Just yesterday, we told you that an 11-inch Apple iPad Air, expected for 2021, will reportedly replace the Lightning port with a USB-C port. Apple has already had iPad Pro owners charge their tablets with USB-C instead of its proprietary Lightning system; if the rumor pans out, next year’s iPad Air would be the first non-premium Apple tablet to charge using USB-C. If a mockup of the iPhone 13 created by a 3D printer is correct, the 2021 iPhones will also use a USB-C charger to replenish their batteries.
Today, Japanese site Mac Otakara shared a video (via AppleInsider) starring a mockup of the iPhone 13 created with a 3D printer; this dummy was based on leaked schematics and other information. The iPhone 13 mockup was allegedly obtained from sources inside China’s huge eCommerce company Alibaba. If Apple sticks with tradition, the iPhone 13 series would be unveiled in September 2021.
The 2021 iPhone 13 series could be notchless and sport a USB-C port
The iPhone 13 is rumored to feature a 5.5-inch display compared to the 5.4-inch screen expected on the iPhone 12. You might notice that the iPhone 13’s screen is notchless; there has been speculation about Apple moving everything found inside the notch, including the TrueDepth Camera and Face ID, under the display. Mac Otakara says that Apple could use technology from Samsung to make this work. The site also says that Apple is testing a camera system found at the bottom of the display. There also has been talk about Apple bringing back the Touch ID fingerprint scanner and placing it under the iPhone 13’s display.
The video reveals the aforementioned USB-C port on the bottom of the handset. Alibaba is playing with fire here because reliable TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has already stated that the 2021 iPhone models will be portless. That means that according to Kuo, the iPhone 13 will charge wirelessly; to prevent consumers from having to purchase a wireless charging pad, Apple will provide a Smart Connector magnetic charger to iPhone 13 buyers right out of the box.
On the back of the iPhone 13 is the now-familiar square camera module with five dots. this might signify that the handset will sport a quad-camera system and a LiDar time-of-flight sensor. Mac Otakara says that the mockup shows just one of several prototype designs for the iPhone 13 and that the final design will probably not look like the prototype posted by the site. And we agree that the video should be taken with a grain of salt.
At the beginning of June, Mac Otakara posted another video of iPhone mockups made from a 3D printer; these prototypes allegedly revealed the 2020 5G iPhone 12 family. We expect to see four high-end iPhones unveiled this year including the 5.4-inch iPhone 12, the 6.1-inch-iPhone 12 Plus, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro, and the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max. All four are rumored to sport AMOLED displays and should be powered by the 5nm A14 Bionic chipset containing 15 billion transistors. That compares to the 8.5 billion transistors found inside the 7nm A13 Bionic SoC that powers the iPhone 11 family.
The standard iPhone 12 units will come with 4GB of memory while the “Pro” models will have 6GB of memory. The base amount of storage that Apple will include with its 2020 handsets is believed to be 128GB, double the 64GB that Apple has included with its most basic iPhone configuration for the last few years.
The standard iPhone 12 models should include Wide and Ultra-wide cameras and a LiDar time-of-flight sensor. First seen on the 2020 iPad Pro models, the LiDar sensor produces more accurate depth measurements that help deliver improved AR capabilities. The iPhone 12 Pro units will include a telephoto camera.
The 2020 iPhones should be able to support both sub-6Hz and mmWave 5G; combined with the 120Hz Dynamic ProMotion refresh rate on the “Pro” displays, there is going to be heavier demand on the batteries powering the 2020 iPhone handsets. All four models are expected to be equipped with larger capacity batteries; the iPhone 12 Pro Max for example, is rumored to contain a 4400mAh battery. That would be a 10.9% hike from the excellent 3969mAh battery that provides the iPhone 11 Pro Max with its outstanding battery life.
The million-dollar question is whether the global pandemic will force Apple to delay the unveiling and release of the 2020 phones. Some expect Apple to introduce the new models in September as usual, but hold back the launch until November. At the beginning of this month, we passed along the word that Apple will start production of the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max in July; the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro will roll off of the assembly lines afterward.
