Apple’s current array of flagship handsets, the iPhone 11 (opens in new tab) and iPhone 11 Pro (opens in new tab), are among some of the best smartphones (opens in new tab) in the world right now. But, they’re starting to show their age a little, and the more recently released Samsung Galaxy S20 line has left the Apple models behind with its 5G tech and exceptional camera. Apple is sure to come out swinging with its response though, and soon if the rumors are to be believed. Here’s our round-up of everything we know (and a few things we think we know) about the fast-approaching iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro.
Apple iPhone 12: what can we expect?
No charger or earpods in the box - Updated: June 30, 2020 The latest rumors (opens in new tab) come to us once again from industry analyst and Apple expert Ming-Chi Kuo, who suggests that the iPhone 12 won’t have a power charger bundled into the box. This means that anyone who picks up an iPhone 12 will need to pick up a charger separately. Apple will also be discontinuing both the 5W and 18W chargers that it currently sells, as they’re being replaced by a new 20W charger which will be launching later this year. As to why Apple is doing this, it is likely looking to keep costs down as it transitions the iPhone 12 to 5G hardware, which will be driving up production costs. Dropping the charger, along with the EarPods which were rumored to be vanishing (opens in new tab) from the box last month, and Apple should be able to keep the iPhone 12’s price in line with previous models. Design Rumors abound when it comes to the Apple iPhone 12, and many of them conflict with each other. One rumor, first reported by Macrumors (opens in new tab), comes from a research note by industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who suggests that the iPhone 12’s design will get quite an overhaul: “We predict that the new 2020 iPhone design will change significantly […] The metal frame and the front and rear 2/2.5D glass are still used, but the metal frame surface will be changed to a similar design to the iPhone 4, replacing the current surface design.” Another rumor from China Times (opens in new tab), which has seen a research note for Credit Suisse bank states that Apple is looking to eliminate the notch in the screen on upcoming models, moving towards underscreen cameras like the one Oppo showed off (opens in new tab) last year. This makes sense and we expect the majority of new smartphones to move away from notches in favor of pinhole cameras or underscreen solutions. According to a design document posted by conceptsiphone on Instagram (opens in new tab), the new iPhone 12 will feature a quad camera layout. There’s no confirmation within the document as to what any of the four lenses are, but we can take an educated guess that there will be a standard wide lens, an ultrawide, a telephoto lens. The fourth lens is a bit of a mystery, but the lens looks like it could potentially be a LiDAR (Light detection and ranging) lens. This would primarily serve to improve the depth-sensing capabilities of the camera suite. On the display side of things, numerous sources (opens in new tab) are now saying that all iPhones going forwards will feature OLED screens (opens in new tab), with Apple finally ditching the old LCD screen technology that still features in its budget models. Assuming conspiracy theorists haven’t burnt down all the masts, we can also safely assume that there will be 5G-ready versions of all models in the iPhone 12 series too. This rumor comes to us from respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (opens in new tab) once again. Given that everything will be moving to 5G in the next few years, and we have an industry expert stating it will happen, we think 5G iPhones are a foregone conclusion. While it almost goes without saying, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro will be more powerful than the current iPhone 11 series of smartphones. A benchmark test reported on by TechRadar (opens in new tab) shows that the A14 Bionic chipset that will power the iPhone 12 may be up to twice as powerful as the Snapdragon 865 which powers the Samsung Galaxy S20. Update: A new leak from tech analyst Jon Prosser, who posted an image on Twitter (opens in new tab), has corroborated many of the rumors that we talked about below. As we can see from the picture, there will be four different iPhone 12 models: a 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch iPhone 12, a 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max. All handsets will be 5G enabled and will be powered by the A14 chipset. It also seems like only the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro max will get the quad-camera set-up with that LIDAR lens we talked about earlier too. The leaked image also mentions a smaller notch, but doesn’t say they have been removed completely, which implies that we won’t see the previously rumored underscreen camera in the iPhone 12, though it may be coming for future iPhones.
Apple iPhone 12: release date rumors
There’s no official word on an iPhone 12 release date yet as Apple hasn’t even announced that the phone exists, but Apple has historically launched it’s new phones in September and we can’t see it deviating from this pattern. Almost every iPhone has been launched in September since the iPhone 5, so why change up the formula? There have been worries that the current coronavirus pandemic could hurt production and manufacturing timelines, but we’ve heard nothing concrete about a delay yet.
Apple iPhone 12: price rumors
Again, we have no official word on this but we can safely assume that it will be in line with previous models. Currently, the iPhone 11 starts at $699 while prices for the iPhone 11 Pro start at $999. We’d expect to see the Apple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro stay in this ballpark, though TechRadar has reported (opens in new tab) that the iPhone 12 series might have a newer design with some more expensive components, which might drive costs up somewhat. Given the current economic downturn that has come from the global pandemic and subsequent hits to industry and employment, launching the latest iPhone at a significantly higher price than previous models seems like a poor choice for Apple. At the very least, we’d expect to see prices on the existing models, such as the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro, drop dramatically once the Apple iPhone 12 series launches.
