Apple is expected to launch its new iPhone – iPhone 12 – in September 2020, but many analysts believe the announcement of the new iPhone might get delayed due to the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak.
The new iPhone series, dubbed as iPhone 12 (two iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max), will be Apple’s first phones supporting the 5G network and will have 120Hz ProMotion OLED screens. There will be a slight difference in the design of all new four iPhones.
Due to COVID-19, the tech giant, Apple, already looks like losing its market in the US and Europe. The coronavirus outbreak has dramatically affected, and the company is thinking about whether to announce the new iPhone on delay or not. Apple stocks (AAPL) closed at $327 on February 12th but closed at $224 on March 23rd.
Would the iPhone 12 delay?
Nikkei, a resource familiar with the matter, says, “The Cupertino, California-based tech giant has held internal discussions on the possibility of delaying the launch by months. Three people familiar with the matter said while supply chain sources say practical hurdles could push back the release, originally scheduled for September.”
However, the analyst at JPMorgan says that if iPhone 12 launch delays, it won’t be delayed more than two months from the expected timeframe.” We believe that a 1-2 month delay in iPhone launch could indeed happen, but we do not think that a one- to 2-quarter delay is very likely. Delay in US 5G network buildout with the current lock-downs is possibly the main risk for a meaningful push-out in 5G launches,” said the analysts.
If the situation does not settle down in the coming weeks or so, the launch could delay until 2021 as for now, because it seems impossible for American employees to hand-test Apple new models, travel internationally, and utilize all workforce for needed results.
Any decline in sales due to the current pandemic situation may affect the revenue of Apple due to the disappointing sale of the company’s first 5G smartphone.
What surprises to expect in iPhone 12?
According to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities, the new iPhone 12 design will be a mix of iPhone 11 and iPhone 5. The front and back will resemble much like iPhone 11, and in the middle, there will be flattened metal edges instead of the regular round ones.
Kuo was first to reveal that there would be four new iPhone 12 series instead of three. He said that this time Apple is expecting to debut two iPhone 12 also with iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. All of the four models will feature 5G connectivity.
iPhone 12 Pro is expected to have a new set of time of flight sensors on its three rear cameras that will aid Augmented Reality (AR) booming performance and offer 120Hz refresh rates.
For a long time, the rumors were clear that the iPhone in 2020 will have 5 nm chipset, 3D sensing cameras, and 5G.
Leaked iPhone 12 Specs
Here are the known leaks and expected specifications of the iPhone 12.
Design & Dimensions
All four models will have different sizes. As per the rumors, there will be two iPhone 12 models of 6.1 inches, and two iPhone Pro models of 5.4 inches and 6.7 inches.
Kuo said that the new 5G iPhone 12 series would have grooving and injection molding of metal with a high-frequency transmission efficiency of the internal antenna. However, Apple is working on its antenna module if Qualcomm’s antenna does not fit into the sleek design of all-new iPhone 12 models. Apple’s fastest 5G iPhones may not launch until late 2020 or early 2021, according to CNBC.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max with 6.7 inches size will have a thickness of 7.4 mm, which shows that the new series might be a bit thinner than the iPhone 11 series.
Display
All four models of the iPhone 12 will have OLED displays, whether it is the top of the line model or starting model. Currently, iPhone 11 Pro has OLED displays, but the iPhone 11 has LED.
In the new iPhone 12 series, iPhone 12 Pro variants will use Samsung’s proprietary Y-OCTA technology that patterned the touchscreen circuitry directly on the OLED panel. The technology will result in thinner displays and will also cost low for production. The other 6.1-inch iPhone 12 variants will use non-Y-OCTA displays from LG.
Apple is also expecting to use the ProMotion technology, a switchable 60Hz/120Hz refresh rate, in its new iPhone 12 series. Apple’s new ProMotion technology will automatically adjust the refreshing rate of the display to match the speed of the content to render. The technology will not only help to make the scrolling fluid and drawing virtually lag-free, as well as to adapt a refresh rate to balance battery usage and smoothness.
Face ID, Touch ID, Battery
iPhone 12 will have a “refreshed” Face ID, according to analysts from Barclays. It is expected that Apple will be upgrading its underlying infrared-based TrueDepth camera system, which maps a 3D image of a face to unlock or make payments with the iPhone, with improved security and performance.
Kuo believes that Apple will use both Face ID and an in-display fingerprint sensor. It is expected that Apple will deploy an under-display fingerprint sensor in its new 2020 series. Let’s see what we will get to see in the final released product.
Some rumors believe that at least one of the four new iPhone models will have an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor by Qualcomm. Other stories say there could have acoustic fingerprint technology.
However, Apple does not seem to have much improvement in its battery capacity, but the custom made Apple batteries will be 50% smaller and thinner than the iPhone 11 series’ battery.
Performance
Apple is also expecting to use 5-nanometer A14 Bionic chips that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company – TSMC will manufacture for the 2020 iPhone series. Previously, A13 and A12 chips were based on 7-nanometer fabrication. Such super tiny chips could be one factor of increment in the price for the iPhone 12.
The A14 Bionic Chipset is expected to beat Snapdragon 865. It comes with Hexa cores – a clock speed of up to 3.1 GHz that manage to score 1658 points in the single-core performance and 4612 points for multi-core on GeekBench.
Other than that, Analyst, Blayne Curtis, said that he believes the iPhone 12 will have 4GB RAM, and iPhone 12 Pro will feature 6GB RAM. Whatsoever, RAM has never been a topic of discussion for iPhones.
Camera
The pro-end phones will get a triple-lens camera setup, whereas the two low-end phones will get a dual-lens camera setup. There is an improvement in the triple-lens camera setup for iPhone 12 lineup expected. It is very much anticipated that Apple will add a 3D sensing (like TrueDepth) in the back of the high-end iPhone 12.
The new 3D depth camera will use VCSEL – Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers – technology produced by San Jose-based Lumentum. It will emit lasers, radiations, and use algorithms to calculate the distance between objects from the camera. With that, it will be possible to draft 3D information, create 3D models of objects, experience the next level of photo and video effects.
The company is already using a similar TrueDepth front camera since iPhone X. It is used for facial recognization, Animoji, and Portrait mode bokeh effect. A set of time of flight sensors on the three rear cameras – with long-range – will aid Augmented Reality (AR) booming performance. We expect a massive update in ARKit for developers with iOS 14. Apple was working on 3D camera technology for two years, or by some, since they introduced dual-camera first time in iPhone 7 Plus. This is expected to be something better or similar to the LiDAR Scanner, which Apple announced in the latest 4th iPad Pro a few days back.
iPhone 12 Pro rumors to have sensor-shift image stabilization technology instead of optical image stabilization for the rear camera sensor. According to Digital Trends, it is unclear how it will benefit in photography; maybe this step is taken by Apple to save physical space. With a set of three cameras, sensor-shift image stabilization adjust the whole sensor module of hardware to optimize stabilization while taking a photo or making the video. On the other hand, optical stabilization works within the lens i.e., ultrawide or telephoto. This is a more independent approach and could help Apple incase in the future number of lenses increases.
READ: Samsung Galaxy S20 Series: Display, Camera, Video, Storage, 5G, etc
Notch
According to rumors, at least one of the new iPhone models would have a smaller front camera lens resulting in a smaller notch at the front. One of the four models will have no notch, and some believe that the new iPhone 12 will feature a refreshed TrueDepth camera system with RBG light and the IR proximity sensor.
Price
Ming-Chi Kou said that “Apple will not significantly increase the price of 5G iPhones compared to this year’s lineup.” He said that prices might increase slightly with a jump of $30 to $100 than the prices of the iPhone 11 series, depending on the specific versions.
At least one of the 6.1 inches of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 with 5.4 and 6.7 inches will have multiple microphone holes at the bottom of the body. Another exciting rumor is in the air that the iPhone 12 will get the navy blue color for its upcoming models instead of forest green as of in the iPhone 11 series.
With the delay in its new smartphone series, Apple stocks dropped during the trading on Wednesday. The trading closed at $245.52 and hit a high of $257.89 during in-trading.
Featured image: Getty
