Try these steps to put your new iPhone through its paces

The top- five best- selling smart- phones in the United States last year were all iPhones, according to Counterpoint Research.

Yep, all of them: iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 8, iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone XS Max.

No surprise, then, there is plenty of hype for the just- released iPhone 12 ( from $ 799) and iPhone 12 Pro ( from $ 999). Next month will see the smaller iPhone 12 Mini ( from $ 699) and iPhone 12 Pro Max ( from $ 1,099).

If you’re on the fence about the new devices, be sure to read Jefferson Graham’s take on the hardware.

You already snagged and unboxed one of these 5G- ready smartphones? Well, then, the following are a few ideas on where to start, as you put it through the paces – based on my five first days with iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro.

Keep in mind, some of these tips will work with other iPhones, too, as a few are tied to the latest iOS 14 operating system update.

1. Hop online

The first thing you’ll notice is overall fast speeds. Like, incredibly fast allaround performance.

For example, launch a web app such as Gmail or OneDrive, says David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Ruby on Rails, as iPhone 12 has scored a recordbreaking 200 on Speedometer 2.0, a browser benchmark that measures the responsiveness of web applications.

Previously, the record was a score of 152 in 2018, held by iPad Pro.

These speeds are largely attributed to Apple’s zippy new A14 Bionic chip.

Speaking of speeds, ensure you’re on a carrier’s 5G network, which offers much faster upload and download speeds, lower latency ( quicker response times), and other benefits.

The true benefits of 5G will come over time as the technology matures, but TMobile, which has the largest nationwide 5G network in the country, tells USA TODAY you don’t need to do anything to see a performance boost across any of the three bands today.

The only caveat is with older iPhones, where it’s recommended you pick up a newer SIM card, to unlock the true speed of 5G for your device.

Even T- Mobile’s low- band spectrum, which covers about 260 million people, should yield 2x faster speeds than 4G/ LTE, says the company.

2. Give the LiDAR Scanner a whirl

If you managed to pick up an iPhone 12 Pro – despite it being more difficult to find compared to the regular iPhone 12 – it includes a LiDAR Scanner, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, which measures how long it takes light to reflect back from objects, helping it to sense depth.

LiDAR can deliver faster and more realistic augmented reality ( AR) experiences, and perhaps more importantly for the average user, it’s also used to dramatically improve autofocus in lowlight scenes for better accuracy – and reduced capture time in photos ( focusing up to six times faster than infrared light).

iPhone 12 Pro also adds a 52mm telephoto lens to the wide and ultrawide camera. Apple has also upped its game with better computational photography to perform fast pixel- by- pixel processing of photos.

Plus, you can record 10- bit HDR ( high- dynamic range) video with Dolby Vision up to 4K at 60 frames per second, and with super smooth optical image stabilization.

I spent considerable time snapping photos in dim environments, and I can attest to the claim it’s not just much faster but brighter, and preserves more of the data in the image ( not washing out bright spots or pixelating dark areas).

3. Change your default browser, mail app, and more

Regardless of the iPhone you’re on, the iOS 14 operating system upgrade offers several new features, including one you might not know about: Changing the default apps for things like mail, your web browser, and more.

That’s right – just like Android, you can now change to, say, Chrome instead of Safari, or Outlook instead of Apple’s own Mail app.

Make sure that you have iOS 14 and the third- party app installed, and then go to Settings, and scroll down until you find the third- party app.

Tap the app, then tap Default Browser App.

If it’s a browser, select one, like Chrome or Firefox, and tap to set it as the default. A checkmark should appear next to the browser to confirm you did it correctly.

Pro tip: Also with iOS 14, Apple added a “back tap” accessibility feature that lets you quickly perform an action, such as launch the camera, take a screen grab or see all open apps.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. Now choose “Double Tap” or “Triple Tap” and you’ll see a host of potential actions.

4. Wirelessly charge and back- up simultaneously

The MagSafe charger ($ 39) is cool, yes, which magnetically affixes to your iPhone 12, but why just charge up your device when you can back up your photos and videos at the same time?

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro works with the SanDisk iXpand Wireless Charger Sync ( from $ 99), which is a Qi- enabled pad that supports fast 10W wireless charging, while automatically backing up photos and videos in full resolution.

The world’s first wireless charger with automatic local back up ( 64GB, 128GB or 256GB) uses Wi- Fi to transfer files to its internal storage.

Every time you place the phone on the charger, it will recharge your phone and look for new content to backup.

WESTERN DIGITAL CORPORATION One of the first things you will notice about the Phone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro is faster overall speed and faster charging. Hop online to test it out.