There have been so many items of proof to assist/definitively verify Apple’s imminent change from Lightning to USB-C on the iPhone currently (exhibit A; exhibit B) that readers might be forgiven for rising relatively bored of the topic. However a brand new report suggests the corporate might be planning one thing relatively extra surprising.
Whereas wanting by the code of tvOS 17.0’s fifth beta final week, an eagle-eyed Apple developer (through BGR) noticed references to a complete of six unidentified iPhones:
- iPhone14,1
- iPhone14,9
- iPhone15,4
- iPhone15,5
- iPhone16,1
- iPhone16,2
4 of those, evidently, can be totally new fashions set for launch this fall. The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, and the 15 Professional and 15 Professional Max. However the first two fashions on the checklist stay a thriller.
Just a few theories have finished the rounds since Aaron made the invention, with some extra believable than others. These might, relatively prosaically, be testing prototypes for inner use solely. Yet another optimistic commenter thinks we’re about to see the iPhone SE 4 (extraordinarily unlikely forward of spring 2024 on the earliest, and doubtless not till 2025); whereas an excessive optimist reckons Apple is about to belatedly launch an iPhone 14 mini… which might be attention-grabbing, for certain, however virtually definitely isn’t the case.
A extra convincing however nonetheless intriguing concept is that iPhone14,1 and iPhone14,9 confer with up to date variations of present telephones: more than likely the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus however with USB-C ports as an alternative of Lightning. That largely matches with previous conduct; Apple habitually retains the cheaper variations of the earlier yr’s telephones on sale after the launch of a brand new technology, whereas discontinuing the Professional fashions. The corporate at present sells the iPhone 13 mini and 13 from 2021, and the iPhone 12 from 2020. Logically, in different phrases, at the least one of many 14-series will nonetheless be on sale even after the launch of the iPhone 16 in 2024, at which level the EU’s new USB-C laws can have come into impact.
Taking a subtly totally different line, some pundits have urged that, relatively than the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, the brand new codes may confer with the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 13. In any case, each generations will nonetheless be represented within the Apple Retailer after the iPhone 15 launch, and the corporate might want to maintain factor easy for purchasers. After all, a USB-C port is unlikely so as to add any performance to older iPhones, however it might be good to have the ability to say that every one iPhones now include USB-C ports.
But when that’s the plan, what in regards to the iPhone SE from 2022, which we don’t count on to be discontinued for greater than a yr? There’s no signal of a codename for a USB-C model of that. For that matter, it might nonetheless be unusual for Apple to not hassle making a brand new code for the USB-C model of the 14 Plus, since Plus and Max fashions usually get their very own designation. The dearth of a brand new designator for the SE is odd, so maybe will probably be refreshed ahead of we thought.
No, the more than likely resolution to the thriller is that Apple is specializing in the handsets that can nonetheless be on sale after the EU laws kick in, which would come with at the least a number of the 14-series however not the 13-series. It will create just a little confusion for the approaching yr, throughout which clients will face a alternative between older Lightning iPhones and newer USB-C ones, however it’s not like Apple has been terrified of confusion previously; the iPad was cut up between these two requirements for years (and nonetheless is, when you embody the still-available ninth-gen iPad).
The iPhone 15 is anticipated to launch on September 12 or 13. For all the newest information and rumors, test our often up to date iPhone 15 superguide.