The 2018 flagship iPhones are only about a month away. Numerous supply chain leaks have tipped that there will be three new iPhones – one with a 5.8-inch OLED screen, another with a larger 6.5-inch OLED display, and a third model featuring a 6.1-inch LCD screen. We don’t know for sure what Apple is going to call them. A variety of naming patterns have been circulating on the Internet lately. For the sake of convenience, let’s call them iPhone XS (5.8-inch model), iPhone XS Plus (6.5-inch model), and iPhone 9 (6.1-inch LCD variant). ValueWalk has obtained the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Plus cases from a Chinese accessories maker that confirm the rumored design.
Check out the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Plus cases
The pictures of the iPhone XS and iPhone X Plus cases come from Shenzhen, China-based Hotdasun. We couldn’t get the pictures of the LCD iPhone 9 cases. Cutouts on the leather cases for the iPhone XS suggest it will look identical to last year’s iPhone X. It would have vertically-aligned dual cameras on the back. The volume rockers and the ring/silent button will be on the left while the power button sits on the right side.
The iPhone XS Plus cases confirm that its design will also be similar to the iPhone X, except that it will have a bigger screen. The camera alignment and button layout remain the same. Check it out:
According to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone 9 would also borrow the design of the iPhone X. Recently leaked dummy units suggest it will also have a display notch and no physical home button. However, it will have slightly thicker bezels all around compared to OLED models due to the limitations of the LCD screen. Since the devices are only a few weeks away, we expect to see more iPhone 9, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Plus cases in the run up to the big event.
Unlike its OLED siblings, the iPhone 9 will have only a single camera lens on the back. It will also have relatively inferior technical specs than the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Plus. For instance, it would get only 3GB RAM compared to 4GB on the other two models. It will also launch without the 3D Touch functionality. Fortunately, all three models would be powered by the same A12 chipset based on TSMC’s 7nm manufacturing process.
Ming-Chi Kuo has learned from supply chain sources that Apple will for the first time launch the dual-SIM variant of the iPhone 9. Until now, Apple has shied away from the idea of dual-SIM iPhones, probably to please its wireless carrier partners. The dual-SIM version of the iPhone 9 won’t be sold in the US for the same reason. It will likely be limited to select markets such as China.
2018 iPhone naming scheme and price
Apple will announce the official names of its 2018 iPhones at the time of launch next month. The iPhone X launch made the naming scheme much more complicated than we thought. The simultaneous launch of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X (ten) has left industry experts guessing what the new iPhones will be named.
French publication Les Numeriques reports that the upcoming devices might indeed be called iPhone 9, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Plus. In other words, the iPhone 9 would launch a year after the iPhone X (ten). Strange, isn’t it? There is still a possibility that Apple could use an entirely new naming scheme.
According to Kuo, the LCD iPhone 9 could start at $600 for the base model. The dual-SIM variant will have a higher price tag. There is little clarity on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Plus pricing. Taiwan-based Economic Daily News claims the 5.8-inch model would start at $899, making it $100 cheaper than last year’s iPhone X. The iPhone XS Plus is said to have a starting price of $999. But we believe Apple is unlikely to cut the price of the iPhone X successors and hurt its revenues and profits, especially after creating an ultra-premium segment.
