Here's what to expect from Apple's iPhone 12 event

Yahoo Finance's Tech Editor Dan Howley joins The First Trade with Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi to discuss what we can expect from Tuesday's Apple iPhone launch event.

Video Transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: We are just about three hours away from Apple's big event, and all of us will know details about the latest iPhone. But will 5G be worth the upgrade? Our tech editor Dan Howley is here with more, and, Dan, busy day for you. What are you looking out for from Tim Cook later?

DAN HOWLEY: So we're really expecting the four new iPhones to be the star of the show. These are going to have different sized screens and come in at different price points. There's been reports that the lowest price will be $649 for what's going to be called the iPhone 12 Mini. That will have a 5.4-inch display. And then the largest will be the iPhone 12 Max. That will have a 6.7-inch display. That's going to be something that you're really going to have to end up spending around $1,099-- something along that price that we've seen in previous years.

And all the phones are expected to get two versions of 5G. That's the two versions that are really out there right now. They're kind of the mid range and low range, and in the higher range, the millimeter wave, that kind of goes very short distances, but it gives you the 5G that people have been, you know, built up to believe is everywhere. That's going to be available as well as the mid and low range, or band rather is what they call it. That's really what you kind of get more on T-Mobile and AT&T. Verizon is that super-short band. They're obviously our parent company, but it doesn't go as far as what T-Mobile and AT&T had.

So I think when 5G really hits though-- and, you know, this is going to be I think the really kind of explosion of 5G for most people-- it's not going to be as amazing right out of the gate as most people feel because many of the apps that are available right now run fine on 4G. So it's not as though we're going to get this, oh my goodness. I got 5G now. Look at how amazing everything is. Yes, you'll be able to load websites faster to a degree. Yes, you'll be able to download things faster. Yes, you'll be able to stream things a little bit better.

But it's not going to be this transformational technology quite yet, simply because there aren't the apps that people are really going to see take advantage of 5G quite yet. Remember, it took a while for us to get, you know, the Ubers and Seamlesses of the world to really take advantage of 4G.

BRIAN SOZZI: Well, Dan, that must mean then there's no supercycle.

DAN HOWLEY: I wouldn't consider that. I think really what the supercycle has to do with is more along the lines of the fact that 5G is something that people are going to want because it's the next generation of cellular. So they're going to want to get it anyway, and why not get it on an iPhone since most people have iPhones in the US?

But also because there's such a demand for new phones from iPhone users because they've held on to their devices for so long, right? There's such a pent-up amount of users who are thinking maybe I'll just hold off again until 5G comes, or maybe there's a new iPhone coming that I want. And this is likely going to be it. So if there is a supercycle, this is the perfect opportunity. If that thesis doesn't hold, then it should still be a good year for Apple as far as the sales of these devices go.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right, Dan Howley, thanks for that. We're all going to be watching at 1:00 PM Eastern for that announcement.