Apple announced its next big event will be held on Sept. 12 at its Cupertino campus, where many believe the company will unveil three new iPhone models.
It’s been speculated that Apple will release three smartphones this year, including a top-of-the-line model with a 6.5-inch screen, while a slightly smaller model, also with an OLED edge-to-edge screen, will be 6.1 inches. The last model will have the same 5.8-inch screen as the X, along with the latest upgrades.
According to Reuters, Apple’s event invitation made heavy use of the color gold, which has raised speculation that the company plans to launch a gold-colored successor to the iPhone X, which was only available in silver and gray. And 9to5Mac even posted photographs of two gold iPhone models, adding that the new flagship model will be called the iPhone XS.
After the announcement, Apple shares were up 2.2 percent at an all-time high of $227.97. In addition, a recent study found that consumers are also excited about upgrading to the new iPhone. Research and investment firm Loup Ventures surveyed 530 consumers and found that 48 percent said they were interested in upgrading, compared to 25 percent the previous year.
“A lot of people have heard that the new iPhones are expected to have bigger screens, and that excites people,” says Gene Munster, an investor and analyst with Loup, according to USA Today. “So there’s a greater interest in upgrading than usual.”
And new data last month showed that more customers are choosing iPhones over Samsung devices this year, with iPhones accounting for 36 percent of total U.S. smartphone activations during the second quarter of 2018. The new numbers are an improvement over last year, when iPhone activations accounted for just over 30 percent of total activations.
As far as price, the iPhone X was released at $999. But Warren Buffett told CNBC on Thursday (Aug. 30) that the iPhone is “enormously underpriced” even at $1,000 because of how indispensable it has become for so many people.