Hey.

The regular iPhone 12 is notable for being the most popular model among all 12 iPhones. Mini is not a niche offer for everyone, models with the Pro prefix are for a loyal audience that does not count money and is able to use it to warm itself up on long winter evenings. But the iPhone 12 seems to be the best choice for those who are ready to upgrade their old iPhone to a new model from the same manufacturer. In this article, we will talk about the pitfalls that may await you. But before that, let me remind you that the iPhone 12 is a twin of the iPhone 12 Pro with one caveat, the model has been significantly simplified in order to reduce the cost, as if it is so necessary at the retail price that it has. Let’s start with this!

Content

1. Reason # 1. The flagship price with modest technical capabilities
2. Reason # 2. Delivery set, the need to buy a charger
3. Reason number 3. Device ergonomics – hello older iPhone 4
4. Reason number 4. Off-market design, body materials
5. Reason number 5. 64GB storage in 2021 – a generous offering from Apple
6. Reason number 6. Display from Samsung, read from Apple
7. Reason number 7. Number of cameras
8. Reason number 8. Apple’s ceramic shield – is the screen protected?
9. Reason number 9. IPhone 12 battery life – no miracles
10. Reason number 10. Predictability of smartphone behavior using the example of wireless charging
11. The bottom line, conclusions

Reason # 1. The flagship price with modest technical capabilities

Buying a smartphone from Apple, you acquire a very expensive myth, it has always been like this, but today the company has decided that iPhone users cannot count, do not see other offers on the market, and if they suddenly do, they will never choose them. The out-of-market price of the iPhone 12 is a proposal in which everything is fine – a mixture of a fast processor and a dead battery, an inexpensive case made of aluminum and soiled glass. The device is woven of contradictions and at the same time stands as something modern, but the model is not such, even if we do not take into consideration the already traditional problems in software, the quality of hardware.

Of course, the perception of the model directly depends on how you perceive the Apple brand, as well as on how sorry you are for the amount you have to pay for such a device. For most rational buyers, the iPhone 12 is something from another world, a model that has no advantage over the competition, but still stands like a cast iron bridge.

Within the Apple line, this device also has a certain flaw, because often such devices are bought to demonstrate the presence of money, a certain level of well-being (today this is perhaps the main reason, no matter what people actually say). But the base model iPhone 12 is significantly less expensive than the iPhone 12 Pro / Pro Max, which is not an option to show off the money. Bought an iPhone 12, but not the highest possible. In a word, a compromise, and not the best kind. Although there is a huge army of iPhone buyers who sincerely consider themselves rational buyers that they choose the right device and do not overpay for it. This will be part of the next paragraphs.

Reason # 2. Delivery set, the need to buy a charger

None of the manufacturers could wipe their feet on their customers as efficiently as Apple did. Selling the most expensive smartphones on the planet, the company decided not to add not only headphones to the package, which can easily be experienced, but also a charger. Only the cable is included. In theory, you can charge the device from it from a computer or using your own charger. Or you can shell out 2 rubles for a 000W charger.

It’s strange that the iPhone 12 is not sold without a box, because it also costs money! Following this logic, it will soon be possible to buy not an iPhone, but a certificate that you had money for an iPhone. And definitely stickers so you can place them somewhere.

Reason number 3. Device ergonomics – hello older iPhone 4

Let’s remember that the design of the new iPhone 12 comes from the past, this is the refreshed iPhone 4.

The problem is that the new devices are larger in size, sharp edges cut into the hand. God knows what a problem if you love the iPhone, and everything else is not important to you. The side keys have become less comfortable compared to 11 devices. In general, we can say that ergonomics suffers, and this is clearly seen in everyday life. Compared to its competitors, the iPhone 12 looks like a shot from the past, instead of rounding the body here we get chopped edges. Contemporary? Definitely not. Made for only one thing – so as not to spend money on ergonomics research and not to hire designers who know how to create modern devices. Such designers and engineers are expensive, and there are savings on everything. The company is not the best of times, you need to squeeze money out of everything, including saving on the development of devices.

Speaking about ergonomics during the pandemic, I can note an important point, Apple was never able to return the fingerprint sensor. Using a mask, it is impossible to unlock the iPhone, which means that you will need to enter the digital code on the screen in the old fashioned way (there is not even a picture password here). This is somewhat old-fashioned and definitely inconvenient.

Reason number 4. Off-market design, body materials

You can forgive the most expensive smartphone on the planet a lot. For example, huge bezels around the screen eventually became part of the outdated iPhone image, as the company does not know how to create modern devices.

The bangs that are cut into the screen also became Apple’s trademark, and the lamentations that all manufacturers will repeat this decision and “you will see that this is brilliant!” Never materialized. Some of the small Chinese manufacturers copied the bangs, it happened, but quickly abandoned it. The reason is banal, lying on the surface – why copy a bad decision that people don’t like and pushes them away from your product?

In the iPhone 12, they saved on the case, for this money you could and should have used stainless steel, as in the 12 Pro, but no. Aluminum is used here, and this metal, in theory, can have enough strength, other manufacturers use aluminum alloys that are resistant to impact, but not Apple (it’s too expensive). On impact, the body is jammed and its durability is very relative.

Apple designers have gone to great lengths to get iPhone 12 buyers to invest in a case. The edges cut into the hand, the soft edge of the case, but the main thing is that the rear window is instantly covered with traces from the hands, the device looks sloppy from this.

Reason number 5. 64GB storage in 2021 – a generous offering from Apple

There is not a single smartphone on the market that, at a price similar to the iPhone 12, would have such a memory capacity – 64 GB! The cost of memory is not so high, and this amount is generally perceived by Apple users as insufficient, and this is easy to find out if you look at the sales of iPhone 11. The most popular iPhone 11 model is not the 64 GB base model, but the 128 GB version, the ratio sales 3 to 1 (128 to 64 GB). And, for a second, this happened in the previous year, which means that for the iPhone 12 the ratio will be at least the same. What, Apple doesn’t know that? They know and see sales statistics very well. But the iPhone user has to pay for everything, and pay exorbitant prices. Did you make a mistake when choosing the amount of memory? It doesn’t matter, buy another iPhone – that’s Apple’s logic. Therefore, the company produces off-market models that do not even remotely correspond to what can be expected from devices in 2021.

Reason number 6. Display from Samsung, read from Apple

Apple is losing the market from year to year, the best year for the company was 2015. The company cannot achieve those results and is constantly looking for the reason for this in the situation on the market. For example, all the flagships acquired OLED screens, as a result, Apple was forced to copy this approach, and now all the company’s flagships have such displays from Samsung. The systemic crisis within Apple is such that the company has not fulfilled its own plans for the production and sale of flagships for two years in a row, which results in penalties from Samsung. In 2019, Apple paid $ 689 million; in 2020, the fine was $ 950 million. A trifle, but demonstrating a systemic crisis within Apple.

It is extremely important for Apple to squeeze the maximum possible out of customers, but this is real only in one case – when you sell old technology, something that is inexpensive. You wrap it in a pretty marketing wrapper, tell that everything you have is the best, and voila, the recipe is ready.

What hasn’t been added to the most expensive smartphones on the planet? For OLED screens, there has long been a technology such as AlwaysOn Display, information is displayed on the screen in standby mode, including notifications. You don’t need to pick up the machine to see what’s going on. Apple added such a mode for the Apple Watch a year ago, but could not master it for smartphones (it is too expensive for smartphones, additional costs are penny costs within the cost of screens).

Another point that is perplexing is the lack of a screen refresh rate of 120 Hz. The reason is trivial – saving on the battery, since it is expensive for Apple to install a large-capacity battery. Therefore, what is perceived as something cool for flagships and is really noticeable in everyday life, they did not add to the iPhone 12. A special piquancy is the fact that for the first time it was Apple that introduced 120 Hz in tablets. And they advertised this opportunity beautifully. It is impossible to achieve the smoothness of the interface at 60 Hz, as in the iPhone 12/12 Pro, Android smartphones win outright in this parameter.

Reason number 7. Number of cameras

We are used to the fact that the number of cameras in smartphones is growing year by year, but for Apple it is very expensive, otherwise the most expensive company in the world will not earn an incredibly high percentage from each device, but the same amount as other manufacturers on their models. and this is definitely a mess. Therefore, the iPhone 12 has only two lenses – wide-angle and regular, no additional sensors. A kind of childish level for those who take little pictures and do not feel the need for great opportunities. The question, as always with the iPhone, is simple and described in such a way that buyers are not given the same level of opportunity that other manufacturers have. At the same cost, most companies provide three modules in the main unit, and they are no worse, and in many ways even better.

Reason number 8. Apple’s ceramic shield – is the screen protected?

One of the weakest points of all iPhones is the glass covering the screen, which breaks and scratches easily. In the new generation of iPhone 12, we were promised that the strength of the glass increased by 4 times. But they didn’t say anything about how it would scratch. Take a look at what the iPhone 11 Pro screen has become in a month with a little without a case, it’s just spoiled in a splash.

The hope that nothing like this will happen with the iPhone 12/12 Pro vanished like smoke, in a couple of days the screen was covered with small scratches, and there are quite a few of them. For a longer period of time, it will turn into trash, which means that you need to buy protective glass that distorts colors (and why such a cool screen then?). In short, everything is as usual, at Apple did not cope with the basic things.

Reason number 9. IPhone 12 battery life – no miracles

Apple fans argue that the laws of physics do not exist for the company, and its smartphones last a very long time. And a 2815 mAh battery (and this is in the iPhone 12/12 Pro) easily outperforms a 4000 mAh battery, since iOS is optimized. I’m afraid it’s not. There are lies of the standard utilities from Apple, which often do not take into account the correct operating time, increase the screen time, which gives the impression that the device is more durable than it actually is (I especially like such a trifle as the indication in the standard section of iOS “Battery” time the application runs for more than two hours, when you choose to display data for one hour of time, it’s very funny).

But something else is perhaps more interesting. So, the iPhone 12 hardly survives until the evening in real use scenarios, it discharges especially well and quickly during calls, while watching YouTube, the energy consumption is the least. One daylight hours with 4-4.5 hours of screen operation. This is extremely small for a modern device and those who want to use data transmission at the same time. I noticed that the greater the load, the more the case heats up. They also saved on the heat removal system, do not look for anything modern inside the iPhone, the company simply does not have the money for this. Alas and ah.

On the other hand, there is also a kind of psychological trick here. It gives iPhone users the impression that they spend a lot of time with their smartphone, that it works for a very long time. And they believe it. In general, iPhone users are very gullible about many things, for example, that they have the best smartphone on the planet and every penny invested in it is justified.

Reason number 10. Predictability of smartphone behavior using the example of wireless charging

I see Apple engineers as students who create something like that in their free time, but do not watch how it is implemented by other companies. Unfortunately, the behavior of the iPhone with each generation is becoming less predictable, and this stems from the quality of the hardware and software. In cold weather, the devices turn off by themselves at 30% battery charge, the operating speed decreases if Apple needs you to buy a new iPhone instead of the current one. Such “little things” characterize the company as a whole and the main product from it.

Wireless charging isn’t the fastest in the iPhone 12. What can you spoil here? It seemed to me that nothing, since everything is extremely simple – you put your smartphone on charge, it gets 100% in 4 hours (it’s not very fast, it’s a fact), and then you just use it. But Apple did not disappoint!

IPhone 12 does not always charge wirelessly even after placing it on the charging mat. This should be checked, all for the user! Charging often stops at 80-85%, as the case is overheating, which, by the way, is so noticeable in this device that wireless charging will kill the battery, unlike smartphones from other companies. There is a feeling that this was done deliberately in order to make money by replacing the battery, because Apple loves so much to collect other people’s money and design their devices with this in mind – you have to buy a lot in order to create a remote semblance of a modern smartphone from this designer. For example, standard wireless chargers for iPhone 12 are limited to 7.5W, but buy MagSafe and get 15W on paper (in reality, maximum 9W, as the case heats up quickly).

The bottom line, conclusions

The most popular model from Apple in this generation is distinguished by a huge price and awkwardness in many aspects. This is a device for very undemanding people who are ready to acquire a beautiful stove in a country house, but do not carry out central heating, but drown their miracle exclusively with money. Expensive, with an outdated design and poor ergonomics, the epitome of what Apple has done in recent years on the market.

When buying an iPhone 12, you pay about half the cost for the Apple name, but also do not forget that you need to buy accessories in order to neutralize the flaws laid down by engineers (a case so that the device is not so bad in ergonomics; glass so that the screen does not scratch; charging, since it simply does not exist; wireless charging, if you want to charge faster, the standard is not an option). All this makes the iPhone 12 an extremely expensive device in all aspects, and I did not even bother to remember the cosmic cost of repairs for any problem. For this money, you can buy two Android devices at once, which will be no worse in all aspects. To get an idea of ​​how far the iPhone 12 lags behind the flagships on Android, you can read the text comparing the iPhone 12 Pro and Galaxy S20, which clearly shows the difference in the approaches of manufacturers and why Apple is not doing very well with iPhone sales.

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