Apple iPhone XI is Coming?

Apple iPhone XI is coming ?

By : Yash Tripathi

We may only be months away from the next iPhones, and the rumour mill has churning out theories about the next big thing for some time now.

That's par for the course with Apple, naturally, but the rumours and reports have often panned out with recent handsets. And while some of these bits might seem far-fetched, we have to give to credence to the fact that we might already be hearing actual facts about the new iPhone.

Will it be the iPhone XI? The iPhone 11? The iPhone X2, if we want to throw all reasonable naming and numerical conventions out the window? We aren't sure yet – but we have heard some other things about what might be on the horizon. Here's what we know so far.

WHEN WILL THE APPLE IPHONE XI BE OUT?

Most of the time, Apple announces and releases new iPhones in September. Given that, we expect to see the iPhone XI in September 2018.

Yes, the iPhone X (shown) was announced last September and then not released until November, but that was at least in part due to the new manufacturing processes and needing to gradually ramp up production. It might have also been to separate the iPhone X hype machine from the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. In any case, there's surely less reason for Apple to wait this time around.

That is, unless manufacturing delays persist. According to a report from Macotakara (via 9to5Mac), challenges facing the new 6.1in LCD model (keep reading) could force Apple to release it in November this year, instead of September. The real question there, then, is whether Apple will stagger the releases by debuting the pricier OLED models in September and the cheaper LCD version in November - like the reverse of last year's approach.

Macerkopf reported in August that German carriers expect a pre-order date of 14 September for the new iPhones. Last year's iPhone 8 and iPhone X were shown off on 12 September, with iPhone 8 pre-orders getting underway on 15 September. The timing sounds right for a September release here.

HOW MUCH WILL THE APPLE IPHONE XI COST?

If the iPhone X was any indication, then the iPhone XI will surely cost a whole lot of money. Many, many people were willing to spend £999 on last year's version, and Apple knows that.

Rumours suggest that we'll see three different versions of the button-less, bezel-lite iPhone X design this time around, though (keep reading), which means there might be a lower entry-level price point for the base model – albeit with caveats.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities suggests that a base modelwill sell for between US$700-800. Meanwhile, a report from Economic Daily News suggests a US$799 price point for the lower-end model, a new lower US$899 price point for the upgraded edition of the current 5.8in iPhone X size, and a larger iPhone XI Plus at the current US$999 price.

That said, a new April 2018 report from KGI floats the idea that the lowest-end model will actually sell for somewhere between US$550-650, which would actually be cheaper than the iPhone 8 (US$699), with a dual-SIM model sold for US$100 more. Given all the reported concessions for that model (keep reading), a larger price difference makes sense... but does Apple really want to sell a flagship-level phone for less than before?

In June 2018, Kuo - now with TF International Securities - tweaked his estimates a bit, claiming that Apple will "adopt a more aggressive price policy" for this year's iPhone models. He sees the lowest-end 6.1in LCD model coming in between US$600-700, with the new version of the 5.8in OLED iPhone X selling for $800-900 and the larger 6.5in model going for somewhere between US$900-1000.

If true, that could represent a significant drop from the current iPhone X price point. But given the sticker shock that many people felt last year, it might not be a bad idea to recalibrate the price structure a bit. Fingers crossed, at least.