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What you should know about Apple’s new iPhones ahead of developers conference

A visitor uses her iPhone X to take a photo of Apple Park T-shirts at the new Apple Visitor Center in Cupertino, California. Apple is likely to announce three new iPhones at the Worldwide Developers Conference. Photo: Reuters

With Apple’s WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) in San Jose around the corner, speculation heats up again over whether the company will use the occasion to announce its new iPhones or the schedules, apart from the usual new MacOS and IOS features.

Earlier this year, there were rumours that Apple might announce the iPhone SE2 – the successor to the iPhone SE, the 4-inch (diagonal screen size) entry-level iPhone – at WWDC from June 4 to 8. But with more information surfacing, it looks unlikely that this would happen. Recent reports suggest that instead of the SE2, Apple might be working on a new low-cost, entry-level iPhone for the China and India markets.

If Apple doesn’t announce any new iPhones at WWDC, fans will probably need to wait for another three months until early September, the time when the US company usually announces a new flagship iPhone, except for last year.

Based on leaks and speculation so far, the 2018 new releases would probably include three different iPhones: the successor to the iPhone X; a bigger version of the iPhone X; and the successor to the iPhone 8. All three phones should be equipped with the same A12 processor, enhanced LTE (long-term evolution) chips and Face ID technology. All will feature edge-to-edge full-screen display similar to that of the iPhone X.

Earlier reports suggested that the lower-price iPhone 8 successor might feature an LCD panel, but now it looks more likely that all the three phones will use an OLED panel. This is good news for fans, because OLED offers better colours and consume less power. To reduce charging time, the new models might ditch the USB Type-A charge port (though with the same Lightning connector on the other end) in favour of a USB-C port.

Probably called iPhone XI, or 11, the successor to the iPhone X will have a 5.8-inch OLED display. It might even have triple rear cameras to allow depth-sensing. Apart from the usual space grey and silver colours, the new phone might have a new gold option. Apple might lower the price of this phone in view of the slow sales of the iPhone X.

The second phone, a larger version of the iPhone X, might be named iPhone X Plus or iPhone XI (11) Plus. It will come with a 6.5-inch OLED display with a resolution of 480 to 500 pixels per inch. It might have dual sim slots and offer the same colour options of space grey, silver and gold. The price is expected to be around US$999 to US$1,150.

The third phone, the successor to the 6.1-inch iPhone 8, is likely to be called iPhone 9. It will have a 6.1-inch OLED screen (instead of LCD as suggested earlier) and a price tag of US$550 to US$650. A larger, 6.5-inch version, probably called iPhone 9 Plus, should also be available.

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Smartphones

There will probably be a successor to the iPhone X, a bigger version of the iPhone X, and a successor to the iPhone 8