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Our iPhone 12 thoughts so far: Camera upgrades, lidar, and that new design – CNET

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The iPhone 12 comes in black, white, Product Red, mint green and dark blue.


Apple

The iPhone 12 is official. During a virtual event on Tuesday, Apple announced four new iPhones, all of which have new cameras, a new body design, support for 5G and “ceramic shield” displays. The new phones are named just like the iPhone 11 family: iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. There is also the iPhone 12 Mini, which packs the iPhone 12 into a smaller and more affordable body while retaining all of its features. It’s the smallest iPhone you can buy new, and it’s even more petite than the current iPhone SE.

As far as price, the iPhone 12 Mini starts at $699, the same as last year’s 11. The iPhone 12 starts at $799. Prices for the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max stay at $999 and $1,099 respectively. (See the chart below for a full price breakdown, including international prices.) Meanwhile the iPhone 11 dropped to $599, the iPhone XR is $499 and an iPhone SE starts at $399. 

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The 2020 iPhone family and prices.


Apple

Preorders for the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro start today and both phones will be available Oct. 23. Starting Nov. 6, you can preorder the iPhone 12 Pro Max and 12 Mini which will ship on Nov. 13. On paper it seems like a good year to upgrade your iPhone, but note that we still need to test all of the new phones out.

Between the prices, the choice in sizes, support for 5G and the cameras there’s a lot to be excited and confused about. Here’s a breakdown of all the major features on the new iPhones and what makes them different.


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iPhone 12 gets an iPhone 5 squared-off design

All four phones have a new hardware design defined by squared-off edges similar to those on the iPad Pro. You could even say Apple took inspiration from the iPhone 5, 5S and original 2016 SE. It kind of looks like the bodies of the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 5 had a baby, and that’s not a bad thing.

Those boxy edges house the antennas for 5G and are made from aluminum on the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini. They’re stainless steel on the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max.

Compared to the iPhone 11, the 12 sounds like a Radiohead song: It’s smaller, thinner, lighter. Sadly, no mention from Apple about killing moths or putting boiling water on ants.

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The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max come in four finishes: silver, graphite, gold and Pacific blue.


Apple

The 12 and 12 Mini come in black, white, product red, mint green and dark blue and the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max come in silver, graphite, gold (shiny C-3PO gold) and Pacific blue finishes. The Pros also have a textured matte glass back like the one found on the 11 Pro.

Baseline iPhone 12 and 12 Mini models come with 64GB of storage. I’ll be honest, I was kind of hoping this would be higher, especially since the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max start out with 128GB of storage.

Ceramic shield displays could be tough to crack

The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro both have a 6.1-inch OLED display. While the body of the iPhone 12 Pro and last year’s 11 Pro are roughly the same size, the 11 Pro only had a 5.8-inch screen. The 12 Pro Max also has a bigger display compared to the 6.5-inch screen on the 11 Pro Max. At 6.7 inches, the 12 Pro Max has the largest iPhone screen ever. Then there’s the iPhone 12 Mini and its 5.4-inch screen, which is larger than the display on the iPhone SE. But without those iPhone 8-esque bezels, chin and forehead, the body of the iPhone 12 Mini is actually smaller. I’m particularly excited about the 12 Mini.

All four phones have a ceramic shield display that’s made by infusing glass with nano ceramic crystals to make them more durable. Apple claims these displays have 4x better drop performance which could mean your iPhone has a better chance of surviving a drop out of your pocket. I look forward to seeing how these phones fare in a CNET drop test.

iPhone 12: To 5G or not 5G

Like most Android flagship phones released this year, all four iPhones support 5G. They support mmWave 5G which has some of the fastest speeds available right now, but you need to be pretty close to a 5G tower to use it. The phones also support low-band and midband 5G, which offer a longer range but less impressive speeds. Think of the difference as kind of like AM/FM radio — kind of.

Beyond hardware support for 5G and working with carriers, Apple optimized iOS to be faster and more efficient when on a 5G connection. The new iPhones also have a “Smart Data” mode that toggles between 5G and 4G LTE to save on battery life.

Tim Cook Apple 5GTim Cook Apple 5G

Tim Cook announces that the new iPhone has support for 5G.


Apple

If you’re interested in getting any of the iPhones 12 solely because of 5G, I’d recommend checking out which carriers offer 5G in your area, what the speeds are like and what the carrier’s plans are for building 5G out further.

LTE speeds also get a boost: The new phones are able to support data speeds up to 2Gbps.

Lidar, Smart HDR 3 and a new camera

Normally, new cameras would be the biggest feature of any iPhone launch. And while the new design and 5G will get a lot of attention, the cameras deserve some as well. The main wide-angle camera on all four iPhones has a new lens with an aperture of f/1.6 and a new larger sensor. Apple claims this combo offers 27% improvement in low-light situations.

The ultrawide-angle camera on all the phones gets a boost via software to help correct distortion better.

Then there’s the tale of two different telephoto cameras on the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. The 12 Pro has a similar 52-millimeter lens as last year’s iPhone 11 Pro. But the 12 Pro Max gets a new longer 65-millimeter lens which offers a 2.5x optical zoom instead of the 2x optical zoom on the 12 Pro.

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Both the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max have lidar.


Apple

Both Pro models also have lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging. It will help AR apps detect objects, depth and spaces. But the camera can also use lidar for improving autofocus with photos and video, especially in low-light. lidar even allows for Portrait Night Mode photos.

All of the cameras are powered by the A14 Bionic chip. According to Apple the new brains of the iPhone 12 family are 50% faster than any other phone sold today. The A14 brings Smart HDR 3, which optimizes the dynamic range of photos, identifies scenes like skies and optimizes for people’s skin and hair. Smart HDR 3 and Night Mode work on the wide, ultra-wide and selfie camera. Deep Fusion which optimizes pictures on a pixel level to reduce noise and improve detail is now on every camera including the telephoto ones on the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max.

All four phones can record video in Dolby Vision HDR which automatically color grades your videos in the Dolby Vision standard. The Pro models support Dolby Vision HDR at all settings up to 4K 60fps and the 12 and 12 Mini support it up to 4K 30fps. All of this happens inside the Photos app which is kind of amazing.

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The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max will be able to save photos as Apple ProRAW files. The new format provides the flexibility of a RAW file with smarts of computational photography.


Apple

The 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max will also be able to record a special RAW photo file called ProRAW. The idea is to provide the flexibility of a RAW photo file but with the smarts of computational photography. This feature that will come out later.

I’m glossing over a lot of detail with regards to photo and video capture. But once we get our hands on these phones, we’ll go into more depth.

Wireless charging meets MagSafe minus the power adapter

Remember MagSafe from your MacBook? If you tripped over the charging cable it would pop out, so as to not bring your MacBook crashing to the ground. The technology centered around cleverly placed magnets. To improve your wireless charging experience Apple used specially placed magnets to better align your phone’s position to improve charging efficiency.

There is a new line of MagSafe accessories including a charger that supports 15W wireless charging and cases that allow you to charge through them better. Apple even showed off a detachable wallet.

An iPhone 12 Pro with a MagSafe leather case and wallet.


Apple

Apple is omitting the wired earpods and power adapter that would normally come in the box, but there is a fast USB-C to lighting cable included. That said, one of the arguments Apple made for not including the earpods and power brick was that there are so many already in existence. And I kind of agree. Except, how many people have a USB-C power plug at home? I have a bunch of old 5W ones but those were for USB-A.

I am excited to get my hands on the new iPhones and test them for an in-depth review.

iPhone 12 specs vs. iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max

Apple iPhone 12 Apple iPhone 12 Mini Apple iPhone 12 Pro Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
Display size, resolution 6.1-inch OLED; 2,532×1,170 pixels 5.4-inch OLED; 2,340×1,080 pixels 6.1-inch OLED; 2,532×1,170 pixels 6.7-inch OLED; 2,778×1,284 pixels
Pixel density 460ppi 476ppi 460ppi 458ppi
Dimensions (inches) 5.78×2.82×0.29 inches 5.18×2.53×0.29 inches 5.78×2.82×0.29 inches 6.33×3.07×0.29 inches
Dimensions (millimeters) 146.7×71.5×7.4mm 131.5×64.2×7.4mm 146.7×71.5×7.4mm 160.8×78.1×7.4mm
Weight (ounces, grams) 5.78 oz.; 164g 4.76 oz.; 135g 6.66 oz.; 189g 8.03 oz.; 228g
Mobile software iOS 14 iOS 14 iOS 14 iOS 14
Camera 12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide) 12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide) 12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), 12-megapixel (telephoto) 12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), 12-megapixel (telephoto)
Front-facing camera 12-megapixel 12-megapixel 12-megapixel 12-megapixel
Video capture 4K 4K 4K 4K
Processor Apple A14 Bionic Apple A14 Bionic Apple A14 Bionic Apple A14 Bionic
Storage 64GB, 128GB, 256GB 64GB, 128GB, 256GB 128GB, 256GB, 512GB 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
RAM Undisclosed Undisclosed Undisclosed Undisclosed
Expandable storage No No No No
Battery Undisclosed; Apple lists 15 hours of video playback Undisclosed; Apple lists 15 hours of video playback Undisclosed; Apple lists 17 hours of video playback Undisclosed; Apple lists 17 hours of video playback
Fingerprint sensor No (FaceID) No (FaceID) No (FaceID) No (FaceID)
Connector Lightning Lightning Lightning Lightning
Headphone jack No No No No
Special features 5G enabled; MagSafe; water resistant (IP68); wireless charging; dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM) 5G enabled; MagSafe; water resistant (IP68); wireless charging; dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM) Lidar scanner; 5G enabled; MagSafe; water resistant (IP68); wireless charging; dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM) Lidar scanner; 5G enabled; MagSafe; water resistant (IP68); wireless charging; dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM)
Price off-contract (USD) $829 (64GB), $879 (128GB), $979 (256GB) $729 (64GB), $779 (128GB), $879 (256GB) $999 (128GB), $1,099 (256GB), $1,299 (512GB) $1,099 (128GB), $1,199 (256GB), $1,399 (512GB)
Price (GBP) £799 (64GB), £849 (128GB), £949 (256GB) £699 (64GB), £749 (128GB), £849 (256GB) £999 (128GB), £1,099 (256GB), £1,299 (512GB) £1,099 (128GB), £1,199 (256GB), £1,399 (512GB)
Price (AUD) AU$1,349 (64GB), AU$1,429 (128GB), AU$1,599 (256GB) AU$1,199 (64GB), AU$1,279 (128GB), AU$1,449 (256GB) AU$1,699 (128GB), AU$1,869 (256GB), AU$2,219 (512GB) AU$1,849 (128GB), AU$2,019 (256GB), AU$2,369 (512GB)

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Kuwait bans ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ video game, likely over it featuring Saddam Hussein in 1990s

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The tiny Mideast nation of Kuwait has banned the release of the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” which features the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is set in part in the 1990s Gulf War.

Kuwait has not publicly acknowledged banning the game, which is a tentpole product for the Microsoft-owned developer Activision and is set to be released on Friday worldwide. However, it comes as Kuwait still wrestles with the aftermath of the invasion and as video game makers more broadly deal with addressing historical and cultural issues in their work.

The video game, a first-person shooter, follows CIA operators fighting at times in the United States and also in the Middle East. Game-play trailers for the game show burning oilfields, a painful reminder for Kuwaitis who saw Iraqis set fire to the fields, causing vast ecological and economic damage. Iraqi troops damaged or set fire to over 700 wells.

There also are images of Saddam and Iraq’s old three-star flag in the footage released by developers ahead of the game’s launch. The game’s multiplayer section, a popular feature of the series, includes what appears to be a desert shootout in Kuwait called Scud after the Soviet missiles Saddam fired in the war. Another is called Babylon, after the ancient city in Iraq.

Activision acknowledged in a statement that the game “has not been approved for release in Kuwait,” but did not elaborate.

“All pre-orders in Kuwait will be cancelled and refunded to the original point of purchase,” the company said. “We remain hopeful that local authorities will reconsider, and allow players in Kuwait to enjoy this all-new experience in the Black Ops series.”

Kuwait’s Media Ministry did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press over the decision.

“Call of Duty,” which first began in 2003 as a first-person shooter set in World War II, has expanded into an empire worth billions of dollars now owned by Microsoft. But it also has been controversial as its gameplay entered the realm of geopolitics. China and Russia both banned chapters in the franchise. In 2009, an entry in the gaming franchise allowed players to take part in a militant attack at a Russian airport, killing civilians.

But there have been other games recently that won praise for their handling of the Mideast. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage” published last year won praise for its portrayal of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age in the 9th century.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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