Apple is expected to unveil 5G-capable iPhone 12 models at a launch event at 4am Wednesday AEDT

Apple is expected to announce its first 5G iPhones at a launch event at 4am Wednesday AEDT.

Apple CEO Tim Cook poses during the 2019 iPhone launch at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino. Picture: AFP

Apple is expected to launch its next iPhone model at 4am AEDT Wednesday and the money is on four 5G handsets. Apple hasn’t offered any official details but the rumour mill is banking on a 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini, a 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, and a big 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The most important upgrade will be 5G. Apple is late to the party with 5G and these models will offer the common sub 6GHz 5G that’s available in Australia.

The two Pro models are expected to additionally support mmWave which is faster 5G that copes with large volumes of cellular traffic, but has a shorter range. It is ideally suited to stadiums and densely populated areas such as train stations in the CBD but is yet to be available in Australia.

Commercial mmWave is due to be auctioned in March next year and it could be months after that before it is available to Australian consumers.

Mmwave is a regular rather than premium feature on some of Apple’s competitors. For example Google’s new Pixel 5 supports it as standard.

There are indications that a new A14 chip used in the iPhone 12 models will offer a big speed bump. Earlier this year alleged screenshots from the Geekbench benchmark delivered single core and multi core scores of 1658 and 4612, and a compute benchmark score of 8259.

The comparative iPhone 11 Pro Max scores were 1327, 3303 and 7199.

Apple has sent out invitations to its latest iPhone launch, to be streamed on October 14 AEDT.

There are other factors apart from 5G and performance. For example, will the iPhone 12 ditch the now outdated Lightning connector for the almost ubiquitous USB Type-C connector? If so, consumers will be closer to the dream of one cable fitting all devices with a USB-C to USB-C connection.

There are reports that Apple instead will provide a Lightning to USB-cable with a fabric design, and will ditch including a charger in the box.

The latest rumour is that Apple will introduce two wireless chargers called a MagSafe charger and MagSafe duo charger. The first will charge one device and the second purportedly two. The phones will clip to the chargers magnetically.

A lack of a USB-C connection would likely impact the ability of new iPhones to transfer data as quickly as new handsets offered by rivals. We will see.

There are other suggestions, such as iPhone 12 handsets will have square metal sides as did earlier iPhone 4 and 5 models, and that all iPhone models will have higher quality OLED displays.

Higher end models could have LIDAR sensors found on newer iPad Pro models. LIDAR is one of the capabilities that autonomous cars use to sense the environment around them; in Apple’s case it would offer a better augmented reality experience.

Apple is likely to unveil or preview other devices at this October launch. Apple Studio Headphones is high on the list, particularly as Apple reportedly has stopped selling headphones and speakers by some other companies.

The 2019 iPhone 11 launch at Cupertino, California. Picture: AFP.

A smaller version of the HomePod Speaker is also tipped, and is much needed, given the availability of decent quality rival speakers by Bose, Google and Amazon.

Apple could announce other new gadgets. There’s some in the pipeline such as AirTags which are Apple’s version of Tile trackers, designed to make it easier to find gadgets you have mislaid or lost.

A new Apple TV model could be in the works with a remote control that can be located with the Find My app. It will never disappear to the bottom of the couch or under a cushion.

Apple could possibly unveil its first Mac devices with its home built Apple Silicon processors. This is a massive step for Apple. On one hand, Macs in future will natively support iPhone and iPad apps, which will drastically increase their capabilities.

On the other hand, some older programs will not be compatible until developers perform upgrades.

The money actually is on Apple holding back on this and making these new Macs the subject of their own unveiling event may be in November.

The announcement early in the morning of new iPhone 12s will be a big step in its own right, with Apple finally catching up with rival phone makers who had 5G handsets in market in early 2019.