iPhone 12

[ExFlyBoy5]

Saw on CNBC this AM that they have had more pre-orders for the 12 than the TOTAL NUMBER of 11s that were sold. They attribute this to 5G, which seems to be an unproved technology to me (for the time being). Just seems so crazy to me.

 

[braumeister]

5G is the current "big thing" in China, so I imagine that's where the bulk of the preorders are coming from. They are well ahead of the rest of the world in implementing 5G.

 

[tb001]

That’s the ad copy, but the US is MANY years from that potential. 5G is more than one frequency, and the really fast mm wave 5G doesn’t travel very far, can be disrupted by walls or even rain, and most people outside cities will never see it. But for texts, phone calls and surfing you don’t even need 5G. The low band 5G isn’t much faster than 4G LTE. Mid band is the sweet spot, and the least built out in the US, where Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have focused more on high and low bands. Long way to go...

This is probably also highly dependent on where you live.

We live in an area that is building our 5G aggressively. Definitely not a big need for me, but since I keep devices for a long time, I tend to buy up. Though I’m questioning that approach after seeing the trade in value towards a new iPhone of my phone vs the next gen.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

Saw on CNBC this AM that they have had more pre-orders for the 12 than the TOTAL NUMBER of 11s that were sold. They attribute this to 5G, which seems to be an unproved technology to me (for the time being). Just seems so crazy to me.

I was pretty excited to hear that as a shareholder, but sadly for me, it’s not quite accurate. First day pre-sales of iPhone 12 exceeded first day pre-sales of iPhone 11, not the total number of iPhone 11s. They’ve sold plenty of iPhone 11s, so that would have been a huge number.

KEY POINTS
First-day iPhone 12 preorders surpassed last year's iPhone 11 preorders, according to top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities.

Kuo said Apple sold up to 2 million iPhone 12 models in the first 24 hours of preorders, up from 800,000 units of the iPhone 11 for the same period last year.

China has the most demand for the new iPhones since the country's 5G networks are more widely available than they are in other countries, he said.

Not bad, but not mind-blowing, either. Here’s the full article: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/19/iphone-12-pre-orders-sales-exceed-iphone-11-top-analyst-says.html

 

[RetireBy90]

For me, 5G will become important at a point in next couple years. Think of when we all had flip phones and the difference a smart phone made. We didn’t foresee the uses of a smart phone till after new uses and apps were created. I think 5G will be similar. We don’t have any idea what uses it will allow till they show up.
I have a iPhone 11 so won’t need a new one for several years. If I was buying a new phone today it would be 5G if only to have it when it becomes more useful.

 

[audreyh1]

DW and I are still using our iPhone 6 Plus’s and we could go on but battery life is shorter (though OK) and we can no longer get the latest OS - so we’re buying unlocked iPhone 12’s. Don’t want the Mini, don’t need Pro added features. Only decision for us is 64 or 128GB. And which carrier - we’ve been with Verizon (with a big employee discount), I’d like to go to Visible.

Go for the larger memory. It’s a pain dealing with limited memory on an iPhone.

 

[camfused]

I went to the Apple store today to look at the 12, primarily to see the colors. I wanted to see if the blue made me hurl or not, since there are mixed reviews. Well, its one of those colors where you can't decide if you like or hate it. I like the blue on the pro, but this blue is kid of too primary. The other colors are so so too, although the black is interesting since you can detect a slight hint of purple in it if you get the light just right. I guess I'll get the blue, mini, since I will have a case on it anyway.

 

[braumeister]

I went to the Apple store today to look at the 12, primarily to see the colors ... I will have a case on it anyway.

Maybe not applicable to you, but I know others ([cough] DW [cough]) who dither over the color of their new phone, then immediately buy a case that covers it up so you have no idea what color the phone is.

 

[explanade]

I was due for upgrade, with my iPhone over 3 years old.

With the pandemic really cutting my spending, might as well blow that dough!

And YOLO and all that.

Going for the Pro Max, which is about the same size as the 8 Plus I have now.

 

[explanade]

Saw on CNBC this AM that they have had more pre-orders for the 12 than the TOTAL NUMBER of 11s that were sold. They attribute this to 5G, which seems to be an unproved technology to me (for the time being). Just seems so crazy to me.

Not unproven so much as still in the process of being rolled out.

The real wow speeds, like over 100 times faster than LTE, only works where there's mmWave. Verizon is pushing this short-range, high-bandwidth tech but they only put it in big stadiums.

Some reviewers noted that they can get 1000 Mbps downloads just outside their homes but once they go inside, they can't get the mmWave signal.

T-Mobile owns a lot of midband spectrum which is probably a best combination of much faster than LTE speeds but with still good coverage.

But they've only started building out midband access points and the pandemic probably slowed down their rollout, just it has everyone else.

 

[tulak]

Got my iPhone 12 Pro. Not a big upgrade from the X, but it is noticeably quicker and the pictures look better. So far I’m happy I upgraded, but I agree that nowadays, the difference between recent generations of iPhones isn’t that great.

The only pain is having to set everything up again. Apple makes this easier, but it’s still a process. Having to backup the old phone, unpair the watch, wipe the phone, then configure the new phone, with Apple Pay, Apple Watch and all of the other apps. It’s not a quick process.

What is impressive is that the phone shipped on Monday from China and was delivered Wednesday in Seattle.

 

[audreyh1]

Shanghai to Anchorage to Seattle I assume. 2 days seems right.

It’s true - transferring stuff that includes an Apple Watch plus credit cards to a new phone involves several steps. But then it’s all there! Fortunately don’t have to do it very often.

 

[Midpack]

We bought two iPhone 12’s w 128GB last Saturday, one blue, one black. Setup was a breeze w iTunes. We love them, quite a few OS features we didn’t know we were missing. We stayed with Verizon, got $260 off ($130/ea) and got to keep our old discounted plan, no new contract.

We also ordered two iPad Air 4’s direct from Apple, which arrive Tue-Wed, one blue, one gray. Then we’ll have the new 20W charging bricks, so we’re not having to buy bricks for our iPhones. Also got $235 off trading in 3 old iPads. Sweet.

 

[camfused]

@Midpack, what is your opinion of the blue color?

 

[tulak]

Shanghai to Anchorage to Seattle I assume. 2 days seems right.

Started in ZhengZhou, China. From there, Incheon (Korea), Anchorage, Louisville and then Seattle.

 

[audreyh1]

Crazy! - it had to go Anchorage to Louisville and then to Seattle!

 

[Midpack]

@Midpack, what is your opinion of the blue color?

I like the Sky Blue (iPad) better than the iPhone 12 Blue, but they’ll both be in cases so it doesn’t really matter for me. The iPhone 12 Pro Pacific Blue is the best of the three to me, but I didn’t buy a Pro.

 

[Dragomira]

For those looking to upgrade, what are you dying to do with the new phone that you can't do or have problems doing now? Thanks.

I had to laugh at this excellent question! I still have a flip phone and a grandfathered in old (read cheap) plan with an independent company, but I don't have internet access and get charged by the text (which was fine until the scammers started texting me and I realized I can now get internet included for about the same amount as I am being charged for all the stupid unsolicited texts).



I have decided to buy a used apple-approved refurbished Iphone 11 on ebay (with 128 gb ). I am also going to change my cell company to Ting - which seems to work well for my husband. (We live in rural Minnesotat and are in a bit of a cold spot with regard to phone towers, so I have to be careful with my provider. Last time I tried ATT it didn't work at all well.)


One must be careful on ebay, but at least ebay is pretty diligent about weeding out the bad eggs (sometimes after the purchase and sometimes beforehand, but they have never let me down yet whenthe vendor has.)


We will see what happens!

 

[Ncc1701]

We have three iphones in my family (a 6, 6s and a 7). Upgraded them all to iphone 12 using T-Mobile's promotions. They gave me a total of $200 per line for being a customer for 5 years + and they gave us a total of $730 in trade in rebates for the 3 old iphones for a total discount of $1,330!

All I had to do was commit to them for another 2 1/2 years, which is a no brainer since one of my lines is actually free.

 

[mn54]

We have three iphones in my family (a 6, 6s and a 7). Upgraded them all to iphone 12 using T-Mobile's promotions. They gave me a total of $200 per line for being a customer for 5 years + and they gave us a total of $730 in trade in rebates for the 3 old iphones for a total discount of $1,330!

All I had to do was commit to them for another 2 1/2 years, which is a no brainer since one of my lines is actually free.

the discount was 1330 but what did they charge you for the iphones? i am seeing ads that verizon is giving them for free. i assume you have to sign a contract of some sort.

 

[HF63]

I currently have a 6 and waiting for my son to get tire of the 10. I know it will be soon and no need t spent a nickle on a new phone. At some point just a battery change and repeat!

 

[Ncc1701]

the discount was 1330 but what did they charge you for the iphones? i am seeing ads that verizon is giving them for free. i assume you have to sign a contract of some sort.

The phones were the regular retail price and yes I did have to commit to them for 30 months. I wanted to stick with T Mo because although I have three lines I only pay for 2

 

[Katsmeow]

So, I just did the get ready for pre-order thing at Apple to buy the 12 Pro Max under the Apple Upgrade program. I dithered about it for awhile. In a way I could wait until next year. I think Apple will make more changes next year that I will probably want. Once I get a phone next year I plan to keep it for awhile and not upgrade yearly.

So, I could have waiting until then. But I am on the Apple Upgrade program so it doesn't really cost much for me to upgrade. If I upgrade then in a year I trade it the phone to get a new one, essentially getting a trade in for half price. If I don't upgrade then I own my phone in a year and can probably trade it in for $350 to $400. That would be nice.

But -- I currently have an 11 Pro. I spent this year using the smaller phone rather than getting the Pro Max. The phone has been nice but I realize I do want the larger phone. And, it is worth it to me to upgrade to get that larger phone. But, it was a close call....

 

[explanade]

Ordered Pro Max, Pacific Blue, this morning.

 

[KB]

I ordered the Iphone 12 mini, Pacific blue this morning. Can't wait to get it. I have someone I will give my XS to, she breaks or lose phones regularly so I always have her to take my cast-offs.