That was actually much more substantial of an upgrade than I previously anticipated. The stronger glass, MagSafe being able to stick your phone magnetically to surfaces, and the Dolby Vision HDR recording are what really got me. Not so much 5G.
I'd rather deal with the tiny scratches than a screen protector.
I'm curious as to what you dislike so much about them.
1. If you use it you'd get used to it
2. It's almost completely transparent, look at the light coming through the screen protector before you put it on. It's not a condom for a phone.
Try as hard as I can, my phone always finds my keys. I still go case-free but I strongly consider the case with every new phone or every new key mar.
Even my five+ year old phones are in perfect condition, despite their primary users being my toddlers now.
Although I don't use iPhones (Androids).
From the old indestructible Nokias, passing through a Sony Ericsson, a Nokia Windows Phone, and then the Moto G4. Until my previous phone.
My previous phone was a Moto G6, with glass in the back. In the second day, it fell from my lap and the back-glass broke completely, but stood in place with glass dust all over. I had to use a case (that is shipped with the phone, probably predicting this). I was pissed, always hated. All of that because of a useless aesthetic product decision.
Then I bought the latest iPhone SE, my first iPhone ever. I use it without a case and it fell, from various heights, probably more than 30 times now. The screen is intact, just a few scratches in the corners. I am pretty happy about it.
Edit: just in case anyone wants to know, I don’t like cases solely because it makes the phone larger. The “how easily and comfortably it fits in my pockets” is my main criteria. I don’t care about aesthetics much, consequently I also don’t care if my phone has scratches on its sides. That’s one reason I changed to the iPhone SE (small phone + great chip + privacy considerations). I would only ever consider buying the iPhone Mini out of these iPhone 12 line.
The 12 seems to be similar to the 5 (and the iPad Pro), so let's see if it's any better to use without a case.
And easier to crack the screen when it lands on the edge. I'm pretty sure I didn't drop my 6S more times than I dropped my iPhone 5 or 4S, but I cracked my 6S screen three times, whereas I never cracked my 5 or 4S screens at all.
The glass repair guy down the street must love me.
If it really protects the phone like they said it will (even 2x, not 4x) then this would be a revolutionary upgrade for me.
The iPhone 8 with it's full-glass enclosing has been surprisingly sturdy, surviving even rough drops with only a scratch. Plus if it breaks, I get two replacements with AppleCare, and the process is ridiculously smooth.
I occasionally drop it from my pocket onto not-too-hard ground without damage and I bent the corner a bit dropping it on tarmac when I was drunk once but otherwise it’s unscathed. Maybe I’m just super lucky.
From my first day of using them together all I could think was "I want this connection method on every tablet and phone"
Also, btw, the iPhone 12 MagSafe doesn't prevent you from using a case.
However when carrying the phone in my pocket or bag I always use a fabric sleeve with microfiber inner lining. To me this approach is the best of both worlds: The pure device when in use, but protection when carrying it around - Plus, instead of having to put the device down on hard surfaces the sleeve serves as a soft bed for the phone. And the microfiber lining keeps the display clean.
All my past iPhones looked pretty much pristine when I sold them on ebay.
Did the same for my 6S, and cracked the screen three times. The third it cracked time I upgraded to an iPhone XS; but my wife insisted I get a case, and it was hard to argue against.
I'm really glad they've moved back to the (apparently) more robust form factor of having squarish metal edges. I look forward to not having to use a case the next time I update.
I'm treading into parts I don't know very well here, so treat this as a question: Is this perhaps a part of the de-Ive-ification process?
No, thanks. Every surface on a phone needs to feel at least subtly different.
0. Oval buttons instead of round. In terms of usability a larger target is better, but in terms of design style a loss.
1. It has buttons on both sides so it doesn't have a totally flat side for setting on its edge. Also, the camera sticks out.
Otherwise I appreciate the return to the classic look even if "mini" is still larger than the oversized model 5 body.
> Also, the camera sticks out
is the one that bothers me. I loved the iPhone 4/5 "uniblock" feeling.
Iphone 12 tech specs says it has a depth of 7.44 mm. It's unclear if that includes the camera bump, but I'm going to to asssume it doesn't, because Apple.
Yeah. That extra 1.86 mm would probably add quite a lot of battery capacity, like 20-35% more.
I hate that iphone 6 and onward design decision ... (design-wise pretty much everything after iphone 6 has been a regression imo, although this one looks the best that any phone has looked in a long time -- aside from the notch)
> The leather wallet is shielded so it’s safe for credit cards.
I don't know how people get it down to 3-4...
The point is not to brag, but point out that two of those cards get taken out because there are electronic alternatives. Some states allow electronic driver's licenses, too. Subtract those three, and there's your "3-4" in your wallet. And a fuel card, FFS, for a fleet card that couldn't be an NFC/RFID fob like Exxon has had for a decade? Which in turn might as well be a reader on the pump for your NFC payment of choice.
Fuel card I don't carry, but I can picture parent comments having a fuel card attached to their name, but they might drive a different vehicle each work day ("fleet card" tells me it's for work, not personal).
On 99% of days over the past two years, I’ve left my wallet at home and only carried my phone with only with two cards: my personal credit card and my drivers license.
Any cards which are specific for driving (e.g. fleet fuel, insurance, physical license as backup, etc) could live inside your car in a "driving wallet".
They don't want to do the switch now because they don't want to send the wrong signal to accessory makers. They want them to focus on Bluetooth and wireless charging.
If they knew it'd take this long to get here, maybe they'd have switched to USB-C at an earlier stage. I know there were many blunders and delays with things like wireless charging and Bluetooth 5 audio. So the situation has become kind of awkward.
The only place I could see this not being the case is in older cars which require plug-in for some features like CarPlay.
But eh, it's an expensive device. An extra cord (also for cheap on Amazon) isn't a big deal.
On my wireless pad that much charge will take a couple hours.
That's fine overnight, but sometimes you need a lot battery ASAP
Funny thing is the only time I run out of juice now is if I did not place my iPhone on the wireless charger straight enough. Apple spoke specifically to this pain so it must be widespread.
Also occasionally when traveling, so combination of long days + higher than normal usage. I've got a battery case for those days that more or less doubles the built in capacity (at the cost of also basically doubling the weight)
I suspect Covid has had a big nerf on battery use overall.
Also Lightning was compact, now the wireless charger going to be bulkier to carry...
[edit] Not made of sapphire. My head has been in the sand.
https://gizmodo.com/iphone-x-damage-report-two-months-later-...
So iPhone 11 Pro max become the first phone I had to buy a screen protector for, really disappointing in such an expensive phone.
I got mine on launch and have zero scratches. I've even zoned out at work and started writing on the screen with a pen a few times, but it's still perfectly smooth. I grabbed a piece of metal and started scratching at my screen halfway through this post just to double check, and it's still fine.