- A new leak reveals the purported names Apple will use for the iPhone 12 series that should be unveiled in mid-October.
- Stickers for what seem to be official Apple accessories for the new iPhones indicate a similar naming structure to last year’s lineup.
- The iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max will be joined by a fourth device this year, the iPhone 12 mini.
- Apple’s official iPhone 12 names were likely the last secret Apple managed to keep until now.
Apple is widely expected to unveil the iPhone 12 series in mid-October and start selling the new phones online in the days following the virtual event. This will be the first year when the new iPhones are announced so late, but 2020 is hardly a usual year. The novel coronavirus pandemic impacted everything about everyday life, and that includes work on new products like the four iPhone 12 versions that Apple will soon introduce. Apple confirmed the late iPhone launch during its earnings call for the June quarter, without specifying the names of the new iPhones or the launch schedule.
A series of leaks said the new iPhones would be unveiled on October 13th, a Tuesday, with a couple of the four phones supposed to go on sale on the first Friday after the online keynote. Those devices would hit stores on October 23rd, while the remaining two will need a few extra weeks to arrive. We’ve been using the general iPhone 12 moniker to describe all four handsets, and a leak says the new series is indeed going to be called iPhone 12. What’s even better, the leak reveals the full names of each device.
The 2020 iPhones will deliver a significant design change and debut an equally significant feature. All phones will have OLED screens and flat-edged metal chassis similar to the iPhone 4/4s and the current iPad Pros. All handsets will also connect to 5G networks where available. That’s why iPhone 12 makes the most sense as a name choice for this year’s handsets rather than iPhone 11s.
This wouldn’t be the first time Apple skips an “S” beat. We never had iPhone 7s or iPhone 8s phones — and there never was an iPhone 9, while we’re at it. iPhone X got its S generation, which featured a confusing XR model. But Apple fixed the naming scheme last year when it introduced the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max.
iPhone 12 mini
iPhone 12 / 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro MaxSilicone Case Stickers pic.twitter.com/bWaFiWG9Ht
— DuanRui (@duanrui1205) September 25, 2020
Those three will get direct successors, the image above indicates, including the iPhone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max, respectively. The first two will feature 6.1-inch screens, while the Pro Max will get an even bigger 6.7-inch display.
The same photo also features a sticker that lists the name of the 5.4-inch iPhone. That’s iPhone 12 mini, a name choice we saw in a recent leak. The 5.4-inch iPhone will be the compact iPhone many people have been waiting for, and the mini name fits perfectly.
The iPhone 12 mini will still pack the same hardware as the other iPhone 12 phones to deliver the same kind of performance and 5G connectivity.
As always with new iPhone leaks, there’s no way to verify the accuracy of the leak. Those stickers sure look like they’d fit official iPhone 12 accessories that Apple will sell in stores, but they could be fakes too, so you’ll have to keep that in mind as well. But the leaker last month posted an iPad Air manual, which turned out to be accurate. MacRumors points out that Apple is using brand new model numbers for these purported accessories.
It’s still unclear which of these iPhones will be available for preorder in mid-October. Some reports say the two 6.1-inch versions will be the first to launch, while others claim the iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 12 will be available in October, and the Pros will only launch in November.
