Within iOS 13.4 code, 9to5Mac has discovered evidence that Apple is working on a larger “iPhone SE 2 Plus” or “iPhone 9 Plus” — not only an iPhone SE 2 or 9 — to replace both the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus models, which sport 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays, respectively.
Evidence indicates that both will run with the A13 Bionic chip, the same processor used in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro. This should make iPhone 9 more attractive for those who still use older models such as the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 7…
These iPhones will feature a solid state Home button… As they are meant to be a entry-level model, the iPhone 9 and iPhone 9 Plus will offer Touch ID instead of Face ID. Users will be able to use Apple Pay and the Express Transit feature, which is not available on some older iPhones. The new models will also be able to scan NFC tags in the background, something that is only possible with the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and the iPhone 11 and not the iPhone 8 or iPhone X.
MacDailyNews Take: These are going to be highly-capable iPhones, albeit with the old Home button which, as users of X-class iPhones and iPads know, is not as nice as having a TrueDepth Camera system and Face ID. Eventually, Apple will be able to scale to the point of eliminating the Home button everywhere. We’d hoped they’d be able to do so with every new iOS device going forward, but it seems they’re not there yet in terms of pricing. The good news that most people buying these new iPhones will be coming from older iPhones with Home buttons anyway, so they won’t know or feel like they’re missing anything.