The fastest summary of Magsafe, and iPhone 12, and how to know what to buy

Apple introduced a bunch of stuff at their Hi, Speed event. Here’s what it is, what it means, and the info you need to know what to buy.

HomePod Mini

• $99 USD
• works on its own or in stereo pairs
• can pair with AppleTV for stereo sound, but not 5.1/7.1
• has a cool new intercom feature that will also come to iOS 14.2, original HomePod, and also works with CarPlay

MagSafe

• $39 for a USB-C to MagSafe charging cable
• Charging only
• There’s NFC inside so a phone can identify the charger, but that’s it so far.
• MagSafe charges at 15 watts for an iPhone. This is much more than the 7.5 watts over Qi charging, but slightly less than the 18W maximum over lightning.
• What about in car use? Wired CarPlay uses a USB-A connection, this is USB-C. Belkin is making a Car Vent clip that has the magnet, but does not charge at all. Basically, this isn’t for CarPlay yet.
• Apple’s making cases and wallet that attach magnetically to cases. You can charge through the cases, and remove the wallet to charge with the cable. Compatibility through third party cases is still being tested by most manufacturers. Belkin seems to be one of the launch partners, expect their stuff to work.

MagSafe compatibility:

No chargers included

Apple is removing lightning headphones and charging bricks from the box.

Less stuff in the box means a smaller box, which means less paying to ship air. They can fit more phones on a pallet and save money and fuel in shipping phones.

They include a USB-C to Lightning cable. Most people don’t have a USB-C charger, but there are some great ones by Anker and RAVPower available.

Basically, use the lightning charger you already have, and if you want faster charging, buy the brick yourself. Note that the iPhone 12 uses a maximum of 18 watts. More than that is nice, but may be more useful for things like iPads or MacBooks.

iPhone

All iPhone 12 get 5G cellular, which intelligently turns off to preserve battery life when not using large amounts of data. They also use a new Ceramic Glass to be 4x as break-resistant.

iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12

• these phones are the same phone.
• 4GB RAM
• mini has a 5.4″ screen in the same size phone as 4.7″ screen phone (iPhone 8, for example.)
• 12 has a 6.1″ screen, and is the same size as iPhone 11.
• Mini is $699 for 128GB, 12 is $799 for 128GB

iPhone 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max

• These phones are almost the same phone.
• 6GB RAM
• 12 Pro has a 6.1″ screen, 12 Pro Max has a 6.7″ screen
• both have telephoto lenses. The Max has a different focal length and 5x zoom vs 12 Pro’s 4x zoom
• Max also has a sensor shift optical image stabilization.
• Pro starts at $999, Max starts at $1099