Following up on Apple’s confirmation that the iPhone 12 will go on sale “a few weeks later” than the usual late-September launch date, the rumor mill is now suggesting that the next-gen devices could go on sale in two stages.
This wouldn’t be without precedent, and in 2017, the iPhone X was announced in September but didn’t go on sale until November. In 2018, the iPhone XR was announced, but wasn’t available until October of that year.
The current rumor states that the production of iPhone 12 components will peak in the final quarter of the year, as opposed to Q3, wherein Apple would normally be prepping its materials ahead of a September launch:
Taiwan’s PCB makers in the supply chain for Apple devices will see their shipments for new iPhones not peak until the fourth quarter this year as Apple has confirmed its iPhone 12 lineup will debut later than normally scheduled in September.
It’s currently thought that the 5G iPhones could launch in two stages, the first releasing the two 6.1-inch models, with another two 6.7- and 5.4-inch models in the second stage. Sources have indicated that the suppliers of SLP (substrate-like PCD) mainboards for the formers models have begun shipments with those for the latter stage to start in late August.
It’s also thought that one base-model iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro would be available first, with the smaller base model and larger Pro model going on sale a little later.
So far, it seems clear that the base model will feature two cameras while the Pro models will have three. The Pro models are also expected to feature a Time-of-Flight sensor for better Augmented Reality performance. It’s unknown as to how or whether the 5G capabilities will vary between models.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.