A September iPhone launch is always a dead cert, an annual event as reliable as Christmas. A handful of leakers tipped Apple to launch the iPhone 12 at the firm's Time Flies even on 15th September. Instead, Apple rolled out the new Apple Watch Series 6 and SE, two new iPads, iOS 14 and the new Apple One subscription service.
Given that the iPhone 12 is set to be Apple's biggest launch of the year, it seems that Apple felt the phone deserved its own event.
So, how long before Apple takes the wraps of the iPhone 12? Case maker Totallee has listed what it claims are cases for all four rumoured iPhone 12 models for sale on its website. That would suggest that we could see the iPhone 12 sooner rather than later.
Don't expect it to appear any time in September, though. The disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic is said to have affected Apple's roadmap and the latest rumours suggest that the iPhone 12 has been delayed until October.
Tipster Ming-Chi Kuo released an investor note (via 9to5Mac) the day before Apple's 15th September event confirming that he expected an October announcement.
Previously, Qualcomm’s Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala hinted that a delay in the 5G iPhone 12 launch – from September to October or perhaps even November – is likely.
In an interview with Reuters, Palkhiwala mentioned “a slight delay that pushes some of the units out from the September quarter to the December quarter for us.” (The company's December quarter covers September, October and December).
That ties in with previous comments made by the CEO of Broadcom, a major supplier of components for the iPhone, who recently told analysts of a "major product cycle delay" at a "large North American mobile phone" customer, thought to be Apple. This delay is likely due to the coronavirus pandemic, and is in line with previous reports.
More pertinently, Apple itself confirmed in July 2020 that this year’s iPhones would arrive “a few weeks” later than the iPhone 11 did last year.
Irrespective of when it launches, the iPhone 12 is expected to ship before Christmas, with the delay likely to be weeks rather than months. A previous report still put the handset in the regular autumn launch window.
In 2019, the iPhone 11 became available for pre-order on Friday 13th September, with shipments and in-store availability starting Friday 20th September. For the iPhone 12, Apple will be hoping to get as close to those dates as possible.
iPhone 12: price
As for price, a recent leak suggests that starting prices for the iPhone 12 (6.1in) and iPhone 12 Pro will be $749 and $999 respectively – comparable, then, to those of the iPhone 11 series when it launched. The smaller iPhone 12 (5.4in) will cost $649 and the larger iPhone 12 Pro Max (6.7in) will start at $1099.
More recently, regular iPhone leaker Komiya has revealed what he believes to be the latest US pricing:
iPhone 12 5G (5.4in)
64GB $699
128GB $749
258GB $849
iPhone 12 Max 5G (6.1in)
64GB $799
128GB $849
256GB $949
iPhone 12 Pro (6.1in)
128GB $1049
256GB $1149
512GB $1349
12 Pro Max (6.7in)
128GB $1149
256GB $1249
512GB $1449
As a comparison, the current iPhone 11 prices are as follows:
- £729/$699 for iPhone 11
- £1049/$999 for iPhone 11 Pro
- £1149/$1099 for the iPhone 11 Pro Max
How will it feature brand-new tech and 5G chipsets and be a similar price? Well, according to trusted iPhone analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will not bundle EarPods or a charger with the handsets, instead filing them under optional extras.
