October 2020 Apple Event
Alright folks, this is the Apple Event we've all been waiting for. What was hoped for in September has now come true for the October 2020 Apple Event - the iPhone 12 and a whole lot more. As always, I highly suggest watching the event recording, but if that is too much time to dedicate, we've got you covered. So let's get started!
October 2020 Apple Event: HomePod Mini
Tim got us kicked off right away talking about how Apple designs products for our homes. To bring the HomePod to more people (and at a more affordable price point), we now have HomePod Mini. I've been personally waiting for this product as I wasn't too excited to have to buy a full HomePod for my upstairs and downstairs. I love the sound quality and the convenience of having my HomePod in my kitchen, but now I can get the Mini for my bedroom.
The smaller globe and touch screen top of the HomePod Mini allows users to continue to have the amazing sound element that the original HomePod was known for. The brain and analysis of the music will create an amazing audio experience as expected. HomePod Mini's can sync and be a stereo pair (if in the same room) or synced across multiple rooms.
Along with HomePod Mini, we've got improvements coming to Siri. During this segment of the event, my HomePod was going insane with all the calls to "Hey Siri." Siri now has better voice recognition and of course the Mini syncs with HomeKit for your smart home. Apple also released a new intercom feature. Intercom can now work with all devices and speakers, so your intercom now will play on speakers and push a notification to devices - including AirPods. This is a huge way to connect everyone inside the home and I can see being a huge benefit to large families.
HomePod Mini will be available in both the base gray and in black. Orders begin on November 6 with shipping starting November 16. All of this bundled up for just $99.
October 2020 Apple Event: The iPhone 12 Line
5G is finally here! To kick off the iPhone 12 line, we all expected that 5G would be one of the biggest talking points and Tim didn't hold back before jumping right in. To make sure iPhone users were going to get the best experience, Apple worked with all the carriers - with Verizon being brought out to the Apple stage. Over 4 gbps for peak download times and 200 mbps upload speeds, Verizon has a pretty impressive set of stats for their 5G network. So with the launch of the iPhone - Verizon is booting up their nationwide 5G network. All the iPhone 12's will have 5G - so let's dive right in.
iPhone 12
The iPhone 12 has an all-new design with a similar aluminum design we all loved on the iPhone 5. Brilliant colors and form factor has been maximized for 5G. You've got 5 colors - black, white, red, green, and blue. It is thinner, smaller, and lighter than the iPhone 11. This was done with the Super Retina XDR display (OLED) with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The cover glass is now engineered with Ceramic Shield - a new toughness process to increase the durability and become the strongest of any other phone (a 4x better drop performance rate). The iPhone 12 has 5G and has the A14 Bionic chip to deliver the best performance while using the least amount of power.
iPhone 12 now has a dual camera system which includes the Wide and Ultra Wide lens. With everyone using their phone as their main camera, we continue to see Apple focus in on a better photography experience. HDR 3 and machine learning will continue to provide a better photographic experience to adjust for the conditions. Night mode will now exist on both the back and front cameras, a first for Apple. With the improved cameras, video will be improved as well.
A lot of us have been waiting for the Apple charging we never got. However, with iPhone 12 comes a new type of charging experience due to the built in magnets inside of the phone itself. That's right - MagSafe is back baby! This new style of charger means new cases with magnets and new MagSafe accessories (including a new Duo charger for the watch and iPhone). This charger is something I've been waiting years for and can't wait to get my hands on.
Now some people are going to be upset about the next part - chargers are no longer coming in the box. The environmental impact is huge by them shrinking the box size and no longer providing the cubes that most of us see all over our house or a pair of wired earpods. iPhone 12 will have a USB-C to Lightning cable in the box and that is it.
iPhone 12 Mini
With virtually no transition at all, the iPhone 12 Mini has been born. It includes the same features of the iPhone 12, but just smaller by only having a 5.4-inch display. They literally are the same phone except for different sizes. I wasn't expecting this at all. It will now be the smallest and thinnest 5G iPhone in the world.
The iPhone 12 Mini will start at $699 with pre-orders starting November 6 and the iPhone 12 will start at $799 with pre-orders starting on Friday, October 16.
iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro includes a stainless steel band with back glass in 4 new colors, black, white, gold, and blue. The Pro models include the Ceramic Shield and IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. This line of course includes the MagSafe life of chargers and accessories.
The displays are now 6.1" on the Pro and 6.7" on the Pro Max. The Super Retina XDR is the biggest screen ever. The Pro performance comes from the A14 chip which has the most advanced image processing ever coming out of a phone before. Deep Fusion technology will now be on all 4 cameras on the front and back. The Ultra Wide, Wide, and Telephoto cameras give the most flexibility when it comes to photo lengths.
On the Pro Max, they also included sensor-shift, a technology from SLR cameras to help keep lenses stabilized to avoid camera shake. A new feature coming later this year is Apple ProRAW - the combination of Apple's computational imagery with the photographer's choice of RAW imagery. With support coming to apps to take advantage, I can't wait to see what Adobe is able to do with this new technology moving forward.
Pro Video means HDR video recording is now available on the iPhone. It will also record in Dolby Vision HDR at 4K at 60 frames/sec. The iPhone 12 Pro Max will allow you to actually edit Dolby Vision on the fly from the phone - without the need for uploading to an external system.
The innovation of LiDAR means that light scanning is now included on the iPhone 12 Pro. Object and room scanning, effects, and Augmented Reality (AR) support means that the iPhone 12 Pro will be the go to device for AR. The LiDAR scanner allows the cameras to identify depth and improve focus and sharpness.
The iPhone 12 Pro starts at $999 with pre-orders starting on Fridya, October 16 and the iPhone 12 Pro Max starts at $1099 with pre-orders starting on November 6. Both start at 128GB for storage space and go up to 512GB.
iPhone 12 Line Up Pricing
So the total line up looks like the following:
- iPhone 12 mini starts at just $699
- iPhone 12 starts at $799
- iPhone 12 Pro starts at $999
- iPhone 12 Pro Max starts at $1099
October 2020 Apple Event: Wrap Up
And with that - we wrap up the Apple October Special Event. I know I'll be buying a HomePod Mini and the new iPhone 12 Pro in blue. See anything that you might be jumping into? Rumor has it there will be a November Event coming soon, which Apple has not done before, so stay tuned as to what that might include. Will we be seeing the new Apple headphones? Will we get to see the first Apple Silicon Mac? With this new approach to events, Apple just keeps on giving us new technology to look forward to.