Although the next Apple smartphone is some way away, iPhone 11 rumors are already beginning to circulate. It is largely believed that Apple will refresh its smartphone range in 2018, despite the fact that the iPhone X was something of a revolutionary unit for the consumer electronics giant. But Apple will not rest on its laurels, and will instead announce a smartphone series featuring three new units during this calendar year.
Second-gen iPhone X
iPhone 11 rumors indicate that the second-generation iPhone X will be similar to the previous release, featuring the same 5.8-inch OLED screen that was introduced last year. But there will also be a larger iPhone X Plus product to accompany the main model, and this will have a staggering 6.5-inch OLED screen. This would be by far the largest display that Apple had ever produced. One can only imagine the pricing for this larger phablet unit, but more on that later.
Interestingly, the iPhone X will actually be the smallest of the three smartphones that Apple plans to release in 2018. Alongside the iPhone X and iPhone X Plus will be a more affordable iPhone unit with an LCD display, but this screen will be 6.1-inches in size. iPhone 11 rumors point to the fact that this alternative will deliver a Full Active LCD display, which would offer improved technology over the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus screens.
However, although Apple will make some significant changes for the iPhone 11 generation, it is believed that the wraparound display introduced last year will now be stabilized across the three releases. This proved hugely successful with the iPhone X, and early iPhone 11 rumors point to Apple including this design in all three 2018 releases.
Major camera changes
In order to accommodate this new design, Apple will also make major changes to its camera system. Each of the three smartphones released by the Californian corporation in 2018 will be equipped with a TrueDepth camera system that supports Face ID.
What this effectively means is that the Home button and Touch ID fingerprint sensors will be completely phased out of Apple’s flagship this year. This has been expected for some time, and iPhone 11 rumors now indicate that this will finally occur in 2018.
However, Apple will also shave some of the more premium features from the 6.1-inch model of the iPhone 11 generation. This will be intended to reduce production costs for what will be a more affordable version of the iPhone series.
Central to these changes will be the inclusion of an aluminum frame, as opposed to the stainless steel exterior that will dominate the iPhone X sequel. It has also been suggested that wireless charging will not be included in this particular version of the iPhone 11, while a single-lens camera could also be part of the makeup of the smaller device, as opposed to the dual-lens units expected in the other two models.
It has also been suggested among early iPhone 11 rumors that the display of the more budget iPhone unit may not support the 3D Touch system. We could also perhaps expect some branding differences between the three devices, particularly as the iPhone X and iPhone 8 were named differently last year.
By slimming down the feature set of the more affordable model in the iPhone 11 series, Apple should be able to retail the handset at around $749. The pricing of the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Plus is far from clear at the time of writing, but it seems an absolute certainty that the 6.5-inch model will retail at a price point in excess of $1,000. Possibly Apple will freeze the price of the smaller unit at $999, and offer the iPhone 11 Plus at $1,099.
Other iPhone 11 rumors suggest that all three of the new iPhones will benefit from a new A12 processor, while improved LTE chips from Qualcomm and Intel will also be resident.
4K resolution
According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple may also surprise consumers by producing a 4K resolution iPhone in 2018. Logically enough, it will be the 6.5-inch version of the iPhone 11 generation that will benefit from this increasingly mainstream technology. This will ensure that the iPhone 11 Plus delivers around 500 pixels per inch when it arrives in the stores.
Apple is expected to source the majority of the OLED displays for the 2018 iPhone lineup from Samsung, but is also attempting to diversify by involving LG Display as well. Sharp and Japan Display have also been linked with providing extra supplies for the iPhone 11 generation, as there is something of a shortage of the technology worldwide at present.
iPhone 11 rumors also indicate that Apple could include brand new battery technology in even the smaller 5.8-inch iPhone. Apple is currently working on a one-cell design that will deliver a 10 percent more battery-power than previous units. This would certainly be welcome considering that Apple products have been criticized for their relatively paltry battery life for several years now.
The aforementioned Kuo tsuggests hat this would enable Apple to deliver a battery capacity between 2,900 and 3,000 mAh in the smaller of the two iPhones 11 units. Meanwhile, the larger iPhone 11 Plus will benefit from a two-cell battery design, with a capacity in the range of 3,300 to 3,400 mAh.
AI focus
Other iPhone 11 murmurings suggest that Apple will particularly focus on artificial intelligence in 2018, with an upgraded version of Siri allowing some form of collaboration with the HomePod speaker. Furthermore, Apple will upgrade the augmented reality and virtual reality functionality of the iPhone 11 series, ensuring a smarter and more secure version of the well-received Face ID system.
On the whole, the iPhone 11 sounds far more than a mere upgrade of the critically acclaimed iPhone X, and it will seemingly be an essential purchase for Apple fans all over the world.
