The iPhone 13 is right around the corner, and I can’t wait. When the iPhone 12 Pro details were leaking out last year, I grew excited. The new form factor, 5G (although I wasn’t that excited for it), and more coming had me more excited than I had been for an iPhone in a while. But, after almost a year of using my iPhone 12, that initial hype over the redesign has fallen by the wayside. While I still like my iPhone 12 Pro, I have run into more things that I don’t like about it than any iPhone before.

I’m ready to dump my iPhone 12 Pro for a new iPhone 13 right away.

iPhone 12 Pro Battery Life is Lacking

It’s hard to remember what battery life was like before the iPhone 12. I felt like my iPhone 11 Pro Max would last the entire day. I never had to worry about the battery running out. After Apple announced the battery life of the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro, I knew things wouldn’t be the same, but I was hopeful that it could still last most of the day. Matters weren’t helped by the fact that I downsized from the Max model to the standard iPhone size.

But I don’t feel like the battery life of this generation of iPhone was up to snuff.

I found that my iPhone 12 Pro couldn’t last day, even when I was on wifi. In the last couple of months especially, I would have to charge my phone around 2 or 3 pm consistently. I have to be next to a wall plug or a battery every day.

Since the phone doesn’t last the entire day, I’m having to charge more which also affecting the health of the battery inside. If I remember correctly, when I upgraded to the iPhone 12 Pro, the battery health on my iPhone 11 Pro Max had been 97%. I even had that phone longer since the iPhone 12 launch had been delayed last year. The current battery life of my iPhone 12 Pro sits at 95%.

Luckily, Apple is looking to remedy that with the next iPhone, which is set to launch next month. A research note says that Apple is planning to use bigger batteries in the next version as well as shrinking the internal chips to allow more space for a battery.

I like the size of my current phone. I’m not looking to go back to the Max size just yet, but I do miss the battery life, just not the cost of that larger device.

5G Only Works Sometimes

I’m not really sure if this next one is my network or my iPhone, but the 5G experience hasn’t been that great. While I do get 5G in my house and at work, there have been many times when my iPhone reports full signal, but nothing works off of wifi. It’s almost like everything just gets stuck and nothing gets through. I have tried turning the 5G antenna, turning off cellular, and turning everything back on again. The phone will report a full signal, but still, nothing works. The only way to get cellular data to work is to reboot the iPhone.

My wife has a similar problem with her iPhone 12 Pro as well, but rebooting didn’t solve her issue either. We had to erase all network settings and reboot to get anything to work again. For a connected world, and as much as we are paying for these devices, you’d think that things like this would work.

Once again, I can’t remember a time when my iPhone wouldn’t really work. I expect the next iPhone to have a better antenna, and hopefully, all those issues will be resolved.

MagSafe

The biggest surprise of last year’s iPhone announcements to me felt like MagSafe. I felt like MagSafe was going to be such a cool addition to the iPhone, allowing users to customize their phone with cases, chargers, wallets, and more.

But there really hasn’t been anything that great coming to MagSafe.

Certified MagSafe chargers are few and far between and not much else has come to the system. The magnets on the phone feel weaker than I was expecting. I don’t think I would even trust a strap or Popsocket to hold onto the phone.

I still like the idea of the system. I hope that Apple continues to support the technology, I can’t really see them dropping it, but I wish they would open it up to other companies without trying to profit from it. Don’t hold back the technology companies for money when you have so much in the bank already. Get your technology out into the hands of the people!

So What do I Want In The Next iPhone

I really like the form-factor of the iPhone 12. I don’t really want much to change, but I wouldn’t mind a thicker phone if the battery is much better. I want a tank of a battery that will last all day. With the better battery, I wouldn’t mind getting the ProMotion display refresh rate on the iPhone. Andriod phones are bumping up the standard refresh rate to 90 or 120 Frames per second. This is what makes the iPad Pro such a smooth device. Adding it to the iPhone would be great, but letting the screen refresh like that is a drain on the battery. So Apple really needs to improve the battery if it ever wants to increase the refresh rate.

I want my signal to be strong as well. I didn’t mind the LTE speeds, and 5G is much faster when it works, but I don’t really want to have to reset my phone because nothing is working. Just get everything ironed out.

The cameras on the iPhone have been great. I’ve loved taking pictures of my infant at home, and the videos are outstanding as well. So I’m satisfied with that, but better cameras and video are always a plus for me.

I’d love to see more MagSafe accessories come out as well. I’d love more charging options and cool things I can snap on the back of my phone and pop off when I don’t need it.

And finally, I’d love to see more colors.

Did you get an iPhone 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max? How do you feel about it now, almost a year removed? Let me know in the comments.