Word on the street is all over the place when it comes to discussing the 2018 iPhone lineup at this point, with conflicting reports starting to crop up.
However, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is trying to keep a pretty straightforward through line in his reports, pointing to an iPhone lineup this year consisting of two new iPhones with OLED displays, and one new iPhone that has an LCD screen installed. Those observations continue today, as first reported by MacRumors, citing three new analyst reports released recently.
For the most part, Kuo is basically reiterating what he has said in the past. As far as the 6.1-inch iPhone is concerned, which will be the model with the LCD screen if his sources are correct, it will have a design that’s reminiscent of the iPhone X’s minimized bezels, and it won’t have a physical Home button. It will be equipped with the TrueDepth camera system and boast Face ID. The battery inside will be a rectangular design and be single-cell, with a capacity between 2850 and 2950mAh. As far as the price point, it will cost between $700 and $800, based on Kuo’s estimations.
As far as what’s new, Kuo leans into the manufacturing side of things, pointing out that Japan Display will be covering about 70 percent of manufacturing duties for the LCD panel in the upcoming handset. Rumor has it that Apple will be adopting a Full Active LCD panel for the upcoming smartphone. Meanwhile, suppliers Foxconn, Pegatron, and Winstron will be the key assemblers for the 6.1-inch iPhone this year.
Kuo also has some words on the iPhone X successor and the oft-rumored iPhone X Plus. According to his sources, the new iPhone X models will boast 4GB of RAM. The iPhone X Plus will have bigger battery, which could measure all the way up to 3400mAh. Both the new iPhone X models will have an L-shaped battery, similar to what Apple introduced in the iPhone X, and will have a two-cell design.
Our Take
Aside from the fact we are knee-deep in conflicting reports territory at this point, Kuo’s future-looking seems to paint the most believable picture. Apple is going to try to weed out LCD panels from its lineup, and putting it on a cheaper model, even one with a 6.1-inch display, and relying on two new OLED iPhone X units to lead the way makes sense. It will be interesting to see where the price points are in 2018, especially with older iPhones in the mix and the expectation that Apple is going to launch an iPhone SE 2 this year as well.
Source: iPhonehacks