Julian Chokkattu / Digital Trends
While it’s still early, rumors for the 2019 iPhone are already surfacing. While the information has yet to be confirmed, it seems Apple’s 2019 flagship could include a variety of upgrades ranging from a new design to enhanced features. Here’s everything we know about the device so far.
Design
Past reports have been claiming that the 2018 iPhone will ship with a Lightning-to-USB-C cable — which means iPhone users will be able to join in on Type-C fast charging without having to spend money on extra accessories, 9to5Mac notes. According to the latest rumor, this could also mean the 2019 iPhone will include a USB-C port as well. Apple is reportedly redesigning chargers for its next-generation iPhones and iPad devices, Digitimes reports. By incorporating the interface into its iPhones, Apple would completely ditch its Lightning connector.
Similar to how the Apple’s MacBook series encouraged other notebook vendors to adopt the USB Type-C port, sources close the matter claim the company hopes to do the same with the iPhone. Incorporating it into the iPhone will apparently help to increase the popularity of the Type-C interface within other smartphones on the market.
While the notch has been a trend for the smartphones of 2018, that trend may be dying down. Earlier in June, Apple filed for a patent that specifically connected to displays that have openings in between pixels for sensors — which suggests the 2019 iPhone will ditch the notch. According to the patent application notes, it seems to hint the notch was placed there to begin with in order to accommodate the sensors needed in the front of the phone. Other reports indicate these openings would be embedded into the display itself, and too small to see.
Another patent from Apple relates to manufacturing ceramic iPhone bodies in a variety of colors — which could alter the way future iPhones look. The patent shows a device with colored bars on the back of the device — specifically on the top and bottom. It’s also possible the Apple logo could be a different color than the rest of the iPhone.
Display
As of right now, the only iPhone model to feature an OLED display is the iPhone X. But according to rumors that have extended across the past few months, all iPhone models in the future will feature the same display.
A report by South Korean news source ETNews, anonymous Apple officials close to the matter stated the company has started planning its 2019 iPhone models and have chosen OLED screens for “all three models.” This means that in addition to the traditional iPhone and iPhone Plus versions, there could also be a third iPhone thrown into the lineup.
Camera
Back in May, it was reported that the flagship 2019 iPhone is set to include three camera lenses. Taiwanese publication Economic News Daily claimed each of the three cameras could boast 12 megapixels — which could mean additional camera features such as increased detail or greater zoom mode.
The latest rumors come from Deutsche Securities analyst Lu Jialin, who believes Apple will incorporate two stereo vision lenses and a telephoto lens into its three-lens camera. That way, the cameras will be able to understand 3D space in a manner similar to the iPhone X’s TrueDepth front camera — which in turn means there could also be new augmented reality features at well.
It’s clear Apple is continuing to work on its ARKit, having introduced ARKit 2.0 as part of iOS 12 at this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference. The new version delivers improved face tracking, support for 3D object detection, and realistic rendering. Users can also play AR games against other users in the same virtual environment with multi-user augmented reality. With a three-lens camera, it will be interesting to see what features Apple will release for future versions of ARKit.
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