Apple’s Hi, Speed event has come and gone. With it, we got a look at two new upcoming products: the iPhone 12 family of devices and the long rumored HomePod Mini. I have a few thoughts on each of these.
First, the HomePod Mini.
I really don’t know how to feel about this particular device. I am considering getting one to put in the bedroom so that I can get some shortcuts setup and more easily listen to Apple Music on a speaker. On the other hand, I was really hoping Apple would target a price that was less than $99. I’ve said it many times, but the great thing about Google’s Nest Home products and Amazon’s Echo line are that some of the options are cheap. And I mean impulse buy cheap. $99 isn’t an impulse buy to me.
I like Siri, don’t get me wrong, but I doubt that on the HomePod she can hold her own to Google’s assistant. But who knows? The HomePod Mini isn’t available to physically get until November 16th, anyway, so I have some time to think it over. For anyone who has the full-sized HomePod, I’d love to get your thoughts on it down in the comments as I debate back and forth on whether Siri deserves a spot on my shelf or not.
And now for the main event: the iPhone 12(s)
There were a lot of rumors heading into this event that Apple was going to be showing off four different models for the iPhone 12 family of devices and those rumors were spot on. The “regular” iPhones this year are the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Mini, while the “Pro” line contains the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. No real surprises with the naming conventions here.
I think it’s really cool to see MagSage make a return the way it did. That’s going to open up a lot of cool possibilities for phone accessories. I’ve already reached out to PopSockets on Twitter to inquire if they’re going to be making a MagSafe base. That would be a dream come true for me. I’m still very curious to see how nicely MagSafe plays with regular Qi chargers, though. I know Apple said they have full compatibility but those magnets look a little close for comfort… But I guess I’ll be able to understand that better once I have the phone in hand (hopefully) next Friday. At the same time, it’s inevitable that I’ll eventually get a MagSafe wireless charger/Apple Watch combo though. When they showed that off I really liked that idea, though I’m curious to see what third-parties do with that before I lock into a specific one.
As for which phone I’m preordering on Friday? I have no idea. The two that are going up for preorder are the standard iPhone 12 and that model’s Pro equivalent.
I like my iPhone 11 (and I’m even fine with the LCD display) so the fact that all the models have an OLED screen is a minor bonus for me. I’m ready to get my father set up with his first iPhone ever, though, so I ready to make the jump to the next generation. Given that the 11 starts at 64 GB of storage, meaning I’m paying a premium to move up to 128 GB, would it really be so bad to just make the jump to the 12 Pro?
It does have an extra camera and a LiDAR sensor which Apple claims is going to help with lowlight photography…and I do like messing around with mobile photography quite a bit.
This is what the next few days of my life are going to be like: weighing the decisions back and forth, checking the spec sheets again and again. Hell, I may even make a spreadsheet to aid in my decision making process. In the meantime, which iPhone 12 model are you getting? Let me know down in the comments below so we can chat about it more.
Until next time, friends.
Dan Stransky 