iPhone 12 leak suggests mass production in July - so what does that mean for you?

The plot thickens

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When we’ll seeAppleintroduce theiPhone 12is currently one of the biggest questions in tech, with a variety of sources claiming it may be delayed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our best evidence yet of when we’ll see the iPhone 12 comes from a report inDigitimes. It says Apple will be entering the second phase of its final testing this month, and that mass production will begin by the end of July.

This comes from sources speaking directly to Digitimes, so this isn’t official news from Apple, but it’s a clear sign that Apple is finalizing its plans for its next flagship device.

Exactly what it means for the iPhone 12 release date is a little unclear right now. This report says all four models - that’s the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Max, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max - will enter production at the same stage.

That may mean we hear about all four models at the same launch event, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to buy all the models at the same time.

TheiPhone Xwas announced alongside theiPhone 8andiPhone 8 Plus, but the iPhone X wasn’t on sale until a few months later than the other two devices. We may see a repeat of that in 2020 owing to the pandemic.

We’ve never had clear visibility of Apple’s production schedule for previous iPhones, but this matches what we’ve heard from leaks and rumors about older products.

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For example, theiPhone SE 2020was said to enter production at the very end of January this year and was then on sale by the end of April. That’s a gap of around three months between production and release, so it may be the company won’t have the iPhone 12 range out in shops until October.

It may not just be production

There are also previous reports that have said the devices supporting mmWave 5G technology - that’s the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, according to most leaks - will also be delayed because of last minute antenna design changes.

If that’s the case, that may mean you’re able to buy the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Max first, with the top-end devices set to follow in the weeks or months after.

So what do we know right now? It’s all still up in the air for the moment, and we won’t truly know the scheduling until Apple unveils its products on stage. But we’ve now got a slightly clearer picture of how the pandemic is impacting your next iPhone.

ViaGSMArena

James is the Editor-in-Chief at Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.

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