I think I came up with a $230 difference plus another year of payments to go into the 12 as I take those 3% credits on Apple card as they come in for other things.
5G- Now that I understand it better from users who have 5G and the new 12 Pro, there is disappointment. Complains that Verizon with milimeter 5G only works in very few locations and doesn't offer reliability unless very near an antenna. T-Mobile isn't much faster than LTE from other carriers. The 12 does do fast switching as 5G signal jumps in and out but these reviews claim an 11 Pro is more reliable and faster more consistent internet streaming than the 12. A couple users were so frustrated with the 5G performance that they ended up just selecting LTE only in the menus. There was also a complaint that the battery life is much less on 5G than on an 11 with LTE or even the 12 Pro on 5G.
I look forward to how you find the 12 and 5G. with your carrier. I'm thinking 5G importance for me is a few years away and then would need a different carrier that offers the coverage and speed, with a future phone that has good battery life. I'm disappointed in what 5G offers today where I use the phone.
12 disappointment:
Aside from the LIDAR for Portrait mode, I also was interested in the 120 frame display feature that didn't happen in the 12 so it wasn't the perfect video toy to play with. I'll wait for that to be in the next version before I take a serious look at upgrading from the 11 Pro Max.
12 Pro advantage: not yet mentioned is the memory being being 6GB over 4GB. If you like lots of open apps this will help prevent loss when shooting video especially. The 11 Pro Max has had problems with dropped frames so I always had to make sure I dumped out of all apps except the camera before shooting 60 fps video. You 12 Pro Max buyers will like this, I'm sure, even though no one mentioned it. Enjoy!