- Apple’s iPhone 9 was expected to be unveiled in late March ahead of a release in stores in early April.
- A new report says Apple’s release plans for the iPhone 9 have changed because of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, and the device will not be announced or released anytime soon.
- The iPhone 9’s release date has supposedly been pushed back to summer or fall, and the iPhone 12 release might be delayed by up to 2 months as well.
- Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.
Apple is widely expected to unveil a slew of new products this month, including the affordable iPhone 9 (or iPhone SE 2, as it’s sometimes called) device that kept popping up in all sorts of rumors in the past few weeks, as well as a new iPad Pro generation. However, the new novel coronavirus threat has prompted Apple to revise is plans, and a leaker now says that not only is the March press event canceled, but Apple is also considering postponing the iPhone 9 announcement and release date. That all has to do with the COVID-19 outbreak that’s currently sweeping the globe with no end or even slowdown in sight.
Santa Clara County has just banned mass gatherings of people due to the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the region, and the ban will lift in early April, according to authorities.
As a result, Apple has reportedly decided to cancel the March press conference, which should have taken place on March 31st. That’s what sources familiar with the matter told FrontPageTech’s Jon Prosser. Apple has reportedly considered holding the event elsewhere or announcing the new products via an online-only press event. It’s unclear what will happen, but Apple still plans to launch a few new products in the coming months.
Now, for the really bad news: five separate sources told Prosser that the iPhone 9 won’t be among the products that are launched. Apple will not announce the new iPhone via a streaming event or a press release right now, and it won’t start selling it in early April as it was previously rumored. In a best-case scenario according to this new report, the iPhone 9 will now be unveiled in June, but it might be pushed back even further to a fall release depending on what happens with the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The report says that Apple might be worried about two things. The company doesn’t want to encourage large crowds of people to its stores in search of the iPhone 9. As a reminder, the phone is said to look just like the iPhone 8 but with the same processor as the iPhone 11. Also, given the worldwide panic concerning the virus, Apple fears that iPhone 9 sales could suffer. It’s not actually production issues that will delay the iPhone 9, the YouTuber said, as Apple would have on hand enough stock to go forward with the launch.
Other products like the next-gen iPad Pro will still be unveiled this month and hit stores soon after that, the report said.
Prosser also reiterates previous rumors that the iPhone 12 release will be delayed until October or even November. In this case, it’s travel issues that will prevent Apple from going forward as planned with the development of its next flagship handset. Apple has banned travel to China, and that will hinder the development and testing of the iPhone 12.
This is just a rumor so far and things are still in flux given that nothing is certain when it comes to the coronavirus epidemic. The full FrontPageTech video follows below.
