June is nearly over, so we might soon learn whether the iPhone 13 series will see any delays this year. In late July 2020, Apple CFO Luca Maestri confirmed to the world that the iPhone 12 series would be “available a few weeks later” than the usual late September launch. The coronavirus pandemic forced Apple to rethink its iPhone 12 release, and the company addressed the delays during its June-quarter earnings call last year. The company offered no guidance for its September 2020 quarter.
A lot has changed in a year. While the coronavirus continues to ravage certain parts of the world, the pandemic seems more manageable in many regions. Moreover, the increased availability of vaccines allowed more countries to reopen and prevented prolonged shutdowns. Travel bans and the temporary factory closures might have impacted the iPhone 12 development last year, but things seem to be different this time around. Several reports from supply chain sources indicate Apple is already preparing the iPhone 13 for mass-production, with crucial suppliers ramping up manufacturing of iPhone 13 parts.
Separately, a variety of iPhone 13 design leaks have hit the web in recent months. All of them indicate the same design changes that Apple has been rumored to bring to the iPhone 13, and a brand new collection of images showing alleged iPhone 13 dummy units give us a great look at the new design.
The iPhone 13 series will look just like its predecessor, with a few minor changes. That’s what all rumors and leaks have claimed so far. Apple will launch four iPhone 13 models, which will come in the same three sizes as the iPhone 12 series. All iPhone 13 versions will keep the flat-edge design that Apple’s iPhone 12 brought back, and they’ll have the same height and width. But the four iPhone 13 versions will be thicker than their predecessors by around 0.2mm. This design change is usually associated with a notable battery size increase. And rumors say that all four iPhone 13 batteries will be larger than previous versions.
The iPhone 13 display will get a couple of important updates as well. From a design perspective, the notch will be smaller this year. It’ll be slightly narrower than before. When it comes to functionality, the iPhone 13 Pro versions will supposedly feature 120Hz ProMotion displays.
Finally, the camera modules will all get noticeable design updates. The cameras will protrude more than before and the overall size of the camera module will be much bigger. Also, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini will have the rear cameras placed diagonally rather than vertically. The rumored design change doesn’t have an explanation for now, but some speculate that the primary camera will get sensor-shift stabilization on all iPhone 13 versions. The new camera design is due to a larger senor that needs more space.
This information isn’t confirmed at this point, but most leaks mention the same details. And it so happens that someone created iPhone 13 dummy units in China based on purported CAD designs that leaked months ago. The images here show what a white iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro would look like. The dummy units aren’t functional, of course. But some of the expected changes mentioned above are visible, including the smaller notch and redesign dual-lens camera design.
As always with iPhone leaks, there’s no way to verify the authenticity of this purported iPhone 13 design. But the person who made the iPhone 13 dummy units seen above also created accurate iPhone 12 dummies last year.
