New iPhones from Apple are coming soon, and now we know they’ll cost more and arrive earlier than ever.
The second part of this picture unfolded in two stages. The first by Bloomberg, which leaked Apple’s September 7 launch event, and the second thanks to BGR, whose spy work was confirmed by all but the day the iPhone 14 lineup will be released.
While the Bloomberg report contained anecdotal evidence that “some retail store employees have been asked to prepare for a major new product release on September 16th,” BGR analyzed Apple’s past release schedules to find dire patterns.
“Apple launches new iPhones either on Tuesday or Wednesday. In this case, it appears to be Wednesday, September 7th,” reports BGR senior writer Chris Smith. “Then, pre-orders begin on the first Friday following the event. ie September 9th. Releases exactly one week after pre-orders… Apple will ship pre-orders on that second Friday and worldwide in- The store will start selling.”
That time frame would jointly mark the earliest iPhone launch (linked with the iPhone 7) since Apple moved the release to the autumn more than a decade ago. This is a big surprise given the ongoing global chip shortage, which has affected tech companies around the world and pushed both the iPhone 12 and 13 releases to October.
08/22 Update: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has leaked more details about the iPhone 14 launch in his latest PowerOne newsletter. In it, Gurman supports his previous report as well as BGR’s research.
“As I reported last week, the company is planning to announce the iPhone 14 at an event on September 7th,” he revealed. “This will be the first iPhone launch since 2016 and will be followed by sales of the new device on September 16 – about a week ahead of last year’s schedule.”
Gurman noted that this is “an unusual day for an Apple product launch,” with the company historically preferring Tuesday events. He speculates that it is because of Labor Day “because the press and other guests will need a day of travel after the Monday off.”
According to Gurman, the earlier timing will create more space between the new iPads and the planned October event for Macs. It will also give the company an extra week of iPhone 14 sales in its fiscal fourth quarter.
“Another week of iPhone 14 sales should help the company easily beat last year’s $83 billion mark (in fact, analysts are already forecasting revenue of about $89 billion),” they said. telling.
Update 08/23: Additional iPhone 14 release dates have been leaked, thanks to display analyst Ross Young, one of the industry’s most accurate sources. Posting to his Twitter super followers, Young revealed:
“The iPhone 14 Pro Max has the highest share of panel production and shipments with 29% and 28% share respectively. 14 Max accounts for the smallest share at 21% of production and 19% of shipments. It is expected to become quite a base in September.”
The latter part of this information is the most interesting. The iPhone 14 Max is widely considered the most popular new model (I agree with that), but its production has proven to be the most challenging. Last month, Young described its component shipments as “way back through August,” with Pro shipments up 3 times.
As a result, the change to 21% stake is a dramatic improvement, and Young’s comment that iPhone 14 Max production will “make a lot of ground in September” suggests that the wait times may not be as long as previously feared.
I still expect the iPhone 14 Max to be in short supply at launch and for the first 6-8 weeks. So if you’re planning on snapping up Apple’s first (relatively) affordable 6.7-inch iPhone, I suggest you move quickly once pre-orders open on September 9th.
In addition, the price of the iPhone 14 Pro model is expected to increase by at least $100 more than the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, in case you miss out on the temptation to buy a more expensive Pro model. So be ready.
Why is Apple moving things forward? TF International Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, has an explanation:
“Global recession risk is still growing and unpredictable, so announcing/shipping the iPhone as soon as possible may reduce the impact of slowdown risk on demand,” he tweeted. “This may be one reason why Apple offered a positive outlook for 3Q22 from the last earnings call.”
It’s understandable, especially when few rivals can match Apple’s slow supply chain. That said, there is likely one casualty of Apple’s ambitious deadline: the iPhone 14 Max.
The cheaper version of Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max is said to be on a “way behind” schedule, with stocks limited for several months. So if you’ve decided that Apple’s cheapest big-screen smartphone to date is the model for you, prepare to move fast when pre-orders open on September 9th.