Apple opened its iPhone announcements for 2020 with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, bringing some of the premium features generally reserved for the Pro line to the more affordable lineup.
Apple iPhone 12
The iPhone 12 replaces the IPS LCD screen of its predecessor with an OLED Super XDR screen of the same 6.1-inch diagonal and a much higher resolution of 2532x1170px (460 pixels per inch). Apple announces 1200 nits of maximum brightness, matching Pro models.
The screen has a standard 60Hz refresh rate and the same old notch. What has improved is the glass that covers the screen. Apple calls it Ceramic Shield and it was developed jointly with Gorilla Glass maker Corning.
Apple says Ceramic Shield glass has “4 times better drop performance” and is “stronger than any smartphone glass.”
5G was a big part of Apple’s presentation. The iPhone 12 supports mmWave in the US as well as the more widespread (but slower) 5G sub-6GHz. Apple has tested speeds on 100 carriers and says it can reach 3.5Gbps in controlled environments and up to 4Gbps under ideal conditions.
Apple opted for a more refined and slimmer design for the iPhone 12. The phone is 11% thinner, 16% lighter and 15% smaller in volume than the iPhone 11. Much of that reduction in size is due to to the flat sides of the iPhone. 12.
Like its predecessor, the iPhone 12 comes in a wide variety of colors: green, product red, white, black, and a new blue. The sides of the phone are matte, while its back is glossy, the opposite of the iPhone 12 Pro models.
As expected, Apple’s A14 Bionic powers the iPhone 12. It has a 6-core CPU (2 powerful and 4 efficient cores) and a 4-core GPU and brings the total transistors to 11.8 billion, or roughly 40%. more than the A13 Bionic, powering last year’s iPhones. Apple claims that the A14 Bionic is 50% faster on both CPU and GPU than any other smartphone chipset.
The A14 Bionic can deliver 80% faster machine learning than the A13 Bionic with reported support for 11 trillion operations per second, enabling faster performance from face unlock to camera operation.
The Apple iPhone 12 gains a new 12MP wide camera with a brighter f / 1.6 aperture, promising up to 27% better light capture and an additional 12MP f / 2.4 ultrawide shooter. Both inherit Apple’s new Smart HDR 3 with better white balance, texture and saturation.
The main camera has OIS, while the ultra-wide does not. Both the rear cameras and the selfie camera are now capable of capturing images in night mode.
Unsurprisingly, Apple has removed the Earpods and charger from the iPhone’s retail package, allowing for a small retail box and a much better carbon footprint. New this year is the return of MagSafe (yes, the name of the old MacBook charging connector), which allows Apple’s new special wireless charger to sit on the back of the iPhone 12 and offer wireless charging of up to 15W. Regular Qi wireless chargers go up to 7.5W, while wired charging maxes out at 20W if you buy the necessary adapter.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 will open on October 16 and shipping will begin on October 23, starting at $ 799.
Apple iPhone 12 mini
Apple also unveiled what could very well turn out to be the star of the show: the iPhone 12 mini, the world’s smallest 5G phone. Recognizing its diminutive name, the iPhone 12 mini is smaller than the 4.7-inch iPhone SE (2020), while it features a larger 5.4-inch 2340 x 1080 px Super XDR Super XDR OLED display with 476 ppi and the same up to 1200 nits of brightness than the rest of the lineup.
The iPhone 12 mini shares the display technology, chipset, camera system, wireless charging, IP68 rating, and color options like the larger iPhone 12.
Apple will offer the iPhone 12 and 12 mini in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB storage options in blue, green, black, white and product red colors. The iPhone 12 mini will begin shipping on November 6 and will ship on November 13.
