A new research report from reputed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via MacRumors) details a number of intriguing new features Apple is planning to bring to its 2019 iPhone lineup. For starters, the form factors on Apple’s next-gen iPhone lineup will essentially be the same as Apple’s 2018 iPhone models, which is to say that we’ll see successors to the 6.1-inch iPhone XR, 5.8-inch iPhone XS, and the gargantuan 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max. While there have been rumblings that the iPhone XR successor might feature an OLED display, Kuo maintains that the device will stick with an LCD display. Apple will presumably transition the entirety of its iPhone lineup to OLED at some point, but that’s not in the cards for 2019.
Now onto the fun stuff. Kuo relays that Apple’s 2019 iPhone models will incorporate frosted glass casing, larger batteries, bilateral wireless charging, and as previously rumored, enhanced Face ID. While larger batteries will hopefully result in longer battery life, that’s not necessarily a sure thing. Bilateral wireless charging is particularly intriguing, with Kuo noting that Apple’s new iPhones will be able to serve a charging point for other devices. Notably, Kuo adds that Apple, contrary to some previous rumors we’ve seen, will not be abandoning its Lightning connector for USB-C later this year.
Kuo’s further adds that Apple’s new iPhone line up will include “Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) for indoor positioning and navigation.” And hardly a secret at this point, Kuo corroborates previous rumors regarding Apple rolling out an iPhone model with a triple-lens camera scheme. Though Kuo didn’t specify which models will incorporate a triple-lens camera, previous rumors claim that the iPhone 11 Max will be the only device with that particular feature.
Broadly speaking, it will be interesting to see how the market takes to Apple’s next-gen iPhones, especially in light of the arguably muted response Apple saw with respect to its 2018 iPhone lineup. While current sales are anything but weak, it’s no secret that demand hasn’t quite aligned with Apple’s internal projections. The iPhone XR was supposed to spur an avalanche of upgrades, but that hasn’t exactly been the case. This may be partially attributable to Apple’s battery replacement program which proved to be markedly more popular than even Apple imagined. Just last month, word surfaced that 11 million iPhone owners took advantage of Apple’s battery replacement program, an impressively large figure that undoubtedly impacted the cumulative number of upgrades.
One other thing to keep an eye on is how camera quality on the entirety of Apple’s iPhone lineup will improve. While it’s a safe bet that only the iPhone 11 Max will get a triple-lens camera, it will be interesting to see what improvements hit the other two iPhone 11 models, especially in light of all the mobile photography strides Google has been making on its own flagship devices as of late.
