iPhone 12 Mini & 12 Pro Max Released

Two new iPhone models were just released last week. That means there’s time to purchase one for a holiday gift for a friend or relative, or to splurge on yourself.

About the New iPhones

The iPhone 12 Mini is the smallest iPhone, and is available on Amazon in 5 color options: blue, green red, black, and white and starts with 64GB of memory (If you store a lot of files, such as pictures or videos, you might want to opt for a version with 128GB or 256GB).

The iPhone 12 Mini is available here on Amazon.

For comparison, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is larger, has a better camera, and is more expensive. It’s available on Amazon in 4 colors: gold, graphite, pacific blue, and silver, starting with 128GB of storage that you can upgrade just like the Mini.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max is available here on Amazon.

What’s Missing?

If you are interested in ordering one of the new iPhones, you should know that Apple is making some changes to what comes standard in the package. As you may already know from my recent post, familiar accessories are no longer included. The charging brick that you use to connect your iPhone to a wall outlet is missing in action.

Apple also skipped the headphones this time. If you never use headphones while talking on the iPhone or watching videos, this may not be such a big deal.

At the very least, it’s a good idea to purchase a USB-C to Lightning cable, which you can use to charge your new iPhone from something with a USB port, such as a computer or a wall adaptor.

Getting an iPhone While Social Distancing

Rather than wait in line at an Apple Store this year… Many iPhone users are safely purchasing their iPhones on Amazon. Amazon carries both the iPhone 12 Mini and the top-of-the-line iPhone 12 Pro Max.

For those who want to buy directly from Apple, and don’t want to deal with the usual crowds, the Apple Store is handling orders differently this year to keep everyone safer amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

If you order an iPhone 12 Mini or iPhone 12 Pro Max for pickup at your local Apple Store, Apple will inform you when yours has arrived. They stagger pickup times to reduce the number of customers shopping inside the store at the same time.

You’ll be notified by a change in status in the Apple Store app. A message pops up telling you to check into the Apple Store during a particular time-slot. If you have any questions about your delivery, simply tap “In-Store Pickup Instructions” in the app under the timeslot notification.

The Apple Store app is included in all iPhones and Mac computers and you can use it to order software as well as products and accessories.

It’s a shame that Apple has stopped providing a charger and headphones with new iPhones because then you would have everything you need right out of the box. But that’s a minor quibble. After all, many people will already have charging cables and headphones that worked with their previous iPhones.

_{Note: I will always give my honest opinion on all iPhone products. My recommendations are never influenced by any compensation I may recieve. However, I may receive a small affiliate commission from the links to Amazon in this post. If you prefer I don’t receive compensation, you can go directly to Amazon.com and search for “iPhone 12 Mini” or “iPhone 12 Pro Max”.}