Let me tell you something about the 2018 crop of iPhones: Appleâs gonna sell a bazillion of them! Why am I talking about next yearâs iPhones, when most people havenât had the opportunity to set eyes on the flashy $1000 iPhone X that just came out? Because KGI Securities is already looking ahead to next yearâs lineup. OK, so you want to talk 2018 iPhones? Letâs talk 2018 iPhones.
According to KGI analyst extraordinaire Ming-Chi Kuo, 2018 will see the launch of three iPhones: a 5.8-inch model with an OLED display similar to the iPhone X, a supersized 6.5-inch iPhone X XL-like model also with an OLED screen, and a âlowerâ cost 6.1-inch iPhone with an LCD screen. All three phones look to feature bezeless designs along with Appleâs new Face ID tech that debuted on the iPhone X, including the much maligned sensor notch.
The two OLED models are said to target the âhigh-endâ market, while the lone LCD-equipped iPhone will be aimed at âmiddle to low-end marketsâ with a predicted price between $649 and $749. Mid-range doesnât mean what it used to I guess.
And while itâs easy to be skeptical, especially this early on, Ming-Chi Kuo is the guy who said Apple would ditch Touch ID entirely for the 10th anniversary iPhone back in July, and he was right (along with a bunch of other spot-on forecasts). And since Appleâs SVP of hardware engineer Dan Riccio has said that the iPhone Xâs final design was âlockedâ a year ahead of their release, itâs not inconceivable that Kuo might know whatâs up already. So until we have more to go on, this is the best glimpse at what Apple might launch next fall.
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However, I still want to balk at certain things, especially that huge 6.5-inch iPhone, which would easily be Appleâs biggest iPhone yet, and noticeably larger than borderline unwieldy phones like the 6.3-inch Galaxy Note 8. Kuoâs predictions also seem to confirm what many have suspected: the death of Touch ID is coming in 2018âat least at the top of Appleâs line.
The one thing this report doesnât mention though is what Apple plans to do with the iPhone SE. Based on recent history, the SE is due for a refresh this spring, and with the fall 2018 iPhones going all big and bezeless, Appleâs remaining small phone could be an even more important part of the companyâs overall portfolio.
So there. Has this info made your smartphone buying decisions for this year easier, or are you going to hold out and see if these predictions come true? Welcome to the non-stop Apple news cycle. I hope youâre happy.
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