Hardware

Published on October 14th, 2020 | by Adrian Gunning

Apple introduces iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max with 5G

Apple® today announced iPhone® 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, introducing a powerful 5G experience and advanced technologies that push the boundaries of innovation for users who want the most out of iPhone. iPhone 12 Pro models feature a new design and edge-to-edge Super Retina® XDR displays, the largest ever on iPhone, protected by the all-new Ceramic Shield front cover, which provides the biggest jump in durability ever on iPhone. The Apple-designed A14 Bionic chip, the fastest chip in a smartphone, powers impressive computational photography features including the all-new Apple ProRAW™ for more creative control in photos, and enables the first end-to-end Dolby Vision video experience, up to 60 fps. The reimagined pro camera systems include an expansive Ultra Wide camera, a Telephoto camera with an even longer focal length on iPhone 12 Pro Max, and new Wide cameras to capture beautiful professional-quality images and video in bright and low-light environments. iPhone 12 Pro models also introduce a new LiDAR Scanner for immersive augmented reality (AR) experiences and MagSafe™, which offers high-powered wireless charging and an all-new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to iPhone.

iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available in four stainless steel finishes, including graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue. Pre-orders for iPhone 12 Pro begin Friday, 16 October, with availability beginning Friday, 23 October. iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available for pre-order Saturday, 7 November, and in stores beginning Friday, 13 November.

“This is a huge leap for iPhone, bringing the best 5G experience in the market and delivering our most advanced technologies to users who want the absolute most from their iPhone,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Each generation of iPhone has changed what we expect from a smartphone, and now with 5G, iPhone 12 Pro provides a new generation of performance. Our tight integration of hardware and software enables incredible computational photography features like the expansion of Night mode to more cameras, and introduces support for HDR video with Dolby Vision. A state-of-the-art LiDAR Scanner means users can experience AR like never before, and also offers benefits to the camera with faster autofocus in low light and the introduction of Night mode portraits. These experiences and so much more make this the best iPhone lineup ever.”

A Superior 5G Experience 

iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max deliver an advanced 5G experience on a global scale, engineered with a seamless integration of world-class hardware and world-class software. 5G on iPhone boasts improved speeds for faster downloads and uploads, higher quality video streaming, more responsive gaming, real-time interactivity in apps, FaceTime® in high definition, and much more. Customers will also be able to enjoy a secure, fast connection, reducing the need to connect to public Wi-Fi hotspots.

Featuring the most 5G bands on any smartphone, iPhone 12 Pro models offer the broadest 5G coverage worldwide.1 Models in the US support millimetre wave, the higher frequency version of 5G, allowing iPhone 12 Pro models to reach speeds up to 4Gbps, even in densely populated areas. iPhone 12 Pro models also feature Smart Data mode, which extends battery life by intelligently assessing 5G needs and balancing data usage, speed, and power in real time.

A14 Bionic: Powerful and Efficient 

Generations ahead of the competition, A14 Bionic is the first chip in the smartphone industry built on 5-nanometer process. Faster and more efficient than ever, A14 Bionic has the fastest CPU and GPU by up to 50 percent compared to the fastest competing smartphone chips, enabling console-quality gaming experiences, powerful computational photography, and more, while delivering great battery life. Pushing the limits of machine learning (ML), A14 Bionic features a 16-core Neural Engine — for an 80 per cent increase in performance — that is capable of completing 11 trillion operations per second, enabling improved performance on even the most intense ML models.

New Design and Innovative Display Technologies 

Designed with premium materials, iPhone 12 Pro models boast a new, sophisticated flat-edge design that features a gorgeous surgical-grade stainless steel band paired with a precision-milled matte glass back, and introduces the incredibly durable Ceramic Shield. The Ceramic Shield front cover, tougher than any smartphone glass, goes beyond glass and is infused with nano-ceramic crystals to dramatically improve toughness and increase drop performance by 4x.2

With impressively larger, edge-to-edge displays with reduced borders in familiar sizes, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max3 feature a Super Retina XDR display with systemwide colour management for industry-leading colour accuracy. And iPhone 12 Pro Max offers the largest display ever on an iPhone and the highest resolution featuring nearly 3.5 million pixels for a remarkable, true-to-life viewing experience. These OLED displays bring HDR video content to life, reaching 1200 nits peak brightness.

iPhone 12 Pro models come with an industry-leading IP68 rating to withstand water submersion up to 6 metres for up to 30 minutes, and are protected against everyday spills, including coffee and soft drink.4

Versatile Pro Camera System

The world’s best pro camera is an even more versatile tool for all levels of photo and video enthusiasts with state-of-the-art camera hardware powered by A14 Bionic. Together with the new image signal processor (ISP), A14 Bionic drives increased image quality and enables powerful computational photography capabilities not possible with traditional cameras. iPhone 12 Pro models also feature the new Apple ProRAW, coming later this year,5 which combines Apple’s multi-frame image processing and computational photography with the versatility of a RAW format. Users can experience full creative control over colour, detail, and dynamic range natively on iPhone or with other professional photo editing apps.

iPhone 12 Pro features the new seven-element lens Wide camera with an ƒ/1.6 aperture, the fastest ever on an iPhone, for 27 per cent improved low-light performance in photo and video; the Ultra Wide camera with a 120-degree field of view, perfect for capturing more scene in tight spots or epic landscapes; and a 52 mm focal length Telephoto camera, great for framing portraits, bringing the optical zoom range to 4x.

iPhone 12 Pro Max takes the pro camera experience even further. The new ƒ/1.6 aperture Wide camera boasts a 47 per cent larger sensor with 1.7μm pixels for a massive 87 per cent improvement in low-light conditions. It also includes the expansive Ultra Wide camera and a 65 mm focal length Telephoto camera for increased flexibility with closer shots and tighter crops. Combined, this system offers 5x optical zoom range.

Improvements to Night mode, now expanded to the TrueDepth® and Ultra Wide cameras, allow for an even brighter picture. And Night mode Time-Lapse delivers longer exposure times for sharper videos, better light trails, and smoother exposure in low-light scenarios when used with a tripod. Deep Fusion, now better and faster, comes to all cameras, and with the new Smart HDR 3, users can expect more true-to-life images, even in complex scenes.

iPhone 12 Pro models offer the highest quality video in a smartphone, and are the first cameras and only devices in the world to enable an end-to-end experience for HDR video with Dolby Vision up to 60 fps, and even better video stabilisation for cinema-grade productions. Dolby Vision grading is processed live and sustained during editing, whether in the Photos app or iMovie®, and coming to Final Cut Pro® X later this year. Dolby Vision takes advantage of the Super Retina XDR display for amazing contrast during capture and video playback, and users can share their videos with support for AirPlay® up to 4K Dolby Vision to external devices.6

Realistic AR and Innovative Camera Experiences

An all-new LiDAR Scanner comes to the Pro line, offering the ability to measure light distance and use pixel depth information of a scene. This technology delivers faster, more realistic AR experiences and improves autofocus by 6x in low-light scenes for more accuracy and reduced capture time in photos and videos. This advanced hardware, combined with the power of the Neural Engine of A14 Bionic, also unlocks Night mode portraits, rendering a beautiful low-light bokeh effect.

Innovative New Accessories with MagSafe 

MagSafe improves wireless charging for a better, more efficient experience and introduces an ecosystem of easy-to-attach accessories that beautifully complement iPhone 12 Pro models.7 MagSafe delivers a unique experience to iPhone, featuring an array of magnets around the wireless charging coil, optimised for alignment and efficiency, that perfectly connects to iPhone every time. MagSafe chargers efficiently provide up to 15W of power while still accommodating existing Qi-enabled devices. Charging solutions include the MagSafe Charger and MagSafe Duo Charger for use with iPhone and Apple Watch®, as well as new silicone, leather, and clear cases that easily snap onto the back of iPhone, and a leather wallet. Customers can also expect innovative MagSafe accessories from third-party manufacturers.

Featuring iOS 14 

iOS 14 delivers a reimagined iPhone experience with new ways to customise the Home Screen. Beautifully redesigned widgets present timely information at a glance and can be pinned in different sizes on any Home Screen page. The App Library is a new space that automatically organises all of a user’s apps into one simple, easy-to-navigate view. iOS 14 also brings new ways to discover and use apps with App Clips, powerful updates for staying connected in Messages, greener ways to explore cities with Maps, and enhanced privacy features for even more transparency and control.8

Committed to the Environment

Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations, and by 2030, plans to have net zero climate impact across the entire business, which includes manufacturing supply chains and all product life cycles. This means that every Apple device sold, from material collection, component manufacturing, assembly, transport, customer use, charging, all the way through recycling and material recovery, will be 100 per cent carbon neutral. iPhone 12 Pro models were designed with the environment in mind. For the first time, iPhone 12 Pro models will utilise 100 per cent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, including the new camera, Taptic Engine,® and MagSafe, as well as Apple’s MagSafe accessories. Apple is also removing the power adapter and EarPods® from iPhone packaging, further reducing carbon emissions and avoiding the mining and use of precious materials, which enables smaller and lighter packaging, and allows for 70 per cent more boxes to be shipped on a pallet. Taken altogether, these changes will cut over 2 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions annually, equivalent to removing nearly 450,000 cars from the road per year.

Pricing and Availability

  • iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models in graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue starting at RRP A$1,699 inc. GST and RRP A$1,849 inc. GST, respectively. Customers can also get iPhone 12 Pro from RRP A$1,259 inc. GST with trade-in and iPhone 12 Pro Max from RRP A$1,359 inc. GST with trade-in from apple.com/au, in the Apple Store app, and at Apple Store locations.9 iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are also available through Apple Authorised Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).
  • Customers in Australia, China, Germany, Japan, the UK, the US, and more than 30 other countries and regions will be able to pre-order iPhone 12 Pro beginning at 11 p.m. AEDT on Friday, 16 October, with availability beginning Friday, 23 October, and pre-order for iPhone 12 Pro Max will begin at 12 a.m. AEDT on Saturday, 7 November, with availability beginning Friday, 13 November.
  • MagSafe Charger, Leather Wallet with MagSafe, and iPhone 12 Pro Silicone Case and Clear Case will be available beginning Friday, 16 October. iPhone 12 Pro Leather Case will be available beginning Friday, 6 November. MagSafe Duo Charger and Leather Sleeve will be available at a later date.
  • For a limited time, eligible customers who purchase a new iPhone, iPad®, iPod touch®, Apple TV®, or Mac® can enjoy one year of Apple TV+™ for free and three months of Apple Arcade℠ for free.10
  • Apple One™ is the easiest way to get many Apple subscription services at a great value, so customers can choose the one plan that is right for them or their whole family. Customers can sign up for Apple One starting later this year.
  • Customers are able to find the same great shopping and support services at apple.com/au and at Apple Store locations. Customers can get shopping help from Apple Specialists, choose monthly financing options, trade in eligible devices, and get Support services and no-contact delivery or Apple Store pickup options. Customers are encouraged to check apple.com/au/retail for more information on the health and safety measures in place, and the services available, at their local store.
  • Customers in Australia can trade in their eligible device for an Apple Gift Card or instant credit toward their new purchase. If the device is not eligible for credit, Apple will recycle it for free.
  • Customers can get up to two years of technical support and accidental damage coverage with AppleCare+.
  • Every customer who buys iPhone from Apple can enjoy a free Online Personal Session with an Apple Specialist, to help them explore and discover all the amazing things they can do with their new iPhone.
1 Data plan is required. 5G, Gigabit LTE, VoLTE, and Wi-Fi calling are available in select markets and through select carriers. 5G is rolling out in selected locations in Australia. Speeds are based on theoretical throughput and vary based on site conditions and carrier. For details on 5G and LTE support, customers can contact their carrier or visit apple.com/au/iphone/cellular.
2 Claim is based on iPhone 12 Pro Ceramic Shield front cover compared with the previous-generation iPhone.
3 The displays have rounded corners. When measured as a rectangle, the screen is 6.06 inches (iPhone 12 Pro) or 6.68 inches (iPhone 12 Pro Max) diagonally. Actual viewable area is less.
4 iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are splash-, water-, and dust-resistant, and were  tested under controlled laboratory conditions and have a rating of IP68 under IEC standard 60529 (maximum depth of 6 metres up to 30 minutes). Splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance may decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone; refer to the user guide for cleaning and drying instructions. Liquid damage is not covered under warranty, but you might have rights under consumer law.
5 Apple ProRAW will be available in a future iOS 14 update for iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
6 4K Dolby Vision playback requires Apple TV 4K or an AirPlay-enabled TV.
7 MagSafe accessories including chargers, cases, and wallets are sold separately.
8 Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages. For more information on iOS 14, visit apple.com/au/ios/ios-14.
9 Trade-in: iPhone 12 Pro pricing based on trade-in of iPhone Xs and iPhone 12 Pro Max pricing based on trade-in of iPhone Xs Max in good condition. Trade-in values require purchase of a new iPhone, subject to availability and limits. Trade-in values will vary based on the condition, year, and configuration of the eligible trade-in device. Not all devices are eligible for credit. Customers must be at least 18 years old to be eligible to trade in for credit or for an Apple Gift Card. Trade-in value may be applied toward qualifying new device purchase, or added to an Apple Gift Card. Actual value awarded is based on receipt of a qualifying device matching the description provided when estimate was made. Sales tax may be assessed on the full value of a new device purchase. In-store trade-in requires presentation of a valid government-issued photo ID (local law may require saving this information). Offer may not be available in all stores, and may vary between in-store and online trade-in. Some stores may have additional requirements. Apple or its trade-in partners reserve the right to refuse or limit quantity of any trade-in transaction for any reason. More details are available from Apple’s trade-in partners for trade-in and recycling of eligible devices.
10 A$7.99 inc. GST per month each for Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade after free trial. Apple Arcade offer begins 22 October. Special offers are good for three months after the first activation of the eligible device. One Apple TV+ offer and one Apple Arcade offer per Family Sharing group. Plans automatically renew until cancelled. Other restrictions and terms apply; visit apple.com/au/promo for more information.


About the Author

agun@impulsegamer.com'

Adrian lives in Melbourne Australia and has a huge passion for gaming, technology and pop culture. He recently finished his a Bachelor of Journalism and is currently focusing on games journalism. When not writing and playing video games, Adrian can be found in Comics 'R' Us debating the pros of the DC Universe and cons of the Marvel Universe.


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