Apple doesn’t do CES, but Apple-related news and rumors usually dominate the biggest consumer electronics show of the year. 2019 was no different. A purported render of an iPhone XI (or is it iPhone 11?) made its way online a few days ago, featuring three rear-facing cameras and a flash placed asymmetrically inside a rather large bump. Meanwhile, Apple chose to troll competitors by placing user security and privacy-related ads around CES venues, and TV makers including Samsung announced that AirPlay 2 support would be available inside new TVs. And now that CES is over we have a report about this year’s new iPhone series that seems to confirm the earlier leak, providing additional details about the iPhone XS and XR successors.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple will launch three iPhones this fall, including a successor “to the struggling XR,” as the Journal calls it. The report notes that Apple chose to stick with a second XR generation because the new iPhone with an LCD screen has been in the product pipeline for months and plans can’t be altered easily.
While planning for 2019 models “has progressed to a point where major features cannot be changed easily,” it’s not completed, according to people familiar with the matter. Planning for 2020 models is at an earlier stage, and more subject to revision.
In addition to an iPhone XR successor, Apple is also making two devices with OLED displays. Next year, the report notes, all new iPhones will feature OLED screens.
The iPhone 11 version of the iPhone XS Max, which may be called the iPhone 11 Max, is tipped to have three cameras on the back, but the bigger camera module won’t also be available on the smaller iPhone 11 model. The 5.8-inch model, as well as the LCD phone, will get dual-lens cameras instead, the Journal notes. The image above shows the iPhone 11 leak we saw a few days ago, featuring that strange-looking rear camera module.