Apple fans around the world are in for what could be the tech company's biggest announcement this year.
The California-based tech giant is preparing to release at least three new smartphones later in 2018 — and one of them will be the largest iPhone ever, according to a report.
The trio of new handsets, which will also include a cheaper iPhone and an upgraded iPhone X, is up for release this fall, according to Bloomberg, citing sources “familiar with the products.”
The iPhone maker is currently doing “production tests” with suppliers in preparation for this year’s big announcement.
How big is it?
It looks like the new supersized phone will be a larger version of Apple's flagship iPhone X.
The body of the new handset will be about the same size as the iPhone 8 Plus, but its edge-to-edge screen will be about an inch larger.
Tech watchers say the new phone's 6.5-inch display could rival Samsung's Galaxy S9 Plus.
Code named D33, the handset could feature a screen resolution of 1,242 by 2,688 pixels, making it as sharp as the one on iPhoneX.
Its maker also intends to equip it with an OLED display, similar to iPhone X, as well as a Face ID scanner functionality.
Initial reactions
Phone users, however, don’t sound too excited about the upcoming supersized phone, citing that it could be just another phablet.
“That’s no longer an iPhone but an iPad,” said Lenard from the Philippines, reacting to a social media post.
“It is not [a] handy phone anymore. Not comfortable to use if [it’s too] big,” added another phone user.
Gulf News has reached out to Apple for comment.
Spending on smartphones is high in the UAE. As of June 2017, almost nine in ten handsets registered on the local networks were smartphones.
However, Samsung continues to dominate the market, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), with 34.5 per cent of all handsets registered on mobile networks carrying the South Korean label, as of the second quarter of 2017.
Nokia handsets were the second-most popular manufacturer, with a presence of 22.9 per cent, followed by Apple, with a share of 15.5 per cent, Lenovo (5.4 per cent) and Huawei (3.2 per cent).
