The iPhone 12 didn't launch at the special event - but it's not far off
LATEST IPHONE 12 NEWS
We may not see the iPhones series refreshed until sometime October after it wasn't shown off at the September 15 Apple event.
That's much later than normal. Apple usually holds its iPhone events in early September. Not since the iPhone 4S has an iPhone event been pushed to October.
IPHONE 12 SPECS
What iPhone 12 specs should you expect?
We're expecting the iPhone 12 range to use a 5nm A14 Bionic chipset, which is almost certain to be included in the new iPhones thanks to it being debuted with the new iPad Air 2020.
The new processor inside will be capable of greater power efficiency, with six cores inside and a 16-core Neural Engine that's twice as fast as before. How that power efficiency will be deployed is still to be seen - whether the iPhone will allow smoother 4K video editing or extend battery life (or both) are the things we're waiting to see outlined on stage.
An A14 Bionic leaked benchmark showed it had a single-core and multi-score score that was ahead of the Snapdragon 865, the processor we've seen in almost all Android flagships in 2020, so it seems set to be, again, one of the most powerful mobile chipsets around.
The RAM could also get a boost, with analysts claiming that the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will have 6GB of the stuff, up from 4GB on their predecessors - though the standard phone will apparently stick with 4GB. This is something we've now heard again, again and again, so it may well be true.
And the iPhone 12 might also support the new 802.11ay specification, which could allow it to share content at speeds of at least 20-30Gbps.
One leak may also have given us a clear picture of batteries you can expect in each of the iPhone 12 models:
- iPhone 12 may have a 2,227mAh battery
- iPhone 12 Max and iPhone 12 Pro may have a 2,775mAh battery
- iPhone 12 Pro Max may have a 3,687mAh battery
If this leak is accurate, it may not be positive news for the iPhone 12's battery life.
The iPhone 11 has a 3,110mAh battery, the iPhone 11 Pro has a 3,046mAh one, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max has a 3,969mAh one – and that’s despite the iPhone 11 Pro Max having a smaller screen than the iPhone 12 Pro Max is rumored to have.
We can't be certain these will be the batteries we'll see in the upcoming phones, but it's our best look yet at the cells you can expect in the new phones.
In other potentially bad battery news, respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that Apple might use a cheaper battery board for the iPhone 12 range than for the iPhone 11 - one that costs roughly half as much. This doesn't necessarily mean the battery life will be worse, but it's a worry - though it could also reduce the cost of the handsets.
Having said all that, one other rumor states that the batteries in the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max won't exceed 4,400mAh - a figure which in both cases would be an improvement on the battery sizes in their predecessors.
That said, the A14 chipset inside looks like it's going to be one of the most power-efficient ever from Apple - and that could offset those lower battery sizes some users might be worried about.
Wireless charging is expected to be included in the iPhone 12 - which isn't a huge surprise - and one leak suggests the phone will come with magnets that allow it to more easily line up with wireless chargers.
Will the iPhone 12 use USB-C? The rumors currently suggest it'll be sticking with a Lightning cable. Multiple sources have said USB-C won't happen, with the iPhone 12 likely sticking with Lightning, and the iPhone 13 potentially switching to a portless design.
That said, a recent EU ruling may also mean future iPhones won't be able to use Lightning cables in Europe. That may force Apple to switch the connector on future phones to USB-C, and while it's not clear yet whether this will be the case for the iPhone 12 it may be something to consider.
Certainly, there are lots of reasons why we'd like the iPhone 12 to switch to USB-C, but overall it's not looking likely.
Another report from Chinese publication Caifa news also suggests Apple and other manufacturers may soon use GaN power adapters. These are currently used by Xiaomi, and allow for fast-charging speeds up to 65 watts.
There's no guarantee this will debut on the iPhone 12 - or any future iPhone for that matter - but it may mean we see an improved fast-charging experience along the line.
So, what's the takeaway on the new iPhone specs? Check out the chart below for a distilled look at what we're expecting. Note that it includes 5G information, more details of which can be found in the next section.
| iPhone 12 | iPhone 12 Max | iPhone 12 Pro | iPhone 12 Pro Max | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chipset | A14 Bionic | A14 Bionic | A14 Bionic | A14 Bionic |
| RAM | 4GB | 4GB | 6GB | 6GB |
| 5G | Just Sub-6 | Just Sub-6 | Both Sub-6 and mmWave | Both Sub-6 and mmWave |
| Storage | 128GB + 256GB | 128GB + 256GB | 128GB + 256GB + 512GB | 128GB + 256GB + 512GB |
PHONE 12 PRICE
How much will the iPhone 12 cost?
The iPhone 12 price is something that leaks have made a little clearer than the release date, and from what we're hearing it's likely to stay broadly in line with 2019's iPhone range.
For reference, the iPhone 11 started at $699 / £729 / AU$1,199, the iPhone 11 Pro starts at $999 / £1,049 / AU$1,749, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max starts at $1,099 / £1,149 / AU$1,899.
Prices for the next iPhone range probably won't be exactly the same though, as you can see in the chart below, which contains information taken from one big leak from YouTuber Jon Prosser. We've also included information from another leak, which suggests there will be 4G variants of two of the models.
| Model | 128GB | 256GB | 512GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 12 4G | $549 | No leaked information | No leaked information |
| iPhone 12 5G | $649 | $749 | Not an option |
| iPhone 12 Max 4G | $649 | No leaked information | No leaked information |
| iPhone 12 Max | $749 | $849 | Not an option |
| iPhone 12 Pro | $999 | $1,099 | $1,299 |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | $1,099 | $1,199 | $1,399 |
There's no clear information about prices for the UK or Australia, but we'd expect those to broadly fall in line with last year's models if the information above is accurate.
That said, some sources have claimed the price may be set to increase over last year's iPhones. For example, analyst Jeff Pu has claimed the basic model of the phone may start at $749.
Indeed, a detailed price leak from @komiya_kj also suggests higher prices than the chart above, with the 5G iPhone 12 apparently starting at $699 (roughly £540 / AU$975) for 64GB of storage, and rising to $749 for 128GB (which is the amount mentioned in the chart).
So that would make it $100 more than that earlier leak suggested for the same amount of storage, and other leaked prices from this source are similarly increased. However, the source doesn't have much of a track record, so we'd take this with a pinch of salt.
But this theory does line up with a previous report that suggested that the cost of materials for the iPhone 12 range might go up, which could mean higher prices at retail.
Indeed, Ming-Chi Kuo (an analyst with a good track record for iPhone information) has said that the cost of 5G components could add up to around $220 (roughly £165 / AU$305) to the production price of each iPhone 12 unit.
Still, for now we'd say prices in line with those in the chart above are the most likely, given how reputable the main source is.
Whatever the case, the iPhone 12 range is sure to be expensive of course, but the iPhone 11 is likely to get a price cut when it lands, with a source suggesting that will drop by $150 (roughly £115, AU$210), while the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone XR will supposedly get discontinued.
In any case, you should probably wait for the iPhone 12 range to launch before buying any new iPhone, as our guide explains.
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