iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max Launched

iPhone 12 series was unveiled by Apple at its virtual event on Tuesday, and it consists of the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. While the iPhone 12 mini comes as the smallest and the most affordable model in the new series, the iPhone 12 is designed as the successor to the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are projected the successors to the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, respectively. All four models in the 2020 iPhone lineup come with 5G support and are powered by Apple's A14 Bionic chip. The latest models also run on iOS 14 out-of-the-box and retain the notch that was featured originally on the iPhone X in November 2017.

iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max price in India, sale date

iPhone 12 mini price in India has been set at Rs. 69,900 for the 64GB storage variant, while its 128GB storage model carries a price tag of Rs. 74,900 and the top-end 256GB storage option is priced at Rs. 84,900. The iPhone 12, on the other hand, is priced at Rs. 79,900 for the 64GB storage option, Rs. 84,900 for the 128GB storage variant, and the 256GB storage model at Rs. 94,900. However, the iPhone 12 Pro will retail starting at Rs. 1,19,900 for the base, 128GB storage variant, while its 256GB and 512GB storage options will be available at Rs. 1,29,900 and Rs. 1,49,900, respectively. The iPhone 12 Pro Max, in contrast, starts at Rs. 1,29,900 for the 128GB storage variant. Its 256GB option is priced at Rs. 1,39,900 and the highest, 512GB storage model carries a price tag of Rs. 1,59,900.

In the US, the iPhone 12 mini price starts at $699 (roughly Rs. 51,200), while the iPhone 12 begins at $799 (roughly Rs. 58,600). The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, on the other front, are starting at $999 (roughly Rs. 73,200) and $1,099 (roughly Rs. 80,400), respectively. The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 will be available in Black, Blue, Green, Product (RED), and White colour variants, while the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available in Gold, Graphite, Pacific Blue, and Silver colour variants. Alongside the iPhone 12 series, Apple brought the HomePod mini and MagSafe wireless charger as its new products.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro start October 16 in the US, the UK, Japan, Germany, China, and Australia, before going on sale from October 23. In India, South Korea, and 12 more countries, the iPhone 12 will go on sale from October 30. The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max will go up for pre-orders starting November 6 in the US, with availability set for November 13. India availability for all models except the iPhone 12 has yet to be detailed.

In addition to the iPhone 12 series, Apple launched the HomePod mini and the MagSafe wireless charger.

iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano + eSIM) iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max run on iOS 14 and come with Super Retina XDR OLED displays — featuring a Ceramic Shield glass cover on top. This is a significant upgrade over last year's iPhone launch as the iPhone 11 in the 2019 iPhone range was launched with an LCD panel instead of an upgraded OLED screen. The new models are also powered by the A14 Bionic SoC that is already available on the latest iPad Air and comes with the fourth-generation Neural Engine.

The A14 Bionic is designed to handle talks including 4K video editing. It is also claimed to deliver a 40 percent boost in CPU performance and 30 percent improvement in graphics over the existing A13 Bionic chip. Further, the new 16-core Neural Engine is touted to be capable of performing up to 11 trillion operations per second. There are also second-generation machine learning accelerators in the CPU to provide 10 percent faster machine learning calculations over the previous-generation Neural Engine.

Apart from the enhanced processing power, the 2020 iPhone family comes with 5G support. It is, however, of no use if 5G networks are yet to be available in your area. The US variants of the iPhone 12 series also come with support for faster, mmWave 5G networks.

In terms of differences, the iPhone 12 mini comes in a 5.4-inch size, while the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro share the same 6.1-inch form-factor and the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the biggest in the series, with 6.7-inch size. The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 feature 12-megapixel dual rear cameras that include a wide-angle and an ultra wide-angle shooter, with an f/1.6 aperture and f/2.4 aperture respectively.

The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, on the other hand, offer 12-megapixel triple rear cameras with a wide (f/1.6), ultra-wide (f/2.4), and an additional telephoto (f/2.0 on Pro and f/2.2 on Pro Max) lens. They also include a LiDAR (a portmanteau of light and radar) scanner for better autofocus in low light (and Night-mode Portraits), improved depth photography, and augmented reality (AR) measurements. The iPhone 12 Pro Max also carries a 47 percent larger wide camera sensor. The iPhone 12 Pro offers 4x optical zoom while the iPhone 12 Pro Max offers 5x optical zoom with the telephoto sensor. All four models feature 12-megapixel f/2.2 front cameras.

The company is also rolling out a new Apple ProRAW format on the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max, giving users a professional post-photography experience. Apart from the Photos app, third-party apps will be able use the new image format thanks an API. The 'Pro' iPhone 12 models also offer 4K Dolby Vision HDR video recording, and on-device editing of the result.

Apple has also improved its Deep Fusion software tweak that was debuted on the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max last year. Similarly, the Night Mode on the iPhone 12 series has also been updated to deliver better low-light results, including by the front camera. A night-mode time-lapse feature will also be launched.

In terms of battery life, the iPhone 12 mini is claimed to deliver up to 15 hours of video playback, while the iPhone 12 is rated to offer up to 17 hours video playback - the same as the iPhone 12 Pro. The iPhone 12 Pro Max is projected to deliver the “longest battery life in an iPhone” with up to 20 hours of video playback. They support MagSafe wireless charging at up to 15W, and Qi wireless charging at up to 7.5W. The company is calling the iPhone 12 mini the smallest, lightest, and thinnest 5G smartphone in the world.

Notably, the iPhone 12 series will be shipped without an AC adapter in the box. It comes with a USB-C to Lightning cable. The decision to remove the charger from the box was for environmental reasons.

Apple has also offered upgraded wireless charging support on the iPhone 12 series that supports magnetic chargers carrying the MagSafe branding, which was earlier associated with the magnetically charging accessories of previous-generation MacBooks. MagSafe on the iPhone 12 series is enabled thanks to housing of a magnet and charging array within the phone's case.

Are Apple Watch SE, iPad 8th Gen the Perfect ‘Affordable' Products for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.