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iPhone 12: 12 Things To Look Forward To

So, it’s that time of year again and by that we mean it’s iPhone season. Yes, it may be a little late because of the big C word which may make this years iPhone’s lifespan shorter, but that remains to be seen.What we do know is that, the iPhone 12 is almost here and we are very much looking forward to giving them a spin for ourselves. But why are we excited we hear you ask, well there’s plenty of reasons. 12 Big Juicy reasons to be excited in fact. So here are 12 reasons to look forward to the iPhone 12 –

Sit down, strap in and grab some popcorn because this is extensive:

5G

5G is the most notable feature in Apple’s new lineup of iPhones.

5G is standard in Apple’s new line up. It will be available in all of the models, that’s the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

5G is the next generation of Phone connectivity and the successor to current standard 4G.

5G brings incredible speeds to the iPhone and where possible will allow for up to 4GB’s per second of download speed. Improved video streaming, improved upload speeds, more responsive gaming and real time interactivity are also great benefits for 5G.

One smart feature of the new iPhone lineup is the ability to smartly switch between the slower speed of 4G and the faster speed of 5G on the fly. For example if you are using Twitter, the phone will reduce the speed to 4G to save data and battery life. While if you are streaming 4K on Netflix, the phone will upgrade your signal to 5G to give you a better experience.

Camera

Both the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini come with 2 cameras each.

However, the main camera has changed. It still has 12 megapixels but the lens now has a 7 element display and a larger f/1.6 aperture. Therefore allowing 27% more light to hit the sensor compared to the 11. This will mean less noise, brighter imagery in low light.

Also available on these models is a 2nd 12MP f/2.4 ultra wide camera with a 120 degree field of view. This camera has a 5 element lens to it. The focal length is equivalent to 13mm.

Apple’s Deep Fusion technology can now be used on either camera as opposed to the main. Night mode will be available on both the ultra wide and front TrueDepth camera. There is also a new night mode time-lapse feature. The ability to shoot in HDR video with Dolby Vision at 30fps. Apple’s Smart HDR3 feature is also available to use.

On the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max there is still 3 cameras, however like the regular iPhone 12’s these have been improved.

The iPhone 12 Pro still uses the same f/2.0 telephoto lens though you can now use Deep Fusion with it. The 12 Pro has LiDAR which we’ll get on to in just a moment. It also has the same main and ultra wide cameras that is found in the iPhone 12.

It has 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom which is thanks to the 52mm equivalent telephoto lens. You can also shoot HDR video with Dolby vision. Though unlike the iPhone 12, the iPhone 12 Pro can shoot at 60fps instead of 30fps.

iPhone 12 Pro Max Camera

This is where the real difference comes in!

The 12 Pro Max’s 12MP f/1.6 aperture wide camera now has a 47% larger sensor. This will help to improve low light photography by 87%. The main camera also has sensor shift optical image stabilisation. This will allow for the sensor to move inside the camera to offset any movement. This should help to make more stable photos and videos.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 2.5x optical zoom compared to 2x. This is thanks to an equivalent 65mm focal length lens, however, the aperture is slightly slower at f2.2

The LiDAR sensor and ultra wide camera is exactly the same as found on the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro. While you can digitally zoom up to 12x instead of 10x. You can also shoot in Dolby Vision HDR at 60FPS much like the 12 Pro.

LiDAR

Apple have introduced LiDAR into their smartphones, though only limited to the Pro line up. The iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. A LiDAR scanner will help to improve the AR capabilities of these devices. LiDar is a ‘Time of flight sensor’ which measures how long it takes for light to bounce off of objects in a room and return to the sensor.

This information is then used by the phone to judge the depth of each point that is measured. As a result, more accurate augmented reality experiences will be both faster and more accurate than ever before. As the LiDAR sensor will essentially scan a room and create an accurate 3D map for these Augmented reality experiences.

Apple says that the LiDAR sensor in the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max will allow for instant AR. You can also utilise LiDAR to autofocus in low light up to 6x as faster and even take night mode portrait selfies!

Apple ProRAW

There’s even more tech coming to the iPhone’s cameras this year. Though this particular feature is limited to the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. RAW. Specifically Apple ProRAW.

Coming later this year, Apple ProRAW is a brand new photo format from Apple. It is said to offer photographers the combination of computational photography smart technology and the ease of use and flexibility of raw editing.

As we all know RAW photos have this incredible flexibility to them and you can edit a lot with a RAW photo. So, when you shoot in RAW you will lose the benefits of Apple’s smart features such as Deep Fusion and Smart HDR 3. With Apple ProRAW you’ll be able to get both the RAW editing ability and the smart features.

This brand new image processing will combine multiple steps of processing and create a new file and all this is done by the CPU, GPY, ISP and Neural Engine and without any shutter delay! You will now get full control over colour, detail, dynamic range and get the flexibility of RAW, editing it all right from within the camera app, though there will be an API which allows developers to build ProRAW capture into their own apps.

The A14 Bionic Chip

A new phone means a new smart chip.The iPhone 12 will now ship with the A14 Bionic, a successor to the A13 Bionic chip which is found in the current iPhone line up. While the A13 is still comfortably one of the fastest chips ever in a smartphone, the A14 goes one step further and becomes even quicker.

The A14 brings improvements to the camera, the neural engine, which is the portion of the A14 which handles all the smart tech such as Artificial intelligence and this has been expanded up to 8 cores to 12.

So basically your phone will now be even quicker to complete tasks whilst getting more intelligent too. Better yet it does all this whilst using less power, so that means better battery life.

New Design

There is a brand new design for the latest models of iPhone, all across the models. That’s iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Gone are the rounded edges and the squared off, sharp edges are back from the iPhone 4 days.

iPhone 4 still remains one of the best designs of a smartphone, people have been clamouring for this design to come back and their prayers have been answered.

The antennas placement have been improved since the controversy of the original design lead to Apple having to release a special case for them. So you can rest easy on that part.

However, there is a slight change between the models. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini are made out of aluminium. Whilst the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max are made out of stainless steel.

MagSafe

Magsafe is coming to iPhone, in a rather genius way too!

On the new iPhones there is a special array of magnets that help align the new iPhones to Apple’s new MagSafe Brand of Chargers or a 3rd Party MagSafe compatible charger. Think Apple Watch style magnets but for iPhone. It will also charge much faster at 15W instead of 7.5W, but again, you’ll have to use the MagSafe Brand of chargers or the 3rd Party MagSafe compatible charger.

Not only does it help to align your iPhone 12 to a wireless charger (Seriously why hasn’t anyone thought of this before) it can also help connect an array of brand new accessories to the iPhone. Apple showed off one example whereby the iPhone 12 slotted into a case via magnets and then connected a credit card wallet to that via magnets. Easily and securely. Worry not too as the magnets are shielded and protect your credit cards!

Colours

Who doesn’t love a bit of colour in their life eh?

There are a range of brand new bright and exciting colours coming to the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini.

It will be available in blue, green, black, white and PRODUCT Red.

Whilst the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max will remain distinctly professional and sleek and come in Silver, Graphite, Gold and a brand new colour, Pacific Blue.

We have to say that the Gold one looks very very good!

Super Retina XDR OLED panels

For the first time ever, the brand new line up of iPhone models will come with OLED screens!

The line up will come with Super Retina XDR OLED Panels and feature an edge to edge design. Though the notch is still there. There is no difference in display between the regular 12 models and the 12 Pro models either.

The 5.4” display has a resolution of 2430 x 1080 with 476 pixels per inch and the 6.1 inch iPhone 12 has a resolution of 2532 x 1170 with 460 pixels per inch. While the 12 Pro models have a 2532 x 1170 resolution with 460 pixels per inch and the 12 Pro Max has a resolution of 2778 x 1284 pixel resolution with 458 pixels per inch.

They also come with HDR support with 1200 nits peak brightness.

What this basically means is that the screens will provide wide colour range for vivid true to life colours, true tone to match the colour temperature of the display to the lighting that’s around you for a natural viewing experience.

Ceramic Shield

Say hello to a brand new screen for this years iPhone. I know we already spoke about Apple’s introduction of OLED to the new line up.

But Ceramic Shield is the glass. Ceramic Shield is a brand new stand out feature that apple says is “tougher than any smartphone glass”. With it being four times as greater resistance to damage from drops”

We’re eagerly awaiting YouTubers testing that one! Apple worked with glass ceramic manufacturer Corning as glass ceramic is tough and lightweight.

Whether or not the ceramic glass can withstand the general public’s wear and tear or people’s disregard for their stuff remains to be seen, but I for one am really excited for this new tech! Will we see an era of phones that doesn’t mean we have to apply screen protectors?

The iPhone Mini

…and finally we’d like to give a special shout out to the iPhone 12 Mini. As we spoke earlier on in this video we loved the size and shape of the iPhone 4. Well, Apple brought this back with the iPhone SE and they’re taking things to the next level with the iPhone 12 Mini.

The iPhone 12 Mini still has all the same technology that’s built into it’s bigger brother of the iPhone 12. It is vastly different to the iPhone 12 Pro models but that’s in a different league entirely.

The only difference between the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini is screen size. The iPhone 12 is 6.1” and the 12 Mini is 5.4”

Other than that it’s still a great phone. Smaller doesn’t necessarily mean worse.

If you loved the iPhone 4 and want to step into the latest technology, why not pick up the iPhone 12 Mini, it’s a great size and perfect for those that enjoy small phones that you can easily type with on one hand!

Conclusion

So there you have it, 12 big juicy reasons to be excited for this years iPhone.

To re-cap, it comes in 4 flavours,

  • iPhone 12
  • iPhone 12 Mini
  • iPhone 12 Pro
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro will be available to pre-order on Friday October 16th and available to pick up the following week on Friday October 23rd. Priced at £799 and £999 respectively.

While, iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available to pre-order on Friday November 6th and pick up will be available on the following week on Friday November 13th. Priced at £699 and £1099 respectively.

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Everything announced at Apple’s iPhone 12 October Event

It’s a brand new year and what does that mean? Brand new iPhones! Apple today (October 13th 2020) announced a whole host of new tech. Including the iPhone 12! Check below for more info on these amazing announcements from Apple this year!

iPhone 12 & iPhone 12 mini

The iPhone 12

Apple have announced a bunch of brand new phones, the iPhone 12 is replacing last years iPhone 11 and there’s lots to talk about! However, the iPhone 12 keeps the same 6.1″ screen size as found on the current XR and 11. But there is OLED in it’s more affordable iPhones. It comes with squared off edges much like the latest iPad Air and iPad Pro.

While the screen size is the same the iPhone 12 is thinner and has smaller bezels and weighs less than the 11. This is due to the OLED display! The screen resolution has improved over the iPhone 11 to 2532 x 1170. This works out to 460 pixels per inch. Which is a huge upgrade over the 11. There is also a brand new glass used on the iPhone 12 and Apple are calling it the “Ceramic Shield” . This is via a partnership with Corning. This improvement helps to make the screen 4x as much drop resistant the the 11.

5G

iPhone 12 has 5G connectivity and will use the “sub-6” spectrum which is more widely deployed.  The iPhone 12 uses the A14 Bionic chip which was announced at last months iPad Air event. It combines 6 CPU cores (two high performance and four lower performing for better energy efficiency) and four GPU cores. The A14 is built on the 5nm fabrication process. This means it is more densely packed with transistors. So the A14 has 11.8 billion transistors up from 8.5 billion on the A13. What does this all mean for you and I? Well, it means that the A14 will be about 15% faster than the A13 using less power. So faster computing power and better battery life.

Cameras

The iPhone 12 has a new standard wide camera with a f/1.6 aperture and a 7 element lens, alongside the same ultra wide camera that was in the 11. The standard camera now has a 27% improvement in low light over the iPhone 11. While on the video the larger aperture will allow for more detail in low light. Furthermore there is a brand new night mode time lapse.

Detailed more below, the iPhone 12 has wireless charging and brand new magnetic sensors to connect to accessories. Think MagSafe but for iPhone. You can connect a credit card case that snaps to the back of the ohone for example! There is also a dual charger that will charge both the iPhone and Apple Watch at the same time!

The iPhone 12 will cost $799 at launch with 64GB of storage; 128GB and 256GB models are also available. It is available in black, white, red, green and blue. It goes on pre-order this Friday (16th October), and will be available to pick up on the following Friday (23rd October).

(Engadget)

The iPhone Mini

For those who love small phones, you are going to love the iPhone 12 Mini! It has a 5.4″ OLED display, while being a much larger screen than the 4.7 inch display on the 2020 iPhone SE. Apple are claiming that this is the smallest 5G phone in the world!

The iPhone 12 Mini has the new A14 Bionic Chipset, which is faster than the A13 Bionic by 15% and it consumes 30% less power! It also comes with the same rear camera system. Which is the 12MP primary camera with a f/1.6 aperture lens, which performs at 27% better in low light conditions than the previous generation!

It also has Apple’s new “Ceramic Shield” tech, which is 4x as drop resistant than the iPhone 11. The Mini also has IP68 water and dust resistant and also comes with 5G connectivity!

Starting at $699 and will be available in blue, green, black, white and Product Red. Pre-orders begin on Friday (16th Oct) and will be available on Nov 13th.

The iPhone 12 mini will start at $699, and will be available in five colors: blue, green, black, white and (Product) Red. Pre-orders open on Friday, November 6th, with general availability beginning on November 13th.

(Endgadget)

iPhone 12 Pro & iPhone 12 Pro Max

The iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max feature a brand new flat edge design, bigger screens, stainless steel case designs and LiDAR sensors. Plus there’s 5G connectivity!

Much like the regular iPhone 12, the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max feature 3 cameras, 12MP wide angle lens, 12MP ultrawide angle lens and a telephoto lens. The Pro Max has a slightly different step up in the camera department with a 47-percent larger sensor” with 1.7μm pixels for improved low-light performance. However, both models still include the notch.

Apple’s Deep Fusion will tap into the A14 Bionic processor’s capabilities for photo processing, helping to make the colours pop! You can now shoot in RAW, with the introduction of Apple ProRAW. This is a brand new file format which helps give you more flexibility editing. Much like RAW formats. You can now shoot video in HDR Dolby Vision content right from the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max!

The larger screens are also apparent but the form factor remains the same. iPhone 12 Pro is up from 5.8″ to 6.1″ and the iPhone 12 Pro Max is up from 6.5″ to 6.7″. Both displays have “Super Retina XDR” technology and support HDR and Dolby Vision. Furthermore they also support the same screen tech as the other models with Apple’s Ceramic Shield technology. While these models also include the MagSafe accessory tech!

Also announced was a LiDAR sensor to the Pro models. This adds depth mapping technology 3D augmented reality mapping. It will help with delivering better autofocusing in low light for example.

iPhone 12 Pro starts at $999 with 128GB of storage, while the iPhone 12 Pro Max starts at $1,099.

The iPhone 12 Pro is available for preorder this Friday, October 16th, and will ship on October 23rd.

iPhone 12 Pro Max is available for preorder on Friday, November 6th, and will ship from Friday November 13th.

Both models are available in Silver, Graphite, Gold and Pacific Blue.

iPhone MagSafe

For those who knew of the trusty MagSafe on Macbooks you’ll be pleased to hear that MagSafe is now on iPhone! Apple have unveiled a new charger that will power noth your iPhone and Apple Watch!

This new device will connect to the back of your iPhone, connecting magnetically on the right spot of the back of the iPhone. Much like it currently does on the Apple Watch.

MagSafe supports wireless charging and will be releasing a bunch of new charging and everyday phone accessories to go with it. For example a magnetic leather wallet that will snap on to the back of your iPhone. Complete with credit card holders. Or a phone pocket that will recognise when it has been slipped into it and adjust the screen to peep through a little window. The DuoCharger will also connect your phone and watch at the same time!

(Gizmodo)

HomePod mini

Apple have unveiled the HomePod Mini it’s a smaller version of the larger HomePod that’s apart of the HomePod family. It can use Siri to get things done, control a smart home and is very small! At just 9.5cm tall it is packed with tons of tech and is available in space grey or white for £99! HomePod mini can play all of your music from Apple Music, Radio Stations from iHeartRadio, radio.com or TuneIn. Plus it will soon be able to play music from Pandora or Amazon Music! Connect multiple HomePod Mini speakers together to stream anything in perfect sync. Furthermore place two HomePod Mini speakers in a single room and they can connect as a stereo pair! Creating a soundstage of filling, rich and enveloping sound!

Audio

So, to do this there is an Apple S5 chip inside the HomePod Mini. It uses advanced software to analyse the characteristics of the music that is playing. While doing so it will apply complex tuning models to optimise the loudness, adjust the dynamic range and control the movement of the drive and passive radiators. The full range driver is very powerful and enables deep bass and crisp high frequencies alongside the force cancelling passive radiators!

The same acoustic principles that are used in the HomePod are also present in the HomePod Mini. It will feature an Apple designed acoustic waveguide to direct the flow of the sound down and out towards the bottom of the speaker for an immersive 360 degree audio experience. Therefore the speaker can be placed anywhere in a room and you will always hear a consistent sound. A 3 microphone array will always listen for “Hey Siri” and a 4th microphone will help to isolate the sound coming from the speaker to help improve voice detection when music is playing.

Siri

Siri can identify who is speaking and tailor the music and podcasts to their preferences, it will also respond to personal requests! Such as accessing messages, reminders notes and calendar appointments. Even taking and making phone calls! Siri can also provide a quick snapshot of the day, all they have to do is ask “What’s my update?”

Apple Devices

HomePod Mini will work effortlessly with other Apple devices, such as pick up a call, listen to music on a Mac or take the sound from an Apple TV to the next level! Handoff is getting a little upgrade and customers can simply move their iPhone to a HomePod Mini to seamlessly hand off their music without pausing it! Furthermore there will be, available later on in the year, visual, audible and haptic effects when sound is transferred from one device to the other. Personalised suggestions will also appear on iPhone when next to HomePod Mini and instant controls are available without having to unlock!

SmartHome

HomePod Mini will also control smart home accessories with simple voice commands. Such as turning off lights, changing temperature or locking a door. Intercom is brand new and will offer a quick and easy way for family members to connect at home. One person can send an intercom message from one HomePod to another, all throughout the home! The voice will automatically play on the designated HomePod speaker. Intercom will work on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and CarPlay, so everyone will get your message!

Additional Features

  • Siri Shortcuts created on iPhone and iPad are accessible on HomePod mini, so users can ask Siri on HomePod mini to start a pot of coffee, control a robot vacuum, add milk to the grocery list, and more.
  • Ambient sounds, including rain, a fireplace, a stream, and more, offer the perfect background noise to focus, relax, or fall asleep. Siri can set a sleep timer so the sounds automatically stop playing.
  • Find My helps locate a misplaced iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or Apple Watch by playing a sound to pinpoint its location.
  • Web search results from HomePod mini can be sent directly to the user’s iPhone for easy viewing.
  • Music alarms let users wake up to a favourite song, playlist, or radio station from Apple Music.

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