The Apple 2020 Fall iPhone Event Live Blog 10am PT (17:00 UTC)

April 2024 · 6 minute read

12:55PM EDT - Hi all - I hope everybody's doing great when reading this, either from work or at home - or from work at home! The event should start in 5 minutes.

01:00PM EDT - The event is starting - Apple Park at night intro clip.

01:01PM EDT - Apple CEO Tim Cook taking the stage.

01:01PM EDT - Recap of the September event talking about the watches and iPads.

01:02PM EDT - "Exciting new product for the home"

01:02PM EDT - Homepod smart speaker with Siri.

01:03PM EDT - New variation of the HomePod - the HomePod Mini

01:04PM EDT - Compact design with a mesh design that provides "Amazing sound"

01:05PM EDT - Sound, intelligent assistant, and smart home - with focus on privacy and security

01:05PM EDT - Custom dynamic driver and two passive radiators to produce excellent sound quality.

01:06PM EDT - New S5 chip supports "computational audio" that smartly controls dynamic range and optimises sound quality depending on the track or content that's playing.

01:07PM EDT - Can be used as stereo units when you have two of them.

01:07PM EDT - Uses the iPhone's UWB chip to recognise near devices.

01:08PM EDT - "Siri keeps getting better"

01:09PM EDT - Tight integration with your iPhone applications and assistant functions.

01:10PM EDT - Controls all your HomeKit settings via the HomePod

01:11PM EDT - Intercom functionality to communicate between HomePods in your home as well as all your Apple iDevices.

01:12PM EDT - Privacy and security at the forefront.

01:13PM EDT - $99 starting shipping November 16th, order November 5th.

01:13PM EDT - Moving onto iPhones.

01:13PM EDT - "#1 smartphone in the world" regarding iPhone 11

01:14PM EDT - "The next generation is here"

01:14PM EDT - 5G is here for iPhone

01:16PM EDT - Ensuring the best possible experience between iPhone devices and networks around the world.

01:17PM EDT - Verizon's CEO taking the stage and talking about their mmWave network.

01:17PM EDT - Up to 4Gbps download speeds over the 5G network in ideal conditions.

01:17PM EDT - 200Mbps uploads.

01:18PM EDT - Capacity will play a big role in 5G, enables much better experiences in crowded areas, such as stadiums.

01:19PM EDT - Verizon's mmWave network to be expanded to 60 US cities by year end.

01:20PM EDT - Verizon is also launching their sub-6 5G network, reaching 200 million US residents.

01:20PM EDT - 5G across the entire iPhone lineup today.

01:21PM EDT - iPhone 12 with 5G

01:21PM EDT - "All new design"

01:21PM EDT - Smooth flat edges.

01:21PM EDT - "Designed with 5G in mind"

01:22PM EDT - 5G antennas integrated around the aluminium frame

01:22PM EDT - 6.1" screen, but with smaller bezels, resulting in a smaller iPhone

01:23PM EDT - OLED display on the regular iPhone

01:23PM EDT - Double the resolution of the iPhone 11

01:23PM EDT - Supports all the newest HDR features, peak brightness up to 1200 nits

01:24PM EDT - New glass cover "Ceramic Shield"

01:24PM EDT - "Tougher than any smartphone glass"

01:24PM EDT - "4x better drop performance"

01:25PM EDT - Custom designed antennas and RF

01:26PM EDT - "Smart data mode" switches from 5G to LTE when higher speeds aren't needed in order to optimise power efficiency.

01:27PM EDT - 3.5Gbps peak speeds

01:27PM EDT - mmWave seemingly only in the US based on the presentation wording?

01:28PM EDT - Talking about the new A14 SoC

01:29PM EDT - Reiterating that the A14 the the industry's first 5nm chip.

01:29PM EDT - 11.8bn transistors

01:29PM EDT - 6-core CPU, claiming a 50% performance advantage over any other competing mobile chip

01:30PM EDT - The same advantages quoted for the GPU, 50% faster than the next best competitor

01:31PM EDT - It's pretty unusual to see Apple compare to other Android SoC counterparts.

01:31PM EDT - Even less details about power efficiency in this presentation.

01:31PM EDT - League of Legends brought to iOS

01:33PM EDT - Apple's first 7-element lens.

01:33PM EDT - 27% improvement in low-light

01:33PM EDT - SmartHDR 3 algorithm for high dynamic range retention.

01:34PM EDT - Night mode to all cameras, finally, including the Ultra-Wide

01:35PM EDT - Big improvements in low-light for video capture.

01:35PM EDT - Video clip showcasing the iphone video recording capabilities in low-light - scene in Las Vegas

01:36PM EDT - Wireless charging becomes easier with the iPhone 12

01:37PM EDT - MagSafe for iPhone

01:37PM EDT - Up to 15W wireless charging, magnets to align the coils with MagSafe accessories.

01:38PM EDT - MagSafe Duo Charger

01:38PM EDT - Already starting with third-party accessory development, such as from Belkin

01:39PM EDT - 2030 net zero carbon footprint target

01:40PM EDT - Removing headphones and power adaptors from new iPhones. Smaller box.

01:41PM EDT - USB-C to Lightning cable is still included.

01:43PM EDT - Apple just seriously upped the bar when it comes to small form-factor phones with the new iPhone 12 mini

01:44PM EDT - Smaller than an iPhone SE, but with all the new modern features and new design.

01:45PM EDT - $699 for the iPhone 12 mini, and $799 for the iPhone 12 - Those are some killer prices

01:46PM EDT - iPhone Pro lineup now

01:47PM EDT - Premium materials for the iPhone Pros

01:48PM EDT - New bigger screens for the new Pro models

01:50PM EDT - Deep Fusion for all camera hardware this year, including the front camera

01:50PM EDT - Your standard trifectra of cameras on the iPhone 12 Pro

01:51PM EDT - the 12 Pro Max supposedly has even better cameras

01:51PM EDT - New telephoto from 52mm to 65mm focal length

01:52PM EDT - New huge sensor with 1.7µm pixels - this should be an 1/1.7" unit

01:52PM EDT - New sensor-shift based OIS

01:53PM EDT - One full f-stop light gathering improvement through the new stabilisation

01:53PM EDT - Apple ProRAW capturing format

01:54PM EDT - Includes all the image processing that's usual, but maintains your usual RAW information depth

01:55PM EDT - "Flexibility of RAW with the benefits of Apple's computaitonal photography"

01:56PM EDT - 10-bit HDR video recording

01:57PM EDT - Also able to record in Dolby Vision HDR

01:59PM EDT - Now covering the iPhone Pro's LIDAR scanner

02:00PM EDT - In low-light, the LIDAR can help autofocus

02:00PM EDT - That alone is a great feature and rationalises the feature

02:06PM EDT - $999 for the iPhone and $1099 for the 12 Pro Max

02:07PM EDT - Quite odd discrepancies in the availability dates, the regular sized phones are available on October 23rd, while the Pro Max and the mini only become available November 13th

02:08PM EDT - That's a wrap for it today folks!

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