Apple, S. Korean mobile carriers start preorders for new iPhones

Apple Inc. and three South Korean mobile carriers began taking preorders Friday for the iPhone 12 mini and the 12 Pro Max.

The US tech giant said the smallest and the largest versions of its latest generation smartphone will go on sale in South Korea starting Nov. 20.

The iPhone 12 mini is the smallest of Apple's new smartphones, with a 5.4-inch screen, compared with the standard model's 6.1-inch display. It, however, has the same dual-camera setup on the back as the 12 model.

The 12 Pro Max boasts a larger footprint at 6.7 inches and has three cameras on the rear, similar to the 12 Pro.

The smallest iPhone 12 is also the series' cheapest with a price tag of 950,000 won ($850) for the 64-gigabyte model, compared with the 12 Pro Max that starts at 1.49 million won, according to Apple.

The new iPhones, which all support 5G, are expected to boost local mobile carriers' efforts to attract new subscribers to the high-speed network.

The preorders for the iPhone 12 and the 12 Pro in South Korea reached over 500,000 before they went on sale on Oct. 30, according to local analysts.

Kim Hong-sik, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment, said in a recent report that the country's 5G users will likely surpass the 12 million mark by the end of this year.

South Korea, which has a population of 51 million, had 9.2 million 5G users as of end-September, according to government data. (Yonhap)