We probably know when Apple will introduce the iPhone 11

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iPhone 11R and 11 Max on wooden railing
You haven't got too much longer to wait!
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

The iPhone 11 could be in your hands in just 45 days, the president of Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank may have accidentally revealed.

Speaking at an investor event over the weekend, SoftBank President Ken Miyauchi suggested that the new iPhone will be available September 20.

While Miyauchi didn’t give the exact date, he referenced his country’s updated Telecommunications Business Law. This law will go into effect October 1. It means that carriers can no longer bundle data and device plans, letting carriers sell expensive handsets with equally pricy data plans.

“Honestly, I am wondering what should I do for 10 days,” Miyauchi said. That would mean the new iPhone shipping on Friday, September 20. Apparently realizing what he was revealing, Miyauchi said, “No, I shouldn’t say that. Anyway, I don’t know when the new iPhone will be released.”

Confusingly, he then hinted at it again by saying that, “However, almost after 10 days, it will be unbundled.”

That date makes sense

September 20 makes sense as a date for Apple to ship the new iPhone. Since 2012, Apple has introduced its new iPhones either on Labor Day week or the week after, depending on how early Labor Day is. Since Labor Day is early this year, on September 2, it suggests Apple could hold its iPhone event one week later.

That would likely be September 10. After that, Apple will likely open pre-orders on September 13, before shipping starts September 20.

Last year, the iPhone XR didn’t ship until October. It’s possible that Apple does something similar with one of this year’s handsets, too. That way Apple essentially gets two opening weekends for the iPhone.

iPhone refresh for 2019

As with last year, Apple will almost certainly launch three new handsets in 2019. The lineup likely will include two new OLED handsets and an LCD version. Rumors suggest they will come with the same screen sizes as the iPhone XR, XS and XS Max. The main outward difference is that they will boast new camera setups. iPhone watchers also expect that Force Touch will disappear from the XS and XS Max successors.

As exciting as any new iPhone launch is, however, some are already predicting that this year’s refresh will be boring. Analysts at Mizuho Securities recently predicted that this year’s iPhone models will largely “lack novelty.”

For the next major update, we’re probably going to be waiting until 2020. That’s when Apple will introduce its first 5G iPhones.

Via: Macotakara

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