Apple today unveiled the new 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max at its pre-recorded "Hi, Speed" digital event.
The new Pro variants feature 5G, OLED Super Retina XDR displays with a hardened Ceramic Shield covering, and a new flat-edged design with a stainless steel band that's similar to the frame of Apple's iPad Pro.
The Super Retina XDR displays feature reduced borders and a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 2,778 x 1,284 pixels, 1,200 nits peak brightness, and 458 ppl. iPhone 12 Pro Max offers the largest display ever on an iPhone and the highest resolution, featuring nearly 3.5 million pixels.
Both devices include Apple's new 5-nanometer A14 Bionic processor and come with triple-lens cameras with advanced photography features, including an Ultra wide 12MP camera with f/1.6 aperture, and a 7-element lens.
The iPhone 12 Pro has a 52mm telephoto camera, bringing the optical zoom range to 4x, while the Pro Max model has a 65mm focal length telephoto lens for closer shots, tighter crops, and a 5x optical zoom range. The camera on the Pro Max also has a 47 percent larger sensor, with 1.7μm pixels for an 87 percent improvement in low-light conditions, and an "expansive" Ultra Wide camera.
Apple says there are improvements to Night mode, which has been expanded to the TrueDepth and Ultra Wide cameras, allowing for an even brighter picture. A new Night mode Time-Lapse option delivers longer exposure times for sharper videos, better light trails, and smoother exposure in low-light scenarios when used with a tripod. Deep Fusion also comes to all cameras and is better and faster than before, and with the new Smart HDR 3, users can expect more true-to-life images, even in complex scenes.
The cameras are capable of recording video in 10-bit Dolby Vision HDR in 4K resolution at 60 fps, with live preview of HDR content. There's also a LiDAR Scanner for enhancing augmented reality applications and providing faster autofocus for photos and videos, with focus time in low-light scenes improved sixfold.
Both models in the U.S. support millimeter wave, the higher frequency version of 5G, allowing iPhone 12 Pro models to reach speeds up to 4Gbps, even in densely populated areas. iPhone 12 Pro models also feature Smart Data mode, which extends battery life by intelligently assessing 5G needs and balancing data usage, speed, and power in real time.
The Ceramic Shield front cover is infused with nano-ceramic crystals to improve toughness and increase drop performance by 4x. Both models are water and dust resistant to IP68, can survive water submersion to 6 meters for 30 minutes, and are protected against everyday spills, including coffee and soda. They also support Apple's new MagSafe wireless chargers and iPhone cases, as well as accessories like the magnetic card wallet.
"This is a huge leap for iPhone, bringing the best 5G experience in the market and delivering our most advanced technologies to users who want the absolute most from their iPhone," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Each generation of iPhone has changed what we expect from a smartphone, and now with 5G, iPhone 12 Pro provides a new generation of performance. Our tight integration of hardware and software enables incredible computational photography features like the expansion of Night mode to more cameras, and introduces support for HDR video with Dolby Vision. A state-of-the-art LiDAR Scanner means users can experience AR like never before, and also offers benefits to the camera with faster autofocus in low light and the introduction of Night mode portraits. These experiences and so much more make this the best iPhone lineup ever."
Both models are available in Pacific Blue, Graphite, Gold, and Silver. The iPhone 12 Pro starts at $999 and the iPhone 12 Pro Max starts at $1099, with both featuring a 128GB starting capacity, going up to 256GB/512GB.
The iPhone 12 Pro will be available to preorder at 5 a.m. PDT on Friday, October 16, and will be available Friday, October 23, while the iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available for preorder at 5 a.m. PST on November 6, with shipping commencing on Friday, November 13.
The above dates apply for customers in Australia, China, Germany, Japan, the UK, the US, and more than 30 other countries and regions. iPhone 12 Pro will be available in India, South Korea, and more than a dozen other countries beginning Friday, October 30.
This story is part of our live coverage of today's Apple Event.
