Apple’s iPhone event is expected to take place next month, and well connected industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is weighing in with new predictions about the new handsets.
Kuo maintains that three iPhones will be announced at the event, likely during the week of September 9, but has amended his previous predictions, by saying the 6.1-inch non-OLED model will actually be shipped in October.
Citing its production schedule, Kuo predictions that the 6.1-inch iPhone, expected to be the entry-priced model in the flagship lineup, will indeed ship “slightly later” than the two OLED models that Kuo says will be available in September. The timing suggests a release in October, although Kuo doesn’t specify. Apple announced the iPhone 8 and iPhone X last September, but the premium model wasn’t actually released until early November.
Kuo goes on to predict that the 6.1-inch and 6.5-inch iPhones will ship in single- and dual-SIM configurations depending on market and region. Kuo adds that the new 5.8-inch iPhone will have a single SIM tray and embedded SIM support, but the eSIM “may not be activated.”
Kuo sticks by his predictions that all three of the new handsets will be powered by a new A12 chip. Apple shipped all three iPhones released in 2017 with the same A11 processor, so that makes sense.
Kuo says that the new iPhones will not gain Apple Pencil compatibility this year, despite the widely-accepted expectations of larger displays for the new devices. Kuo says the user experience wouldn’t be up to snuff, so it won’t make any iPhone’s feature list this year.