iPhones 12s

iPhones 12s, new design same great iPhone
iPhone 12 ColorsOn October 13, Apple held their annual event where they announced this year's new iPhones. Apple changed the design incorporating a boxier style reminiscent of the iPhone 4. This year’s lineup included four new phones, the iPhone 12 and 12 mini as well as the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max.
All new models are equipped with the new A14 bionic SOC (system on a chip), which should improve general system snappiness, performance during games and the time it takes to process photos. This year’s chip is built on a 5nm process with a claimed 50% performance improvement for both the CPU, and GPU as well as a 70% claimed performance improvement in machine learning tasks. All new models come with a “Ceramic Shield,” a new front glass material that Apple developed in partnership with Corning, the world leader in smartphone glass. In order to improve drop resistance, the claimed 4x Ceramic Shield adds a new step to the glass manufacturing process where nano ceramic crystals are grown within the glass matrix. If this new front glass material does what Apple claims it does it should greatly improve long term reliability.

Every new iPhone is equipped with 5G, the fifth generation of wireless cellular broadband technology, which should drastically improve both download and upload speeds as well as latency, especially in crowded venues. With previous 4G technology, speeds were dramatically decreased in crowded events making uploading pictures or streaming video almost impossible at concerts or sporting events. Unfortunately, 5G can be a strain on battery life so Apple created what they call “Smart data mode” which switches the iPhone to LTE networks when 5G speeds are not needed in order to save power. Finally, all the new iPhones support MagSafe. When paired with a MagSafe charging pad, the iPhone will magnetically snap into place for easier wireless charging.

iPhone tech
Image Source: Macworld

The regular iPhone 12 and 12 mini will have 6.1-inch and 5.4-inch screens. They will also have OLED screens like the ones found on this year’s 12 Pro and last year’s 11 Pro. These displays have twice the number of pixels as last year’s iPhone 11. OLED screens are known for having individually addressable pixels, this means that dark mode will look significantly better and pillar boxes on video become much less noticeable. The dual camera system received slight improvements but remains remarkably similar to the camera system on last year’s iPhone 11 with both a wide and an ultrawide lens. The iPhone 12 mini and 12 will cost $699 and $799 and will come in white, black, blue, green and PROCUT(RED). Part of every iPhone 12 PROCUT(RED) purchase goes to the global fund to combat COVID-19.

iPhone 12 Colors
Image Source: Business Insider

The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max come in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes, with the new pacific blue, graphite, silver, and gold finishes available. This year’s models are IP68 compliant and can withstand 6 meters of submersion for up to 30 minutes. The pro models have a more sophisticated triple camera system with a wide, ultrawide and telephoto lens. This year’s Pro models can now record video in Dolby vision HDR at 4k 60fps. This should lead to significantly improved colors and detail in both the bright and dark areas of a scene. Apple also developed Apple proRAW, a new image pipeline that uses Apple’s sophisticated image processing while retaining all of the raw image data. RAW formats allow for much better and more detailed image editing and colorization. The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 47% larger camera sensor which helps create more detailed images and a claimed 87% improvement in low light. The 12 Pro Max also employs “sensor shift” for optical image stabilization. The iPhone 12 Pro Max applies stabilization to the sensor as opposed to the lens, which is much heavier. This change should help cancel out both low and high frequency vibrations that can be annoying and distracting in video. Perhaps the biggest change to the iPhone 12 Pro is the addition of a LiDAR scanner. Until now LiDAR, which stands for light detection and ranging, has mostly been used by scientists for the purposes of topographic mapping of both land and the sea floor. The LiDAR scanner on the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max will be used for more accurate autofocus and for 3D room mapping, which has the ability to greatly improve the augmented reality experience.

iPhone 12 Camera
Image Source: Engadget

One controversial part of the announcement was Apple's decision to remove the power adapter from the box. Apple’s reasoning for removing the power adapter was that it would eliminate e-waste and decrease shipping costs. Some people were upset that the cable provided in the box is a lightning to USB-C cable which is not compatible with the old USB-A chargers. So, if you plan on getting the new iPhone and you do not have an older style lightning to USB-A cable you will need to purchase a separately sold charger. Apple did announce that their global corporate operations including their offices, stores and data centers all run on 100% renewable energy and have a carbon neutral footprint.

iPhone 12 boxed
Image Source: Apple insider

So, which new iPhone should you actually buy? If you want a small phone get the iPhone 12 mini for $699; if you want the “new” iPhone, get the 12 in your favorite color; and if you want all the features and you don't care about price then the iPhone 12 Pro Max is for you.

iPhone 12 Pricing
Image Source: CNBC

By: Joseph Shull