This week in Apple: iPhone 12 launch rumors as well as pricing leaks

This week in Apple news we found out some new rumors related to the iPhone 12 series. Unbelievably, the rumors suggest Apple could keep pricing consistent from the iPhone 11 series, which is notable due to the number of design changes and upgrades we expect to see.

In other Apple news, we heard some new rumors related to iPhone in-display fingerprint scanners, more info on how closely related the iPhone SE is to the iPhone 8, strong iPhone sales in India of all places, and some more info on the exposure notification partnership Apple has with Google.

See the Apple news roundup below for all the latest.

The top Apple news stories of the past week:

• iPhone 12 series still on track, but just might be hard to get: According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple’s planned launch of the iPhone 12 series is still expected to happen at the usual time (likely September). However, there might be production delays for the new smartphones, which means they could either land in retail stores later than usual or launch at the usual time — but just be very hard to get.
• iPhone 12 series pricing leaked: Speaking of the iPhone 12 series, we have our first pricing leak related to the new phones. According to Front Page Tech (via MacRumors), the lowest-priced iPhone in the new series will start at $649 — that’s $50 less than the lowest-tier iPhone 11. This is notable because we are fairly certain the $649 iPhone will have an OLED panel, which would make it the cheapest OLED iPhone ever.
• Apple announces quarterly earnings, services big winner: Apple’s earnings report for the previous quarter showed that its bet on services such as Apple TV Plus is paying off. However, YoY the company didn’t do much better than 2019, which is unusual for the brand. One can only imagine what Apple’s next quarter will look like, but the company isn’t issuing an updated investor guidance — yet.
• In-display fingerprint rumor pops up again: The old rumor of Apple possibly bringing an in-display fingerprint sensor to a high-end iPhone popped up again through Chinese news site Economic Daily News. While it does seem likely that Apple will eventually bring the tech to an iPhone, it doesn’t seem likely that it will be this year, despite the claims of this report. Instead, we expect to see it in 2021. Nothing’s set in stone, though.
• The iPhone SE really is just a rebranded iPhone 8: Venerable teardown site iFixit tore apart the iPhone SE and found that certain major components of the budget smartphone are actually completely compatible with iPhone 8 parts. That means you could buy an iPhone 8 for cheap and use some of its parts in your new iPhone SE, should that be necessary.
• iPhone 11 sales strong in India: Despite Apple’s historic habit of brushing off emerging markets, it looks like the iPhone 11 is making some headway in India. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple was the third-fastest growing brand in India’s smartphone market in the first quarter of this year.
• Exposure notification now in an iOS beta: Apple and Google are teaming together to offer developers easy API access to smartphone data to help with the creation of exposure notification apps for the COVID-19 pandemic. That API is now starting to trickle out in a beta form.

Thinking about making the switch?

If you are reading this Apple news article on an iOS device and thinking about making the switch to Android, we have multiple articles and guides that can help you with that process. Despite how it might seem, moving from iOS to Android is easier than ever, and many of the services and systems on iOS have similar or even the same counterparts on Android.

The best place to start would be our guide on how to switch from iPhone to Android, which goes over all the basics. We also have more specific guides, such as how to transfer your calendar from iPhone to Android. We also have app guides that will give you the best alternatives to iOS staples, such as our list of best alternatives to FaceTime on Android.

If you’re looking for a great Android device to replace your iPhone, consult our list of the best Android smartphones available now.