Technical


The iPhone 12 will be announced at Apple's fall "Hi, Speed" event that is set to take place on Tuesday, October 13 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. iPhone 12 pre-orders could begin that Friday on October 16, and the first iPhone 12 shipments and an official launch could happen on October 23.






As Apple announced during its July earnings call, the 2020 iPhone 12 models are coming a few weeks later than usual, marking the first time that Apple has introduced new iPhone models in October.

In addition to a delayed October unveiling, there have been rumors indicating that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models will launch at different times. Bloomberg believes Apple will stagger the iPhone launches in 2020, with the more affordable 5.4 and 6.1-inch devices set to ship out ahead of the more expensive Pro devices. Bloomberg believes that some of the new iPhone models could be released later than the iPhone X in 2017 when it launched November 3, which indicates a November timeline for some of the devices.

DigiTimes has suggested the two 6.1-inch iPhone 12 models could come out first in October, with the 6.7 and 5.4-inch models to follow. One 6.1-inch iPhone and the 5.4-inch iPhone are expected to be more affordable devices, while 6.7-inch iPhone and the other 6.1-inch iPhone will be "Pro" devices

Apple in June registered nine unreleased iPhone models in the Eurasian Economic Commission database with the following model identifiers: A2176, A2172, A2341, A2342, A2399, A2403, A2407, A2408, and the A2411. Apple is required to register encrypted devices with the ECC ahead of release in order for them to be sold in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.

Ahead of the launch of the new iPhone 12 models, production lines at the Foxconn factory assembling the new devices are running "24 hours a day" with holidays canceled and overtime mandatory.


Prospective Name

Apple's iPhone naming plans have been confusing ever since the iPhone 8 debuted alongside the iPhone X in 2017, skipping the iPhone 9 entirely. Apple continued on with the confusing naming scheme in 2018 with the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, but things became clearer in 2019 with the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max.

Apple previously did a numerical increase and then an "S" year, but because the changes expected in 2020 are so significant, it's unlikely that we're going to get an iPhone 11S or similar, and much more likely that we're going to see an iPhone 12.

If the lower-end followup to the iPhone 11 is named the iPhone 12 (which is what we'll be calling it), then we can expect the two higher-end devices that are coming in 2020 to be the iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Below are the names that Apple has used since the iPhone first launched in 2007:

  • 2007 - iPhone

  • 2008 - iPhone 3G

  • 2009 - iPhone 3GS

  • 2010 - iPhone 4 (new design)

  • 2011 - iPhone 4s

  • 2012 - iPhone 5 (new design)

  • 2013 - iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c

  • 2014 - iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus (new design)

  • 2015 - iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus

  • 2016 - iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

  • 2017 - iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X (new design)

  • 2018 - iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max

  • 2019 - iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max

There have been rumors circulating that Apple will call its smallest 5.4-inch iPhone the "iPhone 12 mini," which would be the first time an "mini" iPhone with a "mini" naming scheme has been released.

The "iPhone 12 mini" could be sold alongside the standard 6.1-inch iPhone 12, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro, and the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The iPhone 12 mini name has also been referenced in alleged stickers that are said to be for Silicone iPhone 12 cases from Apple. The stickers also feature the names "iPhone 12," "iPhone 12 Pro," and "iPhone 12 Pro Max.