iPhone 12 leak reveals Sept. 8 launch date

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A new leak says that the iPhone 12 will be unveiled in September but launch a month later.

iPhone 12 Pro navy blue
(Image credit: Svetapple)

There’s a new iPhone 12 rumor out, and it’s a doozy. Posting on Twitter, leaker @ihacktu says the iPhone event will happen as usual in September, but that we won’t actually see the iPhone 12 release date until October. That month, Apple will allegedly host a separate event focused on its Mac hardware.

We’re a little bit dubious about some of those claims in spite of the fact that iHacktu has been reasonably correct with their leaks in the past. September 8 would certain be consistent with Apple’s recent iPhone events, but waiting another month to ship phones would not be. 

iPhone 12 October release date?

Apple typically ships phones within two weeks of announcing them. There have been exceptions — the iPhone X didn’t ship until nearly two months after its unveiling, but Apple had already shipped the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in the intervening time.

Holding a September 8 event for an October product launch might make sense if Apple were having an in-person event and couldn’t easily change venues. But Apple’s iPhone 12 launch will likely be an online-only affair, and if Apple follows the pattern set by June’s Worldwide Developer conference, much of the presentation could be pre-recorded. That means Apple could time its iPhone 12 event to when the phones will be ready to launch.

That’s not to say the iPhone 12 won’t ship in October or have the four models Apple is working on rolled out in stages — just that the timing described in iHacktu’s tweet sounds a little suspect, given Apple’s typical way of doing things.

AirPower and Mac event

Additionally, AirPower -- first promised at that 2017 iPhone X launch and then killed in 2019 — is likely to be a no-show. While rumors have suggested Apple is trying to revive the charging mat, with an eye toward a September 2020 launch, it still seems like a long shot to include in a Sept. 8 event.

As for that Oct. 27 event,  we're supposed to see another event that features a new iPad Pro as well as Apple's Silicon Mac lineup, including a new MacBook and MacBook Pro 13-inch model. Oddly enough, iHacktu also asserts that Apple could even announce the enigmatic Apple Glass augmented reality headset then, which would happen if the keynote is held in-person instead of online. 

Again, rumors have suggested new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models powered by Apple chips could arrive this year, even if the bulk of Apple Silicon Macs won’t hit the scene until 2021, so a Mac event in October isn’t outside the realm of possibility. Including Apple Glass seems more fanciful — the most optimistic rumors suggest the AR product would be ready in the spring of 2021, though most Apple watchers think 2022 or 2023 is more likely.

Apple tends to play its cards close to the vest, so we wouldn’t expect confirmation of an early September iPhone 12 launch event until mid-August at the earliest.

Brittany Vincent
Brittany Vincent

Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over 13 years for publications including Tom's Guide, MTV, Rolling Stone, CNN, Popular Science, Playboy, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, and more. She's also appeared as a panelist at video game conventions like PAX East and PAX West and has coordinated social media for companies like CNET. When she's not writing or gaming, she's looking for the next great visual novel in the vein of Saya no Uta. You can follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake.