New 2018 iPhone, iPhone XS, iPhone X Plus, iPhone 9: Rumors, leaks, launch date, and everything we know so far
With the launch of the next iPhone now days away, the leaks, rumors, and analyst chatter is reaching fever pitch.
Written By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / Courtesy of ZDNet
The next iPhone launch is days away, the leaks and rumors are swirling, and the release of the iOS 12 beta also gives us some clues as to what Apple might have in store for us.
WHAT WILL THE NEW IPHONE LOOK LIKE?
Well, according to leaked images off the Apple website dug up by 9to5Mac, here’s what it will look like:
Yup, that looks like an iPhone to me. The gold is different, but other than that there’s little to go on from this image.
9to5Mac also uncovered a cool image of an as-yet unreleased Apple Watch:
WHAT WILL IT BE CALLED?
iPhone XS seems the most likely pick (for now, at any rate), following in the footsteps of the iPhone X (where X is pronounced “ten,” although given how many people I know call it “X,” there’s clearly a lot of brand confusion out there).
Another name that’s been floating around for the plus-sized iPhone is “iPhone XS Max.” Sounds like a terrible name to me, but I’m pretty sure that no matter what it ends up being called, it will be a sure-fire success.
But I’ve come across a number of other possible names:
- iPhone XI
- iPhone 11
- iPhone X2
- iPhone X Plus
- iPhone 2018
Another possibility is that Apple simplifies the line-up and switches to calling the new iPhone simply iPhone.
Also possible is something like the iPhone Pro, especially if Apple unveils three separate handsets.
WHAT ABOUT THE RELEASE DATE?
Well, we now have a launch date. September 12th.
Well, OK, Apple hasn’t made is clear that this is an iPhone launch. Officially, this is all we know about the event:
But it is an iPhone launch! And we may also see a new Apple Watch unveiled.
GOODBYE TOUCH ID
It seems very likely that 2018 will be the end of the line for Touch ID on never iPhones. It will likely stick around on the iPhone SE, the older crop of iPhones that Apple continues to sell, and the iPad (although I expect it to vanish from the iPad Pro at the next update), but Face ID is the direction Apple will want to go in.
Why?
Well, it’s cutting edge and ahead of what other players in the market have to offer. It also offers side benefits, such as expanding the reach of features such as Animojis (I’m not judging you if you’re into such things, really I’m not). Also, It allows Apple to free up real estate on the front of a device by dispensing with buttons and so on.
So get used to staring at your phone to unlock it, and to swiping and gesturing to make up for not having a button to press, because that’s the future.
HOW MANY IPHONES WILL APPLE RELEASE?
Months ago Bloomberg reported that Apple had three new iPhone handsets in the works:
- A super-sized iPhone with a display “close to 6.5 inches,” codenamed D33
- An updated version of the iPhone X, codenamed D32
- A cheaper version of the iPhone X that will feature an edge-to-edge display and Face ID
Both the D33 and D32 will feature OLED displays and use a new A12 processor.
The report also claimed that Apple was considering adding a gold color option for the D33 and D32, a feature that was allegedly abandoned for the iPhone X because of production issues.
What’s interesting is that over the past months, this hasn’t changed much. Back in July, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple was working on a 5.8-inch OLED iPhone, a 6.5-inch OLED iPhone Plus, and a 6.1-inch affordable LCD iPhone.
Kuo also reported that the “budget” 6.1-inch iPhone with the LCD display would be offered in “grey, white, blue, red and orange.”
Taking the features present in the iPhone X and rolling them up into a cheaper iPhone is certainly a no-brainer. That said, when Apple rolled out the budget iPhone 5c in 2013, the thing clearly tanked, because it never saw an update.
Read the original article over at ZDNet.com.
