Apple’s new low-cost iPhone starts mass production next month

As the company looks to address a wider section of the global smartphone market ahead of its 5G handsets later this year, Apple suppliers are slated to begin assembly of an all-new low-cost iPhone next month, Bloomberg News reports, citing “people familiar with the plan.”

Debby Wu and Mark Gurman for Bloomberg:

The Cupertino, California-based company is expected to officially unveil the new phone as early as March, one person familiar with its road map said. The assembly work for the new handset will be split among Hon Hai Precision Industry, Pegatron Corp. and Wistron Corp., the people added.

This will be the first lower-cost iPhone model since the iPhone SE. It will look similar to the iPhone 8 from 2017 and include a 4.7-inch screen… The new phone is expected to have Touch ID built into the home button… It will not have Apple’s Face ID biometric authentication, but it will feature the same processor as Apple’s current flagship device, the iPhone 11.

MacDailyNews Take: It’s too bad about the retention of the antiquated Home button, if this report is true, as a 4.7-inch edge-to-edge display would have fit into a casing much closer to the iPhone SE and the iPhone 8 (see graphic below). However, we understand the need for Apple to keep the costs down, so the omission of the TrueDepth Camera System which would have enabled Face ID, among other features such as animoji and slofies, makes sense.