Every New iPhone 12 Feature You Can Expect in 2020

Next year is shaping up to be a crazy one for iPhones, as we’ve previously reported. But as new details come out, it’s looking increasingly likely that 2020 will see one of the most radical redesigns of the iPhone lineup in years.

In addition to an overhaul of the physical design, the 2020 iPhones are also rumored to sport some innovative and groundbreaking new features and capabilities. Continue reading to learn about Every New iPhone 12 Feature You Can Expect Next Year.

A Boxier Design

One of the more unexpected changes rumored for next year’s iPhone is a throwback to the iPhone 4. More specifically, TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that the device could have a squarish metal chassis — resulting in a boxier shape.

That design is much more akin to the iPhone 4, iPhone 5 or iPhone SE models than any recent iPhones. But when you look at Apple’s broader lineup, such as the sharp edges on new iPad Pro or MacBook Pro models, the design may start to make more sense.

New Sizes

Most current reports suggest that Apple will continue with its tiered, three-size flagship iPhone lineup next year. But a couple of credible rumors indicate that 2020 iPhones may come in new sizes. That’ll include a rumored 5.4-inch iPhone, a 6.2-inch iPhone and a 6.7-inch iPhone.

That would mean an obvious display size bump for the “Max” model, but it actually decreases the size of the smaller iPhone 11 Pro successor. Combined with the boxier design, that could mean that the device would be much more akin to an “iPhone XE” than the rumored iPhone SE 2 forecast for a launch in the spring of 2020.

A Slimmer Notch

The notch, first introduced on the groundbreaking iPhone X, has been a contentious issue among smartphone enthusiasts. That’s particularly true since most Android makers have borrowed the design for their own devices. But one of Apple’s next big iPhone goals may be nixing it entirely.

That’s probably not going to happen next year, however. Even though a past rumor suggests that Apple could debut at least one iPhone without a notch in 2020, a more likely scenario would see the notch be made slimmer. While we don’t know exactly how that might look, there’s a good chance that it’ll at least be smaller than current iPhones.

New Camera Design & ToF Sensor

Apple is widely expected to debut a new time-of-flight (ToF) camera on its 2020 iPhones. That camera system would essentially use lasers to create extremely accurate 3D renderings of an environment. That has obvious benefits for augmented reality, but could also improve video and photo quality in general.

There is, of course, the question of how Apple will implement the ToF camera. While past rumors haven’t specifically indicated that it’ll be a separate lens, we’d expect Apple not to ditch the wide-angle, ultra-wide or telescopic lenses on next year’s iPhones. One possible scenario is a new quad-lens camera design on the rear.

ProMotion Display Tech

iPhones have long had excellent displays, but next year may mean some larger changes for Apple’s handset screens. Specifically, Apple’s next iPhones are rumored to sport ProMotion technology — which would mean a 120Hz refresh rate for silky smooth scrolling and animation. All three iPhones next year are also expected to pack OLED panels instead of LCD displays.

There may be another display-related change on the 2020 iPhones too: the addition of an embedded Touch ID sensor. While Apple ditched fingerprint authentication for Face ID on the iPhone X, there are plenty of signs suggesting that the company could bring back Touch ID in an under-display fashion.

5G Support

Unlike some of its fiercest Android competitors, Apple doesn’t currently have a 5G-compatible smartphone on the market. While that probably doesn’t make much of a difference for most consumers, the company does need to catch up. And most reports suggest that it will next year.

Apple’s 2020 iPhones are largely expected to sport 5G chips, which will allow them to take advantage of the blazingly fast cellular standard. It isn’t clear, however, whether only the higher-end iPhones will support 5G or if Apple will implement 5G support across the lineup.

Overhauled Internals

Apple’s A13 Bionic, seen in the iPhone 11 lineup, is already the fastest smartphone chip on the market — and it isn’t even close. Next year’s iPhones will presumably come equipped with an A14. And we can only imagine what that chip will be capable of, particularly since it may just be Apple’s first piece of silicon to be created with a 5nm chip-making process.

Speaking of internals, Apple may also officially ditch the Lightning port in next year’s devices in favor of USB-C. While there has been a ton of back-and-forth on this matter, a switch to USB-C would bring the 2020 iPhones more in-line with the rest of Apple’s current lineup. It could also have positive effects on charging and data transfer speeds.