iPhone 12 series could have better battery life, faster Face ID and more

iPhone 11
The iPhone 12 should have a better camera than the iPhone 11 (above) (Image credit: TechRadar)

The iPhone 12 range is being unveiled on October 13 (tomorrow at the time of writing) so it’s finally almost here, but the leaks aren’t slowing down, with the latest one pointing to a few possible improvements.

According to @PineLeaks (a Twitter account believed to be run by Max Weinbach, a leaker with a good track record), the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will offer at least one hour more battery life than their predecessors.

For reference, Apple claims you’ll get up to 18 hours of life when watching video on the iPhone 11 Pro and up to 20 hours on the iPhone 11 Pro Max, so you can potentially add at least an hour to each of those for the new models.

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However, the source claims that the rumored 5.4-inch iPhone 12 Mini will have worse battery life than the iPhone 11, because of its small size. The iPhone 11 already has worse battery life than the Pro models, at up 17 hours for video playback.

One thing that might be improving on all iPhone 12 models though is the speed of Face ID, with @PineLeaks claiming that a new “dynamic zoning algorithm” will be used to make it faster.

If you were hoping the notch would shrink though you’re likely out of luck according to this source, with the exception being the iPhone 12 Mini, where the notch apparently won’t be quite as wide but will stick out further instead.

As for the rear cameras, they claim that both digital and optical zoom will be “getting a massive boost”. In the case of the standard iPhone 12 the zoom is said to be purely powered by software, but it will apparently be “significantly extended” in terms of both distance and quality.

The ultra-wide camera meanwhile will apparently have a roughly 35% larger aperture to improve low-light performance, and this camera will also supposedly offer a macro mode, allowing you to get closer to subjects than you can with the iPhone 11 range. Finally, they note that 4K video recording at 120fps or 240fps will probably be supported.

While we’d take all of this with a pinch of salt, rumors this close to a launch are often right so we wouldn’t be at all surprised if this all pans out. We’ll know for sure very soon, and TechRadar will be covering the Apple event in full, so check back soon for all the official iPhone 12 information.

Via MacRumors

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.