Today, Apple announced it will hold a second fall special event on October 13th, starting at 10 AM PT. As with the September 15th event, it’s expected that this will be a nicely edited virtual affair. On September 15th, Apple introduced the iPad Air 4, a new 10.2-inch iPad, the Apple Watch Series 6, and the Apple Watch SE. This event is expected to introduce the latest iPhone – the iPhone 12.
iPhone 12
So what’s going to be different about the iPhone 12? It’s expected to be the first 5G-compatible iPhone, although the big question mark is whether that means it will just support sub-6GHz bands or also the super high-speed mmWave band as well.
This generation of iPhones is widely expected to include a base 5.4-inch model known as the iPhone 12, a 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Max, a 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and a 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max. All of the units will probably use the A14 SoC and come with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM, with non-Pro models sporting 128GB or 256GB of storage and 512GB on the Pro models.
One of the other defining features of the iPhone is always the camera, with the standard iPhone 12 models expected to use a 12-megapixel ultra-wide and wide-angle camera duo, with the Pro adding a telephoto lens. Some pundits believe that the Pro models may have the LiDAR sensor of the latest iPad Pro, giving it depth mapping capabilities.
The display on the Pro models may also be bumped to a 120Hz ProMotion model with 10-bit color. Video is expected to add 4K slo-mo at up to 240 frames per second, and it’s been rumored that an Enhanced Night Mode and Advanced Noise Reduction may further improve low-light photography.
AirTags
What else could be announced? A lot of people have been hoping for AirTags, the rumored device tags that can be placed on or in an object, then tracked using the Ultra-Wideband and Bluetooth capabilities of the most recent generations of iPhones. One intriguing possibility is an augmented reality (AR) mode in the Find My app that would let users “see” where a lost item will most likely be found.
AirTags could be very useful for objects that are lost away from your home or office, as any of the estimated 728 million working iPhones that are extant on Planet Earth could be silently notified of their proximity to an AirTag, then notify the owner of the tagged item where it is.
Macs
A long shot announcement, but one that could be related to the “Hi, Speed” tag line, would be the first Apple Silicon-powered Mac. The timing of a Mac announcement would be good, as the new Mac(s) would be available during the holiday buying season, and macOS 10.15 Big Sur is getting very close to release with the latest beta shipping last week.
Whatever the announcements are, you’ll be sure to hear all the details here at The Rocket Yard.
