Gather round, people. Because Apple is set to unveil a bunch of new iPhones and the new Apple Watch and refreshed iPad Pro on 12 September. As widely leaked, the world’s most valuable company will launch three iPhone models at its “Gather Round” event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.
9to5Mac earlier revealed official product shots of two new iPhones, which are believed to be the new 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch iPhones carrying the moniker iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Plus. Apparently the iPhone Xs will also come in a new gold colourway, previously not offered on the iPhone X.
2018 iPhone Xs
The iPhone Xs will pack the next generation 7nm hexa-core Apple A12 SoC, improved cameras and a brand new USB Type-C charger. The new Apple CPU slight improvements in CPU performance but a huge 30 percent leap in graphics performance over the current A11 Bionic. The smaller silicon should see upped power efficiency and thermal gains compared to its predecessor. The new iPhone Xs series will feature 4GB of RAM, according to submitted GeekBench benchmarks.
The new iPhone Xs will come with Samsung-sourced OLED displays like on the iPhone X. The iPhone Xs Plus will have roughly the same footprint as the current iPhone 8 Plus, but packing a much larger display. The iPhone Xs on the other hand, will feature similar dimensions to the current iPhone X.
Entry-level 2018 iPhone
Apple is adding a third entry-level iPhone to its 2018 line-up that will sport a 6.1-inch LCD. According to Apple Insider, research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that the iPhone Xs will be available to buy next month, while the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone will be delayed. This was reaffirmed by Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, who said there were reported LED backlight issues that caused a one-month delay in mass production. The “budget” iPhone is rumoured to be offered in grey, white, blue, red and orange colour options.
It is said that FaceID will be standard feature across the 2018 iPhone lineup and may support face unlocking from a landscape position. The authentication technology may make its way to the new batch of iPads coming later.
Contrary to earlier reports, Kuo also said that the new iPhones will not support the Apple Pencil as earlier speculated.
However, Apple is likely to ditch 3D Touch completely on all its 2018 iPhones, according to Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis via MacRumors.
Bloomberg reports that Apple may introduce dual-SIM variants in some regions.
2018 iPhone pricing
Kuo expects the entry-level iPhone to retail at USD600-USD700 with the iPhone Xs continuing to hit the USD1,000 barrier. The current iPhone launched at USD999 (MYR5,149) for the 64GB storage model and USD1,149 (MYR5,899) for the 256GB model.
Apple Watch Series 4
Apple is expected to also introduce a new Apple Watch, sporting a larger, edge-to-edge display. Based on the leaked image by 9to5Mac, the Apple Watch Series 4 has a similar design to the Series 3, only now it’s bigger and has a completely new watch face. The crown and side button look to be redesigned and the watch face packs plenty more information.
And then some
Apart from the 2018 iPhone line-up, Apple is expected to also roll out new AirPod earbuds, the elusive AirPower wireless charger and upgraded iPad Pro with Face ID. The much-delayed AirPower wireless charging mat introduced last year has yet to see the light on retail shelves. The wireless accessory has reportedly run into issues with its charging capabilities as reported by Technobuffalo.
2018 iPhone availability
With the 2018 iPhone unveiling on 12 September, you can expect pre-orders to happen starting 14 September, followed by first sales kicking off from 21 September 2018.
Stay tuned for updates!
