Apple registers 9 new iPhone models with iPad Pro design

NEW details have emerged about the Apple iPhone models expected to go on sale later this year, including what appears to be a confirmed design change.

Apple has reportedly filed registrations for nine different models in the iPhone range as well as a new computer with the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Apple and other tech companies have to file details of their new products for approval by regulators for a variety of reasons, including their use of airwaves to send information, and in some places if they use encryption methods to secure data.

The next range of iPhone models is expected to feature models spread across the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Max, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max names.

Documents for a new Apple computer were also found on the database, believed to relate to an ARMbased Mac laptop the company is rumoured to announce at a developer’s conference.

The Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) is typically held in June and brings thousands of people to California to hear from Apple about its upcoming products.

This year WWDC will be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Products are not the main focus of WWDC but Apple often announces one or two new products there, and this year it’s expected to be the shift to ARM-based processors such as the ones used in iPhones and iPads to be added to Mac computers.

It comes after Taiwan-based tech industry publication DigiTimes reported Apple would finish the engineering and testing stages of the next phones by the end of the month.

Elsewhere, moulds used by manufacturers to make the protective cases many people house their phones in have been leaked, and appear to confirm a rumoured design change. A return to the squared-off edges introduced in the iPhone 4 and last seen in the iPhone 5s looks set to return in the iPhone 12 models.

The squared-off design has been adapted to iPad Pro models in recent years as well.

The next models are expected to feature faster 5G connectivity and OLED screens across the range, rather than just in the Pro models.

A distinct change in design for the iPhones would complement the inclusion of these newer technologies.

Moulds are often based on leaked schematics and other supply-chain sources so that casemakers have a product ready to go when the new phones go on sale.

While iPhones normally go on sale in September, the coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted much of the world in 2020 hasn’t made an exception for the technology industry.

The next iPhones are expected to be delayed but by how long remains to be seen.

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