Apple held the annual iPhone event on October 13, 2020, and I'm super excited to get my hands on the iPhone 12, specifically, the iPhone 12 Pro. I already pre-ordered my iPhone 12 Pro on October 16, the moment they went live. If you're undecided on whether you should pick up the iPhone 12 or not, here are a few of the reasons why I'm upgrading from my iPhone 11 Pro.
The (old) new design
Do you remember when the iPhone 4 through iPhone 5 series had those chamfered, flat edges on the sides? I absolutely loved those flat edges, because for me, they felt easier to hold, and I liked the fact that the iPhone could stand up by itself on a flat surface if you needed it to for photos or the like.
With the iPhone 12 going back to the flat edges, I'm ecstatic. It's a classic design that I honestly think stands up to the test of time nicely. The curved edges on the iPhone 6 and later don't quite feel as good, they're more slippery, and I can't have the phone freely stand up by itself.
Not everyone is a fan, but I certainly am, and the flat sides are definitely one of the reasons I can't wait to get my iPhone 12 Pro.
Improved cameras
Instead of using a standalone digital camera, I simply use my iPhone for all photos. To me, it's all about convenience, and as long as Apple continues to improve the camera system on the iPhone, I'll continue to buy them. It's just way easier for me to carry my iPhone around than a big clunky DSLR or point-and-shoot.
Even though I bought the iPhone 12 Pro for the camera, I must say that I'm disappointed that Apple has slid back on making the Pro and Pro Max equals when it comes to camera capabilities. The iPhone 12 Pro falls just a tiny bit short of the iPhone 12 Pro Max's powerhouse camera system, which has bigger sensors and more optical zoom. I much prefer when Apple made the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max have the same camera, and the only difference was the screen size and battery life. I hope that this isn't a sign of Apple creating differences between the two just to sell one over the other because not everyone wants to use a gigantic phone. Anyways...
The camera improvements from the iPhone 11 Pro to the iPhone 12 Pro may not be as significant, but as a mobile photographer, every little bit counts. The iPhone 12 Pro camera will still have improved sensors over last year's models, which is a given. But I'm also very interested in the new 4x optical zoom with the telephoto lens, Night Mode for the ultra-wide lens, Night Mode Timelapse, and Night Mode and Deep Fusion for the TrueDepth camera.
The biggest one, Night mode for the ultra-wide lens, is the first thing I want to try out. I really enjoyed using the ultra-wide lens on my iPhone 11 Pro when I needed it, but I was sad when I used it at night because the images would appear fuzzy since there is a lack of focus pixels and Night Mode. Since Night Mode now works with the ultra-wide lens, I'm excited to see how sharp and crisp those low-light Ultra Wide photos turn out. The same goes for the Night Mode for the front-facing TrueDepth camera — maybe those selfies I take at night won't look as bad.
The Apple ProRAW feature also sounds exciting. It won't be available at launch, but having the option to shoot in a RAW format on your iPhone without having to download third-party apps is going to be huge. It also opens up shooting in RAW to many more people who are not professional photographers.
And while I don't shoot a ton of video, the ability to shoot HDR video with Dolby Vision, as well as slo-mo video at 1080p at 240fps, is also very impressive.
Behold the power of...magnets!
MagSafe was certainly something that no one was expecting from the iPhone 12 event, but here we are. I fondly remember when Apple used MagSafe for the MacBook lineup (in fact, I'm still using a 2013 rMBP with MagSafe), and it was sad when MagSafe seemed to go the way of the dinosaur. But it's back, baby!
With MagSafe on the iPhone 12, it's basically a ring of magnets in the back of the iPhone. This allows your device to easily align and connect to MagSafe wireless chargers, and any MagSafe compatible accessories can magically attach and stay put on the back of your iPhone. If you're using a MagSafe compatible case, then MagSafe accessories will work with it too.
MagSafe was not on my iPhone 12 bingo card, but I am open to making life easier with magnets. I'm eager to test out some MagSafe accessories with my iPhone 12 Pro and can't wait to see what other cool MagSafe accessories accessory companies can develop.
That Pacific Blue is gorgeous
Ever since Apple started adding new colors to the iPhone lineup, like Rose Gold, Jet Black, and Midnight Green (my favorite), I've been a fan. It's just nice to have options besides Graphite (which in previous years would probably have been called Space Gray), Silver, and Gold. So when the rumor mill was hot with deep blue iPhone 12 rumors, I was happy to see another color option coming, which was confirmed with the blue color option for the Apple Watch Series 6. And when Apple officially unveiled the Pacific Blue color, it was just stunning.
While blue isn't my first favorite color, the Pacific Blue is just something else. It's more of a muted blue, not outlandish and in-your-face obnoxious, but it can be as neutral as Graphite. I prefer darker, sleeker color options for my iPhones, and Pacific Blue just ticks off all the right boxes. I'm sad that the Midnight Green did not make a comeback (honestly, I feel that it was underrated), but Pacific Blue is a great non-standard color option. It's a little unfortunate that Pacific Blue won't match exactly with the blue Apple Watch, but it's close enough if you really want them to match.
Let's get that A14 Bionic and 5G speed
While my iPhone 11 Pro is pretty fast with the A13 Bionic, I can't resist the chance to go even faster with the next-gen chip, and that's A14 Bionic. Having the latest silicon means better handling in graphics-intensive apps, such as games, photo and video editing, and more. The iPhone 12 Pro is also confirmed to have 6GB of RAM, which is a nice bump up from the 4GB RAM from the 11 Pro. Maybe with a little more RAM, apps on my iPhone won't have to reload as often, causing me to lose my place all the time (Facebook and Instagram, I'm looking at you).
And of course, the 5G is a big draw this year. Even though 4G LTE is plenty fast, why not go even faster if you can? There are plenty of Android devices that currently support 5G already, so it's great to see Apple jump on the ship too. Especially now that most carriers have had time to roll out 5G networks, it would be nice to get even faster download speeds while I'm not at home on my WiFi.
Are you getting an iPhone 12?
I'm expecting my iPhone 12 Pro on launch, October 23, and I couldn't be more excited. Did you pre-order an iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro? Are you holding out for the mini or Max model? Or are you skipping out this year? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don't forget to pick up a great iPhone 12 Pro case to keep that baby safe and sound.
