Apple (AAPL  ) unveiled four new iPhones that are 5G-compatible. It also announced a new smart speaker that will compete with Google (GOOG  ) Home and Amazon's (AMZN  ) Alexa. At an earlier event, Apple had released its new iWatch and iPads, so this event was primarily focused on the highly-anticipated iPhone12. Apple also said it will no longer be including headphones and chargers with phones.

5G Phones

All four new iPhone 12s are millimeter-wave 5G phones which is the fastest part of the spectrum. Still, most carriers are just in the beginning stages of upgrading their infrastructure.

Apple also unveiled the iPhone 12 mini which has a 5.4-inch screen and reverses the trend of phones getting bigger. The iPhone 12 has been compared to the iPhone 5 as it has a similar look, feel, and thickness.

The basic iPhone 12 comes with a 6.1-inch screen and starts at $799. There are also two versions of the iPhone Pro which comes with a more advanced chipset and three cameras - Pro and the Pro Max. The Pro Max features a 6.7-inch screen.

Another benefit for Apple and consumers is that wireless carriers are expected to offer unprecedented subsidies to attract new customers and retain existing ones. For example, AT&T (T  ) is going to offer an $800 credit to any customer who trades in a recent iPhone and purchases the iPhone12. Verizon (VZ  ) and T-Mobil are offering similar promotions.

Homepod Mini

Another product debut was a smaller version of Apple's smart speaker - the Homepod Mini. Currently, it's priced almost twice as high as Google or Amazon's similar offerings. Apple is also late to this market as Google and Amazon have been selling smart speakers for many years.

LIDAR

Other than 5G, most of the improvements in the iPhone12 are more evolutionary rather than revolutionary. However, the three-camera lens for the Pro and Pro Max is expected to become standard in new models. There is an ultrawide camera, a telephoto camera, and a new wide camera for dimly lit and very bright environments.

These phones will also come with LIDAR sensors which will automatically adjust based on lighting and also be used for augmented reality. It's expected that LIDAR will be used by developers to improve up and create new augmented reality apps.

Snap (SNAP  ) is one of the first companies working on AR with its Specs. Apple showed a demo of the Snap AR using the iPhone12 Pro which was certainly impressive in creating a lifelike environment mixing real and digital objects. Additionally, Snap updates its Lens Studio to add support for LIDAR-powered devices.