Should You Buy the New iPhones?

Well, it's that time of the year again! The new iPhones have been announced and now its up to us to decide if we want to get them, if it's worth upgrading our phones for. Well, I'm here to give you a helping hand in order to figure out that such case. You're probably wondering what a simple blogger could have to say about this, but I have a solid base behind technology. For years I lived and breathed the latest advancements of mobile phones, from fixing them for a living to selling them, they were my favourite hobby, so I feel like I have a good pool of knowledge to share. So let's get to it!

This year Apple have announced four new iPhones; the iPhone 12, the iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Max. To save you time, the iPhone 12 and 12 mini are the exact same phone except for, obviously, the size. So all of the information you will see about the iPhone 12 will be the same case for the mini. So lets get to it!

What's New?

5G

Alright, Apple have introduced a few new things into their phones for this year. The biggest, of course, being the inclusion of 5G. Apple claim to say that the iPhone 12 will have the broadest 5G coverage worldwide, through the way they have engineered their antennas and putting in the most 5G bands of any smartphone. Whether or not this is true will have to wait for further testing, but that won't be any time soon. 5G, especially here in Australia, is still very limited in where you can get it, either through your device or the areas that include it. While it has technically rolled out in Australia, the coverage is only in six of our major cities, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Apple also say that it can optimize the 5G network when it is needed, mainly when you are downloading something, and when you aren't it switches back to 4G. They say it does this in order to save battery (5G can take a big hit on battery life) but you can also choose to have it on all the time. To be honest, iPhone finally getting on to the 5G bandwagon is probably a good thing. While a majority of people wouldn't get an iPhone specifically for access to 5G, they've future proofed their products and have kickstarted what will probably be higher demand for access to 5G. A lot of new technology often doesn't get traction until big companies start to implement it in their products, and while iPhone isn't the first to the 5G race, it is the biggest company to do so (Samsung fan's will probably disagree). So hopefully in the near future, the 5G network will receive the much needed and wanted boost.

Ceramic Shield

The next new thing that Apple has implemented is a new front glass they are calling Ceramic Shield. Apple are claiming that Ceramic Shield is something that is 4x better drop resistance and is stronger than any smartphone glass, not just the previous iPhones. Apparently this new material was "incredibly difficult" to manufacture as they had to put nanoceramic crystals into glass and then make it transparent. At this point in time, we will have to take Apple's word for it until people can start fully testing them. 

Shape and Style

This year, the iPhones have gone back to their older shape, from the iPhone 5. Having a more rectangular shape, the edges are now more square and flat, rather than the rounded edges that the latest iPhones. The edges on the 12 are made out of Aerospace-grade aluminium edges, as stated on Apple's website. It helps with the overall shape, keeping both the front screen and the back flush against the edge, which I think will be a good feel in hand. The back is still glass, like it has been for wireless charging so the aluminium doesn't bolster the strength. I think this new shape will be great. I kind of hate the rounded edges because it made it feel more fat. This will allow it to feel more compressed and streamline in the hand, which will be good overall. You will find some difference in the iPhone 12 Pro's however, with the edges being made out of surgical-grade stainless steel, giving it that more premium feel.

A14

As every year, with a new iPhone you get a new chip. This year it is the A14 Bionic chip, which Apple is claiming (yet again) that it is the fastest chip in any smartphone. I can never really fault Apple's chips, they have always worked extremely well in optimizing their products and I don't think this year will be any different. Apple website say's it can do up to 11 trillion operation per second, which is incredibly impressive. The chip will allow for better battery life and run the new video capture in Dolby Vision which is something not seen in a smart phone previously, to my knowledge. And the best part about it is that every new iPhone 12 will have it, so you don't have to pay extra for the better chip.

Screen

Finally, Apple have upped their screen resolution with the new Super Retina XDR display. In a nutshell it is a 1080p OLED screen on the iPhone 12. This is a significant upgrade from last years iPhone 11 720p LCD screen. Basically, an OLED screen is able to illuminate single pixels individually, rather than having to get a light source from a back light, like the LCD's do. So what does that mean? It means, all of the new iPhones are now going to have better colour contrast, better picture and better brightness. Apple have had OLED screens in their phone before, with the latest being the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, so it is good to see that they have now done it to all of their phones.

Camera

The camera's have been given a good upgrade now as well. Both camera's on the iPhone 12 have now been given a night mode, allowing greater quality pictures in low-light situations. The camera sensors are able to take in 27% more light in order to capture these pictures and videos. With the iPhone 12 Pro, you also get a new technology in iPhones called LiDAR. Used by NASA, it is able to detect how long it takes for light to reflect back from objects, allowing it to better map objects. So not only will it allow for better night time selfies, it can also help with the AR aspect as well (again, all of this information can be found on the Apple website). On the iPhone 12 Pro, they have also change the stabilization from the camera module itself to on the sensor itself. This will allow for greater stability from up and down and left and right hand shaking. The Pro will also give you a 5x optical zoom range, however the pro Max will give you a slightly longer zoom. So overall, they've had a pretty sweet upgrade.

Dolby Vision

With the upgraded cameras, users will now be able to in 4K HDR 60 FPS in Dolby Vision. I know, a lot of different acronyms and numbers have just been thrown at you so let me put it simply. This kind of technology is the same kind that is used in most movie studios. Usually Dolby Vision is added in post-production but apparently, Apple is giving us the power to record it in real time, allowing for easier editing and greater colour capture at the time. 4K (pixel amount) HDR (high dynamic range) in 60 FPS (frames per second) is the standard these days for Blu-ray movies. It will allow for the greatest colours, in the smoothest way. It really is revolutionary in a smartphone.

Magsafe

Fans of Apple will remember Magsafe from the early Mac days. Basically what it is, is a magnet in the back of the phone that will allow for a charger to connect to, in order to charge it. A lot of people were quite annoyed when Apple gave it a way, so to see it back is nice. A long with its ability to charge the phone, they are also going to release a bunch of accessories that can go with it, such as cases and wallets, that will magnetize to the back of the phone, which seems pretty cool. It's not going to charge the phone any quicker, it's still a wireless charger, but it'll charge straight away every time.

What's in the Box

For this year, iPhone have changed what you will get in the box. You will still get obviously the phone, charging cable and the paperwork, but that's it. Apple are no longer sending you the power adapter or a set of EarPods to go with it. This can be seen as both good and bad. The good side is it's better for the environment, as Apple try to reduce their electronic waste and landfill. They have already moved over to using recycled aluminium in most of their products, so it's good to see them moving in the right direction. The bad side however is this. As of last year, Apple started using the quick charge function and in order to give that, they needed to use a USB-C to lightning cable. USB-C is different to normal USB-A that everyone knows, which is why not including a power adapter is problematic. If you have an older iPhone or an older other phone, then you're not going to have the right power adapter for that charging cable. Which means you will need to go out an buy one, either from Apple themselves, so you can get the right regulation of power, or from a trusted third-party source. While I think it's Apple trying to do the right thing for the environment, I also think it's just another money grab for them. Same goes for the EarPods. Without including them, you either need to go and buy a pair, if you don't have the right ones, or fork out extra money for Bluetooth ones and a lot of people are just going to buy the AirPods in order to connect seamlessly.

iPhone 12 and 12 mini 

Lets start off with the one difference that these two iPhones have, the screen size. One the iPhone 12 mini you will get a screen size of 5.4 inches from corner to corner and on the iPhone 12 you'll get 6.1 inches, the same as last year's iPhone 11 and the year before that on the XR. From here they come in five new colours; Black, White, (PRODUCT) RED, Green and Blue. The colours themselves actually look quite nice, with black and white remaining the same as it always has been. (PRODUCT) RED is it's usual vibrant red colour that has looked good for so long. The green for this year, I think looks more of a minty green colour, similar to the iPhone 11 of last year. The new Blue colour is probably my favourite of this year. It is more of a navy blue than a normal blue. colour which gives it a better look. Both phones come in the standard storage sizes of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. The starting price for iPhone 12 mini is AU$1199 and is available for preorder on the 7th of November. The iPhone 12 starts at AU$1349 and is available from preorder on the 16th of October.

iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max

Okay, screen sizes. The iPhone 12 Pro is 6.1 inches from corner to corner and on the iPhone 12 Pro Max it's a whopping 6.7 inches from corner to corner. The Pro variations only come in four colours. This year they are called Graphite, Silver, Gold and Pacific Blue. Again, the Pacific Blue is easily my favourite colour. It is darker than the iPhone 12 blue with the same sort of darkness that last year's Midnight Green had, which is the colour I got. The Gold colour however, looks amazing. With the stainless steel sides and glass back, it really enhances the colour and makes it look like a phone worth that amount of money. With the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max the storage sizes start off at 128GB and going up to 256Gb and 512GB, so you get the larger storage option with the Pro versions. The iPhone Pro 12 starts at AU$1699 and is available for preorder on the 16th of October. The iPhone 12 Pro Max starts at AU$1849 and is available for preorder on the 7th of November. 

Final Thoughts

This year's iPhones were better than I expected. Usually in the past, Apple haven't really made big jumps from one iPhone to the next, they usually wait a few years inbetween. The iPhone 11 Pro had such a big jump in spec and technology that I thought not much would change this year, but I am glad to say I was wrong. With the new inclusions of 5G, crazy cameras, new screens and magsafe, it's easy to say that it could be worth upgrading from last year's iPhone to these ones. It's even easier to say if you have an iPhone X or later than you should definitely upgrade, just based on the new tech alone. The one thing I do have to say but, and I see a lot of other tech people saying the same thing, is there isn't a lot of incentive to get the Pro versions. All phones have 5G, they all have the new camera setup, they all have the magsafe, they all have the same screen. The only real difference is slightly upgraded battery (but not by much) and a slightly different camera stabilizer and zoom. For the every day person, it isn't going to matter to them if the iPhone 12 Pro Max can stabilize it's camera slightly better than the iPhone 12. Overall, I think this years iPhones are good. They've made great strides in their technology and hopefully it'll help with the overall competitiveness in the smart phone market. Do I think it's going to be the best smartphone out there? No. But at the same time, there isn't much that can stand up to at the moment.

-Jordan Isaacs