Although much of the interview repeated points from Apple's "Hi, Speed" event, there were a number of interesting tidbits regarding the affect of 5G on battery life, MagSafe concerns, and the lack of a power adapter in the box.
5G and Battery Life
DeMuro asked about the implications of 5G connectivity on the iPhone's battery life, to which Drance responded:
We're able to make a bunch of software optimizations throughout the entire system to make battery life even better, and on top of that we added a new feature called "Smart Data mode" that will allow you to manage your 5G usage and battery life a bit better, so you can use 5G speeds when it really matters, and then for places where maybe it doesn't matter as much it will revert to 4G LTE speeds to save your battery life. And then the last part of it that I think is really important is the work we've done with our carrier partners, working with them on their network settings, on their deployment plan, so they're also optimizing their settings together with iPhone to optimize for battery life.
Glass and Durability
Drance neglected to answer whether a screen protector is still needed with the new Ceramic Sheild front glass on iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. However, she did explain that the new flat-edged design aids drop protection and makes the iPhone more durable. Although the rear glass of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro does not use Ceramic Shield, Drance said that it still uses "the toughest glass available in a smartphone," which achieves "a 2x performance gain" against accidental drops.
MagSafe Concerns
When asked about the new MagSafe system and concerns about whether the magnets could deactivate cards, Drance admitted that some cards could be impacted by Magsafe:
We are taking care to make sure that we're being as protective as possible, and those credit cards, they're made with magnetic stripes that are pretty strong so that shouldn't be a problem next to next to your phone... what you do want to just watch out for is those single-use types of cards like the hotel cards... you might not want to put that right against that, but certainly, we've got great options like the wallet, the wallet is shielded.
iPhone Launch Day
DeMuro also asked about what customers can expect from the iPhone launch this year, and Drance emphasized the need for contactless delivery and ordering ahead for in-store pickups. She also said that walk-in customers should expect delays:
If you do show up as a walk-in... we may give you an appointment to come back at a later time, but certainly you may expect to wait a little longer because of occupancy in the stores and physical distancing... we may not be able to get everyone in as quickly as possible.
USB-C Power Cable Included in the Box
Lastly, DeMuro queried why Apple had still chosen to include a USB-C charging cable in iPhone boxes. Although he acknowledged that Apple has stopped including the power adapter with the iPhone for environmental reasons, he asked why Apple was including a USB-C cable when many customers will not have a USB-C power adapter, especially if they are coming from an older iPhone.
Interestingly, Drance suggested that users should continue to use their older Lightning cable if they do not have a USB-C power adapter, or perhaps even use a Mac laptop for charging.
So first of all of the iPhone 12 models, you can still use your old Lightning cables and any of those power adapters that work with that... any of those will still work, in fact we encourage you to still use those as well. Now, if you do need a new one... we did include a USB-C to lightning cable in the box. It's different because it's more modern, it's faster... now that can still be used with any USB-C power adapter, so where can you get one of those?
Well, you might already have one, if you have either another smartphone product or another consumer electronic product. In the past couple of years a lot of those have moved towards those type-C adapters... Now, if you're an Apple user and you happen to have a Mac or an iPad, we've also included those USB-C power adapters in recent years for those products, and the computer ports themselves include USB-C. So those are other options for you.
The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro is available from today, starting at $799 and $999 respectively.
The iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and fourth-generation iPad Air are now available in stores and arriving to customers around the world.
Apple has shared a Newsroom post with a range of images to celebrate the launch of the new products. Over the next 24 hours, the Newsroom post will apparently be updated with photos from around the world.
Our own forum members have started a number of threads for tracking and following their iPhone 12 / 12 Pro orders around the world.
Our U.K. readers have been particularly active this morning, posting images of their iPhone 12 pickups at Apple Stores, and deliveries. This image of the line at the Covent Garden Apple Store was taken by paulopadopa.
Brenster visited Apple Store Manchester Trafford Centre and described the scene:
Apple store Manchester Trafford Centre was quiet first thing this morning. Arrived at 7.55 for an 8.15 IUP reservations. Couldn’t have been more than 10 people outside with no real queue, easily outnumbered by the staff inside the store. Opened up at exactly 8; staff member asked those with reservations to stand to one side. The 4 who didn’t who’d turned up on spec for a chance of a walk-in phone were asked to leave and to make an online reservation.
The 4 with 8am reservations were taken in, and 10 mins later those with 8.15 reservations, a couple more having joined the queue since 8.
In store, everything was running like clockwork; temp check, mask and hand wash on the way in, wipes and hand gel on every table for iPhone deactivation and entering details for the IUP application. Then off to the back of the store to pick out a plum silicone case, then out the door before 8.30am. Back home for 9.20am.
Both Apple Store & Trafford Centre staff were fantastic, their system this morning working fantastically well.
He describes his new 256GB Silver iPhone 12 Pro as "hella nice!" with a premium feel.
Apple's MagSafe charger charges over two-times slower than a wired 20W USB-C charger, according to a new iPhone 12 video review from the Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern.
Screencap from video review
The review of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro was generally critical of Apple's MagSafe technology, explaining that the idea seems to be better in theory than in practice.
Although the Stern found that the MagSafe charger charged the iPhone 12 faster than a traditional 7.5W Qi wireless charger, it was still slower than plugging directly into a 20W charger. The 20W charger charged an empty iPhone to 50% in only 28 minutes, while the MagSafe took 1 hour.
The full video review covers other aspects of the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro:
The review was also critical of the fact that the combined cost of the MagSafe charger and a 20W power adapter was $58 combined, and that the MagSafe charger's cable is less than a yard in length.
The space robotics manufacturer Astrobotic Technology unveiled its new 47,000-square-foot headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this week. The massive facility will serve as mission control for its lunar payload delivery services and upcoming NASA contracts, and I for one think they’re missing a huge opportunity by…