Fans have anticipated the iPhone 12 lineup way before the previous Apple September Event, which announced other new Apple products such as the iPad and Apple Watch series.
The wait is now over; the iPhone 12 lineup was unveiled at 1 AM (MYT) on 14 October 2020. Here's everything to know about this year's iPhone 12 series before you head out to buy them.
More: The Top 10 Smartphones You Should Get This Year
Apple HomePod Mini - Smart Speaker
Apple started the presentation with the introduction of its now 2nd-gen little smart speaker - the Apple HomePod Mini. This little monster is calibrated to sound good no matter what it's playing, especially thanks to its 360-degree design for a full surround-sound system experience.
It's powered by an Apple S5 chip that ensures seamless integration with your iPhone while providing a good smart home experience.
Features:
- Pairable with other Apple HomePod Minis
- Enhanced Siri support for Smart Home activation
- Seamless integration with iPhone
- Intercom feature - connects to other HomePod Minis for enhanced communication among family
The enhanced Siri support allows for auto-sensing and optimising of audio when your iPhone is nearby. This enhanced version of Siri is also smarter, being able to understand what song to play when you request with just a lyrics line from a song.
Built with "Deep integration" with the iPhone, you can also do most things on the HomePod Mini that a smart speaker lets you, including sending messages and using "Find my iPhone" with it.
Unique to the HomePod Mini, Apple built in a feature called Intercom.
This feature lets you connect the HomePod Mini to other HomePods in your house. So literally, you can send messages to others like a walkie-talkie, even from your connected phone in the car to your HomePods at home. And for a family setup, the speaker supports multiple voice recognition.
Pricing for this speaker starts from USD$99 (approx. RM411.15) and will be available for pre-order starting November 6, with shipping starting from November 16.
Now, we move on to the iPhone 12. But first...5G.
There will be 5G on all of the new iPhones for fast downloads, video streaming, gaming. Apple promises a stable 5G connectivity in their phones even in densely populated areas, all without sacrificing privacy and security.
Now, let's move on to the highlight of the event...
iPhone 12 & iPhone 12 Mini
The stars that we've all been waiting for - iPhone 12 & iPhone 12 Mini (see below) come with an all-new design which are powered by the A14 Bionic chipset. Both phones are made of aluminium construction with a smaller form factor.
That means Apple managed to fit large displays onto both devices, but with sizes, that's smaller than the iPhone 11. And they are all fitted together with a Super Retina XDR display that's made with a cutting-edge Ceramic Shield screen for 4x better drop performance.
The best part is, the screen is an OLED display type - also a first for iPhones aside 5G connectivity.
iPhone 12 Mini
True to the rumours that were floating around; there's now another smaller iPhone to accompany the iPhone SE - iPhone 12 Mini. It is as powerful as the iPhone 12 but with a smaller body than the iPhone 8 which only has a 4.7-inch screen. The twist is that the iPhone 12 Mini maintains a 5.4-inch screen(???).
The iPhone 12 Mini is also the smallest, lightest and fastest mini phone with 5G connectivity in the world.
Both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini share the same built-type and performance, with the exception of minor differences in the body size, screen resolution and battery life.
iPhone 12 & iPhone 12 Mini specs:
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TLDR: Faster chipset, with upgrades to camera's night mode. Both phones also have a more compact design while maintaining same screen size, and new video features
Unique to this year's iPhone lineup is Apple's new way for wireless charging - MagSafe for iPhones! The magnetic wireless-charging system can charge 2 items at once, like your iPhone and AppleWatch together at the same time.
Additional good news for everyone, especially earth-lovers: the iPhone 12 series is now 100% carbon neutral, with everything from the box to its body being 100% recyclable!
iPhone 12 Pro & iPhone 12 Pro Max
The bigger brothers to the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini are the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. These phones are made with premium materials such as having a surgical-grade stainless steel frame. And this time, they come in 4 bright finishes including a new one called "Pacific Blue".
The iPhone 12 Pros share several same features that are in the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini, but with some bigger upgrades.
iPhone 12 Pro & Pro Max specs:
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TLDR: Besides screen size and battery, the biggest upgrade for the iPhone Pro brothers are the cameras & video performance. iPhone 12 Pro Max has the best camera across all iPhone 12 models (largest sensor + best low-light performance).
There are also new features and capabilities to accompany in the camera and video department:-
Apple ProRAW
Available for iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. This feature allows for images taken on the iPhone to go through Apple's take on image-processing, all the while maintaining RAW format. Apple ProRAW is also applicable on 3rd-party camera apps.
Pro Video
This video recording feature is of 10-bit HDR which is 60x more colours than generations before. The feature is available for all the iPhone 12 phones, and are the first OLED-screen smartphone cameras to record in Dolby Vision HDR, with 4K resolution and 60fps.
Not forgetting, you can also edit the Dolby Vision videos solely on the iPhone 12 series.
LiDAR scanner
Only on the iPhone 12 Max and 12 Max Pro. This is a powerful AR scanner with improved accuracy and focusing which works for both photos and videos. It's even applicable on low-light mode! A cool feature is that it also allows for AR mapping.
iPhone 12 series - Price & Release Date:
iPhone 12 - from RM3,899; pre-order from Oct 16, available on Oct 23
iPhone 12 Mini - from RM3,399; pre-order from Nov 6, available on Nov 13
iPhone 12 Pro - from RM4,899; pre-order from Oct 16, available on Oct 23
iPhone 12 Pro Max - from RM5,299; pre-order from Nov 13, available on Nov 20
As per tradition, there will also be price fixes to the previous generation phone models:
