Apple is planning to ship between 75 and 80 million 5G iPhones this year, according to a new Bloomberg report. The figure is in line with or slightly higher than iPhone launch shipments for the last couple of years, suggesting that Apple doesn’t expect the coronavirus pandemic to dampen demand — even though the company has already said the phones will be delayed into October.
Bloomberg’s report also contains a broad roundup of what Apple is said to be planning for its fall hardware announcements. Here’s what Mark Gurman and Debby Wu expect:
- Four new iPhones with OLED screens coming in sizes of 5.4, 6.1, or 6.7 inches; the 6.1-inch size will be an option for both the steel-edged “Pro” line and the lower-end aluminum equivalent to the current iPhone 11. All of the iPhones have a new design with square edges, and the steel Pro models are expected to ship later than the aluminum variants. There’ll be a new dark blue color option that replaces the green 11 Pro.
- While every new iPhone is set to ship with 5G hardware onboard, there could be a difference in the precise technology across models. Analyst Ming-chi Kuo predicted today (via AppleInsider ) that Apple will ship just 4-6 million iPhones with millimeter wave technology in 2020, which is way short of Bloomberg’s figure. That suggests that it may only come to certain Pro models that are shipping later in the year, or that Apple will ship different hardware in different regions. The 6.7-inch Pro may also be the only model to get the LIDAR scanner that debuted in this year’s iPad Pro, according to Bloomberg.
- A new iPad Air model with slim bezels, similar to the iPad Pro. This is likely the 10.8-inch iPad that Ming-chi Kuo mentioned earlier this year, although there’s no mention of the updated iPad mini that Kuo also predicted. Unverified images of a pamphlet for a new iPad Air, with slim bezels and a Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the power button, appeared on Twitter last week.
- Two new Apple Watch variants: a straight successor to the Series 5, and a lower-end Series 3 replacement.
- A smaller, cheaper HomePod smart speaker.
- Apple-branded (i.e. not Beats) over-ear headphones.
A new Apple TV with an updated processor and new remote control is also said to be in the works, although it might not be ready this year. Finally, Bloomberg expects Apple to make iOS 14 available in September, despite the delayed iPhone releases.
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