Photo: 茅野ふたば / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons · source
iPhone 12
Flat edges, 5G, an OLED screen and MagSafe on the standard iPhone.
Overview
The iPhone 12 revived the squared-off industrial look of the iPhone 4 and 5 era, with a flat aluminum frame and glass on both sides. A Ceramic Shield front cover, made with nano-ceramic crystals, offered much better drop protection than previous glass.
The standard iPhone finally got a Super Retina XDR OLED display, at 6.1 inches and 2532 by 1170 pixels. The A14 Bionic was Apple's first 5-nanometer chip, and 5G in both sub-6 GHz and mmWave flavors made it Apple's first 5G phone. MagSafe added a ring of magnets and a wireless charging coil, creating an ecosystem of snap-on cases, wallets and chargers.
The dual camera system had an f/1.6 main lens and Night mode on the ultra wide lens too. To cut packaging and reduce waste, Apple removed the charger and wired headphones from the box, a decision that drew both criticism and imitation.
Why it mattered
It set the flat-edge design language and 5G baseline still used today, and introduced MagSafe on the iPhone.
At a glance
- Announced
- October 13, 2020
- Released
- October 23, 2020
- Discontinued
- September 12, 2023
- Launch price
- $799
- Chip
- Apple A14 Bionic
- Display
- 6.1"
- Storage
- 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
- Status
- Discontinued
Highlights
- Flat-edge design with Ceramic Shield
- OLED display on the standard model
- 5G with sub-6 GHz and mmWave
- MagSafe magnetic accessories
- A14 Bionic, first 5nm phone chip
Tech specs
Specifications as published at launch. Some values (like battery life) are manufacturer estimates.
Display
- Size
- 6.1-inch
- Type
- Super Retina XDR OLED, HDR10, Dolby Vision, True Tone
- Resolution
- 2532 x 1170 pixels (460 ppi)
- Refresh rate
- 60 Hz
- Brightness
- 625 nits typical, 1,200 nits peak (HDR)
Chip
- Chip
- Apple A14 Bionic (5nm, six cores)
- GPU
- 4-core
- Neural Engine
- 16-core
Memory
- RAM
- 4GB
- Storage options
- 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
Camera
- Rear cameras
- Dual 12MP: wide f/1.6 and ultra wide f/2.4 (120 degrees)
- Front camera
- 12MP TrueDepth, f/2.2
- Video recording
- 4K Dolby Vision HDR at up to 30 fps; 1080p slo-mo at 240 fps
Battery
- Video playback
- Up to 17 hours
- Charging
- MagSafe 15W, Qi wireless, fast charge to 50% in 30 minutes with 20W adapter
- Capacity
- 2815 mAh
Connectivity
- Cellular
- 5G (sub-6 GHz and mmWave), Gigabit LTE
- Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
- Connector
- Lightning
- Bluetooth
- Bluetooth 5.0
- SIM
- Dual SIM (nano-SIM and eSIM)
- Ultra Wideband
- U1 chip
Design
- Dimensions
- 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4 mm
- Weight
- 164 g
- Materials
- Aluminum frame, Ceramic Shield front, glass back
- Water resistance
- IP68 (up to 6 m for 30 minutes)
Security
- Authentication
- Face ID (TrueDepth camera)
Software
- Launch OS
- iOS 14
