Apple finally enters 5G - iPhone 12 + homePod mini announcement

[williamcll]

Available October 23 

 

Quote

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini introduce a beautiful new design packed with innovative features, including A14 Bionic, an advanced dual-camera system, and a Super Retina XDR display with the Ceramic Shield front cover. iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini will be available in five beautiful aluminum finishes, including blue, green, black, white, and (PRODUCT)RED.1 Pre-orders for iPhone 12 begin Friday, October 16, with availability beginning Friday, October 23. iPhone 12 mini will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, November 6, and in stores beginning Friday, November 13.

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini deliver powerful computational photography features enabled by A14 Bionic and a new dual-camera system, bringing an unparalleled camera experience that makes it easier than ever to intuitively capture the perfect photograph or video. This advanced camera system features the Ultra Wide camera and a new Wide camera with an ƒ/1.6 aperture, the fastest yet on iPhone, providing 27 percent more light for even more amazing low-light photos and videos. Computational photography is taken to the next level on iPhone 12 models with Night mode and faster-performing Deep Fusion now on all cameras — TrueDepth, Wide, and Ultra Wide — for improved photos in any environment. Customers will experience brighter pictures and better contrast for photos shot in low-light settings with Night mode, and more texture and less noise in Deep Fusion photos. Smart HDR 3 uses ML to intelligently adjust the white balance, contrast, texture, and saturation of a photo for remarkably natural-looking images.

MagSafe improves wireless charging for a better, more efficient experience, and introduces an ecosystem of easy-to-attach accessories that beautifully complement iPhone 12 models.7 MagSafe delivers a unique experience to iPhone, featuring an array of magnets around the wireless charging coil, optimized for alignment and efficiency, that perfectly connects to iPhone every time. MagSafe chargers efficiently provide up to 15W of power, while still accommodating existing Qi-enabled devices. Charging solutions include the MagSafe Charger and MagSafe Duo Charger for use with iPhone and Apple Watch, as well as new silicone, leather, and clear cases that easily snap onto the back of iPhone, and a leather wallet. Customers can also expect innovative MagSafe accessories from third-party manufacturers.

At the same time, they've also introduced a new homepod:

Quote

HomePod mini offers a great music listening experience, an intelligent assistant, and smart home capabilities, with built-in privacy and security, in a beautiful compact design. HomePod mini is designed to work with Apple Music, podcasts, radio stations from iHeartRadio, radio.com, and TuneIn, and in the coming months, popular music services including Pandora and Amazon Music. Multiple HomePod mini speakers work together to stream music or podcasts to multiple rooms, all in perfect sync. By placing two HomePod mini speakers in a single room, a stereo pair can be created for a wide soundstage, filling the space with rich, enveloping sound.

HomePod mini delivers an incredibly rich and detailed acoustic experience, using computational audio to deliver peak performance. To achieve big sound out of such a compact design, the Apple S5 chip in HomePod mini works with advanced software to analyze the unique characteristics of the music and apply complex tuning models to optimize loudness, adjust the dynamic range, and control the movement of the driver and passive radiators in real time. The Apple-engineered full-range driver, powered by a neodymium magnet and a pair of force-cancelling passive radiators, enables deep bass and crisp high frequencies.

Source: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/10/apple-announces-iphone-12-and-iphone-12-mini-a-new-era-for-iphone-with-5g/

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/10/apple-introduces-homepod-mini-a-powerful-smart-speaker-with-amazing-sound/
https://www.apple.com/iphone-12-pro/
https://www.apple.com/iphone-12/
https://www.apple.com/homepod-mini/

Thoughts: I do like the iPhone 4 style sharper edges compared to the usual rounded corners. The return of the magsafe is a nice touch, but the 1099$ tag is still rather expensive. 

 

[Noah0302]

No high refresh screen, I think my 3 year old iPhone X will have to do another year...

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

I usually like Apple events, but that event was a fucking mess. Apparently the entire event got leaked before it was over too (as in the entire video stream)...

 

I guess maybe it's because we knew most of what was coming before it came, but like the only thing exciting that came from the event was the fact that the iPhone XR is $499 now.

[PCGuy_5960]

One day, Apple will finally use USB-C on iPhone. Today is not that day.

[Lord Vile]

So they essentially making android cameras a laughing stock...

[Nowak]

1 minute ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

One day, Apple will finally use USB-C on iPhone. Today is not that day.

But they included a Lightning to USB-C cable! So you can plug it into the charging brick you already got!

...that has a USB-A port on it, meaning you can't actually use it. Oops.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

1 minute ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

One day, Apple will finally use USB-C on iPhone. Today is not that day.

Apparently they're gonna go portless on the iPhone before they put USB-C. Apple makes too much money off of MFi certification to give it up I guess. They must be transitioning that MFi certification from cables to MagSafe accessories.

[Entropy.]

Rather disappointing launch IMO, But I can't say It wasn't expected. I Did it Ma! I got 5g!  

[PCGuy_5960]

4 minutes ago, Noah0302 said:

No high refresh screen, I think my 3 year old iPhone X will have to do another year...

120Hz would have been far more interesting that Dolby HDR video or whatever TBH.

Just now, Lord Vile said:

So they essentially making android cameras a laughing stock...

Video wise? iPhone has always been better. Camera wise, we'll see, a lot of Android manufacturers are focusing much more on their cameras.

[rawrdaysgoby]

The mag Safe is Nice. The looks are going to carry this version's sales.... I will wait until next year to get the mini iphone 12....

 

They made such a useless big deal out of 5g... Everything else was MEH. 

[handymanshandle]

"iPhone 12 starting at $699" and not specific which version... 

 

 

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

1 minute ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Rather disappointing launch IMO, But I can't say It wasn't expected. I Did it Ma! I got 5g!  

It was a Verizon event with a phone launch in it.

 

It's so sad because WWDC 2020 was such an amazing event and I had such high hopes for the iPhone event. Turns out the only person at Apple with charisma is literally just Craig...

[HenrySalayne]

What the ****? "The new iPhone with 5G will save lives because it only take mere seconds to donwload a CAT scan." - What is wrong with the US health care system? Are they seriously using an iPhone to view CAT scans? And why is Apple trying really hard to look like a cool and innovative start-up company (spoiler: they are not)?

 

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

1 minute ago, HenrySalayne said:

What the ****? "The new iPhone with 5G will save lives because it only take mere seconds to donwload a CAT scan." - What is wrong with the US health care system? Are they seriously using an iPhone to view CAT scans? And why is Apple trying really hard to look like a cool and innovative start-up company (spoiler: they are not)?

 

I think they were merely just talking about the possible uses of 5G in any product, not just an iPhone.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

One day, Apple will finally use USB-C on iPhone. Today is not that day.

Wireless >>> USB-C.

 

[handymanshandle]

also has anyone else not noted how it sounds like all Apple is including in the box aside from the phone will be the cable?

 

and not just a standard cable...

a cable that ends in Type-C.

Not everyone has Type-C Plugs in and around their house.

[Guest willies leg]

Don't like all the proprietary image and video formats.

Their ecosystem is a mess.

[RejZoR]

Generally iPhone 12 is an impressive device and I'm not going to nitpick about things. But I don't like two things. Lack of charger and inclusion of pointless USB-C to Lightning cable. Come on, only device in my entire household that even has USB-C port is my PC with USB-C port on the case. Everything else has USB-A. Laptops, PC, all the chargers, USB ports in all the cars. Removing charger under pretense of ecology is really shitty. Second thing that I don't like is this obsession with sticking magnets everywhere. And they are always those super strong ones. God forbid you have steel/iron particles around you coz they'll be grabbing on to your phone. Not to mention all these magnets are a nightmare if you're wearing mechanical watches because it fucks up the heart of the watch. I know it's expected everyone's going to use Apple Watch with it, but come on.

[handymanshandle]

2 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

Generally iPhone 12 is an impressive device and I'm not going to nitpick about things. But I don't like two things. Lack of charger and inclusion of pointless USB-C to Lightning cable. Come on, only device in my entire household that even has USB-C port is my PC with USB-C port on the case. Everything else has USB-A. Laptops, PC, all the chargers, USB ports in all the cars. Removing charger under pretense of ecology is really shitty. Second thing that I don't like is this obsession with sticking magnets everywhere. And they are always those super strong ones. God forbid you have steel/iron particles around you coz they'll be grabbing on to your phone. Not to mention all these magnets are a nightmare if you're wearing mechanical watches because it fucks up the heart of the watch. I know it's expected everyone's going to use Apple Watch with it, but come on.

That’s the funny thing to me is that like more packaging and shipping needs to be made now  because not everyone has a type a lightning cable and not everyone has a type-c wall plug. So it’s like why not just include it in the box? Less packaging and if the customer doesn’t need it then how about have a free service to return that unneeded accessory 

[Roswell]

22 minutes ago, HenrySalayne said:

What the ****? "The new iPhone with 5G will save lives because it only take mere seconds to donwload a CAT scan." - What is wrong with the US health care system? Are they seriously using an iPhone to view CAT scans? And why is Apple trying really hard to look like a cool and innovative start-up company (spoiler: they are not)?

 

In an emergency setting the people looking at your scans usually aren’t in the hospital. They could be anywhere since they’re on call, leading their lives and such.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

13 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

Generally iPhone 12 is an impressive device and I'm not going to nitpick about things. But I don't like two things. Lack of charger and inclusion of pointless USB-C to Lightning cable. Come on, only device in my entire household that even has USB-C port is my PC with USB-C port on the case. Everything else has USB-A. Laptops, PC, all the chargers, USB ports in all the cars. Removing charger under pretense of ecology is really shitty. Second thing that I don't like is this obsession with sticking magnets everywhere. And they are always those super strong ones. God forbid you have steel/iron particles around you coz they'll be grabbing on to your phone. Not to mention all these magnets are a nightmare if you're wearing mechanical watches because it fucks up the heart of the watch. I know it's expected everyone's going to use Apple Watch with it, but come on.

It's gonna happen across all phones within the next year or so. The phone industry will follow the same 3 step cycle.

 

1) Laugh at Apple removing a necessary feature/item

2) See Apple's sales grow despite lacking the necessary feature/item.

3) Quickly adopt what Apple did and pretend Step 1 never happened

 

By Step 3 it's iPhone Event time again and the cycle repeats itself.

[handymanshandle]

4 minutes ago, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

It's gonna happened across all phones within the next year or so. The phone industry will follow the same 3 step cycle.

 

1) Laugh at Apple removing a necessary feature/item

2) See Apple's sales grow despite lacking the necessary feature/item.

3) Quickly adopt what Apple did and pretend Step 1 never happened

 

By Step 3 it's iPhone Event time again and the cycle repeats itself.

just like headphone jacks lmfao

[RejZoR]

It happened several times so far. Notch and removal of jack port to name two biggest ones. Yeah, it'll happen and it sucks.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

Just now, RejZoR said:

It happened several times so far. Notch and removal of jack port to name two biggest ones. Yeah, it'll happen and it sucks.

Makes me feel better about doubling down on an iPhone 11 Pro Max deal a few days ago...

 

I get a fast charger in the box? Crazy right?!...

[rawrdaysgoby]

I was hoping on the lower end model they add touch id...