Price rises predicted as Apple prepares to roll out new iPhones

The next iPhone should offer compelling features in communications and cameras, in a much needed boost for retailers and telco providers before Christmas.

Apple’s iPhone 13 release is looming.

Apple on Wednesday will reveal four models of iPhone 13 as the technology giant navigates a Covid squeeze from component shortages and distribution delays to get handsets to market.

The four iPhone models, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max, are expected to be more expensive with its key Taiwan semiconductor manufacturer TSMC planning to raise chip prices by 10-20 per cent.

In Australia there has also been a rise in delivery charges and disrupted delivery schedules, as experienced by retailers already.

That said, the next iPhone should offer compelling features around communications and cameras, which will provide a much-needed boost for retailers and telco providers heading into Christmas.

Last year Apple offered regular 5G on iPhone 12 models, but shunned away from providing faster, shorter-range 5G called millimetre wave or mmWave. It offers fast communications in densely packed scenarios such as stadiums and train stations.

Last year, mmWave was available only in the US, but this year mmWave support should come to more countries.

There is chatter about iPhone 13 supporting satellite text messaging. According to Bloomberg, users will be able to send satellite text messages to emergency services and to designated emergency contacts when they are off their domestic grid. The messages will be coloured grey to distinguish them from blue iMessages and green SMS messages.

Apple is expected to again improve iPhone photography with an ultrawide lens that offers auto focus, and wider apertures for better low-light performance.

Possibly the biggest deal is the expansion of the LiDAR depth sensor on the iPhone 13. The hi-tech sensor can measure the size, orientation and depth of nearby objects and can be used to create 3D images.

With photography, LiDAR can be used to improve portrait shots where the camera blurs the background around a portrait subject. It was available last year on the higher-end iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max models but is tipped to be on all four handsets this time around.

This year the LiDAR sensor could be coupled with video to let you shoot blurred backgrounds in portrait mode. The iPhone 13 could have an “astrophotography mode” to snap celestial objects such as the moon and planets. Apps such as NightCap have tried to offer this in the past.

Other mooted improvements include a faster 120 hertz display that will improve the user experience playing fast action games, and a less noticeable notch (black area) on the top front of the phone housing the cameras.

It is suggested iPhone 13 won’t bring a major redesign, in-screen touch ID, an iPhone without ports and Apple transitioning from a Lightning Cable connector to the industry standard of USB-C. Apple instead might drop cable connections altogether in future models.

The iPhone launch is the start of a brisk four months of new device releases by Apple. It’s on a three-year mission to replace Intel-based devices with new ones sporting Apple Silicon chips.

New 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros and a new Mac mini are expected to be announced with an updated M1X chip, a more powerful version of Apple’s M1 chip that debuted successfully last year.