I’m excited to upgrade to the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Now I have to decide do I want Gold or Blue.
LMAO. Just to offer an alternative perspective here: totally appreciate the notion of keeping relatively recent with upgrades, but I’m proudly sporting an iPhone 8 Plus, which I upgraded to earlier this year (from a 6S Plus). At this rate, I might make it to a 12 in 2025! So no disappointment or let down for me— I’m happy with what I already have, but the 12 does look pretty interesting from where I’m standing. 
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To each their owe. All the leaks set up expectation so nothing surprising. iPhone X, 11, 12 look similar 
so save myself some $ and not upgrade. Rather spend $ on other toys.
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This, I do not get at all. The iPhone 12 is the biggest redesign since they went from the 5S to the 6.
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I’m fairly excited to finally be able to get a smaller phone. I’ve been using the 11 Pro, but it still feels heavy and big for 90% of what I use it for. With the 12 Mini I’m going to get a lighter, smaller footprint, with some good leaps in camera tech at the ultra wide / wide level. I don’t use my telephoto lens often on the 11 Pro but I do shoot video and I’m looking forward to giving the new video HDR a run. 
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I’m looking forward to a smaller sized phone as well. I kept my 5s going for as long as possible before moving on to the eight model. I’ve got used to it over time but I still miss the small size of the 5s. Having the option to get a smaller phone with the same type of screen, processor, etc. as the bigger models is something I’m very happy about.
Something strange is happening to me. I have an iPhone X which either needs a new battery or to be replaced. And now I’m oscillating between the 12 mini and the 12 Max Pro…
(I don’t get it, either)
Excited? Not really. Let down? No. I got my blue color and the incremental improvements we always get.
A battery replacement in the “before time” was a one hour visit to the Apple store, most of which was spent enjoying a coffee at the shop next door.
I would image the hassle of getting a replacement these days would increase the oscillation in the direction of a new shiny. 
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Yes definitely not linear more like exponential.
I see the hardware miles ahead of the software.
So as shown in the lab, beam orientation is now software controlled. This used to be mechanical down in TV days with motorized antennas.
There is so much horsepower under the hood awaiting utilization.
Of course the plans will be more as the capital investment is more than 4G as the range is shorter so will require more base station hardware let’s not forget various satellite networks being launch in epic proportions to cover the world
My wife and I are currently using iPhone 6 phones with cracked screens so upgrading is a necessity for us. 5G will be nice for future-proofing and the camera upgrade will be huge. Probably most important is that we will be able to finally upgrade our Apple Watches to watchOS 7.
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I’m let down by the base layout width or resolution choice of the iPhone 12 and here’s why …
What’s a base layout width?
The iPhone X/XS/11 Pro used a native resolution of 2436 x 1125 px on the 5.8" screen, resulting in a base UI layout width of 375 pt rendered @3x (3 x 375 = 1125).
375 pt is the logical continuation of the iPhone 6/6S/7/8 (4.7") line’s screen width, which were running @2x, just taller to accommodate the ears next to the notch and make up for the omission of the Home button and chin.
With the iPhone 6 Plus the jump to 5.5" was made and a new resolution with a spacious base width layout of 414 pt was introduced. Internally the UI was rendered @3x, resulting in 2208 x 1242 px (3 x 414 = 1242), which got scaled down to fit the 1920 x 1080 px screen (1242 / 1.15 = 1080).
This scaling was continued throughout the 6S/7/8 Plus line.
The 5.8" iPhone X lacked a larger notch-companion. If you wanted the 414 pt base width layout you had to stick with the 8 Plus.
However, a year later the XS Max was introduced along the iPhone XS. It was the first jump to a 6.5" screen and resulted in a native resolution of 2688 x 1242 px. So again the 414 pt wide UI layout rendered at @3x was now for the first time displayed without scaling at its native resolution. This was continued with the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The XR and the 11 had a very interesting standing:
They used the wide 414 pt base width layout, but only rendered it @2x, resulting in a comparably “low” resolution of 1792 x 828 px. You basically got the the same spacious wide layout that you previously only got with the large “high-end” Plus models.—Just at the lowest price point of that lineup and with a still quite compact screen size of just 6.1" as compared to the 6.5" of the bulky Max models.
The iPhone 12 situation:
Sadly, this has changed with the iPhone 12. The 12 now has a 2532 x 1170 px resolution @3x, meaning a base width of 390 pt (1170/3 = 390). It’s the same as the 12 Pro, but just bumped up by 15 pt, as compared to the 6/6S/7/8/X/XS/11 Pro line.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max however made a jump upwards to a base width layout of 428 pt, instead of the previous 414 pt.
The 390 pt and the 428 pt layouts are entirely new. Old apps (pre XCode 12.1) will run in a zoomed mode. It will take some time especially for older apps to be updated.
Does it really make a difference?
If you switch to a 12 or 12 Pro coming from a 6/6S/7/8 Plus or XR/11 the entire UI will feel more crammed and less spacious. There will be less text displayed per line in mails, messages, Twitter etc. icons will be larger/closer to each other and apps that have fixed sized elements (often images) will display less of them.
It’s almost comparable to switching the “Display Zoom” level to “zoomed” (375 pt base width) instead of “standard” (414 pt width) on your XR/11 or going from 375 pt (standard) to 320 pt (zoomed) on a phone of the non-Plus/-Max line.
(Try it yourself: Settings -> Display & Brightness -> Display Zoom: View)
For someone, who switched to the Plus line immediately in 2014 and has stayed on the 414 pt base width layout for 6 years through the XR and 11 this will be a step backwards. I really liked having the spacious layout paired with the compactness of the XR/11 model and the comparably low price of 1100€ new incl. a case, AppleCare+ and taxes. (Don’t get me wrong … that price is still nuts!)
The real downside is that now your only option to get a spacious layout is to go with the highest priced iPhone, the 12 Pro Max, which also adds about 40g more weight and comes with an overall larger body and of course the hefty price tag. With AppleCare+ the 256GB model with the MagSafe charger or one case will be 1650€ (incl. tax) over here in Europe or +50% as compared to the XR/11.
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Both Apple stores in my area (40 mile radius) are still closed. It’s around 90 miles to one listed as open on Apple.com.
Innovation from now on will be in software and in services powered via AI. Like others noted, HW based innovation is moving much slower than software innovation.
We all want our phones to help us achieve more. The answer is a smarter Siri, a more powerful iOS, and better native apps.
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Finally, Wikipedia has it right about Moore’s law
Moore's law is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore's law is an Observation and projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of physics, it is an empirical relationship linked to gains from experience in production.
Based upon this principle X2 converts to a linear relationship in transistor geometry technology will be hitting the wall of physics so hence the hardware peak tech where it is leveling off.
The things interesting to me that I am personally working on is the advancement of technology in transportation as there is 38000 people that die in accidents per year in addition to millions lamed with 90% due to operator error this is looking to be greatly reduced in the next decade.
That is the most exciting thing in tech around the corner because of the length of time and regulation and vested interests.
I think this will be the next tech wave Apple and others jump on as we will look at the way we lumber through life like we now look at the medical practices 100 years ago. Real time monitoring as Apple is expanding the watch will be the eco system that will tie in to the processing power available in the computing devices currently available.
Yes I agree with others here that I was waiting for Jaws to appear especially since they questioned the James Bond music
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We are approaching peak tech and flattening of the technical innovations curve.
You can’t possibly be serious.
I see the future a bit differently. Personal device innovations have been only incremental for quite a while but I suspect there are things still in labs that will wow us in the next few years.
Things are happening in the world that could shake things up and lead us into a future than we might not expect at this time. Starlink, for example, holds the promise of high speed Internet virtually everywhere. And the cloud probably has more horsepower and storage than all personal computing devices combined. That’s a powerful combination.
Microsoft, Google, and others are offering cloud based console level gaming that can be accessed on most devices with a screen. In addition, MS has Windows Virtual Desktop. How long will we need significant computing power in our local devices? The technology to allow us to replace all our computing/communications devices with a simple connected “screen” is already in the labs.
But what about privacy? That’s one of the major reasons many of us use Apple devices. IMO, privacy is on life support and doesn’t have very long to live. Governments have been demanding back doors into our devices for several years.
The US has recently joined with the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, and Japan “calling for an industry-wide effort to enable law enforcement agencies to access encrypted data once a warrant has been obtained.” Scott McNealy might have only been “a bit” premature in 1999 when it said “You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it“. But I have no doubt he is correct.
Innovation hasn’t peaked. We may, in fact, be on the verge of a major shift in the next few years. But whether or not it becomes a commercial success is anyone’s guess.
But once my iPhone cannot promise on-device privacy and there is no advantage to running native apps I would be happy to replace it with a $100 screen capable of handling all my computing needs. And I’d bet a lot of other people would too.
Thanks @leo for the heads-up and explanation. Looks like I will be sticking with my 8plus for a while yet. I like the larger screen (I have fat fingers) and hate Face ID.
The camera is only used for snapshot reminders, photos of pallets at work etc.
What would be nice would be a plus sized SE
Not going to hold my breath though.
You need to get out more! 
I feel like I’m much more capable of being let down by the Apple Silicon Mac event next month. My expectations are way too high going in.
yes, do you think they will go back to doing that way? (I guess the max will also always have a better battery.