During Apple’s virtual keynote on Tuesday the company officially announced its newest iPhone product line. In order of size we’re getting iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
iPhone 12 Models
All iPhone 12 models will have an OLED Super Retina XDR display, and a new tough screen using ceramic particles to resist cracks and drops, called Ceramic Shield. All will support 5G with a Smart Data mode to switch between 4G and 5G as a way to preserve battery life. Apple says it has the most 5G bands of any smartphone.
During the announcement Verizon announced the launch of its nationwide 5G network to coincide with the event.
iPhone 12 mini (5.4-in)
- Camera: Dual lens (wide angle, ultra wide) at f/1.6
- Colors: Black, white, PRODUCT (RED), blue green
- Storage: 64GB/128GB/256GB
- Price: Starts at US$699
- Preorder date: November 6
- Launch date: November 13
iPhone 12 (6.1-in)
- Camera: Dual lens (wide angle, ultra wide) at f/1.6
- Colors: Black, white, PRODUCT (RED), blue green
- Storage: 64GB/128GB/256GB
- Price: Starts at US$799
- Preorder date: October 16
- Launch date: October 23
iPhone 12 Pro (6.1-in)
- Camera: Triple lens with LiDAR, wide angle (7-elementlens), f/1.6, 52mm telephoto, 4x optical zoom
- Colors:Gold, Silver, Graphite, Pacific Blue
- Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB
- Price: Starts at US$999
- Preorder date: October 16
- Launch date: October 23
iPhone 12 Pro Max (6.7-in)
- Camera: Triple lens with LiDAR, wide angle (7-element lens), f/1.6, 65mm telephoto, 5x optical zoom
- Colors: Gold, Silver, Graphite, Pacific Blue
- Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB
- Price: Starts at US$1,099
- Preorder date: November 6
- Launch date: November 13
The new A14 Bionic chip powering these models was built on a 5nm process, featuring 11.8 billion transistors. It has a 6-core CPU, a 4-core GPU, and the Neural Engine has 16-cores that can run 11 trillion operations per second. Apple says it can run console-quality games.
Each phone’s wireless charging capabilities can use a new MagSafe technology to enable special magnetic chargers as well as accessories like a wallet attachment and a leather sleeve. Apple is also opening the magnet up for other companies like Belkin to enable a robust accessory ecosystem.
I may wait until the iPhone 14. My 7 plus still works well and should for quite a while longer.
What I am looking forward to is another AppleTV and a black Apple Pencil. May have to knuckle under on the pencil now however.
I have an iPhone X and it too still works fine. Of course I want the new 12, but a week ago we bought a new car so I may wait until early next year to get the iPhone. Also during this pandemic we are not venturing too far from home, day trips to the mountains and such, no cross country trips.
The battery in my iPad is getting where it won’t keep a charge most of the day, that may need to be replaced before my iPhone. On the other hand the iPad rarely leaves home so I could charge it every 6 hours of so.
Andrew:
I was not sure I really needed to upgrade my still highly capable iPhone X, given how well it still performs, and how many of its functions I’ve now shifted to my Apple Watch, iPad Pro and HomePods. Nothing convinced me in Apple’s event that I needed to, but man alive, do I ever want to. iPhone Pro (not Max, been there, done that), and a tossup between Graphite and Pacific Blue. Methinks the ocean beckons.
Does it still have the Lightning port?
Lee:
They’re including a lightening cable, so yes, it appears so.
Good! I was afraid that they would change connectors. Ya wanna know ho many obsolete charging cables that I have my electronic ossuary?
One shudders to think. If strung them end to end…?
I spoke too soon! The included cable is Lightning to USB-C. So the included cable won’t plug into my dozen or more chargers, it won’t plug into the USB outlets in my new car. I am going to get a proposition on the next California ballot to keep Apple from changing charging cables without a ⅔ approval of the voters.