The features business pros need in Apple’s iPhone 12, especially as increasing numbers of users are more dependent on mobile devices while weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, are: More styles, faster performance, and better pricing. Here are details about each iPhone 12 wish list item that I hope is announced this fall. TechRepublic sister site CNET says the new iPhones could be announced Sept. 10. 

SEE: Apple iOS 13: Tips and tricks (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

More styles than the iPhone 11

Let’s start with more models. Instead of three sizes—the iPhone 11 offers the 5.8″ iPhone 11 Pro, the 6.1″ iPhone 11, and the 6.5″ iPhone 11 Pro Max—the iPhone 12 is expected to come in four versions. Tech industry observers expect the new lineup to include a 5.4″ iPhone 12, a 6.1″ iPhone 12 Max, a 6.1″ iPhone 12 Pro, and a bigger 6.7″ iPhone 12 Pro Max. The new choices would prove welcome, if true.

The revised lineup would provide a little something for everyone, from employees requiring basic features and functionality to surprisingly capable handhelds with the potential to power far more for more demanding staff, such as engineers and sales and marketing professionals. From small to large, the iPhone 12 models look to be both smaller (the 5.4″ versions are about 7% smaller than the previous corresponding form factor) and larger (the new 6.7″ iPhone 13 Pro Max will be about 3% bigger than the previous equivalent), thereby providing more options for everyone.

SEE: WWDC 2020: The biggest takeaways (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Faster performance than previous iPhones

The pursuit of improved performance is never-ending. Business users are ready for 5G compatibility. With 5G support, the iPhone 12s is expected to send and receive information more quickly, including in heavily populated areas where in the past cellular overuse and oversubscription sometimes resulted in poor experiences sending and receiving texts and emails, loading attachments, downloading files, using cloud applications, and visiting websites. While cell traffic may not become overwhelmed at arenas and stadiums for a while, an increasing number of members in households are hammering the Internet each day working and learning from home, so better 5G throughput would prove a welcome feature.

Local performance—that is, the speed with which locally installed applications process commands and perform operations—will likely be faster, too. The new A14 Bionic processors expected in the new iPhone 12s are a step up from the iPhone 11’s third-generation A13 chips, which were no slouches. As a result, business users will find the new iPhones even more responsive. Combine the local speed improvements with 5G connectivity’s benefits, and the new handsets should prove noticeably faster in performing most everyday common tasks: Powering the phone on, using cloud-based applications, editing photos and video, and streaming online media.

SEE: macOS Big Sur: A cheat sheet (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Better pricing for an iPhone

Typically prices edge up with each new model, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here, which will prove a welcome relief at a time that unemployment remains at historic highs and many are reshaping careers.

If pricing ends up matching expectations, costs for mid- and higher-range models look to be unchanged. At the lower end, iPhone 12s will be available for $50 less ($649) than the iPhone 11 counterpart ($699). The lower-priced option, if true, will come at the perfect time, as businesses and individual users are battling a wicked storm of health, civil unrest, and economic crises.

Will you buy a new iPhone?

While the next iPhone won’t be world changing (whereas the first generation arguably was), these are extraordinarily stressful times, and some people might find that having a shiny new doodad in more available sizes with faster performance and no price increase is a good thing. Certainly, we can all use such a distraction.

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