iPhone 12 and 12 Pro: Apple makes 5G official

This story is part of Apple event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters.

Apple iPhones have gotten a lot faster. The company unveiled its latest iPhone 12 lineup and four new devices on Tuesday come with 5G, including the ultrafast millimeter wave version. The company’s iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Max include some of the biggest advancements Apple has made in years.

The premium iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max devices feature stainless steel bands and come in four finishes: Silver, Graphic, Gold, and Pacific Blue. All 12 Pro packs on a 6.1-inch screen, while the Pro Max features a 6.7-inch screen. The 12 Pro gets a new telephoto lens with a 2.5X optical zoom, while the Pro Max gets a 5X optical zoom, a huge leap from the 2X optical zoom of previous generations. They both get other camera settings.

The full range of iPhone 12 functions a new design, reminiscent of Apple’s iPad Pro tablets. The flatter sides give iPhones a new feel for the first time in three years. All models come with a new, ultra-resistant version of Corning’s Gorilla glass, nicknamed “ceramic shield.” It’s “tougher than any smartphone glass,” Apple said, and “makes iPhone more durable than ever,” with four times better drop performance; it is four times less likely to crack if dropped. And the new phones come with Apple’s updated A14 Bionic, the same chip that’s in the new iPad Air.

The iPhone 12 features an aluminum frame with new antennas around the device to connect to 5G networks. It will come in Black, White, Green, Blue, and Product (RED), and features a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with smaller bezels than its predecessors. And the iPhone 12 is 11% thinner, 15% smaller and 16% lighter than the previous iPhone 11.

The iPhone 12 Pro will start at $ 999, while the 12 Pro Max will retail for $ 1,099. Apple kept its premium phone prices the same as last year’s models, despite including 5G connectivity and other enhancements. The new iPhone 12 will retail for $ 799, which is $ 100 more than last year’s model. Apple also unveiled an iPhone 12 Mini, which has a 5.4-inch screen and will cost $ 699.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, Apple’s two 6.1-inch phones, begin Friday, with availability October 23. The 12 Mini and 12 Pro Max arrive a few weeks later, with pre-orders starting November 6 and device stores November 13.

Last year’s new iPhone lineup included the $ 699, 6.1-inch iPhone 11; the $ 999, 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro; and the $ 1,099, 6.5-inch iPhone 11 Pro Max. Apple too introduced its $ 399 4.7-inch iPhone SE in April, attractive to people looking for an inexpensive iPhone with a small screen. That device only works on 4G networks.

The addition of 5G connectivity is a first in Apple’s line of devices. (Not you Older AT&T Phones Saying “5G E” Cannot Connect to New 5G Networks). The most notable improvement with 5G over what the iPhone offers today is faster download speeds, hence the invitation to Apple’s “Hello, Speed” event. 5G can run 10-100 times faster than your typical 4G cellular connection, making video streaming and downloading faster than ever. It’s also more responsive than 4G, making gaming, video streaming, and other tasks much smoother.

In general, 5G is expected to change the way we live, just like 4G spawned apps like Uber. But it is still early with the technology and most consumers are not using 5G. As of Tuesday, the top three US carriers now have 5G networks across the country, albeit based on the slower version of 5G. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg appeared on stage at Apple’s virtual event to announce that the The largest wireless operator in the country now has a low-band 5G network., which offers dramatically more coverage, at lower speeds, than the previous model of its ultra-fast 5G mmWave.

IPhone seamlessly switches between 4G and 5G to conserve battery power. When 5G is needed, such as for HD video streaming, it will automatically connect to that network. Otherwise, the device will activate 4G connectivity. The 5G processors, which are still new, consume a lot of power and have also caused the first devices to overheat. By switching between 4G and 5G, Apple aims to prevent those problems.

Apple showed off its new products Tuesday during a virtual event, much like the launch of its iPad and Apple Watch Series 6 in October. It became known a new $ 99 HomePod Mini smart speaker before talking about their 5G iPhones.

iPhone lag

The company’s new iPhones arrive about a month later than normal, something attributed to the pandemic. The new coronavirus, which causes a pneumonia-like illness called COVID-19, spread rapidly around the world this year, prompting entire cities and countries to issue lockdowns to slow its advance. China, where COVID-19 was first detected in late 2019, shut down first, jamming production of iPhones and other products. The rest of the world soon followed suit, and the global economy almost came to a standstill. Since then, the coronavirus has infected more than 37 million people and killed more than a million. While many regions have begun to reopen, life has not returned to normal.

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As a result, consumers have delayed buying phones in favor of other work-from-home kits. But Apple is likely to see high demand for its newer iPhones. The company hasn’t changed the overall design of its devices since the 2017 iPhone X, its first device to ditch the physical home button in favor of a larger screen and Face ID. By expanding to 5G, Apple is likely to see an increase in the sales of its latest smartphones.

The iPhone “has never been more indispensable than it is now,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday. “Today is the beginning of a new era for iPhone.”

5G rise

5G started rolling out around the world last year and accelerated in 2020. Virtually every new Android phone coming to the US offers 5G, and the country’s biggest carriers have been talking endlessly about connectivity. Now that Apple jumps into the fray with its 5G-enabled iPhone 12 models, the 5G buzz is only going to get louder, even if consumers in places like the US aren’t exactly clamoring for 5G devices.

Apple is expected to immediately be a big player in 5G. This year, the company will likely ship 50 million 5G iPhones, according to Strategy Analytics, making it the second-largest 5G provider in 2020. That’s with less than three months of sales. By comparison, Samsung shipped around 6.7 million Galaxy 5G smartphones from May 2019, when its first 5G phones hit the market, until the end of that year. Next year, Apple will be the world’s largest provider of 5G phones, Strategy Analytics said.

“There is a so-called Apple effect,” said Strategy Analytics analyst Ville-Petteri Ukonaho. “Whatever Apple does, it becomes a hit almost immediately.”

While many people believe their current iPhones can be connected to 5G, roughly half of Americans believe so, according to a survey by wireless benchmarking tracker Global Wireless Solutions, that’s not the case. To access the new ultra-fast networks, an upgrade to a device from the iPhone 12 line will be required.

This story is unfolding …