As surely as the leaves will turn color, Apple will announce new iPhones this fall. Based on the flood of rumors and purported leaks hitting the internet daily, we're expecting three new iPhones.
The 5.8-inch iPhone X will probably get a refresh of the internals with faster performance. And all signs suggest Apple will introduce a larger version, the "iPhone X Plus," with a 6.5-inch OLED screen.
But the breakout hit might not be either of these premium devices, but a new entry-level Phone with a 6.1-inch screen.
Price and release date
The well-connected (and usually eerily accurate) analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, now of TF International Securities, predicts the phone could cost between $600-700.
We're not doubting Kuo's own supply chain checks and predictions, but that seems unusually low compared to the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which start at $700 and $800, respectively.
Kuo's price prediction is based on his belief Apple will reduce the iPhone 9 to $800-900 to make room for the Plus version to be priced at $900-1,000.
Ming-Chi Kuo, 2018 iPhone Pricing:
— Ben Geskin (@VenyaGeskin1) June 4, 2018
5.8" OLED iPhone X $800-$900
6.5" OLED iPhone X Plus $900-$1,000
6.1" LCD iPhone $600-$700 pic.twitter.com/9yjwJh8tUu
 New colors like BLUE and ORANGE. Yup.
Space gray, silver, gold, rose gold... nothing against these colors, but they're kind of boring. Apple gave the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus a splash of color with the Red version, and it might get even more colorful for this year's new baby model.
Word on the street is this iPhone could get come in "grey, white, blue, red, and orange." The last time an iPhone came in blue or orange-like color was the iPhone 5C.
These colors wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Apple. The company's released many an iPod in blue and orange before.
Apple reportedly launching a bunch of new colors with the next iPhone. Crossing my fingers this is true…https://t.co/hnBHFt74ny pic.twitter.com/nUDGe4tf3a
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) July 5, 2018
 6.1-inch screen, LCD, and thicker bezels?
The biggest difference between the entry-level iPhone and the iPhone9 / 9Plus will be the screen.
With the iPhone X, Apple moved to an OLED display, which has the benefit of being thinner, brighter, and more energy efficient. OLED is also capable of displaying deeper blacks and more vibrant colors.
On the new entry-level iPhone, the screen will reportedly be LCD, which is the same display technology used in the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. LCD isn't bad — Apple's always been really good at tuning its Retina displays better than others — but it isn't quite as nice as OLED.
This is 2018 6.1-inch LCD iPhone X Lite and 6.5-inch OLED iPhone X Plus (renders, comparisons, dimensions) on behalf of @wylsacomhttps://t.co/naEoqPbPEF pic.twitter.com/80V8Ds4ygF
— Ben Geskin (@VenyaGeskin1) June 1, 2018
With LCD, there's also the possibility the entry-level iPhone won't be able to truly display HDR content like on iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. Currently, the iPhone X is Apple's only phone capable of displaying HDR content.
The cheaper iPhone 9 is also expected to have a larger 6.1-inch diagonal size compared to the 5.8-inch iPhone 9 and 6.5 inches expected from the iPhone 9 Plus. It's weird an iPhone with a larger display could cost less than one with a smaller one, but people really want bigger screens.
Single camera
It's a sure bet the new iPhone will have some kind of improvements to its cameras, just don't count on there being two on the back.
The latest rumors suggest the entry-level iPhone will only have a single rear camera, likely the same 12-megapixel shooter with f/1.8 aperture as on the iPhone 8.
Without dual cameras on the rear, the new iPhone won't support Portrait mode or be able to shoot photos at 2X optical zoom. That'd be a bummer, but not the end of the world. Not everyone needs the secondary camera. If you want the dual cameras, you'll have to step up to the iPhone 9 or iPhone 9 Plus.
We haven't heard anything about the selfie camera. It could stay the same as the 7-megapixel one on the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
No 3D touch..?
Another way Apple might cut corners on the new iPhone: remove 3D touch. Since the iPhone 6S, every iPhone has come with a pressure-sensitive screen.
Apple touted the extra touch dimension as a way to add more controls to a pane of glass. Unfortunately, most people disagree, or at least don't see the usefulness. Either most people don't use 3D Touch or aren't even aware of the feature.
One of the biggest problems with 3D Touch is that it's impossible to know which buttons support it. Few developers have found a purpose for the pressured-press with most simply programming it as a "right click" to open a menu — a pointless feature since the same can usually be done with a long press.
With little support for it, Apple could get rid of 3D Touch and few people would even shed a tear.
Apple A12
It’s looking ever more likely that Apple will bundle a brand new, custom-built chip on the iPhone 9. Based on the firm’s current naming convention, it will be called the Apple A12 (the last one was the Apple A11 Bionic), and will likely off a number of battery and performance improvements.
For reference, the current A11 Bionic has two high-performance cores that are 25 percent faster than those of the two-year-old A10 Fusion and four high-efficiency cores, which are around 70 percent snappier than those found on the A10 Fusion, according to Geekbench benchmark results.