iphone 12 + new homepod

[ElFenix]

no thread on this?

looks like a successor to the square edge iphone 4/5/SE is back in the 12 mini though slightly bigger

has 5G, still not great in the US (mmwave is fast if you can see a base station, which the US is basically dead last at)

lidar to help the cameras and augmented reality

no charger or headphones in the box because you already have too many of those. less electronics waste = good, though also good for apple's bottom line with the additional couple bucks in margin per box.

also new, smaller homepod mini

 

[TheStu]

I'm digging both of the new blue colors

 

[Aikouka]

Honestly, I was really underwhelmed by the presentation. It's not that the phones are bad, but more like there just isn't anything new that's really worth talking about. For example, 5G is going to be next to useless. A lot of the talk of high bandwidth communications is so limited at this point that it's not worth talking about. As for the other 5G (the fact that there needs to be a differentiation was a huge mistake in naming), I doubt most users will notice a difference compared to 4G/LTE.

The only thing that seemed decent were the camera improvements, but when you start getting as high end as recording 4K60 video footage in Dolby Vision HDR, I think you start to get into a weird spot. Outside of weird, niche projects, who is going to use that feature? Maybe someone looking to get an article titled, "I Shot My Latest Film on the iPhone 12 Pro".

I would've been find with just getting a TouchID sensor in the power button like the iPad Air (in addition to the FaceID camera, not in place of it). However, as it stands, this may be the first year since the iPhone 4S that I don't upgrade my phone.

 

[Kaido]

Color me cynical, but first they removed the headphone jack, and now don't include earbuds or charging brick? Really? And their SMALLEST phone , the Mini, is SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS? lol

What's not in the box

Apple will ship the iPhone 12 without headphones or a charging brick, a move aimed at cutting down on waste.

More than 2 billion Apple power adapters are out in the world, and many customers already have wired headphones or AirPods, vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives Lisa Jackson said.

"Removing these items also means a smaller, lighter iPhone box," Jackson said. "We can fit up to 70% more items on a shipping pallet," reducing shipping emissions.

 

[Kaido]

Honestly, I was really underwhelmed by the presentation. It's not that the phones are bad, but more like there just isn't anything new that's really worth talking about. For example, 5G is going to be next to useless. A lot of the talk of high bandwidth communications is so limited at this point that it's not worth talking about. As for the other 5G (the fact that there needs to be a differentiation was a huge mistake in naming), I doubt most users will notice a difference compared to 4G/LTE.

The only thing that seemed decent were the camera improvements, but when you start getting as high end as recording 4K60 video footage in Dolby Vision HDR, I think you start to get into a weird spot. Outside of weird, niche projects, who is going to use that feature? Maybe someone looking to get an article titled, "I Shot My Latest Film on the iPhone 12 Pro".

I would've been find with just getting a TouchID sensor in the power button like the iPad Air (in addition to the FaceID camera, not in place of it). However, as it stands, this may be the first year since the iPhone 4S that I don't upgrade my phone.

My LTE is already like, instant. The new camera stuff sounds cool. Jumbo size sounds nice. Would have been nice to have the in-screen fingerprint sensor like the Samsungs have, especially to unlock your phone while wearing a mask.

I am in the very weird niche of iPhone videography. I have an anamorphic lens, special tripod adapters, etc. Excited about that, and about LIDAR for doing 3D scanning.

I dunno how much more new stuff you can add to a phone. I'd like a 1" thick version that has triple the battery life & so that I can actually hold the phone without it slipping out of my fingers. Maybe a holographic GUI, but that'd kind of hurt privacy. I dunno. We've reached peak nerd here, gentleman!

 

[ultimatebob]

Honestly, I didn't make a thread because it didn't seem like it was worth it. Other than adding 5G (which probably will not be available in my area for a long time) most of the improvements seemed incremental at best.

It's also lame that you can spend $1,400 on fully loaded iPhone 12 Pro Max and Apple won't even bother to throw in a pair of earbuds and a charger for it. My daughter's $70 Android phone came with both of those!

 

[ultimatebob]

Color me cynical, but first they removed the headphone jack, and now don't include earbuds or charging brick? Really? And their SMALLEST phone , the Mini, is SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS? lol

What really irked me is that Apple had the gall to say that they were doing that to "help the environment". What a bunch of green-washing BS. Everybody with half a brain knows that the real plan here was to improve their profit margins by selling you a wireless charger and a pair of AirPods with your new iPhone purchase. If Apple really gave a damn about the environment, they would give us user replaceable parts and batteries so their products didn't end up in a landfill when they broke.

 

[Aikouka]

My LTE is already like, instant. The new camera stuff sounds cool. Jumbo size sounds nice. Would have been nice to have the in-screen fingerprint sensor like the Samsungs have, especially to unlock your phone while wearing a mask.

I am in the very weird niche of iPhone videography. I have an anamorphic lens, special tripod adapters, etc. Excited about that, and about LIDAR for doing 3D scanning.

I dunno how much more new stuff you can add to a phone. I'd like a 1" thick version that has triple the battery life & so that I can actually hold the phone without it slipping out of my fingers. Maybe a holographic GUI, but that'd kind of hurt privacy. I dunno. We've reached peak nerd here, gentleman!

Yeah, I think the thing with having TouchID and FaceID is that it provides choice, and it could also help Apple provide a decent distinction between their standard and Pro line-ups. Although, with the iPad Air, I'm not sure if they're suggesting that TouchID is the cheap option given it's on the cheaper Air and the Pro has FaceID. (TouchID is also used on the cheaper iPhone SE.) In my case, I'd like it so I have another option to avoid using my passcode in public as FaceID is useless with a mask. I get rather neurotic about people staring at me while I enter a passcode/password because I've had far too many nosey people at work stare at me while I enter passwords.

I think what was a bit of a bummer is that there were rumors floating around about features like 120Hz coming to the next iPhone, which would be interesting as that's a feature that the iPad Pro has over its siblings as well.

I am thinking about going with the iPhone 12 Pro. I have an iPhone 11 Pro Max right now, and while I prefer the larger size, I have had instances where I've found the corner of my case ripped off due to stress applied while I'm doing something like kneeling down. I also want to avoid the possibility of Verizon "upgrading" me to their newer plans. I've kept my same one for years, which lets me upgrade as long as I've paid off 50% of the device. It's not as good as selling the device on eBay, but the difference is fairly small... especially considering how it's far less hassle to trade it in. I think Verizon's current plan requires you to pay off 70% of the phone before you can trade it in, which is a terrible deal.

Honestly, I didn't make a thread because it didn't seem like it was worth it. Other than adding 5G (which probably will not be available in my area for a long time) most of the improvements seemed incremental at best.

You may already have 5G in your area, but then you run into the problem that Apple is likely going to face... the distinction between standard 5G and mmWave 5G. Apple was heavily boasting the speeds of 5G in their presentation, but those specifically refer to the latter, which is available in very few places. The prior is actually what most people will see, and it does offer improvements over standard 4G/LTE, but not what most users will expect based upon Apple's description. I don't have a ton of knowledge of 4G vs 5G, but my understanding is that it's sort of like WiFi5 vs WiFi6. There's not a huge speed increase, but the upgrade allows for better management features that can help increase speeds by being more efficient with transmissions.

What really irked me is that Apple had the gall to say that they were doing that to "help the environment". What a bunch of green-washing BS. Everybody with half a brain knows that the real plan here was to improve their profit margins by selling you a wireless charger and a pair of AirPods with your new iPhone purchase. If Apple really gave a damn about the environment, they would give us user replaceable parts and batteries so their products didn't end up in a landfill when they broke.

I think they could really put their money where their mouth is by offering a discount on AirPods to people when they buy an iPhone. Also, the problem with the chargers that most users have is that they're the bog standard 5W chargers that Apple has been throwing at us for years, but the latest iPhones support faster charging. (They even support faster over wireless, 7.5W.) It's also kind of amusing because the iPhone 12 comes with a Type-C to Lightning cable, which means the cable won't even work with the standard charger. They could also consider letting people trade in an old charger when purchasing a new phone to receive a newer charger. That way... they can recycle/reuse the old charger and the user can have a more compatible one.

 

[ultimatebob]

Verizon doesn't offer millimeter wave 5G or "regular" 5G in my area yet. The coverage map shows that the first large town with full 5G coverage in Connecticut is Stamford... 50 miles away from me.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Color me cynical, but first they removed the headphone jack, and now don't include earbuds or charging brick? Really? And their SMALLEST phone , the Mini, is SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS? lol

I sort of get not including the extra stuff because of waste but yeah I agree in a way.
I think wireless speeds are becoming like wired broadband speeds for some of us.
I only have nerd desires to go above 100/100 speed and honestly I don’t perceive much of a difference than our previous 50/50 speed.
Point is at home we have enough bandwidth for our needs plus enough extra for future needs. I think with good LTE coverage we are at the same point. I don’t see much need for faster wireless on my device. I am not going to pay extra for that speed, I am not going to buy a new device to access that speed.

Here is my LTE speed outside a super market in a low service area. Decent speed for pretty much everything. Up could be better but how many people upload large files from a phone or other mobile device.



Above picture uploaded near instantaneously I. I started to count to post how long it too and it finished. Maybe took two seconds.

 

[ultimatebob]

I sort of get not including the extra stuff because of waste but yeah I agree in a way.

I'd be OK with Apple not including the chargers or earbuds in the box if you could add them to your order for some nominal fee like $5 that covers their manufacturing costs.

Of course, that's not what Apple really wants. They want you to order a pair of Airpods and a new MagSafe wireless charger with your new phone, giving them an additional $200 on each order. That's how they beat their Q4 revenue projections, which was the real purpose of this exercise.

 

[Aikouka]

I noted before that I was considering the iPhone 12 Pro as a shift down in size slightly, but after I checked out the LinusTechTips video on the iPhone 12 this morning, it made a very important point that I hadn't noticed... the cameras in the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are not the same. I suspected that the difference was mostly in screen size and a slightly large battery, but there are a few differences. (Linus had mentioned that the sensor in the Pro Max is bigger.)

Here are a few discrepancies that I found on Apple's site:

iPhone 12 Pro
Photos
2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 4x optical zoom range
Digital zoom up to 10x

Videos
Optical image stabilization for video
2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out
Digital zoom up to 6x

iPhone 12 Pro Max
Photos
2.5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 5x optical zoom range
Digital zoom up to 12x

Videos
Sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video
2.5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out
Digital zoom up to 7x

Given that the camera is probably the biggest upgrade reason (outside of looking to shift sizes), it seems awkward to buy the phone with the worse camera.

 

[nOOky]

Been waiting for the iPhone 12 Pro as the wife needs a new phone, and we want to see how the cameras perform. We don't and have never had Apple phones or any Apple devices, so we don't have tons of chargers laying around lol. I will wait until we can actually play with one hands on in the store before deciding. I'm not really seeing any new phone that blows my skirt up and checks all of the boxes to be honest, at least not in a smaller form factor. They always cripple the smaller units somehow, looks like Apple is no different with the 12 Pro versus Pro Max.

 

[ponyo]

The only reason I want to upgrade to iPhone 12 is for the better camera. Camera is pretty much the only reason I need/want to upgrade iPhone going forward. I'm on Cricket prepaid so I can't take advantage of 5G or even care about it.

But Apple is pissing me off with the charger and headphone removal. And they increased iPhone 12 price another $100 to $800 from iPhone 11 $700 price. And it's extra $30 if you're not on AT&T or Verizon. So if I want unlocked iPhone 12, I need to pay $830 which is $130 more expensive than prior iPhone 11. Just because you can bend over customer and screw them doesn't mean you should. Not that I would buy the regular iPhone 12. I would've bought the 12 Pro or Pro Max. But I'm going to skip this generation because I don't want to reward Apple for such shitty behavior.

 

[ultimatebob]

My iPhone XR already takes lovely photos, so even the new cameras aren't all that interesting to me. Maybe I'll change my mind if my phone breaks and/or Verizon finally gets 5G in my area.

 

[sze5003]

About the chargers, that does suck especially for people trying to consider going from Android to Apple. I'm one of them on the fence now after owning google pixel devices for years.

Almost everyone in my family except me has an iphone. But I don't get why apple can't have youtube work with picture in picture mode. I liked the Pixels for the software, simple and customizable, and also the best cameras but now Apple has caught up in that regard.

I just don't know if I could get used to being locked into such an eco system like ios.

A few other things hold me back like no smooth display screen (90 or 120hz). Most other flagships have this already. I'll need to check out the 12 when my sister gets hers.

 

[Aikouka]

We don't and have never had Apple phones or any Apple devices, so we don't have tons of chargers laying around lol.

Keep in mind that all you really need is a something-to-Lightning cable that matches an existing 5V charger that you have lying around. (I think iPhones since 11 also support 12V charging, but I'm not 100% sure on that.) They'll also work fine with wireless chargers, but iPhones are limited to 7.5W Qi charging and not the higher 15W available to some Android devices. (I've bought 7.5W wireless chargers from Anker for about $9 that work great with the iPhone.)

Although, one thing to keep in mind is that the iPhone 12 does come with a cable... just not the AC-to-DC converter. What's likely going to be a problem to some is that the cable is a Type-C-to-Lightning cable, which will work with the aforementioned 12V chargers, but not the 5V chargers that use Type-A.

They always cripple the smaller units somehow, looks like Apple is no different with the 12 Pro versus Pro Max.

I was surprised that they did it. I'm curious if it could have something to do with internal sizes of the components. Although, I'm not sure if that would matter as I think the camera protrusions on the back are the same size?

And they increased iPhone 12 price another $100 to $800 from iPhone 11 $700 price. And it's extra $30 if you're not on AT&T or Verizon. So if I want unlocked iPhone 12, I need to pay $830 which is $130 more expensive than prior iPhone 11.

I don't know what the costs are to Apple, but keep in mind that the non-Pro models were updated from having LCD screens to OLED screens. The latter was normally reserved for Apple's higher-priced models (even on other devices, like the iPad), which certainly made the switch an odd choice for them.

But I don't get why apple can't have youtube work with picture in picture mode.

Google has to enable this, not Apple. It actually works fine with YouTube if you use YouTube from Safari. But I do think Apple needs to work with developers to ensure a more uniform implementation. For example, in AppleTV or Safari, you get the button to go into PiP mode. On the other hand, on Netflix you do not get the button; however, if you attempt to minimize Netflix during playback, it will automatically enable PiP mode for you. (This does mean that having the video up while paused does not enable PiP when minimized.)

A few other things hold me back like no smooth display screen (90 or 120hz).

That's one of the features that I was looking for as well. Apple actually already has it in their iPad Pro (it's called ProMotion). I saw some remarks that the issue with high refresh rate screens on the iPhone could be down to battery life differences. Where the iPad has a large battery to help make up for extra usage, the iPhone doesn't. Although, from my understanding, the point of Apple's ProMotion is to only enable the higher refresh rate when it makes sense. In other words, looking at your home screen or just reading a post would mean a low refresh rate, but once you start scrolling, it would raise the refresh rate until you stop. Also, if you full-sized a video, it could match the refresh rate of the content.

 

[sze5003]

Google has to enable this, not Apple. It actually works fine with YouTube if you use YouTube from Safari. But I do think Apple needs to work with developers to ensure a more uniform implementation. For example, in AppleTV or Safari, you get the button to go into PiP mode. On the other hand, on Netflix you do not get the button; however, if you attempt to minimize Netflix during playback, it will automatically enable PiP mode for you. (This does mean that having the video up while paused does not enable PiP when minimized.)


That's one of the features that I was looking for as well. Apple actually already has it in their iPad Pro (it's called ProMotion). I saw some remarks that the issue with high refresh rate screens on the iPhone could be down to battery life differences. Where the iPad has a large battery to help make up for extra usage, the iPhone doesn't. Although, from my understanding, the point of Apple's ProMotion is to only enable the higher refresh rate when it makes sense. In other words, looking at your home screen or just reading a post would mean a low refresh rate, but once you start scrolling, it would raise the refresh rate until you stop. Also, if you full-sized a video, it could match the refresh rate of the content.

You are saying Google has the picture in picture enabled for the Android YouTube app but not for the Apple Youtube app?

That's weird because on my YouTube app on my Pixel phone or on my sister's One plus 6t phone, pic in pic from youtube works fine if you have youtube paid version. Why would it be any different using the same application on ios? It just does not seem like implementation should be different unless it's something specific to that OS.

Having to copy the URL from the youtube app to safari and then enable picture in picture is annoying.

Sure battery would suffer more on high refresh rate but even at 90hz on all the time my Pixel 4xl, the battery is fine. I would expect battery to be even more optimized on ios than Android. I know ios animations and such are very nice and smooth, high refresh would have made it even better. In addition it's a toggle at least on my phone, I can toggle back to 60hz if I want. But I would dare never to go back now.

 

[Aikouka]

You are saying Google has the picture in picture enabled for the Android YouTube app but not for the Apple Youtube app?

From my understanding, that's correct. It probably isn't a huge surprise given the weird contention between the two when it comes to YouTube on Apple platforms. For example, it wasn't until tvOS 14 (the release that came out about a month ago) where you could finally watch YouTube in 4K on the AppleTV. I remember trying to watch Cobra Kai back when it released on YouTube Red/Premium, and having to go back to my HTPC as I could only do 1080p (and no HDR) on the AppleTV.

Although, if I recall, iOS does sometimes get features in other Google apps first.

Why would it be any different using the same application on ios? It just does not seem like implementation should be different unless it's something specific to that OS.

I'm going to have to guess a bit, because I don't know exactly how Google writes its apps. For example, you can write fully native apps (Android uses Java, iOS uses Swift or Objective-C) or use cross-platform libraries to write a single app that is translated to the mobile platform's native language. An example of this is Microsoft's Xamarin. However, the important thing to note about cross-platform libraries is that they need to support the feature for a native OS before the cross-platform app will support it.

However, it is worth noting that while PiP was introduced on iPhones in iOS 14, I believe it has been on iPads since iOS 12 or 13. So, while you could argue that Google may have an excuse with iPhones only recently receiving the feature, I can assure you that YouTube on the iPad does not support PiP either. (Frankly, it would be a lot nicer on the iPad given the larger screen.)

I would expect battery to be even more optimized on ios than Android.

I would argue that iOS's battery optimizations largely deal with background tasks rather than the foreground app. The big difference between apps on iOS and Android is that when you minimize an app on iOS, it's heavily restricted on what it's allowed to do while in the background. Also, being minimized, it's potentially on the chopping block for the memory management to dispose of the app if more RAM is needed.

As a side note, this is the reason why force-closing apps on iOS is a bad idea. Memory is getting powered regardless, but forcing the app to fully reopen every time due to force-closing it will cause it to use more processing rather than simply resuming from standby. In other words, those people that think force-closing helps save battery life are actually doing the exact opposite. Although, I have found that some apps are really nosey about your location... even when set to "only while using". For example, if I open the Best Buy app, the location icon at the top will not disappear unless I force-close the app, and that's when Best Buy's location setting is set to "only while using". I get allowing map programs to have your location while in the background, but Best Buy doesn't really need it. (I assume they use proximity for curbside pick-up.)

 

[Kaido]

https://imgur.com/a/PB6S9PQ

 

[Kaido]

 

[Kaido]

 

[Oyeve]

Received my iphone 12 a few hours ago. Using as a work phone to replace my xr. Its homum at best. I like th eblue color and all but, its just basically an iphone. Acts like my iphone 6, 6s, 7, 8, xr. And, my Galaxy note 20 + on tmobile 5g is at least 3 times faster on 5G than the iphone 12 on verizon 5G.

 

[Commodus]

Received my iphone 12 a few hours ago. Using as a work phone to replace my xr. Its homum at best. I like th eblue color and all but, its just basically an iphone. Acts like my iphone 6, 6s, 7, 8, xr. And, my Galaxy note 20 + on tmobile 5g is at least 3 times faster on 5G than the iphone 12 on verizon 5G.

The 5G speeds are more down to the network in your area than the phone -- Verizon's low-band 5G is still pretty new.

 

[Oyeve]

The 5G speeds are more down to the network in your area than the phone -- Verizon's low-band 5G is still pretty new.

I'm in NYC, you would think VZW would be strong.