Regardless of COVID-19, Apple’s iPhone 12 family’s balance of price, specs, and features indicate that Cupertino could be looking at a runaway hit.
Apple this week unveiled iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini with 5G technology, ushering in a new era for the world’s best smartphone. The newly designed iPhone 12 models feature expansive edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays for a brighter, more immersive viewing experience, and a new Ceramic Shield front cover, providing the biggest jump in durability ever on iPhone. The Apple-designed A14 Bionic, the fastest chip in a smartphone, powers every experience on iPhone 12, and coupled with an advanced dual-camera system, delivers meaningful new computational photography features and the highest quality video in a smartphone. iPhone 12 models also introduce MagSafe, offering high-powered wireless charging and an all-new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to iPhone.
Apple also announced the 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.
Harsh Chauhan for The Motley Fool:
Apple has done a good job by bringing a 5G smartphone to market at $699 — the iPhone 12 Mini, which sports a 5.4-inch screen. In fact, the entry-level device in the iPhone 12 line-up is priced identically to OnePlus 8, the cheapest 5G Android phone that consumers could have bought six months ago. As a result, consumers looking to make the jump to 5G won’t have to pay through their nose if they are looking to either stay within the Apple ecosystem or purchase their first iOS-powered 5G phone.
What’s more, Apple’s tight pricing range for the iPhone 12 could also encourage potential buyers to upgrade to the next tier. Consumers looking for a bigger screen can opt for the standard iPhone 12, which is priced at $799. Power users can opt for the Pro (starting $899) or the Pro Max (starting $1,099) depending on the preferred screen size.
Now that Apple has something for everyone with a variety of price points, it looks poised to take advantage of what’s being called an iPhone “supercycle” that could see millions of users upgrade their existing devices. It is believed that there are 350 million to 950 million iPhones across the world that are ready for upgrades.
Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives has raised his iPhone 12 build estimates to a range of 75 million to 80 million units for the final quarter of the calendar year, which has traditionally been Apple’s strongest quarter with respect to iPhone sales
MacDailyNews Take: Without COVID-19, Apple could have sold a record 100 million iPhone units in calendar Q4 2020.
It seems as though there is an iPhone for everyone, well, everyone who’s willing to pay at least $400 for a smartphone. Might as well count out Indian consumers right away. Those iPhones seem rather nice to me although a few tech-heads are whining about how they lack a 120Hz display which supposedly ALL Android flagship smartphones have. I really like that iPhone 12 mini although my concern would be the battery life as that smallish-sized battery is paired with a high-end A14 processor. No Android smartphone company would do that. They’d use some low-end processor which would make sense. I doubt the A14 Bionic is efficient enough to offset that likely “mini” battery capacity.
I’m sure Apple will sell plenty of iPhones this holiday season, but investors don’t seem too excited about them pulling in high sales numbers. With the carriers giving discounts on iPhones for multi-year contracts, that will certainly boost iPhone sales. Short of Apple cutting prices on all models about $50 I don’t think Apple could offer any better lineup. From bottom to top those are some powerful smartphones that the average Android smartphone won’t be able to rival them in processing power. Although many consumers may not care and simply purchase the cheapest smartphone they can get their hands on.
I have to admit that Apple has done a thorough job in giving carriers a reason to roll out more 5G infrastructure in the U.S. Well over a hundred million consumers will likely have 5G iPhones over the next six months or so. We’ll have to see if iPhone 12 is a runaway hit, but the 2020 lineup has certainly set up that possibility.
First time in ever your have positive outlook for iPhone or Apple company as a whole. More than often, you’re very pessimistic.
I can see buying these phones for an upgraded camera and new styling b/c of owning an older iPhone. Frankly the US 5G infrastructure is in its infancy. Millimeter wave 5G is only in select high density locations and a hand full of cities that have permitted the infrastructure. Frankly, 5G is really just a beefed up LTE phone at this point. The extreme speeds will not be seen by most, in most locations for a few years to come.
With that said, go Apple, sell, sell, sell!