Travel Tips Cool Gadgets The New iPhone 12 Has Arrived — Here's Why Travelers Will Love It This could be the iPhone update travelers have been waiting for. By Stacey Leasca Stacey Leasca Instagram Twitter Website Stacey Leasca is an award-winning journalist with nearly two decades of newsroom experience. Her photos, videos, and words have appeared in print or online for Travel + Leisure, Time, Los Angeles Times, Glamour, Men's Health, GlobalPost, LA Confidential, and many more. Stacey also served as an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of Southern California teaching feature writing and visual journalism. She is now pursuing her Ph.D., specializing in building resiliency to disinformation in early-career journalists. * 17+ years of journalism experience * 5+ years covering travel * LA Press Club award-winning feature writer * LA Press Club finalist in the travel, sports, and, soft feature categories Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Published on October 14, 2020 Share Tweet Pin Email We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission. On Wednesday, Apple brought joy to tech lovers everywhere when it announced the release of the new iPhone 12. While the launch of the phone was certainly anticipated, it came with a few surprises that will certainly delight travelers who never leave home without their trusty device. Here's everything you need to know about what makes the iPhone 12 the new must-have travel accessory. Courtesy of Apple The iPhone 12 comes with 5G. The new phone will come with 5G wireless support, which, in theory, will help your phone load games, apps, and the internet faster than ever before. However, NBC pointed out, this is only the case if you live in an area where 5G is currently available. And, as Android Central reported in September, "Verizon UWB 5G has made it to 36 cities so far but continues to be spotty at best." Those cities include Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, and more. It has MagSafe for wireless charging. Courtesy of Apple The phone will come with magnets on the back to enable wireless chargers to snap directly to it, NBC explained. According to Apple, third-party developers will be able to create accessories that can employ the MagSafe magnets too, like cases or chargers. This means we could soon see a whole new suite of accessories to personalize phones even more soon. Speaking of the iPhone's exterior, the phone will come with better drop protection and improved splash resistance, making it more durable than older models. (Again, another win for adventurers everywhere.) Courtesy of Apple Apple is trying to cut down its carbon footprint. Here's a bit of good and bad news. Apple says it will no longer be shipping the phones with headphones or chargers in the box. Annoying, we know, but according to Apple, this is its attempt to cut down its carbon footprint, something all travelers know is important. "Sometimes, it's not what we make, but what we don't make that counts," Lisa Jackson said in the recording. "We know that customers have been accumulating USB power adapters and that producing millions of unneeded adapters consumes resources and adds to our carbon footprint." The iPhone 12 comes with 4K video resolution. Courtesy of Apple According to NBC, the new phone will come with two camera lenses, one for shooting ultra-wide photos and one for wide photos. The phone, The Verge added, also comes with a seven-element lens that reportedly delivers a 27% improvement in low-light performance. For those professional photographers out there, the new iPhone 12 Pro Max will also capture images in Apple ProRAW using third-party apps, according to The Verge, which will enhance everyone's ability to edit images right on their phone. The phone will also capture video in 10 bit HDR at 4K, 60 frames per second. In other words, you can basically throw away your expensive camera because this phone will likely out-perform it for video quality. Courtesy of Apple Travelers can also choose the iPhone 12 mini. Apple unveiled four new phones in total: The iPhone 12 starting at $799, iPhone 12 Pro at $999, iPhone 12 Pro Max at $1,099, and the iPhone Mini at $699. While you may be tempted to go for the highest-end model, as a space-conscious traveler you may also want to consider the iPhone 12 Mini. The phone measures in at just 5.4 inches. According to Apple, it's the smallest, thinnest, and lightest 5G phone in the world. All the phones will soon be available for pre-order and are set to start delivering later this month. Check out Apple's website for more. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit