Here's another sign that the iPhone 12 won't arrive this month

iPhone 11
The iPhone 11. (Image credit: Future)

Predicting when new iPhones are going to arrive is usually pretty easy, but not so in 2020 with the iPhone 12 – it looks as though we'll be waiting longer than normal, and another piece of evidence for a delay just showed up.

As per Reuters, Apple chip supplier Broadcom has said that its ramp up of component shipments will stretch to the end of the 2020 calendar year, which is three months later than normal. That sounds very much like an iPhone 12 delay.

Broadcom is primarily responsible for the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips that sit inside Apple's phones. Broadcom hasn't mentioned Apple by name, but it doesn't take much detective work to join the dots.

Earlier in the year, the electronics supplier said that a major product from a "large North American mobile phone customer" would be launching later than normal – and again that's highly likely to be Apple and the iPhone 12.

The waiting game

So when exactly is the iPhone 12 going to appear? Ordinarily, we would say the first week of September, though that looks very improbable now. Rumors have suggested Apple might announce the phone next week, even if it won't be on sale for a while yet.

Other tipsters have suggested that the end of September is a more likely date for an announcement, with at least some of the handsets going on sale in October. It sounds as though different iPhone 12 models might start shipping at different points.

One of the most reliable sources in the business has said that the cheaper 5.4-inch iPhone 12 and 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Max models will arrive first, with the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max arriving sometime later.

With all the uncertainty around these dates, it's likely that not even Apple has been sure about when it can unveil the iPhone 12. One of the most recent and reliable rumors suggests October 12 is the big launch day for the iPhone 12, and that Apple will announce a new iPad and a new Apple Watch next week.

Via MacRumors

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.