It seems all but officially confirmed that Apple is planning to release a three-tier iPhone lineup this year, with significant boosts to performance and the capabilities of the rear-facing cameras.
A new Bloomberg report, citing anonymous sources, claims that Apple employees are referring to this upcoming year, when Apple plans to launch three new iPhones, as an “S year,” or a year when iPhone models largely echo previous iPhone designs while featuring incremental camera and performance upgrades.
According to the report, Apple will release 6.5-inch and 5.8-inch OLED models, together with a cheaper 6.1-inch LCD phone. All three phones are going to adopt an iPhone X-style design, with Face ID rather than Touch ID for unlocking, and they’ll all feature upgraded internals, though Bloomberg doesn’t go into any real detail on specs.
Additionally, the 6.1-inch “budget” LCD iPhone will come in a variety of colours, claims the report. Earlier rumours claimed that grey, white, blue, red, and orange variants would be potential options. The model will also have un-coloured aluminum edges instead of the colour-matching stainless steel casing on the iPhone X.
Apple’s new iPhone lineup will also feature the gesture controls that the iPhone X introduced. In the case of the 6.5-inch device, Apple is expected to introduce a “split-screen” feature, allowing users to “view content side-by-side” in a number of apps.
As for what these three iPhones are going to be called, apparently there’s still some discussion within the Cupertino company — the “iPhone Xs” and the “iPhone Xs Plus” are names that apparently have been considered for two of the handsets, according to the anonymous sources.
More significant changes are planned for 2019, the sources claim.
Finally, the Bloomberg story also predicts that a new Apple Watch with a larger edge-to-edge screen is on the way, as well as updated iPad Pros with 12.9-inch and 11-inch displays. Apple’s September event should be well worth tuning in for.
