Here’s everything we know about the 2019 iPhone

While the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR haven’t been around for that long, rumors for the next iPhone are already surfacing. While the information has yet to be confirmed, it seems Apple’s 2019 flagships could include a variety of upgrades ranging from a new design to enhanced features. Here’s everything we know about the device so far.

DESIGN
What will Apple do with the iPhone design in 2019? Could this finally be the year the iPhone makes the jump to the USB-C connection? Every year seems to give birth to similar rumors where the port is concerned, and 2019 is no different. According to a report from supply chain blog Macotakara, Apple may be gearing up to make the change. There’s no specific source for the rumor in the report, but it points to Apple’s adoption of the USB-C port in 2018’s iPad Pro as evidence Apple is looking in this direction.

USB-C allows for much the same functionality as the Lightning port, but has a much wider repository of accessories to draw from. Plus, the EU started pushing for a universal phone charging standard again in 2018, which may have forced Apple’s hand. Is it possible. Yes. Is it likely? We’re not sure. Yet.

In other design news, a leaked render, said to be based on an engineering prototype, shows an iPhone that looks similar to current models from the front, but very different from the back. The horizontal camera module is mounted at the top, and in the center. The module contains three camera lenses, with the middle lens surrounded by a flash unit. The leak, from @onleaks and compareaja.in, is not official and is not final evidence of what this year’s iPhone will look like. However, the site claims it’s one of the designs being examined by Apple, and it’s a very different look to the current models.

While this render has a notch, there are rumors Apple may introduce a punch hole display, as used on the Honor View 20 and the Samsung Galaxy A8s. While a patent filed in June 2018 suggested Apple would be chasing that same trend in 2019’s iPhone, noted leaker Ice Universe claims 2019’s iPhone will still rock a notch — and the earliest we can expect to see an iPhone with a holed display is 2020.

Another patent from Apple relates to manufacturing ceramic iPhone bodies in a variety of colors, which could alter the way future iPhones look. The patent shows a device with colored bars on its back, specifically on the top and bottom. It’s also possible the Apple logo could be a different color to the rest of the iPhone.

DISPLAY
While Apple was a little late to incorporate OLED display into its hardware, it looks like the company is embracing the technology on its most expensive phones. Currently, the iPhone XS and XS Max sport OLED screens while the iPhone XR sports Apple’s proprietary Liquid Retina LCD. So should we expect more of the same for 2019?

Despite earlier reports to the contrary, the Wall Street Journal is claiming 2019’s iPhone range will include an iPhone XR-style model with an LCD display, while two, more expensive models will include OLED panels. This goes against earlier rumors from South Korean news source ETNews, who claimed the company had chosen OLED screens for “all three models,” but is also backed up by Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst for KGI Securities, who suggested LCD iPhones would still be around in 2019 and that they will probably outsell OLED models. However, the Wall Street Journal has noted Apple will more than likely drop the LCD display entirely in 2020.


CAMERA
In May, it was reported that the flagship 2019 iPhone was set to include three camera lenses. Taiwanese publication Economic News Daily claimed each of the three cameras could boast 12 megapixels — which could mean additional camera features such as increased detail or greater zoom mode. A recent article from the Wall Street Journal has backed that up — but claims only the largest iPhone will receive three lenses — two other models will stick with a dual-lens setup.

Economic Daily News also reports the upcoming phones will feature more advanced technology on the rear cameras that what’s currently being used on the TrueDepth front-facing cameras. The new lenses will use stereoscopic imaging to capture objects and scenes from multiple angles and triangulate multiple perspectives into 3D images.

This seems to be very similar to an earlier rumor from Deutsche Securities analyst Lu Jialin, who believes Apple will incorporate two stereo-vision lenses and a telephoto lens into its three-lens camera. That way, the cameras will be able to understand 3D space in a manner similar to the iPhone X’s TrueDepth front camera — which in turn means there could also be new augmented reality features as well.

It’s clear Apple is continuing to work on its ARKit, having introduced ARKit 2.0 as part of iOS 12 at this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference. The new version delivers improved face tracking, support for 3D object detection and realistic rendering. Users can also play AR games against other users in the same virtual environment with multi-user augmented reality. With a three-lens camera, it will be interesting to see what features Apple will release for future versions of ARKit.

NO MORE 3D TOUCH
Each year when Apple announces its newest batch of iPhones we expect to see new hardware and features. But every once in a while, the tech giant takes an underperforming feature away. And it looks like 3D Touch could go away in 2019.

Earlier in 2018, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he expected Apple to drop 3D Touch as soon as 2019. In August, a Barclays analyst said he expects Apple to remove the feature in the near future. When Apple announced the 2018 iPhone lineup in September, the iPhone XR was the first phone in a number of years that shipped without 3D Touch. While Apple may continue to omit the feature from its entry-level phones, we expect the may just do away with the feature altogether in 2019.