appmarsh

Saturday, 24 October 2020

First Impressions From New iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Owners

The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are now available, and that means a host of first impressions, reviews, and unboxing videos for the devices are being shared by users and members of the media. We've also gone hands-on with iPhone 12 Pro ourselves, and we'll have much more to share in the coming days.

First Impressions From New iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Owners

Hands-On With the New iPhone 12 Pro

iPhone 12 Reviews

iPhone 12 Pro Reviews

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro Unboxing Videos

Most reviews have found the iPhone 12 to be quite similar to the iPhone 12 Pro, with both devices featuring a 6.1-inch OLED display, A14 Bionic chip, and a new flat-edge design. iPhone 12 Pro goes a few steps further with a better camera system, LiDAR Scanner, and a stainless steel frame.

Quite a few details about the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro surfaced this week ahead and following the launch. For instance, learned that the devices can download iOS software updates over 5G, are equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X55 modem, and that 5G in Dual SIM mode is only available in China at launch.

Early testing on the new models has shown improved display durability thanks to the new Ceramic Shield, but worse battery life compared to the iPhone 11 Pro.

Users interested in the new MagSafe charging accessories should also be aware that it's slower than wired fast charging and that non-MagSafe iPhones charge quite slowly on the charger. Users should also be aware that the MagSafe charger can leave visible imprints on cases.

New iPad Air Reviews: 'The Best Tablet for Most People'

Alongside the new iPhone models, the fourth-generation iPad Air has also debuted, and early reviews are in for the new tablet, which features a larger 10.9-inch edge-to-edge display, a faster A14 Bionic chip, a USB-C port, and Touch ID built into the power button.

Most reviews agree that the new iPad Air is Apple's best tablet for the average customer, as it has been upgraded with a similar design and features as the iPad Pro, despite starting at a lower price of $599 — albeit with only 64GB of storage. iPad Pro models start at $799 with 128GB of storage. The A14 Bionic chip in the new iPad Air is also newer than the A12Z chip in the iPad Pro.

Hands-On With Apple's MagSafe Charger for iPhone 12

iPhone 12 models feature a new MagSafe system that allows for precise wireless charging and easy-to-attach magnetic accessories on the back of the devices, such as Apple's new MagSafe Charger.

Priced at $39, the MagSafe Charger looks like a larger Apple Watch charging puck, featuring a circular design with a cord at one end that plugs into a power adapter. The charger is designed to snap on to a ring of magnets built into the ‌iPhone 12‌ and 12 Pro, for a perfect alignment without any hassle.

Watch our hands-on video of the MagSafe Charger and MagSafe Cases for a closer look at the new accessories, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Apple-related videos every week!

Top Five Reasons to Buy a HomePod Mini

Apple last week introduced a new $99 HomePod mini, which is a more affordable alternative to the full-size HomePod that's been around since 2018. HomePod mini pre-orders begin Friday, November 6, and ahead of time, we have shared a list of the top five reasons to consider purchasing the smart speaker.

Despite having a compact design, Apple says the HomePod mini still delivers "amazing sound" using "computational audio." The speaker is equipped with the same S5 chip as the Apple Watch Series 5, allowing the speaker to "analyze the unique characteristics of the music and apply complex tuning models" to optimize loudness and adjust the dynamic range.

HomePod vs. HomePod mini Buyer's Guide

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Tag: Top Stories

This article, "Top Stories: iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, MagSafe Charger, and New iPad Air Launch" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/3jsaCnW

Friday, 23 October 2020

Facebook Threatens to Muzzle an NYU Research Project Into Its Political Ad Targeting

Facebook’s trying to muzzle a group of academic researchers working to shine a light on the company’s notoriously opaque political-ad targeting practices. It’s threatened the team with “enforcement action” if they don’t pull the plug on the project and wipe all data gathered so far, according to a Wall Street Journal…

National Guard Cracks Down on String of Cyberattacks in Louisiana Ahead of Election: Report

The Louisiana National Guard stepped in to thwart a series of cyberattacks after several government offices across the state were targeted in recent weeks, according to a Friday Reuters report.

Take a Break From the Doom and Look at These Rad Starlings

Although your first instinct when you see these photos might be, “Oh god,” we promise that it’s not an upcoming extreme weather event or some alien species coming to invade Earth. (Given that it’s 2020, you’re forgiven for thinking anything that’s not obviously good is probably horrific.) In fact, these are actually…

PSA: Non-iPhone 12 Models Charge Super Slowly With MagSafe Charger

Alongside the iPhone 12 models, Apple introduced a new $39 MagSafe Charger that's meant to work with the magnets in the iPhone 12 Pro models to charge them up at a maximum of 15W.

The MagSafe Charger is technically able to be used with older iPhones, but it's not a good idea because the charging with non-iPhone 12 devices is so slow.

We did two tests with the iPhone XS Max, draining the battery down to 1 percent, putting it in Airplane Mode, and then charging for a half an hour.

In the first test, the MagSafe charger charged the ‌iPhone XS‌ Max to 13 percent in 30 minutes, and in the second test, it charged the ‌iPhone XS‌ Max to 14 percent in 30 minutes.

We've tested a lot of Qi-based wireless chargers and have never seen 7.5W Qi charging speeds that slow. For reference, a 7.5W charger is able to charge an iPhone to about 25 percent in a half hour.

We specifically tested the ‌iPhone XS‌ Max in the exact same conditions as the MagSafe charger with a standard 7.5W Belkin charger and it charged to 26 percent in the 30 minute window.

For those who don't have an ‌iPhone 12‌ and were considering getting a MagSafe charger to use with an older ‌iPhone‌, don't. It's not worth it for the slow charging speeds and you're better off with a standard Qi charger.

The MagSafe charger will work fine with the ‌iPhone 12‌ and should charge faster than Qi, but it's not as fast as charging with the Lightning to USB-C cable and a 20W power adapter, as Joanna Stern found out in a charging speed test. That's not too surprising because a Lightning to USB-C charger paired with a 20W+ power adapter enables fast charging, where the ‌iPhone 12‌ models can charge to 50 percent in one half hour.
This article, "PSA: Non-iPhone 12 Models Charge Super Slowly With MagSafe Charger" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2TjuHCe