This is it. Following months of
Apple dropping hints about its new iPhones deep inside
iOS 12, now the company has ‘accidentally’ misplaced an official image of its
iPhone XS and
iPhone XS Plus for everyone to see…
Credit for the discovery goes to 9to5Mac and its almost infallible tipster Guilherme Rambo who has attained finalised press photography of the new iPhones, along with confirmation of a new colour.
Interestingly, the image itself is perhaps the least interesting part of the leak. It shows the second generation 5.8-inch iPhone X and new supersized 6.5-inch model (for which we already know all the specifications) together, as well as the gold finish Apple previously tested with the original iPhone X but never released. Both models also have a notch, though the strategically positioned wallpaper obscures this from view.
But the real fascination is Apple’s choice of name.
“We believe that the new 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch iPhones will both be called iPhone XS,” says Rambo. This would align with Apple’s use a single name for the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro and 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro.
And yet, when it comes to iPhones, this only seems to cause problems. As by far Apple’s most successful and most mainstream product, the iPhone needs easy identification between sizes. It also sets up a situation where the phone’s successors become the iPhone XI, XIS, XII, XIIS and so forth, which is convoluted, to say the least.
Also still up in the air is the naming of the exciting iPhone 9 (I’m predicting simply ‘iPhone’), which is set to dominate sales interest due to its aggressively low pricing. This despite recent revelations that the model has some potentially deal-breaking compromises and the launch will be delayed.
And yet it seems unlikely any of these problems will impact sales of these new iPhones. Following several years of stagnation, Apple is finally rejuvenating the entire iPhone line-up and this is only the start. The next iPhone will see Apple Wow crowds by going back to the future...