The 10th anniversary of the original iPhone's release, 29 June, is coming up next month, and so far the rumours have pointed at three phones: essentially a 7S, a 7S Plus, and the long-rumored, reinvented anniversary iPhone, or iPhone—the one we're all waiting for. But don't hold your breath on that last one because it may slide to 2018.
Indications of a longer delay come by way of analysts at Deutsche Bank working off a report from the site ValueWalk, which were published by Business Insider. It's long chain of whisperings, and one that might not ordinarily be off note if it weren't for the fact that it lines up with other mounting evidence. The first reports of delays came from Bloomberg's highly reliably Mark Gurman, which suggests that whatever the timeframe, there are delays of some sort. And that makes sense, because redesigning a phone with an all-new look and curved glass display is hard. Even Samsung, which has been dabbling with curved glass for years, is said to have hit a few snags in the production of its Galaxy S8. It's reasonable to assume Apple may have hit some as well.
It's possible that Apple might announce the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus for near immediate sale and then reveal the iPhone 8 (or Anniversary Edition) as available at a later date. Apple used this sort of two-stage announcement to reveal the Apple Watch, likely due to the fact that once a product hits production, it's all but destined to leak, and a reveal far ahead of release is pretty much the only way to preserve surprise.
But wouldn't the knowledge of an upcoming super-phone cut into the sales of the more traditional 7S? Maybe, but the reinvented iPhone is rumored to very expensive so Apple might see this device as a new, luxury tier that doesn't directly compete with the traditional offerings much the same way that the iPhone SE is something of a budget line for small phone enthusiasts.
Any supposed "delay" of an as-yet-unannounced product is best taken with a grain of salt, but so far all signs point to a fancy new iPhone that may show its face long before you can get your hands on it. After all, the anniversary is just too good of a date to miss. Just keep you hopes in check for what 29 June may actually bring.
Source: Business Insider
