iPhone 12 release date could be staggered by model

iPhone 12 release date could be staggered by model, with a mystery fourth iPhone too

We are expecting the iPhone 12 announcement to take place in September, however there are claims the handset's release date might be as late as 2021 and a new iPhone 12 leak is giving us another possible release window.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is perhaps the most reliable source regarding information on upcoming Apple products, has said (as reported by 9 to 5 Mac) that while there are four iPhone 12 products coming later this year, they won't all be released at once.

Kuo seems to think that the two smaller iPhones - the 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch models - will enter mass production in September, with a larger 6.7-inch device only getting that far in October.

It's not clear what the fourth iPhone will be, though it's possible it is also a 6.7-inch device (which we will get to in a moment).

The diminutive (by today's standards) 4.7-inch iPhone SE (2020) - launched in mid-April - went into production in mid-March. This would suggest, going by Kuo's statement, that the new iPhone 12 handsets may not be available until October and November respectively. 

Unlike the iPhone 11 range, which became available all in one go, it seems the new iPhone 12 models may be released in waves.

This would not be the first time Apple has staggered the release of its iPhone line. Wind the clock back to 2017, and the launch of the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X, to see the later arriving a few months after the 8 and 8+ went on sale.