switching to iPhone 12 mini ft. Peter McKinnon By Jonathan Morrison

- Hey, just a couple of quick thoughts here for you with regards to the iPhone mini, the 12 mini. The phone that long story short I've actually decided to use as the daily driver. Coming from the Pro Max, which I decided yesterday that was gonna be my daily driver and then today I changed my mind because there's just something special about the mini. It's so small and perfect in your hands and feels so good. (soft music) - Yo, Jonathan here, much like Peter I've also switched to the iPhone 12 mini. For me, it's been over two weeks to the point where not that it feels big but it feels normal, if that makes sense.

And outside of battery life, which I will definitely address, I've enjoyed pretty much everything about this switch. So backstory I'm coming from the iPhone 11 Pro Max and admittedly, it took me way too long to switch over. I knew in my heart, even as much as that bigger sensor appealed to me that the 12 Pro Max was out. - 'Cause it's like the Pro Max is a step away from the few notches away from iPad. - So that was from a chat with GaTa from one of my favorite shows, "Dave" just a real laid back conversation about that tech life.

And if you wanna check out that full video I'll drop a link to that down below, but I knew it was either down to the 12 mini or the regular 12 Pro. Ultimately I knew I wanted a smaller phone. Something more compact and lightweight than the 11 Pro Max and the 12 Pro check that box. I could honestly live without the telephoto lens but there were two really tempting things like ProRaw and LiDAR. Ultimately though, at the end of it something about the 12 mini just kind of called my name.

Now parallel to switching to the 12 mini that kinda propelled me into wanting to simplify my entire setup. So I've ditched my Mac Pro, iMac, 16-inch MacBook Pro and opted for a 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro, went iPad Air instead of Pro. And honestly, this has been one of my favorite setups of all time. Part of the reason of wanting to switch to the 12 mini was to use the phone more as a phone. And then when I needed more creative or bigger tasks I would hop onto the iPad or MacBook Pro.

This video that you're watching right now was edited on that 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro. So if you want to see a video on that switch and that set up, drop a like down below. But kind of reverting back to the 12 mini, even though the intent was to use it more as a phone only for the size, it packs a ton of punch. I much prefer the ultra wide angle lens over telephotos. So having that on 12 mini with the inclusion of night mode is actually an upgrade over the 11 Pro Max.

For me, is weird as that sounds. Yes, it is a smaller phone, but I think the magic here is that essentially the size of an iPhone 8 with much more screenless state. And it's actually the most pixel dense out of the 12 lineup. On top of that, you get the LED panel with the same peak brightness as its bigger brothers. And as much as I enjoy watching and consuming HDR content, I've thoroughly enjoyed shoot in it as well.

I just want to break down of why I think Dolby Vision is a big deal. Definitely check out my 12 Pro review. But as far as a single piece of content, something that I made, where I could show you as opposed to just tell you, this was it. ♪ I've been pushing daisies ♪ ♪ Ever since I was 18 ♪ ♪ Everybody wants us dead or alive ♪ ♪ The fucking kids aren't alright ♪ ♪ They're calling us crazy ♪ ♪ Hollywood's burning, baby ♪ ♪ Everyone's busy picking a side ♪ ♪ While all the kids aren't all right this time ♪ That was shot in Dolby Vision on the iPhone 12 mini. I'll drop a link to that full HDR video down below, but within that, there's actually a direct download or you can view that in its native Dolby Vision format.

The comments within that video kind of spoke for themselves where people really, truly hadn't never seen Dolby Vision or HDR, but once you do, it's a different ball game. That right there is really a lot of the magic for me. I can shoot something like that on a phone this small. Speaking of Dolby Vision, this 55-inch beauty behind me is part of Vizio is brand new M-Series lineup and big thanks to them for not only sponsoring today's video but keeping things warm and toasty. So the more and more I shoot in Dolby Vision and HDR the more and more I want to watch everything in that format.

The problem is though, normally you got to drop a ton of cash to get a good panel to take advantage of that. Whereas with this, it is hands down one of the brightest panels I've come across for the price. On top of Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+ it of course is also 4K so does the perfect amount of crisp. Pack inside is their brand new IQ Active processor, which is gonna help with things like image quality upscaling but also how quickly you navigate through the UI. And on top of that also gaming.

You have HDMI 2.1 support up to 4K 60Hz. What's really nice is you have a variable refresh rate with AMD FreeSync just in case cyberpunk is giving you problems. But what I really love about this is Vizio just wants to play ball. Obviously there's a handful of apps and streaming services within the TV, but they wanna hang out with everybody. You have support for Alexa, Chromecast, HomeKit, AirPlay.

Vizio is just like, yo, we can all hang out together. That's thanks in part to Vizio SmartCast. So as far as a feature set goes, this thing is packed. When you pair it with that beautiful image and the price it is hard to find a better option. If you're interested in learning more, I will drop that link down below.

So diving back into the 12 mini, there was something about it that just felt new and fresh. - I'd been driving sedans and cars and SUV's here and there my whole life. It wasn't until I started driving a pickup truck that driving, it felt like it became fun again. The same mundane things I've been doing all day the same vehicles, the same roads, the same stoplights and turns and intersections that I've been going through my whole life, we're just a little more fresh. They were new, there was something different to it when I was going through those roads and turns with a truck.

And ever since then, I've enjoyed the process of driving more so, the same thing has kind of happened with the iPhone mini. I've been so used to using a large screen phone for so many years now, having a giant phone in my back pocket. And it just became what I was used to. I forgot entirely what it was like to have something that wasn't a giant phone. So when you pick up the mini and you put your information on it and you start using it and you see your photos and how kind of cute and small it is, you start to get back to like enjoying using the phone again.

Because it feels new, it feels different. It feels like a new experience altogether that I haven't had in a long time, because I've been used to those massive screens. - Now, as much as I've loved the phone, I will say the battery life is definitely just okay. It's not iPhone SE 2020 batt, but it's definitely the worst out of the 12 lineup. Hopefully with the next iteration of the mini iPhone, we get better battery life.

We get things to kind of trickle down from previous phones like LiDAR. If those features are really important to you the 12 mini might not be the phone for you. But if they're less important and you're more interested in the small phone factor with most of the flagship features the 12 mini has been a really refreshing experience. - That's the reason I decided to go back to the mini because it's kind of fun again, for me. It's interesting to use a device that's seemingly in the opposite direction of everything I've been doing for the last however many years.

And the wallet fits on the back perfectly. It's just such a great size. More and more going into the future, I'm just trying to pare down everything that I have on me. I'm trying to carry less, just have less, have less around me and also use my phone less. I watched a lot of videos on it and YouTube videos, obviously and TV shows and Netflix and stuff like that.

I'm also on my phone a lot, social media obviously posting photos on Instagram all the time. There's a little bit of a problem. Admittedly it make my screen time is more than I'd like to admit. So I'm thinking that mini might also act as a means to reduce that screen time and keep me off the phone. Maybe implementing some more of strategized ways to ingest media, instead of just constantly having a giant screen where I'm doing it all the time without thinking, maybe it'll be a little more controlled with the smaller phone.

Maybe we'll all make a tally and see how long Peter McKinnon lasts with the little baby phone. It's a nice phone. It's like a kid's phone, but it's a nice phone. What phone would you use? (upbeat music).

Source : Jonathan Morrison