The iPhone 12 release date has been the subject of a lot of speculation due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some reports say the iPhone 12 will be released on time this fall while others say it could be pushed back to the holidays or even early 2021.

If this latest report proves accurate, the truth will be somewhere in the middle. And those who want the iPhone 12 with the biggest display will have to be prepared to wait.

According to MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu with Chinese research firm GF securities says that the Engineering Verification Test stage of iPhone 12 development may have been extended by two weeks. This would mean late April for the 5.4-inch iPhone 12, and it would be the same timing for the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro.

The EVT stage for the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro would reportedly not happen until mid-May. As a result, Pu says that he expects that the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 and two 6.1-inch device to have a release date of September. The biggest 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro would not hit shelves until October.

As MacRumors notes, Apple has done two-phase rollouts before for its iPhones. This includes the iPhone X hitting in November following the launch of the iPhone 8 in September. And the iPhone XR launched in October after the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max in September.

But based on what we’re hearing, the only key difference between the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max is the size. With the previous two-phased launches, we were talking about completely different phones.

Generally speaking, all four iPhone 12 models are expected to feature OLED displays this time around, as well as 5G connectivity and Apple’s fast new A14 Bionic processor that could rival the MacBook Pro for power. But the iPhone 12 Pro models are expected to once again get a third telephoto camera plus a new LiDAR scanner for advanced augmented reality performance and enhanced photo and video capture via time-of-flight data.

Between now and then, the analyst Pu says that Apple will be launching the new iPhone SE/iPhone 9 in mid-April. That phone is expected to cost $399, similar to the Google Pixel 4a, and sport a 4.7-inch display, A13 chip and Touch ID.

Source: Tom's Guide