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Apple Inc released four versions of the iPhone 12 with faster 5G connectivity on Tuesday, starting at $ 699, which the Cupertino, California company hopes will spur a wave of updates and keep sales booming through the end of the year.
Apple’s HomePod mini is seen with an iPhone in a photograph published in Cupertino, California, USA on October 13, 2020. Apple Inc./Handout via REUTERS
REUTERS: Apple Inc launched four versions of the iPhone 12 with faster 5G connectivity on Tuesday, starting at $ 699, which the Cupertino, California company hopes will spur a wave of updates and keep sales booming through the end of the year.
The iPhone 12, with a 6.1-inch screen, will sell for $ 799. The phone has flat sides with a recessed screen, similar to the company’s iPhone 5 and a departure from the rounded edges of recent years.
Apple also introduced a “Mini” version, which has the same features but a smaller 5.4-inch screen and will sell for $ 699, as well as a “Pro” version with three cameras starting at $ 999 and a “Pro Max.” starting at $ 1,099 and going up to $ 1,399.
The new products will test whether Apple can harness a wave of consumer enthusiasm around 5G wireless data networks, whose faster variants exceed the data speeds of their predecessors by several times.
Apple said all iPhone 12 models in the United States will support millimeter wave 5G, the fastest variant of the technology, as well as low-frequency bands. Some rival Android devices only support the lower frequency versions of 5G.
Verizon Communications Inc CEO Hans Vestberg said the phones would work on the operator’s ‘ultra-wideband’ 5G network, designed to alleviate bottlenecks in major cities like New York and Los Angeles, as well as in busy areas. like the NFL stadiums. Apple said it had tested 5G in more than 800 carriers in 30 regions globally.
Apple shares fell more than 3 percent during the event, erasing $ 77 billion in market value.
Apple may face a tepid holiday season due to the coronavirus pandemic, said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“Since the convergence of flu season with COVID and colder weather forces everyone to be indoors, I think it will be more difficult to sell iPhones this Christmas. As much as Apple is a technology company, it is not known for its Online sales, she’s known for her in-store expertise, “Dollarhide said.
In China, the largest online video platforms, including Tencent Holdings and Bilibili Inc, canceled Apple’s live streaming event without explanation, Bloomberg News reported.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro in the United States and select other regions begin on October 16 and will go on sale on October 23. The iPhone Mini and Pro Max will be available for pre-order on November 6 and in stores November 13.
MINI HOMEPOD
Apple also announced a HomePod Mini smart speaker that will cost $ 99 and will ship from November 16. Many of the features serve to catch up with similar offerings from Amazon.com Inc and Google from Alphabet Inc.
The annual launch event is almost a month later than normal and comes as the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted Apple’s well-oiled machine to design and produce its best-selling product.
The company is in a delicate position of having to excite consumers about 5G without causing disappointment: For many of its fans, it will be their first experience with 5G networks, which in the United States are years away from offering dramatic speed drives to the majority of consumers. Some analysts worry that Apple will sell a high-powered sports car while its customers remain confined to the quiet roads of the villages.
But despite waves of retail store closures and travel bans that delayed iPhone development, Apple’s financial results have largely weathered the pandemic.
In July, with its most recent earnings, the company posted year-over-year revenue gains across all categories and across all geographies as consumers working and learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic turned to its products and services.
Apple last month launched new watch models with blood oxygen sensors and updated its iPad models. The company is also committed to introducing new Mac computers by the end of the year based on processors of its own design.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Rosalba O’Brien)
