Report: Apple’s 6.5-inch iPhone 11, cheap models coming Autumn 2018
Apple is due to launch its next iPhone 11 in autumn and it will be the largest iPhone yet, according to business reports coming out of the US.
Face ID and edge-to-edge screens will come as standard while Apple aims at a much bigger screen as standard to capture interest from the phablet market.
All are expected to be powered by next-gen A12 processors.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman told the website: “Apple is working on three new phones, once again for this year.
“The big story is this bigger phone. It’s a 6.5-inch phone, it’s going to be the biggest smartphone Apple has done.
“It’s going to be the biggest smartphone on the market, even topping the 6.3-inch Note 8 from Samsung.”
More: Samsung S9 and S9+ launched at MWC to smash iPhone X
Bigger and better?
The original iPhone had a touchscreen measuring just 3.5-inches when it launched in June 2008. The same size display was reused for the next model, the 2009 iPhone 3G.
At the time, Apple said that a larger screen would not be optimal for people using the phone with one hand.
All that has changed now, of course.
Even the vastly-cheaper SIM-free Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 – on sale at Debenhams Plus for just £220 – has a 6.44-inch screen.
While Apple won’t try to challenge a 6GB RAM, 64GB as standard Mi Mix 2 that comes in nearly £800 cheaper than its iPhone X, it does have a “budget” model in mind to win back iOS addicts disappointed with the speed of the iPhone 8.
Sales of the iPhone X have fallen far below Apple’s expectations and market analysts tell us the headline £999 price tag is likely to drop, especially after Apple admitted it was slowing down the performance of older iPhones.
Bugs and glitches still present in shipped and tested software has harmed profits too.
What else do we know?
A second, smaller 5.8-inch device, the same size as the current iPhone X, is also being tested behind the scenes.
It’s reportedly using an cheaper LCD screen in place of the X’s Super Retina HD OLED version, which is much more expensive to manufacture.
While Apple’s cheapest new models the iPhone 8 and 8+ contain much of the same tech as their bigger brother, the externals have not gone down as well with consumers.
Gurman notes: “If you look at Apple’s strategy right now they have this high-end phone, the iPhone X, and then they have the two low-end phones the 8 and the 8+.
“But the problem is that the 8 and the 8+…outside, which is what many consumers care about is extremely outdated, those designs are the same ones, pretty much, that came out in 2014.”
Lacking edge-to-edge screens and with a look that resembles the three-year-old iPhone 6, the 8 may not be long for this world.
MAIN IMAGE: Aaron Yoo/CC BY-ND 2.0