It's been a hectic week with Prime Day madness, but now that it's behind us, we can return to our regularly scheduled programming. It's good to be back!
So let's start off with a classic question: what's in a name? Apparently, a recent survey by SellCell claims that 74% of people don't want the next iPhone to be called "iPhone 13," because of superstitions of bad luck and all that bad mojo. Honestly, I think it's a little silly not to want the next iPhone just because of the bad rap of the number "13" — did all of these people also skip out on using iOS 13? But I could totally see Apple skipping the number 13; I mean, they did that with nine, after all.
Honestly, I agree with Oliver Haslam and think they should get rid of the numbers altogether and just go with "iPhone". It simplifies things; I mean, what, are we going to keep using numbers when we have the iPhone 28 or something? Just saying. We can keep the "mini," "Pro," and "Pro Max" monikers to differentiate between the different sizes. And to be clear, I don't want to go back to the "S" route either.
Speaking of iPhone 13, we have more rumors this week. Some iPhone 13 dummy units have surfaced, and there appears to be a redesigned camera layout coming. The change mostly involves the cameras on the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 cameras, where the lenses are now on the opposite corners of the square bump, instead of one above the other like the past few years. Not a big change, but honestly, I think it looks slightly better, and I'm sure that it will be the next best iPhone.
What I'm not looking forward to, though, is the fact that the camera bumps are going to be even more noticeable, but I always put a case on, so I guess it doesn't matter too much in the end. On the other hand, it seems that the iPhone 13 Pro Max will be "slightly larger" overall, and all I can take away from that is that it continues to be unusable for my tiny, petite hands. As much as I want a mini phone, I still want better cameras and battery life, so I feel I'll be getting another Pro.
The other feature that the latest concept has shown off is a smaller notch in action, and once again, I'm all for it. Never liked how big the current notch has been since the iPhone X, but it's just one of those things that I've grown used to. Still, I hope a smaller notch means more stuff can be displayed in the status bar, such as my battery level percentage, because my iPhone 12 Pro's battery life has been god-awful since iOS 14.5. Having to bring down Control Center each time just to check the remaining battery level is annoying when I'm just using my device.
And as far as when to expect the iPhone 13 (or whatever it's going to be called)? An analyst suspects that will be the third week of September. Personally, this sounds about right — last year was unique because of the pandemic, which delayed a lot of things. But as everything starts to return to a new kind of normal, it wouldn't surprise me to see Apple announce the next iPhone in September and hopefully have the iPhones available the week after. My iPhone 12 Pro battery has been dreadful (92% capacity for a launch day model), and I am eager to get a new model with the iPhone Upgrade Program I'm enrolled in, so the sooner, the better!
On another note, Apple opened a new store in downtown Los Angeles, California, this past week. The Apple Tower Theatre Store is a one-of-a-kind store in a building that has been completely and beautifully restored. During the launch, even Tim Cook made an appearance, and iJustine created a pretty great video showing all of the fine details of the new Apple Store. I'd give it a watch if you haven't already, and if you ever visit downtown Los Angeles, make sure to stop by. I live a bit south of LA, but next time I'm downtown, I'll definitely be giving it a visit.
Anyways, until next time!
- Christine Romero-Chan
