It’s not certain that the iPhone 9 will even exist, but here’s what we’ve heard about it so far.
Apple is poised to launch a cheaper iPhone 9 in 2018, and whether or not it goes by that specific name, we expect a new all-screen iPhone closer to the iPhone 8 in price than the iPhone X.
Of course, we do expect a new flagship phone too in the form of the iPhone 11 (iPhone XI) with a September launch window, but anyone holding out for a more affordable device from Apple should look no further than the iPhone 9.
Update: A new image suggests that the iPhone 9 will have thicker screen surrounds than the iPhone XI. Plus it looks like the phone will come in a new variety of colors, with one analyst reporting that it’s set to come in blue and orange as well as red, grey and white.
We don’t have any solid information at this point, but iPhone 9 rumors and leaks are becoming more frequent, pointing to a larger screen and a mix of a iPhone 8 and iPhone X features.
You’ll find everything we know so far about the iPhone 9 below, and we’re constantly updating this page with the very latest on the new iPhone.
The iPhone 9 launch will almost certainly happen in September 2018, given Apple’s typical release date schedule, and given that a September launch has been rumored .
Apple generally holds its annual iPhone event in the second week of the ninth month, which means – going on previous Apple launches – the iPhone 9 release date is likely to be a week or two after the launch.
When the iPhone 9 does arrive it’s sure to be expensive – this is an ‘affordable’ iPhone, not a budget iPhone – though the final price tag may be less than you might expect.
The main price rumor we’ve heard comes from renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims the iPhone 9 could cost $600-$700 (around £450-£530, AU$810-AU$950), which would potentially make it cheaper than the iPhone 8.
That’s also lower than an earlier price rumor of $700-$800 (around £500-£570, AU$870-AU$990) from the same source.
Whatever the case, it should be priced far below the iPhone X, and likely well below the iPhone XI – if such a phone launches.
The cost might further be kept down slightly if Apple decides not to bundle a 3.5mm headphone adaptor with it, as one analyst reckons might happen. But that just means you’ll have to buy one separately if you have normal wired headphones.
Apple may also be looking to make its iPhone range more accessible, and with no sign of the iPhone SE 2 any time soon, it may fall to the new iPhone to provide a more attractive entry point to the Cupertino based firm’s smartphone line.
What’s more certain is that Apple will probably go back to the drawing board when it comes to naming.
While iPhone 9 is the next logical step for Apple’s stock handset, there’s a chance we’ll see it drop the numerical part of the name and go for a cleaner ‘new iPhone’ moniker.
We’ve already seen it do this with the iPad, and its Mac and Macbook lines are also devoid of numbers, so aligning the iPhone range with the rest of its portfolio makes sense.
There are also rumors that Apple may use the ‘S’ addition for the iPhone XI and iPhone X Plus (e.g. iPhone XS and XS Plus) – so keep an eye out for a potential iPhone 8S as well.
The iPhone 9 is expected to be a sequel to the iPhone 8 – and perhaps called the new iPhone.
Early iPhone 9 rumors suggest it will, and one of the leaks includes a render video, showing how the phone might look.
As you can see in the video below, it looks a lot like the iPhone X, but with a single-lens camera. The source adds that it has a 6.1-inch OLED screen.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also reckons Apple will launch a 6.1-inch handset with lesser specs than other 2018 iPhone models.
This phone will supposedly have an aluminum (rather than stainless steel) frame and according to Kuo will have an LCD (rather than OLED) screen, but could have just a 0.5mm bezel .
It’s also said to have a single-lens camera and innards that are more reminiscent of the iPhone 8 than the iPhone X, as the chart below details.
Kuo also notes that the resolution of the 6.1-inch model (which we’ll call the iPhone 9) could be lower, at 320-330 pixels per inch (ppi), while the iPhone XI could have a screen of 458ppi or more, and that it could have 3GB of RAM while the other upcoming models might have 4GB.
Most surprisingly, he says that it may not have 3D Touch, a feature every iPhone since the iPhone SE has had. The last piece of information we’ve had from Kuo refers to the color choices for the iPhone 9.
He believes the 6.1-inch iPhone will come in normal Apple colors like white, grey and red as well as bolder looks of blue and orange. Kuo also believes the larger and more expensive iPhone XI will come in white, black and gold.
For the iPhone 9 we’ve also seen schematics that possibly show the phone, which you can see below. Alongside them dimensions of 147.12 x 71.52mm were revealed.
While the design looks to be broadly similar to that of the iPhone XI, it looks like the iPhone 9 might have thicker screen surrounds, as reputable leaker Ice universe has shared an image of tempered film for the three upcoming phones, showing that the mid-size one (the cheaper model that we’re calling the iPhone 9) has exactly that.
This isn’t the only talk of a 6.1-inch iPhone 9 either. Prior to all this we’d heard rumors of a 6.1-inch LCD phone elsewhere, with the source – who’s supposedly privy to Apple’s product designs – adding that it might have a metal back.
That would be an odd move when Apple switched to glass for all of 2017’s models, a switch which also allowed for wireless charging, so if the iPhone 9 really does have a metal back you might not be able to charge it wirelessly.
Further image leaks claim to show the 6.1-inch iPhone 9 in real life, and they appear to follow the render leaks we’ve previous seen, with a single, large rear camera and a LED flash below it.
However, while most rumors point to a 6.1-inch screen, one of the most recent rumors is that it will actually be 6.0 inches, and that it will have a single-lens rear camera and a TrueDepth front-facing one.
That’s something we’ve heard before, as unnamed supply chain sources have supposedly said that a lower price handset will include Face ID, though they also said it might have an OLED screen, which recent rumors dispute.
Further confusing matters, while most sources reckon that Apple will launch three new iPhones in 2018 and that two of them will be OLED-packed iPhone X successors, one source claims that two (a 5.7 to 5.8-inch one and a 6.0 to 6.1-inch one) will be LCD, while only one will be OLED.
We’ve also heard reports that Apple might include a fast charger in the box with the iPhone 9 and any other 2018 iPhone models, letting you juice it up quickly, though given that this is likely to be a cheaper handset than the iPhone XI the company might reserve this for its flagship.
In more minor news we’ve also heard that the iPhone 9 might use an Intel modem. With current iPhone models there’s a split between Intel and Qualcomm ones, but Apple is rumored to be relying purely on Intel in 2018.
And an Apple patent suggests that the company is working on a single-lens camera that can sense depth like a dual-lens one, making it ideal for Portrait Mode. We wouldn’t expect to see this on the iPhone 9, but it’s possible, and could give it iPhone X-like camera skills with one less lens and likely at a lower cost.
