CONFIRMED: iPhone 12 to launch next week and it’s all about speed

After announcing its new iPad and Apple Watch products last month, Apple has finally revealed its iPhone 12 launch event that’s happening next week. This year’s release is slightly delayed from the usual September launch window.

The new iPhone event will be streamed (or pre-recorded) from Apple Park in Cupertino and it’s taking place at 10am PDT on 13 October. That’s 1am Malaysian Time (GMT +08:00) on 14th October. You can watch it live on Apple.com and on YouTube.

This year’s theme is “Hi, speed” and we expect the new Apple A14 Bionic chip to take centerstage. Interestingly, the new 5nm A14 chip had made its early debut on the latest iPad Air 2020 and it boasts a 6-core CPU, 4-core GPU and a 16-core next generation Neural Engine. This is currently the most powerful chip from Apple.

Apart from a more powerful processor, you can expect faster 5G connectivity on the latest iPhone 12 lineup. This year, Apple is expected to release 4 models which include a smaller 5.4″ iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. It was previously speculated that Apple would introduce a 120Hz ProMotion display on the latest iPhone lineup but reputable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the iPhone 12 series will still retain a 60Hz display.

The next biggest question is how soon will the iPhone 12 series come to Malaysia? The iPhone 11 was the fastest iPhone release yet in our market as the devices arrived in Malaysia just a week after first wave countries such as the US, the UK, Australia and Singapore. However, due to the pandemic, the situation might change this year. At the time of writing, Apple has yet to release its new iPad 2020 and Apple Watch Series 6 in Malaysia and it’s already 3 weeks after the official event.

With the inclusion of 5G, you can probably expect a price increase for the new iPhone models. As a comparison, the iPhone 11 Pro was launched for RM4,899 for 64GB, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max was priced from RM5,299 for the 64GB version. What’s interesting is the new iPhone 12 mini and this could be their most affordable flagship option in a compact package. The overall device is expected to be smaller than the 2nd gen iPhone SE.

Another interesting thing to take note is that the next iPhone might also be the first to ship without a charger and a pair of headphones. Apple had recently conducted a survey asking users if they still kept or use the original chargers which is a sign that Apple plans to exclude accessories in the box. The move is seen as a sustainable one as USB-C chargers are getting more common and there’s a high chance that most users will use or buy their own preferred chargers.

All shall be revealed next week, so stay tuned to SoyaCincau.com for the latest details on the iPhone 12.

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