Michelle Donegan is a tech writer who has covered the communications industry for more than 25 years on both sides of the pond. Having worked for various industry titles, including Communications Week International, Total Telecom and Light Reading, she specializes in mobile network technology trends.
The Apple rumour mill is working overtime at the moment as industry watchers digest fresh morsels of speculation about what the company’s 5G iPhones will look like, how much they will cost and when they will be launched.
The latest rumour, which comes from Japanese website MacOtakara, is that it looks like Apple is planning to launch a smartphone based on the iPhone SE model that will have 5G connectivity and come with a price in the range of £399 - £499. The smartphone could be launched in the spring of 2020.
It has been noted that the MacOtakara site has a good track record when it comes to Apple rumours and predictions. But since Apple remains tight-lipped as ever about its future smartphone plans, these are only rumours and speculation. It is not yet in the public domain what smartphones Apple is really going to launch next year and how many of the devices will come with 5G radios.
Useful read: When Will We See an Apple iPhone?
The rumoured new device is expected to be based on the smaller, 4-inch iPhone SE model and dubbed the “iPhone 9.” If true, the size and modest price of this device would buck the high-end smartphone trend of big phones and even bigger price tags. (Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro costs more than £1000.) If introduced in the spring, that would also mark a change in Apple’s smartphone launch window, which is usually in September.
Will Apple Move the 5G Market?
Whenever and whatever Apple does eventually launch next year, there are high expectations for the impact the devices could have on the 5G market. Strategy Analytics is already predicting that Apple will dominate the 5G smartphone landscape when it launches devices in September 2020, as widely expected.
Until such time, 5G subscribers in the UK have a variety of smartphone options from market-leader Samsung, Huawei, LG, OnePlus, OPPO and Xiaomi, while new phones will also be arriving from Vivo and ZTE.
- Concept phone above by Concept Creator
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