A surprising discovery about the iPhone 12 Pro Max has been made, and it is not a good one for Apple's premier flagship smartphone of 2020. While the device has a telephoto camera, it actually uses digital zoom to in night mode. Seemingly, the telephoto camera is worse than the main lens at higher magnifications in low-light conditions, then.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/iPhone-12-Pro-Max-Apple-resorts-to-camera-trickery-for-zoom-shots-in-night-mode.504036.0.html
So...not surprising at all, just the same old. Since it's Apple, offering an option of forcing the 2x in night mode would, instead, be a surprise.