Apple likely to unveil high-end iPhones in September
san francisco — Apple is not only doubling down on the iPhone X, it’s tripling down.
The world’s most valuable company plans to launch three new phones soon that keep the edge-toedge screen design of last year’s flagship, according to people familiar with the matter. The devices will boast a wider range of prices, features and sizes to increase their appeal, said the people.
However, none of the three iPhones will be wholly new designs like the iPhone X was last year or the iPhone 6 in 2014, with some inside Apple labelling the launch as an “S year,” a designation the company has given to new handsets that retain the previous design but add new internal features. The company is planning more significant changes for next year, they added.
The upcoming phones, planned to be unveiled in September, show the company is adjusting its strategy. Rather than luring millions of new iPhone users, Apple’s goal these days is to steadily raise average prices, while expanding the total number of active devices to support sales of accessories and digital services like streaming music and video.
“The iPhone is entering a period of zero to five per cent annual growth, and the things they’re doing this autumn will keep them on that path,” said Gene Munster, a veteran Apple analyst and managing partner of Loup Ventures. The “real sizzle” for investors remains the iPhone because it’s the hub for almost all Apple’s other offerings like the Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Music, Munster added.
In early 2016, the company reported a new milestone: 1 billion active devices. By early this year, that number had grown to 1.3 billion. The three new iPhones due next month have a good chance to add to this important foundation of the company’s future.
There’ll be a new high-end iPhone, internally dubbed D33, with a display that measures about 6.5inch diagonally. That would make it the largest iPhone by far. It will continue to have a glass back with stainless steel edges and dual cameras on the back. The big difference on the software side will be the ability to view content side-by-side in apps like Mail and Calendar. It will be Apple’s second phone with a crisper Oled screen.
The average price of iPhones sold in Apple’s most-recent quarter was $724, up 19 per cent from a year earlier.
Apple also plans an upgrade to the current iPhone X with a 5.8inch Oled screen, which is internally dubbed D32, the people said. The main changes to the new Oled iPhones will be to processing speed and the camera.
Perhaps the most significant phone will be a new, cheaper device destined to replace the iPhone 8. Codenamed N84, it will look like the iPhone X, but include a larger near 6.1-inch screen, come in multiple colours and sport aluminum edges instead of the iPhone X’s stainless steel casing. It will also have a cheaper LCD screen instead of an Oled panel to keep costs down.