Apple event: Four versions of iPhone 12, 5G, MagSafe charging and HomePod Mini – everything announced during ‘Hi, Speed’ release video
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Your support makes all the difference.Apple has wrapped up its “Hi, Speed” event, showing off a fleet of new iPhones alongside a smart speaker and a range of other advances.
This year will see the launch of the first ever 5G iPhones, the biggest display ever found in an iPhone, and the smallest model released in years. And it does of course bring with it “the best iPhones ever”, as Apple seemingly never tires of announcing each year.
Here’s everything announced during the live-streamed event from Apple Park.
The first 5G iPhones
Apple spent the beginning of its iPhone introduction not talking about any particular handset at all, but rather than infrastructure that will power it.
The first 5G iPhones will arrive in all four of the models you can read about below, each of which seemingly get the same kinds of connections. Unlike with other manufacturers, all of the new models will have 5G capabilities – there won’t be a specific 5G model.
Much of that long introduction was spent trying to counteract the sense that 5G is not ready yet, and that phones are unlikely to make the most of the potential because the network infrastructure is not actually available to connect to.
The first of the iPhones was also the stalwart: the iPhone 12, without any modifiers appended on the end.
It came with a new design – squared off sides and a shiny back – as well as upgraded exterior materials that make it four times harder to smash when dropping and generally much more durable. It also comes in a new blue colour.
Inside is Apple’s new A14 Bionic chip, which it claims represents a significant improvement in the performance of the phone. The cameras are upgraded and so is the display.
A smaller iPhone 12: the Mini
After that – and following a strange James Bond-themed introduction – Apple showed off the Mini. Just as it sounds, it’s very small, but the display is actually the same as the existing iPhone 8, it just has a much smaller body to fit around it.
It has all the same capabilities and options as the iPhone 12, otherwise.
And two more expensive Pro ones
After all of that comes the Pro models. They include all of the same upgrades from the iPhone 12 – better durability, 5G, and so on – as well as their own improvements to the cameras and the exterior finish.
That finish is very shiny, and comes in a new “pacific blue” colour, as well as also getting the same squared-off design. The cameras are vastly improved, especially for night mode, and it also gets a LiDAR camera for mapping out spaces in 3D.
The Pro Max also has the biggest display ever in an iPhone, with an added 0.2-inches. But Apple said it had done that with almost no adjustment to the actual size of the phone, with the extra space made up by having the display going closer to the edge.
All on a staggered release schedule
The normal-sized versions of the iPhone will come out at normal times: pre-orders opening later this week, and orders next week. But the unusually-sized phones will come unusually late, having been pushed back into November.
And with plenty of accessories
All of the iPhones make use of the new version of MagSafe, which allows accessories to snap on the back of the phones using magnets. That includes a charging puck that can click on, but also new cases and even a wallet to non the back of your iPhone – with Apple promising other third-party manufacturers are working on yet more devices too.
Some accessories also go missing. There’ll be no more earphones in the box, and no charger too; the Lighting cable included for charging will also have USB-C on the other end, rather than USB-A.
HomePod Mini
Continuing the Mini theme, Apple also released a smaller – and cheaper – version of its Siri-powered smart speaker, too. The company insisted that it will have the same high-quality sound associated with the earlier version, but at a vastly reduced price of $99.
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