Keeping tradition alive, I wanted to update you on how my iPhone 12 pre-order went. This year, was just as easy as ever, but it didn’t go smoothly for everyone.

Waking up

Can I just say how much I love that Apple moved the iPhone Pre-order time from midnight to 5AM Pacific time?

Until last year, Apple would launch iPhones at Midnight, Pacific time. That would mean, if I wanted one any time within the first few days, I’d have to wake up before 2AM to get ready to order. Personally getting back to sleep after something like that can be difficult, so it was always a crazy experience.

The last couple years though, Apple has changed the time. Now, I can order at 7AM my time. That means, I’ve already been awake for a few hours. It is right before work starts for me. So I usually can just take a minute or two, log into the store and order what I need. This year was no different.

I checked the store before 7AM just to make sure that I wasn’t missing something. I really enjoyed the message that they left for us early adopters this year. It said that I was too early and to keep sleeping. It gave me a chuckle.

Then just as 7AM struck, the store changed. It said that they weren’t quite ready, and would be getting things ready. I furiously force closed the app on my phone and reloaded it. The same screen greeted me. I continued this process about ten more times before the store greeted me with a message that my I just had to push a button or two to order my phone.

I really like the fact that Apple lets me pick my order before the pre-orders start. That way, I only have to push that one button to get going once it starts. Of course, after I pick my phone days before hand, I always worry that I didn’t pick the right one. Maybe I need more storage or I want a different color. It would be nice if Apple didn’t completely lock in what you want days before when you do this method, but of course you can change things when you actually attempt to buy it.

What I Ordered

This year was pretty easy. While I loved my iPhone XS Max and iPhone 11 Pro Max, I didn’t love paying for it. While it was easy to justify spending a few dollars more per month for a while on the upgrade program, I am starting to feel the squeeze.

I also feel like I’m doing less on my iPhone these days. I always said I was going with the Max so that I could write on the go, but it is rare that I am without my iPad Pro or my MacBook Air these days. In fact, there was really only a handful of times over the past two years that I actually used my iPhone to write. I felt like it was time to scale back a bit and save some money.

Apple also blessed me by doubling the lowest tier capacity on the Pros this year. I’ve had the 256 GB iPhone since the iPhone X, as of today, I use around 75-78 GB depending on how many pictures I’ve taken. I contemplated going with a just a base iPhone 12 this year, to see if I could do it and save even more money, but the base size of the iPhone 12 is 64GB and that’s smaller than I need. To increase the capacity of the iPhone 12 to 128 GB, it brings the price up to $850 dollars, which is just $50 less than the iPhone 12 Pro model I aimed to get.

So I ended up picking the iPhone 12 Pro 128 GB in silver.

As I mentioned, ordering was super easy for me. I just opened the app and pushed a button. I was lucky that it only took seconds to order as soon as the store opened. I can expect my iPhone next Friday.

Slipping Times

My wife wasn’t so lucky today though. While she had done the pre-approval, and also tried to get to the store early, she ran into errors as she was checking out.

She continually receive a message saying there was an error that occurred, but never figured out what the error was. She continued to try and finally got through only to run into problems with her method of payment. The credit card she planned to use kept coming up as invalid even though the number was correct. Frustrated she deleted one number and re-entered it and everything finally went through.

Sadly, her delivery date had already been pushed back to November by the time everything got sorted out.

While this is part of the early adopter life style, this is pretty frustrating. She had done everything to prepare and everything had been squared away, but errors happen. I can’t imagine how much strain Apple goes under when new iPhones launch. Things have gotten much better through the years.

Still, her iPhone 12 Pro Max in gold will be here before too long. Apple always seems to under promise and over deliver. Personally, I’m excited to see how the Gold looks this year, because it looks great in Apple’s videos.

The Other Stuff

One of the things I’m most excited about with this year’s iPhone 12 is MagSafe. It is weird that I’m excited for a charge when I have so many already, but it is the eco system that gets me excited.

But I ordered two accessories today as well to go with my iPhone 12 Pro: An OtterBox Figura Series Case and the Apple Wallet with MagSafe

Normal, I purchase an Apple Silicon Case for my iPhone or find something cheap on Amazon. This year, I really liked the Apple Silicon cases, but I didn’t love any of the colors. Well, that’s not true. I really like the Kumquat, but I’m not sure I’d like it full time.

I also ordered the Wallet that snaps on with MagSafe for those times you want to travel light. I’ve never wanted to attach things like that to my iPhone with adhesive. I wasn’t sure that I would always want it on there, nor did I want to stick stuff to my case. But with MagSafe, it feels like a great way to add things on when needed.

The wallet doesn’t ship until later in November, but I’m excited to try it.

I also can’t wait to see what else is coming for MagSafe. I know Popsocket will be launching their stuff for the MagSafe too. A modular iPhone that can have some cool attachments will be awesome.

Charging is Coming

I did not order an actual MagSafe charger. If Apple had the MagSafe Duo for sale right now I would have bought that in a second (depending on cost). I already have a few wireless chargers in my house. The one on my nightstand is Satechi Trio Wireless charger. This can wirelessly charge my iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch at one time. But there have been times when I put my phone on the charger at night and I wake up to a dead or nearly dead phone. I don’t love the device for that reason. When the MagSafe Duo comes, I will be replacing this charger on my nightstand, I just hope that it is cheaper than this. The MagSafe Duo will use MagSafe to charge your phone and your Apple Watch as the same time. It can then fold up to make it easier to travel with. I wouldn’t mind having a charger that charges both with one cable instead of having to bring two different ones.

Also, does anyone else find it funny that we moved away from wires for charging, only to move back to something that attaches to a phone. I know it’s easier to snap it on than to plug it in, but it just seems a little backwards to me.

What did you order?

That’s all that I ordered. What about you? Let me know in the comments!