash

Rear Camera - Flash Off

Rear Camera - Flash On

Selfie Camera - No Flash

Selfie Camera - Flash On

Super-wide-angle Lens - No Flash

Super-wide-angle Lens - Flash

Standard Lens - No Flash

Standard Lens - Flash

Telephoto Lens - No Flash

Telephoto Lens - Flash

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Apple iPhone 11 Pro camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movies & Video

Product Images

Conclusion

Time was that the Apple iPhone was the go-to name for those who wanted a smartphone with impressive camera prowess. Over the past few years, other manufacturers have stepped up to the plate and offered ever-more impressive camera capabilities.

However, here we have the best-ever image quality from an iPhone. The iPhone 11 Pro is capable of producing fantastic images, across all three of its lenses with great colours, excellent dynamic range and excellent low-light capabilities thanks to the introduction of the long-awaited night mode.

If you already have an iPhone and are thinking of upgrading because of the camera, this is a worthy upgrade - even if you’re using something as recent as the iPhone XS, but, this being Apple it does come at an obviously large price premium.

For advanced photographers who want flexibility, the fact that the iPhone 11 Pro has a very simple and straightforward camera app might be off-putting, while to beginners who just want to take great shots, it’ll be appealing.

Your feelings on whether or not you’d like to buy an iPhone might have nothing to do with the camera set up - you might be invested in the Apple ecosystem, prefer the look and usability of iOS or have concerns about the security of Android systems.

However, if the quality of the onboard camera is at the top of your considerations, then there is an awful lot to like about the iPhone 11 Pro. The biggest question is whether it outperforms the likes of the Huawei P30 Pro or the Samsung Galaxy S10+. The simple is, yes in terms of a uniform look and feel across its three lenses, but otherwise the quality is a very close run thing.

If you have a particular penchant for Apple and have the funds to go for an iPhone 11 Pro, then you won’t be disappointed with the quality of the camera onboard, but if you’re less bothered about iOS, or you want to save money, then our top recommendation at this point in time would still be the Huawei P30 Pro, which puts in a very similar performance with extra flexibility for a much cheaper price.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	5
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	3.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro from around the web.

Specifications

News

The Apple iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max feature a stunning pro display, A13 bionic, cutting-edge Pro camera System and the longest battery life ever in iPhone.

iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max will be available in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB models in midnight green, space grey, silver and gold starting at £1,049 and £1,149, respectively.

Apple UK Press Release

iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max: the most powerful and advanced smartphones 

Cupertino, California — Apple today announced iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, a new pro line for iPhone that delivers advanced performance for users who want the very best smartphone. The new Super Retina XDR display is a pro display with the brightest display ever in an iPhone. The powerful Apple-designed A13 Bionic chip provides unparalleled performance for every task while enabling an unprecedented leap in battery life to easily get through the day. A new triple-camera system provides a pro-level camera experience with an Ultra Wide, Wide and Telephoto camera, delivering huge improvements to low-light photography and offering the highest quality video in a smartphone that is great for shooting action videos. 

iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max come in four gorgeous finishes including a beautiful new midnight green, and will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, September 13 and in stores beginning Friday, September 20. 

“iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are the most powerful and advanced smartphones we have ever made. They are packed with sophisticated technology that pros can count on to get their work done, and for anyone who wants the very best device made, even if they are not a pro,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone 11 Pro has the first triple-camera system in iPhone and is far and away the best camera we’ve ever made, it provides our customers with great range of creative control and advanced photo and video editing features in iOS 13. The Super Retina XDR is the brightest and most advanced display in iPhone and the A13 Bionic chip sets a new bar for smartphone performance and power efficiency.”

Pro Design and Display

iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max have a textured matte glass back and polished stainless steel band, and come in four stunning finishes including a beautiful new midnight green. The most powerful devices are also designed to be durable — iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max feature the toughest glass ever in a smartphone and are rated IP68 for water resistance up to 4 meters for up to 30 minutes, and are protected against everyday spills including coffee and soda.1

The new Super Retina XDR display, a custom-designed OLED, provides users an immersive HDR viewing experience for movies and other high-definition video with up to 1,200 nits brightness. Super Retina XDR features wide colour support with system-wide colour management and True Tone to offer a more natural viewing experience. With a 2 million-to-one contrast ratio with true blacks, pro users can enjoy a more vivid viewing experience for HDR videos and photos, and the Super Retina XDR display is even more power efficient. Customers can interact with their favourite apps in a quick, seamless way with Haptic Touch deeply integrated across iOS 13 to provide app shortcuts for everyday tasks right from the Home screen, including taking a selfie in Camera, checking an appointment in Calendar or previewing email within Mail with just a simple press.

Fastest Performance with the Best Battery Life

A13 Bionic, the fastest chip ever in a smartphone, provides unparalleled performance for every task iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max handle and features up to 20 percent faster CPU and GPU than A12. A13 Bionic is built for machine learning, with a faster Neural Engine for real-time photo and video analysis, and new Machine Learning Accelerators that allow the CPU to deliver more than 1 trillion operations per second. Together, A13 Bionic and iOS 13 make up the best machine learning platform in a smartphone.

All of this compute, graphics and ML performance is delivered while still enabling an unprecedented leap in battery life, with iPhone 11 Pro offering up to four more hours of battery life in a day than iPhone Xs, and iPhone 11 Pro Max offering up to five hours more than iPhone Xs Max.

A Pro Camera System for Everyone

iPhone 11 Pro introduces a transformative triple-camera system with all-new Ultra Wide, Wide and Telephoto cameras, deeply integrated into iOS to create a pro-level camera experience designed for everyone.

iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max set a new standard in video, with the highest quality video ever in a smartphone. Each camera in the triple-camera system records brilliant 4K video with extended dynamic range and cinematic video stabilisation. With a wider field of view and large focal plane, the Ultra Wide camera is great for shooting action videos. Users can easily zoom between each of the three cameras, while Audio Zoom matches the audio to the video framing for more dynamic sound. With iOS 13, powerful video editing tools are accessible to everyone with the ability to rotate, crop, increase exposure and apply filters to videos instantly. These adjustments are easy to apply and review at a glance, so even a novice can create professional quality video projects.

With the tight integration between hardware and software, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max take the traditional camera experience even further in a way only Apple can. The all-new Ultra Wide camera fundamentally changes the camera experience by capturing four times more scene, great for taking landscape or architecture photos, tight shots and more. The new Wide sensor with 100 percent Focus Pixels and advanced software enables Night mode, and delivers huge improvements to photos shot in indoor and outdoor low-light environments, resulting in brighter images with natural colours and reduced noise. 

The triple-camera system takes Portrait mode to a new level with the ability to choose Wide and Telephoto framing, enabling Portrait mode with a wider field of view, great for taking portraits of multiple people. The Telephoto camera features a larger ƒ/2.0 aperture to capture 40 percent more light compared to iPhone Xs for better photos and videos.

Next-generation Smart HDR uses advanced machine learning to recognise subjects in the frame and intelligently relight them for more natural-looking images with greater detail. A new True Tone flash is over 30 percent brighter. Deep Fusion, coming later this fall, is a new image processing system enabled by the Neural Engine of A13 Bionic. Deep Fusion uses advanced machine learning to do pixel-by-pixel processing of photos, optimising for texture, details and noise in every part of the photo. 

A redesigned camera interface provides a more immersive experience that works together with the triple-camera system and all-screen display to let users see and capture the area outside of the frame. For the first time, users can easily record video without switching out of Photo mode with QuickTake by simply holding the shutter button to start recording.

The new TrueDepth camera introduces a new 12MP camera with a wider field of view to capture selfies, and next-generation Smart HDR enables more natural-looking photos. Expressive selfie videos take on a whole new look with the TrueDepth camera that now records 4K video at up to 60 fps and 120 fps slo-mo.

Additional Features

The new Apple-designed U1 chip uses Ultra Wideband technology, the first ever in a smartphone, for spatial awareness. With iOS 13.1 coming on September 30, AirDrop gets even better with directionally aware suggestions.

Face ID, the most secure facial authentication in a smartphone, gets up to 30 percent faster and easier to use with improved performance at varying distances and support for more angles.

Spatial audio provides an immersive surround sound experience and Dolby Atmos delivers powerful, moving audio to iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Gigabit-class LTE up to 1.6Gbps and Wi-Fi 6 allow for even faster download speeds2 and Dual SIM with eSIM.3

Featuring iOS 13

iOS 13 on iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max delivers a seamless experience with software and hardware integration unlike any other smartphone. iOS 13 introduces a dramatic new look with Dark Mode, a more private way to sign in to apps and websites with Sign In with Apple, and an all-new Maps experience.4 

With advanced Camera and Photos features, photo editing is more comprehensive and intuitive with powerful new tools that now extend to video editing. Portrait Lighting adjustments can be made right in the Camera app to adjust the intensity of light on a subject, and a new High-Key Mono effect creates a beautiful, monochromatic look for Portrait mode photos.

Pricing and Availability

iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max will be available in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB models in midnight green, space grey, silver and gold starting at £1,049 and £1,149, respectively. Customers can also get iPhone 11 Pro for £30.99 a month5 or £759 with trade-in6 and iPhone 11 Pro Max for £34.99 a month or £859 with trade-in from apple.com/uk, in the Apple Store app and Apple Stores. iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are also available through Apple Authorised Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).

Customers in more than 30 other countries and regions will be able to pre-order iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on Friday, September 13 with availability beginning Friday, September 20.

Through Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Programme, customers in the UK can get iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max with the protection of AppleCare+, choose their carrier and have the opportunity to upgrade to a new iPhone every year. The iPhone Upgrade Programme is available at Apple Stores starting at £58.95 with 0 percent interest.

iOS 13 will be available on September 19 as a free software update for iPhone 6s and later. Additional software features will be available on September 30 with iOS 13.1.6

Apple Arcade on the App Store will be available with iOS 13 as a subscription for £4.99 per month and is launching with a one-month free trial.7 Users get unlimited access to the entire catalogue of over 100 new, exclusive games, all playable across iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Apple TV.

Apple TV+ will be available on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac and other platforms, including online (tv.apple.com), for £4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. Starting today, customers who purchase any iPhone can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ for free.8

Apple Arcade on the App Store and Apple TV+ on the Apple TV app join Apple’s breakthrough services that include Apple Music, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud.

Every customer who buys iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max from Apple will be offered free Personal Setup in-store or online to help customise their iPhone by helping transfer their data, wiping data from an old device, setting up email, highlighting new apps from the App Store and more.

Customers can extend their limited warranty with AppleCare+ and get 24/7 priority access to technical support.

Customers interested in learning more about iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro can join one of Apple’s new Today at Apple sessions, Quick Tips. Quick Tips are 15-minute drop-in sessions focused on some of the most popular features of iPhone, like photography. The new Quick Tip sessions begin Friday, September 20.

Apple revolutionised personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

1 iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are splash-, water- and dust-resistant, and were tested under controlled laboratory conditions with a rating of IP68 under IEC standard 60529 (maximum depth of 4 meters up to 30 minutes). Splash, water and dust resistance are not permanent conditions, and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone; refer to the user guide for cleaning and drying instructions. Liquid damage not covered under warranty.

2 Speeds vary based on site conditions and carrier. For details on LTE support, contact your carrier and see apple.com/uk/iphone/LTE.

3 Use of Dual SIM requires two wireless service plans (which may include restrictions on roaming). Certain restrictions apply to use.

4 The new map is available now in select cities and states, and will roll out across the US by the end of 2019 and to more countries in 2020.

5 Monthly pricing is available to qualified customers. Last instalment payment may be less depending on remaining balance. Full terms apply.

6 Trade-in values vary. iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max promotional pricing is after trade-in of iPhone X in good condition. Additional trade-in values require purchase of a new iPhone, subject to availability and limits. Sales tax may be assessed on full value of new iPhone. You must be 18 years old. Offer may not be available in all countries. In-store trade-in requires presentation of a valid, government-issued photo ID (local law may require saving this information). Additional terms from Apple or Apple’s trade-in partners may apply.

7 For more information, visit apple.com/uk/ios/ios-13. Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages.

8 £4.99 per month after free trial. No commitment. Plan automatically renews after trial until cancelled.

9 £4.99 per month after free trial. One subscription per Family Sharing group. Offer good for three months after eligible device activation, starting November 1, 2019. Plan automatically renews until cancelled. Restrictions and other terms apply.

Preview Images

Ahead of our full review, here are some sample photos and videos taken with the new Apple iPhone 11 Pro smartphone.

A gallery of sample photos and videos taken with the Apple iPhone 11 Pro smartphone.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Sample Images

Sample Movie & Video

Your Comments