There are some great iPhone models available, such as the flagship iPhone 11 Pro, the more affordable iPhone 11, and the compact iPhone SE (2020), but if you’re thinking of upgrading to any of them, you might want to hold off.
There are a few reasons for that which we’ll get into below, but combined they mean that right now is basically the worst possible time to buy a new iPhone.
So unless your current phone is completely broken, it’s really worth waiting a little longer, even if your current handset is old, worn out, or you’re just bored of it and due an upgrade. In fact, it’s worth waiting a while even if you don’t want the upcoming iPhone 12. Below we’ll explain why.
1. The iPhone 12 is landing soon
The most obvious reason to hold off on buying a new iPhone is that the iPhone 12 range is expected to launch very soon, so any iPhone you buy now will very shortly be a bit more outdated.
Buying a current iPhone model rather than one of the iPhone 12 range also means you’ll miss out on new tech, features, and improvements.
While we don’t know for sure what the iPhone 12 range will feature, it’s certainly going to have a faster, more powerful chipset, and rumors point to other upgrades, such as the addition of a LiDAR scanner on some models, which could improve the camera’s portrait mode and augmented reality abilities.
Plus, the iPhone 12 range is almost certainly going to support 5G, which no current iPhone does, and which will make the new phones much more future-proofed.
We don’t know exactly when the iPhone 12 range will land – usually new models arrive in September, but Apple itself has suggested there will be a delay this year. Still, a launch sometime in October seems likely, and that’s not far off at all.
2. We’re expecting more choice than ever
Not only will you be missing out on 5G and other features if you upgrade to one of the current models, you’ll also likely have less choice about which handset to buy.
That’s because Apple is strongly rumored to be launching four iPhone 12 models, when usually we only get three new phones.
This means some new sizes, including reportedly a 5.4-inch basic iPhone 12, which could be ideal for anyone who wants a compact model with higher end specs than the iPhone SE (2020).
There’s then thought to be two 6.1-inch models (one of which would be a higher spec iPhone 12 Pro), and at the top end a 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max – which is a larger size than any current iPhone. So if you want an especially big or small iPhone it’s definitely worth waiting.
3. Prices drop
There are compelling reasons to wait for the iPhone 12 range even if you don’t actually want one of the upcoming models, the most significant of which being that the older models will almost certainly see a price drop.
For example, when Apple launched the iPhone 11 range it kept the iPhone XR on sale, but dropped its starting price from $749 / £749 / AU$1,229 to $599 / £629 / AU$1,049. And while the company stopped directly selling the iPhone XS range, many other shops still stocked those phones at a significant discount.
So even if you specifically want to buy one of the iPhone 11 models, waiting a little longer could see the price drop dramatically.
The one exception to this price lowering is the iPhone SE (2020) – that phone only landed earlier this year, and isn’t going to be directly superseded by any of the iPhone 12 models, so that will probably remain the same price.