3 features we miss about older iPhones

The iPhone 12 has just been announced which means another year for mobile phone aficionados to rally behind Apple's latest technological breakthroughs. Certain leaps like camera quality and processing speed are always appreciated, but there are a few basic features that have been put on the wayside over the years. We understand that Apple's minimalist goals promote a more user-friendly experience, but we'd like to walk down memory lane and reminisce over some of the older features we miss from previous iPhones.

Having a Charger and Earphones with an iPhone

Let's address the elephant in the room from iPhone 12's reveal. It's safe to assume that no one was expecting Apple to throw a curveball like this in their latest announcement. Regardless of brand, a charger and earphones are uncompromising staples every consumer would expect when picking up a brand-new phone, but the iPhone 12 has changed this status quo - and we worry a day might come when other phone companies decide to follow suit.

We understand their attempt to reduce the carbon footprint on a massive scale; it is admirable, but at what cost? Apple acknowledged that with over 2 billion existing chargers out in the wild (excluding external brands) and over 700 million earphones, there was too much wasteful manufacturing from a logistics standpoint. It's hard to argue with these eye-opening figures but an alternative over a deletion would be nice.

Headphone Jack

Going wireless can be seen more as a preference than technological advancement. Sometimes, the wired alternative gives us a chance to use certain headphones that offer the perfect sound we're looking for; and other times, it's just easier on the wallet. Regardless, having a headphone jack gave us an extra option that we now do not have. The new adapters are an acceptable replacement, but the cable quality can vary between working wonders for almost a year to fizzling out in just a couple of months.

The plus side is that replacing the jack with an additional speaker did make sound distribution a lot better, but some may argue that it wasn't worth the sacrifice. On top of that, we've had to say our goodbyes to the good old days of charging our phones while listening to music without an adaptor. Granted, it has been a few years since iPhone users have had to go jack-less, but that doesn't mean that this feature will be sorely missed.

The Button

Having the magic home button on the iPhone removed has in no way made the iPhone series less desirable, but we'd be lying if we said that not a single person in the community wanted it back. The introduction of facial recognition on the debut of the iPhone X was a game-changer and definitely boasted Apple's proficiency in innovative technology (let's pretend Samsung doesn't exist for a moment).

Your phone being able to only recognise your face is certainly by leaps and bounds more secure than a fingerprint scanner on a button; but we could make a case for preferential differences for unlocking speed and convenience. Apple did implement a setting that allowed the user to freely place a digital home button anywhere on the screen, but it isn't quite the same. Given the current global situation, masks are probably the bane of everyone who uses facial recognition at the moment.