iPhone 12 I have questions that might seem dumb

[anitak1982]

I got a new iPhone 12 yesterday and I didn't research it before I got it. What is the reason for the USB-C cord it came with? The end is the same as the regular access port. It charged just fine with the cord I have for my iPhone 10. I gave away my wireless charger as it didn't seem to charge any quicker than plugging it in.

I got 128 gigs but only pay the .99 a month for 50 gigs of iCloud storage. Can one stop this for now? What happens if I do? Being retired the plans go from .99 to 2.99 instead of a middle plan. Signing up for AppleCare is another monthly expense plus the cost of this phone. I want to go down as much as I can. I know.99 isn't that much but is it necessary?

 

[MarkX]

The cable that the 12 came with has a usb c port that connects to the Apple fast charger - which you have to buy separately.

How much of your icloud storage are you currently using?

 

[anitak1982]

I had 64 gigs with 31 leftover and pay for 50 gigs that I have used 45 of. This new one will now be 128 gigs.

 

[ThrowerGB]

I'm a bit confused because I think you're referring to the memory on your iPhone vs iCloud storage,
With respect to memory on your iPhone: 128 GB is fine as long as you don't keep thousands of photos and/or thousands music and videos.
With respect to iCloud storage: iCloud storage is Apple's version of storage on servers somewhere on the internet. You don't need to pay for any more than the free amount unless you store a bunch of stuff there. Remember that to upload and download to storage on the internet can be slow depending on your connection. And it can use up the amount of data your allowed if your only access is via cellular. Things that take up iCloud storage include:

• Backing up to iCloud. I don't do that. I back up to my Mac and it is backed up to Time Machine and a third party cloud. Bckin g up to iCloud didn't used to back up non-Apple files. Not sure if that's still true.
• Optimizing Photos storage on the iPhone. This keeps track of how much memory you're using on your iPhone. If you're near the limit (of your 128GB), it offloads some photos to iCloud. It will automatically return a photo to your phone if you want to use or look at it.
• You can have backups of files created by Apple apps stored in iCloud so you can access them on other devices. For example, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote can do this. So can some non-Apple apps.
• If you use iOS Mail and Messages, they use iCloud storage.

 

[velocityg4]

You can backup your phone to your computer. Also sync photos and videos. By plugging in your iPhone. If you want to skip the iCloud storage route. But you miss out on all the convenience of cloud syncing and backup.

 

[now i see it]

The USB C to lightning cable that came with the phone allows you to charge faster when using a USB C charger. You can still use the regular old USB A cables with regular USB chargers on your phone too. It just won't charge quite as fast.

 

[maerz001]

With the cable U can now connect/charge it on all Macbooks released after 2016

 

[MisterMillz]

I wouldn’t stop using iCloud. Downgrading from the 0.99 plan to free will give you 5GB to use. You use 45GB if I understood your posts correctly. So, you actually will probably end up needing a bump unless you trim some fat.

You will lose access to things like contact syncing, messages in the cloud, iCloud photos and keychain—there are many others, but those are big ones for me. As far as the cable, it’s for fast chargers as others have mentioned. As well as the fact all newer MacBooks have USB-C ports.