Everything you need to know about the October Apple Event
Four new iPhones and HomePod Mini!
Apple just had its virtual keynote and alongside that came some new tech. Four new iPhones with new features and a baby brother to the original HomePod.
HomePod Mini
Jam-packed with innovation, HomePod mini delivers unexpectedly big sound for a speaker of its size. At just 3.3 inches tall, it takes up almost no space but fills the entire room with rich 360‑degree audio that sounds amazing from every angle.
Boundary-pushing computational audio creates the full, detailed tones of a much larger speaker — and HomePod mini turns it up without missing your voice commands.
The HomePod mini is a smaller version of Apple's original HomePod. This device is designed to bring Siri into the home for more people.
Costing only $99, the HomePod mini will be an attractive smart device to those who already use Siri on their phone for their smart home.
The Design
HomePod mini is designed to fit anywhere in the house. Its elegant shape is wrapped in a perfectly seamless mesh fabric that’s virtually transparent to the sound passing through it. A backlit touch surface on the top provides quick control.
With multiple HomePod mini speakers placed around the house, you can have a connected sound system for your whole home. Ask Siri to play one song everywhere or, just as easily, a different song in each room. And HomePod mini works with HomePod for multiroom audio and features like Intercom.
If you want to take the amazing sound experience of HomePod mini even further, you can create a stereo pair. Two HomePod mini speakers paired in the same room create left and right channels for an immersive soundstage.
Transfer Audio
If you’re enjoying music or a podcast and have to head out, you can continue to listen on your iPhone without missing a beat. Hand it off simply by bringing your iPhone close to HomePod mini. And coming soon, you’ll experience the feeling of your iPhone and HomePod mini connecting virtually as the sound transfers.
Handoff music and podcasts between HomePod mini and iPhone
Also coming soon are personalized listening suggestions that will automatically appear on your iPhone when you hold it next to HomePod mini. You’ll have instant control at your fingertips without having to unlock your iPhone.
Siri is your do-it-all intelligent assistant
that puts HomePod mini at the center of your family’s activities. Whether you need a hand with a wide variety of everyday tasks, want easy control over your smart home accessories, or simply want to hear your favorite song — just ask Siri.
Speech Recognition
Siri can recognize the voices of up to six different family members on HomePod mini — and create a personalized experience for each person. So the music Dad hears when he asks for something he’d like is totally different from what the kids hear when they ask. And with Personal Requests, Siri can recognize a particular voice and relay that person’s information from iPhone apps like Messages, Calendar, Reminders, and Contacts.
Intercom spreads the word.
With more than one HomePod in the house, you can easily communicate with your family members by voice using Intercom. Ask Siri to send your message to the whole house or to individual rooms — and everyone can easily respond.
Intercom also works with your other Apple devices
so you can send and receive messages through CarPlay while you’re driving, on your AirPods during a workout, or with your Apple Watch when you’re running errands.
Easy to connect. Simple to control.
Set up your smart home and stay connected from anywhere
Whether you already have a smart home or are buying your first smart device, getting set up — and staying connected from anywhere — is a snap with the Home app and HomePod mini.
Audio Technology
- Full-range driver and dual passive radiators for deep bass and crisp high frequencies
- Custom acoustic waveguide for a 360º sound field
- Acoustically transparent fabric
- Computational audio for real-time tuning
- Four-microphone design for far-field Siri
- Multiroom audio with AirPlay 2
- Stereo pair capable
Audio Sources
- Apple Music
- iTunes music purchases
- iCloud Music Library with an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription
- Third-party music services
- Apple Music Radio or episodes on demand
- Radio stations from TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Radio.com
- Apple Podcasts
- News briefings
- AirPlay other content to HomePod mini from iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac
Touch Controls
- Tap
Play/Pause music or Siri - Double-tap
Skip - Triple-tap
Skip back - Touch and hold
Siri - Tap or hold + or –
Volume up/down
System Requirements
- HomePod mini with the latest version of the software
- iPhone SE, iPhone 6s or later, or iPod touch (7th generation) with the latest iOS; or iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation or later), iPad Air 2 or later, or iPad mini 4 or later with the latest iPadOS
- 802.11n Wi-Fi internet access
iPhone 12 & 12 mini (What most people should get)
Just as we expected, Apple came out with an iPhone 12 and 12 mini. The design has changed to look like the iPhone 5 with some features taken from the iPhone 11 Pro like FaceID and 3 cameras.
From $29.12/mo. or $699 before trade-in
For the first time, the cheaper version of the iPhone gets an OLED display like the Pro phones.
Blast past fast.
5G speed. A14 Bionic, the fastest chip in a smartphone.
An edge-to-edge OLED display. Ceramic Shield with four times better drop performance. And Night mode on every camera. iPhone 12 has it all — in two perfect sizes.
This year is the year that phones get 5G, and Apple is no different. 5G is what Apple is trying to push as its feature for this year's model.
5G on iPhone is superfast. So you can download movies on the fly. Stream higher-quality video. Or FaceTime in HD over cellular. With lots less lag. And you can do it in more places because iPhone 12 has the broadest 5G coverage worldwide
~ Apple
A14 Bionic is the fastest chip in a smartphone.
And it pushes what’s possible. Like crunching trillions of operations on the Neural Engine. Or shooting in Dolby Vision — even pro movie cameras can’t do that. It’s superefficient for great battery life. And it’s ahead of its time, prepared to power pretty much anything that comes next. This is the same chip that is found in the new iPhone 12 Pros.
Cameras
Both the Wide and Ultra Wide cameras now have Night mode — and it’s better than ever at capturing incredible low-light shots. The new Wide camera brings in 27 percent more light. So whether you take photos by the day or by moonlight, you’ll get a level of detail and color that wasn’t possible before.
Night mode senses when light is low and kicks in automatically, maintaining clarity while capturing beautiful vibrant color. All you have to do is start snapping. Nighttime is the right time for a selfie. Because Night mode and a slew of other great features are now on the front camera. Like Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 3, Dolby Vision recording, and more. You lucky duck face.
Deep Fusion, in mid to low light, analyzes multiple exposures to maximize detail. Check out the texture in the wood, fabric, and crystal. And the Ultra Wide gets you a heroic perspective.
Smart HDR 3 balances the elements in a shot, bringing out detail in the subject and trees while retaining the rich color of the sky — even at high noon.
Colors
There are 5 colors with the iPhone 12 and 12 mini.
Black, White, (PRODUCT)RED, Green, Blue
Magsafe
Do you remember MagSafe on the older MacBooks? Well, it came back in a different sort of way. So many people seem to put their phone the wrong way on their wireless charger causing the phone to charge slower or not at all. So Magsafe snaps a wireless charger to the back of your iPhone with magnets so you never need to worry about if the connection was made.
There are also some accessories that take advantage of Magsafe like a magnetic wallet that connects to the back of your phone.
Apple is “Saving” the world (NOT)
Across the iPhone family, we’re removing the power adapter and EarPods that often go unused, but including the fast-charging USB‑C to Lightning cable that most people need. That shrinks packaging, and more boxes per shipment mean fewer shipments overall. We’re also transitioning our manufacturing partners to renewable energy. Altogether, this eliminates over 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually.
I personally think this is a cheap move. If Apple gave us a cheaper iPhone by removing the charging brick and headphones I’m sure we would appreciate it more. But removing these items in the name of “Reducing our carbon footprint” is not appreciated.
Sizes
The size of the iPhone 12 screen is 6.1" screen, while the iPhone 12 mini has a 5.4" screen.
iPhone 12 Pro
From $41.62/mo. or $999 before trade‑in
The iPhone 12 Pro & Pro Max has all the same features as the iPhone 12 with some hardware improvements.
The sides of the iPhone 12 Pro is stainless steel instead of aluminum.
It has three cameras and a lidar sensor instead of 2 cameras
The size of the iPhone 12 Pro is 6.1"
The size of the iPhone 12 Pro Max is 6.7"
The colors are Silver, Graphite, Gold, Pacific Blue
5G
5G goes Pro. A14 Bionic rockets past every other smartphone chip. The Pro camera system takes low-light photography to the next level — with an even bigger jump on iPhone 12 Pro Max. And Ceramic Shield delivers four times better drop performance. Let’s see what this thing can do.
Apple is really trying to push its 5G as a great reason to buy a new iPhone. While there are some parts of the USA that do support 5G, the technology is not ready for the general public. If 5G is the only reason you think the iPhone 12 line is cool, then you will be disappointed.
Thank you!
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Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I enjoy learning about tech and sharing it with you. If this article was helpful please show your appreciation with a clap. ~ iGageit
