Apple"s September event is scheduled to kick off tomorrow and the company is expected to unveil new iPhone models, Watch Series 7, and AirPods 3. And although we know a bunch of unconfirmed details about the upcoming iPhone 13 already, new information keeps pouring in.
Now, a new report (thanks, 9to5Mac) by industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple will ditch the 64GB storage option completely and add a 512GB variant in iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini. Their current counterparts offer 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB variations. The move could also mean that the entry price for an iPhone will be bumped up provided that Apple doesn"t bring the price of the 128GB version down to match that of the existing 64GB one.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max will offer storage up to 1TB. The current storage options of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB will remain as well, so hopefully, the bar for entry in terms of price isn"t being raised. The 1TB variant was already rumored previously, but at that time, it was not clear whether it would be available for all models or select ones.
Kuo has also cautioned that iPhone 13 may be affected by supply issues, saying that:
We believe that iPhone’s current production challenge is the component shortage. Due to the component shortage, the legacy models had been cut by about 5–10% in 3Q21. The iPhone 13 shipment in 4Q21 may have a potential downside risk due to component shortage. However, this downside has a limited impact on iPhone 13 shipments. We believe that iPhone 13 shipments in 2021 can grow by more than 10% YoY (vs. iPhone 12 shipments in 2020).
Although we don"t know the full list of specifications yet, there have been rumors that this year"s iPhone refresh will feature an always-on 120Hz display, a smaller notch, a vapor chamber for better cooling, smaller batteries, and faster 5G. We"ll know for sure how much all of these rumors hold up once Apple officially unveils its new hardware on September 14 at at 10AM PT/1PM ET.