Apple announced the new iPhone 12 series earlier this month and two out of the four models have now gone on sale in India. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro have released in India and we managed to get our hands on the two devices for a closer look at what they offer. The default iPhone 12 comes with some noteworthy upgrades over last year’s iPhone 11 (review), including a new design language, OLED display, and the all-new A14 Bionic chipset. The iPhone 12 Pro gets a lot of the same features as the regular model, but with better cameras to justify the Pro moniker.
We unboxed the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro to get our first look at the new devices. In our unboxing and first impressions, we talk about the reason behind the new slimmer boxes, the design and specifications of the iPhone 12 models, and some of the new accessories, including the MagSafe Charger.
The new iPhone 12 boxes are slimmer than before because Apple decided to remove the charger and earphones. All you get now is the iPhone 12 device itself, a Type-C to Lightning cable, and a SIM ejector tool. Apple’s move to remove to charging brick and earphones was to help the environment…and it also allowed the company to launch MagSafe accessories.
MagSafe is easily one of the biggest new features of the iPhone 12 series. The phones have a circular magnet below the rear panel, allowing you to magnetically attach MagSafe accessories – the most popular one being the MagSafe charger. The circular disk firmly aligns itself with the magnetic coil on the back of the iPhone 12. It also works through the MagSafe Clear Case as well. Apple is launching a few other MagSafe accessories, including a leather wallet and a silicone case.
Both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro have the same footprint and screen size. The only way you can tell them apart is the extra camera sensor, stainless steel frame, and a matt finish back on the Pro model. The regular iPhone 12 gets an aluminium frame and glossy rear panel. Apple has tweaked the design of the new iPhones and they now look similar to the 2020 iPad Pro (or one could say similar to the old iPhone 5). The edges are flat now and the glass on the front and back sit flush with the frame. It’s as flat a phone as it gets. Both the iPhone 12 models feel great to hold and the flat frame makes them easy to grip as well.
The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro sport a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display with the traditional wide notch on top for the front camera and Face ID sensors. While an OLED display is not new to the Pro series, it is an upgrade for the non-Pro model. The displays look identical with rich colours and deep blacks. We will talk more about the display quality in our full reviews of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro.
The iPhone 12 features a Dual 12MP camera system that includes a wide and ultra-wide lens. The iPhone 12 Pro gets a 12MP triple camera system that includes a telephoto lens with a 4x optical zoom. Both the models support Night mode and Deep Fusion, but only the Pro gets Apple’s new ProRAW feature. The iPhone 12 Pro is also the only one among the two to support Night mode Portrait. We will test the cameras on the two devices over the next few days and will have more to say in our detailed reviews.
Powering the new iPhone 12 series is the all-new A14 Bionic chipset, which is Apple’s fastest mobile processor yet. It is based on the new 5nm process and is expected to deliver a faster CPU and GPU performance over its predecessor. Out of the box, the iPhones feel as fluid and snappy as one would expect, which comes as no surprise. The iPhone 12 comes with 4GB RAM, while the Pro model gets 6GB RAM for the first time. The devices also ship with the latest iOS 14 software, which brings with it a host of new features, including home screen widgets, redesigned Siri, App Library, and more. We will talk about the performance of the new iPhones after testing them intensively over the next few days.
Apple never reveals the battery capacities of its iPhones and this time the company barely mentioned the batteries on the iPhone 12 series. What we do know from the official Apple website is that both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro will offer a similar battery life. The phones support fast charging, but you will have to buy a fast charger separately.
The new iPhone 12 models look and feel great with a design language reminiscent of the iPhone 5 era. They come with expected upgrades under the hood with MagSafe being one of the biggest new changes. Stay tuned to our full reviews where we will talk about the performance of the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro in pretty much all aspects, from displays to cameras to battery life.
