With Samsung’s big Galaxy S20 unveiling less than one week away, it’s really the only smartphone series anyone should be talking about right now. The new Android flagships are shaping up to be some of the sleekest and most sophisticated smartphones ever, and the Galaxy S20 Ultra in particular looks like an absolute beast. And yet a quick search over on the Google Trends site reveals that Samsung’s Galaxy S20 isn’t the only upcoming smartphone series people are talking about right now.
What’s stealing all this attention away from the sleek new S20 series? Why it’s none other than Apple’s iPhone 12. Despite the fact that the new iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max (and possibly a fourth new iPhone model) aren’t set to be released for another seven and a half months, these hotly anticipated new iPhones are already dominating the conversation. In fact, according to that Google Trends search, there’s twice as much interest right now for the iPhone 12 as there is for Samsung’s upcoming new flagship Galaxy S20 series. That doesn’t bode well at all for Samsung, but it certainly bodes well for Apple. And now, a new video has emerged that shows off Apple’s leaked iPhone 12 Pro design and I can’t stop staring at it.
Following Apple’s huge earnings win in the holiday quarter, we know that Apple’s new three-year design cycle isn’t the big problem everyone thought it was. Sure, hardcore Apple fans and bigtime tech enthusiasts would love it if Apple went back to offering refreshed iPhone designs every other year instead of every third year. They buy new iPhones every single year as soon as they’re released, and spending over $1,000 on an iPhone with the same design for three consecutive years is a tough pill to swallow.
But iPhones have consistently been getting faster and more powerful in recent years, and Apple has been supporting them for longer and longer with iOS updates. That means for the average smartphone user, there is absolutely no reason to upgrade to an expensive new iPhone any sooner than every three or four years, at the very least. Apple recognized this shift in the market long before anyone else, and that’s why the company switched to a three-year iPhone design refresh cycle beginning all the way back in 2014 with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s.
Now, we know all of this makes perfect sense business-wise. We also know the overwhelming majority of high-end smartphone users are waiting longer and longer to upgrade, so iPhone designs that seem old and boring to gadget fans are still fresh and new for most people when it comes time to upgrade. That’s why iPhone 11 sales were through the roof during the holiday quarter despite the fact that the iPhone 11 looks just like the iPhone XS from 2018 and the iPhone X from 2017. Even still, if you’re one of the many huge Apple fans or gadget enthusiasts out there who upgrades every year, you’re dying to get your hands on a refreshed iPhone. And thanks to the iPhone 12 series that’s set to be released this coming September, your dreams are about to come true.
Top Apple insider Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities has reported on several occasions that Apple’s new iPhone 12 series will feature a significant design refresh. He has a terrific track record and he says the new iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and maybe even a fourth new iPhone 12 model will feature a big redesign with flat metal edges around the perimeter. They’ll look like larger, modernized iPhone 5 handsets, which is music to Apple fans’ ears considering how much everyone loved the iPhone 5 design.
We’ve seen this new iPhone 12 design visualized a bunch of times. And just yesterday, we saw a leaked video that seemingly shows mockups of three new iPhone 12 models being compared to each other. Those mockups showed an overall iPhone 12 design that’s quite similar to the iPhone 11 though, especially around front where there’s still a big notch at the top of the display. But early rumors suggested Apple is also testing iPhone 12 prototypes that eliminate the notch and squeeze the TrueDepth camera sensors into the phone’s top bezel. Wondering what that stunning iPhone 12 design might look like? Well, it might look something like this:
Now, it’s looking quite unlikely at this point that Apple will manage to ditch the notch this year. For that reason and several more — like the fact that there’s no power button, and the volume buttons and mute toggle are on the wrong side of the phone — the iPhone 12 Pro design shown in this video isn’t likely to be accurate. That said, there is no way that Apple plans to keep using a display with a notch for three more years considering the current trends in the smartphone market, so we could see an exception to the company’s new three-year design cycle in the next year or two. If that’s the case, the video above could be a pretty close approximation of Apple’s iPhone 12s or iPhone 13 design. Either way, I can’t stop staring at this video and I need an iPhone like this in my life as soon as possible.
