The iPhone 12 launch is officially late and it won’t be part of Apple’s September 15 event. But now its arrival just took another unexpected twist.
The iPhone 12 launch is officially late and it won’t be part of Apple’s newly announced September 15 event. But now its (already complicated) arrival just took another unexpected twist.
In a blow to fans of Apple’s newly shrunk iPhone 12 and supersized Pro Max, Digitimes has confirmed that both models will be pushed into a ‘second stage’ roll-out with the (newly renamed) 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Plus and 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro launches prioritized. Moreover, the gap between first and second stage releases could be up to six weeks, which may push the latter’s launch as far back as November.
Breaking this down, Digitimes explains that shipments of SLP mainboards for the 6.1-inch models began in July, but shipments for the 5.4-inch and 6.7-inch iPhones were held up until the latter half of August. Interestingly, Digitimes originally tipped this change last month and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman subsequently shot it down, but Digitimes has now reiterated the split thanks to its source. This timescale also fits in with prolific Apple insider Jon Prosser’s claim, that some iPhone 12 models may be as late as November.
So are the new iPhones worth the wait? It’s going to depend greatly on what you prioritize in a phone. Highlights include their edgy new design, exciting A14 performance, mysterious magnetic charging and (relatively) affordable prices. The flip side is Apple looks set to downgrade their batteries and remove accessories, while doubt also remains over their inclusion of high refresh rate displays.
For me, the hotly tipped 4G-only iPhone 12 Pro will be a better buy when it launches next year, thanks to a much lower price and longer battery life. But it’s going to take a lot of willpower for most Apple fans to skip the Christmas period.
The article is originally published at Forbes.