2019 iPhone to Debut With Triple-Lens Camera Setup; 2018 LCD iPhone to Feature LG's MLCD+ Display: Reports

While the iPhone X brought the trend of sporting a notch design and offering facial unlock, Apple is now in rumours for building a new iPhone model for 2019 with not just a dual camera setup but a triple-lens rear camera setup. This new development, if it turns out to be true, will make the 2019 iPhone model looks somewhat similar to the Huawei P20 Pro that already has a triple rear camera setup to take on the market of dual rear camera-featuring flagships. A separate report claims that the company is set to offer an MLCD+ display on the LCD model of its 2018 iPhone series. The new display panel is reported to be identical to the MLCD+ display of the LG G7 ThinQ. It is also claimed that the iPhone X Plus, which will join this year's lineup comprising the iPhone X successor and the LCD iPhone model, will have a size similar to the iPhone 8 Plus.

Starting with the 2019 iPhone, according to the Taipei Times, citing a research note from Yuanta Securities analyst Jeff Pu, at least one of the new iPhone models with a triple-lens rear camera setup will debut in the second half of next year. It is certain that once Apple will deploy three camera sensors on the back of its new iPhone model, other vendors would follow the trend and eventually boost the adoption of the triple-lens design that debuted on the Huawei P20 Pro earlier this year. The Huawei offering's three sensors are a 40-megapixel primary RGB sensor, 20-megapixel monochrome sensor, and an 8-megapixel telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom support.

A previous report from the Economic Daily News suggested that the new camera system will have a six-piece lens structure with up to 5x optical zoom and one 12-megapixel sensor. It is presumable that the third lens on the 2019 iPhone will enable 3x optical zoom that will help users magnify an object a bit more than what they can achieve using the 2x zoom functionality of the iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, or the iPhone X. Moreover, we can safely assume that the triple camera setup will be exclusive to the top-end iPhone model next year. This means you would continue to see dual rear camera setup on the inferior iPhone models.

This year's iPhone lineup was previously rumoured to come with a Cover Glass Sensor (CGS) technology that will make the display panel more impact resistant and lighter in weight than the displays used on the existing iPhone models. However, the CGS technology restricts access to 3D Touch that Apple is offering across all its flagship iPhone models since the launch of the iPhone 6s that took place in September 2015.

As we still have several months for the 2019 iPhone models, rumours have widely emerged for the 2018 iPhone family that is so far reported to include three new models, including an affordable one with a 6.1-inch LCD panel. This new iPhone model is said to have the same MLCD+ that LG offers on its latest G7 ThinQ flagship, reports Patently Apple. The availability of the MLCD+ panel over a traditional LCD panel will help the new iPhone deliver an enhanced brightness and vivid colour experiences. LG already claims that its proprietary LCD technology offers 1,000 nits of brightness and displays 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut. This makes the display panel nearly a perfect solution for using under bright sunlight and viewing HDR content.

In addition to the LCD iPhone model, Apple is also in the headlines nowadays for the iPhone X Plus that will feature a 6.5-inch OLED display. This giant iPhone model is now reported to have the same size of the iPhone 8 Plus. Macotakara claims that despite the fact that the iPhone 8 Plus features a 5.5-inch display, while the iPhone X Plus is rumoured to have a 6.5-inch display, the similarity in size exists due to the smaller bezels of the new model. However, it is said that the 6.5-inch 2018 iPhone would be slightly thicker than the iPhone 8 Plus due to the mounting form of the rear camera. The new model is reported to be around 2.2mm thicker than the 7.5mm thick iPhone 8 Plus.

For the LCD iPhone model, Macotakara reports, citing a person familiar with the development, that the 6.1-inch model will have a slightly smaller, 6-inch LCD panel and come with Face ID support. The Chinese source also claims that Apple is set to bring support for horizontal Face ID unlock with the release of iOS 12. Presently, Face ID works only with the iPhone X in portrait orientation. This needs to be upgraded with horizontal orientation addition if Apple has plans to bring Face ID to its iPad range. Nevertheless, it is already rumoured that the company will bring new iPad models with Face ID support as early as this year.