iPhone 9, iPhone 9 Plus: What's up with these budget Apple iPhones?

Had the Coronavirus pandemic not happened, we could have been subjected to a brand new iPhone this Spring. The iPhone 9 has been in discussion long before the iPhone 11 series debuted last September. Expected to succeed the iPhone SE as Apple’s most affordable offerings in the premium smartphone space, the iPhone 9 or iPhone SE 2 has been known to be Apple’s return to basic-smartphone approach. However, off late, there have been some changes to endless stream of information regarding the iPhone 9.

We knew that an iPhone 9 is in the pipeline but a recent tip from 9to5Mac suggests that there’s another phone joining the iPhone 9/ iPhone SE 2 within the next few months. There’s an iPhone 9 Plus that Apple is planning to launch alongside the iPhone 9 and similar to previous models, it will simply be a bigger version of the iPhone 9. The information comes from iOS 14 codes and that means this product is indeed happening.

If you have been waiting to upgrade to a new iPhone, this may come as enticing news. A cheaper yet bigger iPhone is something every phone lover would want to see. Hence, before Apple makes them official, here’s a collection of everything you need to know about these new budget iPhones.

iPhone 9/ iPhone SE 2: The most sensible iPhone model of our times?

-Phones are becoming expensive and Apple is leading the pack with its flagship iPhone 11 Pro models. However, with the iPhone 9/ iPhone SE 2, Apple is looking to tap the segment where OnePlus and Xiaomi rule, i.e. the flagship killer category under Rs 40,000. The iPhone 9 has been tipped to start from as low as Rs $399 (approximately Rs 28,000). This could make Realme, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo sweat.

-Since this will be a low-cost iPhone, Apple will cut a lot of corners to meet the low prices. The iPhone 9/ iPhone SE 2 will be based on the iPhone 8 chassis and it is even said to look similar to the iPhone 8. The handset will have a display with massive bezels and a compact factor. However, Apple is said to retain the glass body in a bid to allow wireless charging.

-The display on the iPhone 9 will be a 4.7-inch IPS LCD Retina display with thick bezels. To cut costs, Apple will exclude the 3D Touch and hence will rely on Haptics to emulate the long-press actions.

-Apple will also rely on the TouchID system for the iPhone 9/iPhone SE 2. To aid that, the Home button will be present below the display but similar to the iPhone 8, it will just be a touch-based button instead of an actual button.

-While the iPhone 9 will be recycling the iPhone 8 parts, it will get the guts of the iPhone 11. Apple is expected to use the A13 Bionic chipset on the iPhone 9 and it will be paired to 3GB RAM along with 64GB storage as well as 128GB storage.

iPhone 9

-Cameras are where the iPhone 9 will draw from the iPhone 11. There will be a single camera at the back but it will be the same 12-megapixel camera from the iPhone 11. Hence, you can expect great photo quality from the iPhone 9. The front camera is also expected to be lifted off from the iPhone 11.

iPhone 9 Plus: A bigger iPhone 9?

-The iOS 14 codes have revealed that the iPhone 9 Plus will essentially be a bigger version of the iPhone 9. Hence, it is expected that instead of the 4.7-inch display, the iPhone 9 Plus will make use of a 5.5-inch display.

-There’s no information on the cameras but we can expect Apple to include a dual-camera system on this one. Apple could pull the dual-camera system from the iPhone 11, i.e. a 12-megapixel main camera and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera.

-The iPhone 9 Plus could also end up getting a bigger battery that could provide comparable battery life to an iPhone 11.