Picked up by acclaimed Japanese site Mac Otakara, Ken Miyauchi, president of massive Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank, accidentally leaked the launch date of Apple’s iPhone 11. And it makes perfect sense.
In answering a question about how Softbank planned to manage the launch of the iPhone, Miyauchi said a new Japanese telecommunications business law coming into effect on October 1 meant the company would be left waiting 10 full days after the launch of the iPhone before it could begin its own sales.
That pins the iPhone 11 launch date to September 20 (a Friday), which ties in perfectly with previous releases: iPhone XS (Friday, September 21), iPhone X (Friday, September 22), iPhone 7 (Friday, September 16), iPhone 6S (Friday, September 25), etc.
Understandably, Miyauchi was keen to cover his mistake, saying “Excuse me, I shouldn't say that,” (66-minute mark) but as a long term Apple partner and the first company to sell the iPhone in Japan, the cat is now out of the bag.
Knowing when the new iPhone launches and wanting to upgrade, however, are two very different things. On the plus side, Apple will equip the iPhone 11 with a new triple rear camera, while a clever logic board switch will free up space for a much larger battery. But we also already know the 2020 iPhone will feature a radical redesign, new screen sizesand display technology along with next-gen camera tech, a switch to USB-C and theadoption of 5G.
All of which makes the iPhone 11 a hard sell, but hold tight because it’s not like Samsung is doing much better.