A big iPhone is out for 2021, and it comes with a different camera bump. Does this affect case sizes?
With a new large-sized iPhone out, there’s a whole heap of new cases alongside it, and for good reason: a big glass iPhone will likely want big protection, adding yet another cost if you want to protect a big new iPhone coming into your life.
If you’re considering spending the sizeable dollar figure on an iPhone 13 Pro Max, protection is likely a consideration, but also saving money, which may lead you to an obvious question: can you save some cash by using one of last year’s iPhone 12 Pro Max cases?
After all, they look the same, with a similar stainless steel edge, glass front and back, and an aesthetic that’s pretty close. Can you just save money and get a case from last year’s now replaced 12 Pro Max?
Will an iPhone 13 Pro Max case fit an iPhone 12 Pro Max?
The answer to this question is mixed. Technically, an iPhone 13 Pro Max can fit into a 12 Pro Max case, but it’s not an amazing fit, so to speak.
While Apple has moved some of the buttons ever so slightly, the cases mostly line-up. However the camera bump does get in the way, and here’s why: back in the 12 Pro Max, the camera bump was smaller than what it is on the 13 Pro Max, and so camera cut-outs on cases were also smaller.
Because of this size difference, a smaller cut out for the camera in a 12 Pro Max case means the new model, the 13 Pro Max, doesn’t have as much space to rest its bump, and means some of it may fit, but the rest might not.
We found an iPhone 13 Pro Max fit was rather snug, but a little too snug to the point where it wasn’t easy to remove the phone.
Not helping it was that the phone doesn’t entirely fit into every 12 Pro Max case thanks in part to the camera bump, so while you can technically fit the phone in, it’s not a great fit.
Worth noting is that because the fit isn’t perfect, the durability for the case may go down, as well.
Part of what gives your phone solid protection in a case is that design. When the design isn’t quite right, you might not end up with the same result from a drop or a fall. Cases may have reinforced corners or a material design made to work with how they specifically hug and hold a phone, and so while a 12 Pro Max case can technically fit the 13 Pro Max, that imperfect fit may mean your new phone isn’t as protected as you might think.
Will an iPhone 12 Pro Max fit an iPhone 13 Pro Max case?
Going the other way is a little easier, though. While iPhone 12 Pro Max protection may struggle with getting on the iPhone 13 Pro Max thanks to that enormous camera bump, a case for the 2021 phone will fit on the 2020 model.
Yes, an iPhone 13 Pro Max case fits quite nicely on the 12 Pro Max, and while the buttons don’t line-up perfectly, they’re not so far out that it’s a problem, not like it is with an iPhone 13 case on an iPhone 12.
If you have one of last year’s phones, you can actually get a case from one of this year’s models and you’ll be fine.
