Big announcements from Apple - new iPhones and more

Apple has, in the last few hours, announced its new range of iPhones - the iPhone 12 series.

The good news is that their pricing for the new models will be the same as that which applied to the 11 series.

If you don't need to get that latest/greatest, you can save $200 on what you would have paid last week for the iPhone 11 64GB model - $999 now instead of the $1,199 price tag I reported in my recent article, What iPhone should I get? And should I get one now?.

What's new/different?

As usual, one of the key areas of improvement relates to the camera features offered by each model.

But a more significant differences is that the iPhone 12 will support 5G mobile technology.

And there is a new Magsafe magnet feature on the back that will support faster wireless charging (using Apple's new MagSafe charger) and allows you to connect other accessories (like a magnetic case, and credit card wallet) to the back of the phone. There will obviously be more 3rd-party accessories arriving soon to take advantage of the new Magsafe features.

What sizes/models are available and how much will they cost?

The iPhone 12 series has the standard and Pro models, each in two sizes and, as usual, the Pro model comes at a significant extra cost - worth the extra outlay if you are a keen photographer.

The iPhone 12 Mini is a new, smaller sized iPhone. It is even smaller and lighter than the iPhone SE, but offers more screen area than the SE because it has the edge to edge screen (ie. it does not have a Home Button). The iPhone 12 Mini starts at $1199 for 64GB.

The iPhone 12 is the same size as the iPhone 11, and starts at $1349 for $64GB.

The iPhone 12 Pro (starting at $1699 for 128GB) and iPhone 12 Pro Max (starting at $1849 for 128GB) models are slightly larger in dimensions than their iPhone 11 Pro equivalents.

Which model should I get? 

Iif you are wanting to compare the new phones with your current phone (or any combination of up to 3 iPhone models), there is a really useful page on the Apple website that supports this.​

• iPhone - Compare Model

This page really helps you to see the key differences between the new iPhones and make a decision on which might suit you.

I have decided on the iPhone 12 Pro to replace my 3-year-old iPhone X.

I am happy with the size of the iPhone X. The iPhone 12 Pro is slightly bigger than my current iPhone X, but I don't need the super-sized Pro Max model, even though it offers a couple of extra camera features and extended battery life when compared with the iPhone 12 Pro. I find the smaller size more comfortable to hole.

I will go for the 512GB model, as my Photos Library is around 180GB and growing - so I want to ensure that there is enough space all my photos and any other files/data I need permanently stored on my iPhone. So that will set me back $2,219 (with a saving of $390 if I trade in my iPhone X).

What I don't know yet is what the iPhone 12 plan pricing will be through Telstra (or any of the other Telcos) - something that will definitely be announced very soon. So the decision will then be whether to fork out the money up front, or whether to go on a plan and pay off the new phone as part of that plan. I'll wait and see what they have to offer.

When are these new iPhones available?

If you are thinking of ordering one of these new iPhones, online pre-orders open for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro on 16/10/20 (for delivery around 23/10).

For the iPhone 12 Mini or iPhone 12 Pro Max, you will need to wait a bit longer - online pre-orders open on 7/11/20.

Other announcements from Apple today

Apple also announced a HomePod mini - a smaller version of their HomePod, priced at a much more friendly $149 (compared with $469 for the larger version.

Here's more information about this product.

And here's information about the set of Magsafe accessories that the iPhone 12 series will support.

What wasn't announced today

Surprisingly, there was no mention today about when the new MacOS operating system, Big Sur, will be released. (Apologies to those of you who read in our our newsletter that this was announced today - we forgot to adjust that headline before sending.) So stay tuned on that one.

No further update to iOS 14 was announced - so the current version (14.0.1) will be the version shipped with any devices pre-ordered this week.

​For those of you keen to upgrade to iOS 14 (and iPadOS 14), the release does seem quite stable now, with very little chatter online about problems. 

My own iPhone X and iPad Pro have been operating without issue under 14.0.1. I can't say that there are no issues left, but I suspect it is relatively safe to upgrade at this point.

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