Beyond iPhone 13: Long-Term iPhone Rumors

[I7guy]

I know this has been debated to death on MacRumors, but I still can't get over the fact that they're still using the lightning connector, while every iPad and Apple computer has USB-C ports. Maybe it's because I'm an old fart now, but I still occasionally mess up and pack the wrong cables or plugs when I'm traveling. Between my Anker portable charger, Apple Watch, 15 inch MacBook Pro (2016), 11 inch iPad Pro (2019?), iPhone 12, and my Bose QC35 II headphones, I need a whole bag of plugs, dongles, and cables. USB-A, USB-C, micro-USB, Lightning, and of course, the Apple Watch magnetic charging cable. Ugh!!!!!

How much simpler would all of this be if every device and every plug adapter just had a USB-C port?? The only thing on my list where that wouldn't work is the Apple Watch. And okay, I get that. It needs the magnetic charger. But the headphones using micro-USB to charge is absurd. Micro-USB is about the size of USB-C and Lightning, but SO MUCH WORSE since it's asymmetric and isn't used for anything else. Also, now the Lightning plugs are only used on the iPhones (and AirPods, if you have them). And of course, they look an awful lot like USB-C as well! So, I have cables which are USB-C to Lightning, USB-A to USB-C, USB-C to USB-C, and USB-A to magnetic charger (for the watch). And I need plug adapters which are both USB-A and USB-C.

Is all of this crap really necessary? I want USB-C to USB-C for everything. And my understanding is that Apple is not going to the USB-C standard on the iPhone because they get better waterproof functionality with Lightning. So, because there's a tiny fraction of people who actually swim or dive with their iPhones (WHY???), the rest of us have to live in cable and dongle hell.

Anyway, that's my two cents, and I know my opinion isn't even worth two cents as far as Apple is concerned. But I would give up every single proposed new feature in this article to just have a USB-C port on my next iPhone.

As a side note, my elderly parents both have iPads and iPhones, and they REALLY have a hard time keeping straight which things they need to charge which devices. And because their vision isn't what it used to be, they have a lot of difficulty differentiating between the Lightning and USB-C ports. When my mom asks me why her iPad uses USB-C to charge, but her phone uses Lightning, my answer is simply, "I don't know." I wish I could give her a better answer than that, but there really isn't a better answer.

Okay, sorry. End of rant.

My iPads have lightning ports and my laptop is windows. I have a travel pack of cables in my laptop bag, so when we travel I’m instantly setup with what I need. The cables and charging bricks are inexpensive enough in relationship to the cost of the products themselves.

 

[ahostmadsen]

Apple is never about doing it first. Apple is about going it better. Classic example is Touch ID. Finger print readers existed prior to the 5s.

Face ID? Which vendor has the functionality equivalent if Face ID with a hole punch and no forehead or chin?

To apple it’s about the experience, not throwing hardware around.

The question is not if the technology exists, but if it exists in a mainstream product. The mouse UI existed before the Mac (or Lisa), the touchscreen phone existed before the iPhone. Apple made it into mainstream products.

Apple was leading the phone hardware innovation: the multiple cameras in iPhone 7, the all-screen design in the iPhone X both revolutionized phones. Samsung and Huawei scrambled to copy.

Now, though, Samsung and Huawei (and other Chinese phone brands) are pushing the envelope or hardware design in their mainstream products. And according to this article Apple plans to catch up in 3 years...

I still have iPhones because of iOS, but I look with envy at Android hardware.

 

[bushman4]

These aren’t even rumors for 2022 & 2023 they’re more like guesses.
Leakers having problems with 2021 iPhones and nobody knows what Apple is planning unless they’re sitting next to them at the meetings
Apple still likes to innovate as well as copy other manufacturers

 

[I7guy]

The question is not if the technology exists, but if it exists in a mainstream product. The mouse UI existed before the Mac (or Lisa), the touchscreen phone existed before the iPhone. Apple made it into mainstream products.

Apple was leading the phone hardware innovation: the multiple cameras in iPhone 7, the all-screen design in the iPhone X both revolutionized phones. Samsung and Huawei scrambled to copy.

Now, though, Samsung and Huawei (and other Chinese phone brands) are pushing the envelope or hardware design in their mainstream products. And according to this article Apple plans to catch up in 3 years...

I still have iPhones because of iOS, but I look with envy at Android hardware.

If you believe there is a lack of innovation coming out of Cupertino, you’re either a) not paying attention or 2) your definition of innovation is different than mine.

Not to say android manufacturers are not pushing the envelope. Take the under the screen front camera (Oneplus?). Great innovation, relying on computational photography to clean up the image. Where is that feature today?

So back to my original premise, using Touch ID as an example. Apple revolutionized the finger-print reader, because they focus on the experience not the hardware.

The multiple cameras in the iPhone 11….one innovation is the hardware can support capture from two of the sensors simultaneously.

Android manufacturers do cool things granted, but so does Apple. However Apple focuses on the experience first.

 

[Dulcimer]

Was hoping the 2021 rumors for under-display Touch ID would turn out true, but there's little solid reporting on it.

Also, I have a hard time believing the move to punch-hole design for 2022 Pro lineup. Seems like an odd move right on the heels of shrinking the notch for this year. The notch is part of Apple's design aesthetic for iPhones. I doubt they'll move away from it until they can get it under the display, which is probably 2023+.

 

[MrDerby01]

Let's face it.. Apple really can't move forward without someone else doing it first. Their drive comes from more of an observation and refine ticktack. Huawei, Samsung and a few other key players already has everything Apple has planned for 202x.. Have to hand it to them with regards to sticking to their roots with security updates and app permission limitations.

 

[bushman4]

Underscreen Touch ID would be useful in this pandemic

 

[Biglethal69]

I’ll wait until iPhone 98.

Yer wait that long and they will have iPhones you can use your walking stick with.

 

[Biglethal69]

Id rather have a iOS that works from day one then take 12months for them to get rid of the bugs then start all over again. Apple seem to focus on new things instead of just getting it right the fist time. I miss Steve.

 

[Biglethal69]

We spend far too much time discussing hardware. The real advance with the iPhone will be the software.

iOS needs to adapt to the range of devices Apple now offers.

There's so much wasted space on the larger iPhones, especially the Max. Apple needs to optimise iOS to take advantage of individual screen sizes of devices. The fact the Max has the same menus, icons etc as the rest of the line-up, only more spaced out, is absurd.

File management is still horrendous as the Files app is next to useless. Podcasts, Music and most other native apps needs a thorough re-write. Most of all is Mail. How Mail has been mostly ignored for the last 10 years is beyond me. It's far too basic and lacks features modern mail apps have had for over half a decade!

I could write 10,000 words and still not cover everything I'd like to see. Apple needs to go for it and be a lot more bolder with change. No one's going to complain if they try new things. Except MacRumors users, obviously.

Sounds like a good job application go for it. I’m with ya.

 

[I7guy]

Id rather have a iOS that works from day one then take 12months for them to get rid of the bugs then start all over again. Apple seem to focus on new things instead of just getting it right the fist time.

What operating system works perfectly on day zero such that it’s a paragon of perfection?

I miss Steve.

I can understand the sentiment, but a lot if great products that exist today, probably would not have if Mr. jobs hadn’t died.

 

[UrbanJoe1]

Looks like nothing too major. Nothing life changing. Design stagnation & Iterative improvements while show stopping tech is matured in the lab or just withheld to milk profits. Typical Apple.

 

[bushman4]

That’s seems a little bit reasonable.

If you can’t give me underscreen Touch ID in a pandemic than why would I need it two years from now??
Apples had a year to react to the situation so if you’re going to see Touch ID it’s this year 2021

 

[diamornte]

these rumors make you think, you live in the past - with all the obsolete stuff we have today

Great quote. We live in the past with the obsolete stuff we have today. (a happy owner of iMac Pro & MacBook Pro w/o touch bar)

 

[Kabeyun]

I thought this was a nice write up of rumors about current and future state. Back to MR roots. Well done.

 

[lewchenko]

I’m on an iPhone 11 Pro Max , and would just like to see Apple catch up with flagship Android H/W at this point. High refresh larger screens without the constant weight gain would be nice.

I skipped the 12 series and will probably skip a few more too as I hate the new design. Felt chunkier and uncomfortable in the hand. The metal band looks cheap and its a fingerprint magnet too. I doubt that’s changing in iPhones 13-15 so I either stick with my 11 series or jump ship. Right now I’m ok with the 11 series for another year I think.

 

[DeepIn2U]

These just seem like guesses anyone can make based on past history and default progression.

Like what M Gurmann usually does lol

 

[MartyvH]

Nice roundup of leaks, though there are no new ideas here from Apple other than perfecting what is already around and raising the quality of that existing tech.

Where do we go after merging a mobile phone with an Internet-connected computer, compact camera and MP3 player? All companies are finding it hard to answer that question, including Apple.

 

[MacBH928]

Bring the SE 3. 2022 feels a bit long, but I guess it’s to make the jump in SoC further as the SE refresh cycle is longer. A15, TouchID, larger battery, seems like the next perfect base iPhone.

and dont forget the size, keep display size at 4.7

If this comes to pass, you will be able to exceed your Verizon data cap for the month in less than 30 seconds!

Verizon's New 'Unlimited' Data Plans Still Have Very Real, Problematic Limits

Back in 2007, Verizon was forced to strike an agreement with the New York State Attorney General for marketing data plans as “unlimited” when the plans had very clear limits. Twelve yea…

www.techdirt.com

Had an argument with a member here who was convinced once you get such high speeds, it should not affect your data consumption since your behaviour of using the phone will not be affected. Basically, you will consume just the same but with faster speeds.

If a truly full-screen iPhone were to be released in 2022-2023, where do we go next?

IMO smartphones has reached maturity, its hard to look at an iphone 12 PRO and say this is not good enough I want more.. It is only limited by technologies like Wifi speeds, battery capacity, display technology..etc

I think the advancedment should be on the software side of things. Software could be made to be better. The current OSes were made for different times when they were competing against Nokia and Blackberry. Kind of like OS9->OS X and Windows 3.1 -> Win95.

iPads are for sure limited by the software not the hardware.

 

[MartyvH]

Touch ID in 2023 lol

If it was up to me, Apple would put the wind up the supplier of the power button Touch ID on the iPad Air and order the 50 million units per quarter to get it in the iPhone 13 this September. Buy out the supplier for pennies by Apple's standards. Do whatever it takes. There's a pandemic on, for crying out loud. Masks are the order of the day around the world and will be for a few years to come.

 

[bushman4]

If it was up to me, Apple would put the wind up the supplier of the power button Touch ID on the iPad Air and order the 50 million units per quarter to get it in the iPhone 13 this September. Buy out the supplier for pennies by Apple's standards. Do whatever it takes. There's a pandemic on, for crying out loud. Masks are the order of the day around the world and will be for a few years to come.

You have the right idea. Hopefully Tim Cook & co. Will realize the time is now for Underscreen Touch ID

 

[zombierunner]

Should I buy the 2039 iPhone or wait for the 2040 iPhone? - People in 2039, probably.

 

[The Game 161]

apple use android phones as their testing devices for new technology before adopting them, and even the iPhone royal customers are ready to wait no matter the time apple takes to fully test

People who prefer iOS are always willing to wait.

 

[The Game 161]

I hope that is next year at the latest

Gurman says they are testing it for this year and lovetodream also has hinted it’s coming this year but until the event who knows

 

[The Game 161]

Was hoping the 2021 rumors for under-display Touch ID would turn out true, but there's little solid reporting on it.

Also, I have a hard time believing the move to punch-hole design for 2022 Pro lineup. Seems like an odd move right on the heels of shrinking the notch for this year. The notch is part of Apple's design aesthetic for iPhones. I doubt they'll move away from it until they can get it under the display, which is probably 2023+.

For the record kuo is the only one saying no. All other major leakers said it’s coming this year.