Apple launches iPhone 12 Studio to promote cases and wallet

AppleInsider

Apple has launched the iPhone 12 Studio, an experience that lets potential iPhone 12 owners virtually try on different color combinations of accessories for their smartphone.

Launched on Saturday, the iPhone 12 Studio is the iPhone equivalent to the Apple Watch Studio, the Apple website's page that allows users to pick and choose different colors of Apple Watch and bands to find their perfect combination. This time around, it is all about personalizing the iPhone 12.

Visitors to the iPhone 12 Studio will be able to select from the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max models, in each of their available colors. Users can then select a case for the device, as well as a MagSafe Wallet, which are then virtually put in place on the onscreen device.

Once selected, users are then asked to enter their name, then to select from one of two different views of their iPhone, and lastly to download. This results in an image of the iPhone and accessory combination, along with the hashtag #iPhone12studio.

The move is likely to have the same intentions as the creation of the Apple Watch Studio, in assisting customers with getting accessories they like the look of, and potentially encouraging the purchase of extra items like the wallet. The creation of an image with the user's name and the use of the hashtag is also framed to enable sharing of the user's design via the tool on social media.

Unlike the Apple Watch Studio, users of desktop browsers are encouraged to visit the site from their smartphone or tablet, via a QR code.

The range of cases and wallets for the iPhone 12 range were inspired by the depth of gemstone colors, Apple's designers revealed on Monday, with prototyping of the new accessories likely to have started within the company over two years ago.

williamlondon

What a fun way to play with the accessories. Blue-plum-blue seem a nice trio to me (though I am not an artist).

Japhey

It would have been cool to have this before the preorders began. And for some reason the leather cases are absent. I’m curious about the wallets, but will probably wait to see if silicon versions are ever released. 

Has anyone in AI-land tried out the wallets yet? I’m interested in real world (non journalist/blogger) feedback about things such as quality, durability, and magnet strength. 

anantksundaram

Silly little app. Complete waste of time and poorly functional on Safari on the iPad. 

Surprising that they would roll out something like this and not have it be a part the Apple Store app. 

JazzMonkey

This whole dependency on the magnets in iPhone is a worrisome direction.

magnets get weak over time.   

I personally don’t think it’s a good idea. 

Rayz2016

JazzMonkey said:

This whole dependency on the magnets in iPhone is a worrisome direction.

magnets get weak over time.   

I personally don’t think it’s a good idea. 

What period of time are we talking about here? Five years? Ten?

I ask because Mrs Rayz2016 would like to know when they’re weak enough so she can operate the window blinds on our ten-year-old bifold doors without using two hands. 

williamlondon

anantksundaram said:

Silly little app. Complete waste of time and poorly functional on Safari on the iPad. 

Surprising that they would roll out something like this and not have it be a part the Apple Store app. 

How MacRumors-esque.

crowley

These wallet snap ons are going to vanish pretty soon.  No way are they going to be worth Apple's time.

GeorgeBMac

crowley said:

These wallet snap ons are going to vanish pretty soon.  No way are they going to be worth Apple's time.

I would predict the opposite (assuming that they don't fall off).   Apple has been very slowly headed towards replacing wallets with phones.   This is one more step in that direction.    For myself, I no longer carry a wallet.   Instead I use a wallet case that holds a credit card and driver's license -- plus a few dollars of cash that never get used.

williamlondon

crowley said:

These wallet snap ons are going to vanish pretty soon.  No way are they going to be worth Apple's time.

The only way this is true is that Apple wants to demonstrate what is possible with MagSafe and in the future leave products like these to 3rd party manufacturers.

As we move away from needing to carry a fat billfold filled with credit/debit cards, IDs, loyalty cards, etc. , these wallet snap-ons will become more and more relevant and useful. No one needs a wallet full of crap any longer, products like these simply address that reality.

Wishful (negative) thinking on your part, as usual.

svanstrom

JazzMonkey said:

This whole dependency on the magnets in iPhone is a worrisome direction.

magnets get weak over time.   

I personally don’t think it’s a good idea. 

I personally don't think that you're familiar with what can be done with magnets; they can easily last long enough to survive well beyond the expected lifetime of an iPhone.

But… let's be clear about one thing: I only say that they can last, I'm in no way guaranteeing that there won't be a "MagnetGate" in 2021; nor that there won't be a gazillion lawsuits about how these magnets has somehow caused everything from lost wallets to impotence, Corona, and the arrival of the anti-christ.

GeorgeBMac

williamlondon said:

crowley said:

These wallet snap ons are going to vanish pretty soon.  No way are they going to be worth Apple's time.

The only way this is true is that Apple wants to demonstrate what is possible with MagSafe and in the future leave products like these to 3rd party manufacturers.

As we move away from needing to carry a fat billfold filled with credit/debit cards, IDs, loyalty cards, etc. , these wallet snap-ons will become more and more relevant and useful. No one needs a wallet full of crap any longer, products like these simply address that reality.

Wishful (negative) thinking on your part, as usual.

True!  But, unfortunately, we just aren't there yet.   Perhaps part of the problem, that played out last week, is what constitutes a valid ID?   My driver's license is recognized by my state but not by my federal government for insistence.

Plus, I would suppose that Apple backed off of their digital wallet concept because too many federal, state and local governments would not accept them.

I agree that the digital wallet idea is inevitable (or should be!).   But, it just isn't here yet.  
Right now I carry my iPhone 7 in a nice wallet case that holds a credit card (for those idiots who won't take Apple Pay), my driver's license and a bit of cash (for those idiots who won't take credit cards).