As hard a pill it is to swallow, we’re nearing the end of the summer season. In about a month, a good chunk of college students will have returned to their dorms, grade-schoolers will be loading up their backpacks with pencils and notebooks, and one last family barbecue over Labor Day weekend will take place. Despite that sour taste in your mouth and depression-fueled churn in your stomach thanks to fall soon arriving, there is one thing that’s worth looking forward to: new iPhones.
As is the case every year, Apple will be releasing new iPhones come September. We have no idea what they’ll be called (that’s been the case for the past couple of years, actually), but current rumors refer to them as the “iPhone 11” series. As such, we’ll be doing the same.
Instead of one major overall of the lineup, Apple will be focusing on refinements with the iPhone 11 series. Whether that’s in their best interest is debatable since that’s kind of what last year was. This year, we’re expecting similar designs to last year’s iPhones, similar internal upgrades, and plenty of little changes. It should be an overall solid year for the iPhone, but it won’t be anything too crazy.
That being said, there are quite a few things worth looking forward to. So far, the rumors sound pretty promising, and I thought I’d list some of my most-anticipated expectations in this article. Across the lineup, here’s what you can get hyped up about in regards to the iPhone 11.
Upgraded Cameras
Every iPhone generation seems to carry a new set of cameras, and 2019 looks to be no different. Apple has been rumored time after time to be adding a third lens to the back of the successors to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Meanwhile, a secondary camera will be added to the back of the new iPhone XR.
But the XS successors will be the most interesting because of their third lens. See, the next XR is expected to offer a second lens that serves the same purpose as the XS’ second rear camera, giving users lossless zoom with the tap of a button. Meanwhile, the iPhone 11’s third camera will offer an ultra-wide lens, allowing users to capture much more of a scene into a single image. We’ve seen this feature on multiple flagship phones throughout 2019, and it looks like it’ll be making its way to the iPhone come September.
The front camera on the new iPhones will also reportedly get some love. It’s said the camera will be able to shoot in slow-motion at 120 frames per second. If you’ve ever wanted to take a slow-motion vlog, you’ll want an iPhone 11.
As exciting as these features are alone, I wouldn’t put a pin in saying that’s all we’ll be getting with the iPhone 11’s camera system. Apple always manages to surprise the crowd at its annual event with new HDR tricks and other camera-centric features. So while you might only see a few leaks here and there regarding the cameras, just wait until Event Day.
Better Performance
Another given-but-still-appreciated feature of the upcoming iPhone 11 line is the performance. According to rumors (and my own assumptions), Apple will include the A13 processor with the successors to the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR. It isn’t clear how much more performance you’ll get out of this new chip when compared to the A12, but I’m sure Apple will throw up some impressive-looking charts during its event to lure in potential customers.
Connect Two Pairs of Headphones at Once
When Bluetooth 5.0 was beginning to roll out on a mainstream level, one of its marquee features was the ability to connect two pairs of wireless headphones to your device at once. This was the case with many Android phones and tablets, but not for the iPhone or iPad. However, that may change at least for the former.
Rumors suggest Apple is adding the ability to connect more than one pair of wireless headphones to your iPhone with the iPhone 11 line. Unfortunately, it isn’t clear if you’ll only be able to connect two pairs of Apple-branded headphones (AirPods and Beats) or if you’ll be able to use any pair you want. The technology is there to support all types of headphones, so we’ll have to wait and see what Cupertino decides on this fall.
Reverse Wireless Charging
Much like dual wireless headphone support, this is a feature you won’t realize you need until you need it. Phone OEMs like Samsung and Huawei have added reverse wireless charging to their devices in recent history, allowing you to place a Qi-enabled devices on the back of your phone to give it some juice. It isn’t the fastest solution in the world, but it gets the job done.
Apple may be adding a similar feature to its iPhones this year. According to rumors, you’ll be able to charge things like your AirPods or Apple Watch simply by placing them on the back of your phone. I assume this will go for all Qi-enabled devices, but it’s Apple, so who’s to say how far it’ll extend its walled garden beyond just supporting its own products.
Faster Wired Charging
A major complaint iPhone owners have with their phones is the slow charging speeds they’re forced to utilize because Apple won’t supply a faster wall charger in the box. For years, the company has included wimpy 5W chargers with their $1,000+ iPhones. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry has opted for chargers as high as 30W, giving you a 50 percent charge in under a half-hour.
Luckily, this may change with the iPhone 11 line. Multiple reports have surfaced indicating Apple will include an 18W USB-C wall charger with the next round of iPhones. The devices will still have Lightning connectors, but the back end of the cables will switch to the much more modern USB-C connector.
You can go out and buy a faster iPad charger to use with your iPhone along with the necessary cable to make it work. But why do that when Apple should be including it in the box? Hopefully, Apple caves this year and just includes these necessary accessories. They certainly charge enough money for their phones.
Bigger Batteries
Not only will you be able to charge your iPhone faster than ever and use the back of your phone to charge other devices, but Apple will also be giving iPhone 11 owners larger battery packs so they last longer all day. Rumors are currently pointing to a 20 or 30 percent increase in size for the batteries across Apple’s range of iPhones this year, but we won’t know that number for sure until we learn the exact sizes of the cells.
Other Stuff That Isn’t As Credible
Year after year, we get loads of reports that claim to give us a glimpse at the next iPhones, while in reality, only give the press a headline to run for a couple of days because of their outrageous narratives. There have been a few this year, but none that are too crazy to call “outrageous.”
There have been a good amount of smaller leaks, however. Reports indicate Apple will adopt Wi-Fi 6 with the next iPhones alongside Apple Pencil support, improved Face ID, an updated Taptic Engine, 4GB of RAM in the next iPhone XR. Whether you call these rumors “crazy” or “unrealistic” is up to you. Personally, I think Wi-Fi 6 and the updated Taptic Engine will, at least, make their way to the new iPhone series, but I could be wrong.
What are you looking forward to the most in the next round of iPhones?
