Apple iPhone 9 Release Imminent As Third-Party Cases Arrive At Best Buy
More specifically, Best Buy stores have been receiving shipments of a new Urban Armor Gear case, and it's further described as being for "New iPhone 4.7-inch 2020", which is of course in reference to the iPhone 9. 9to5Mac, which originally reported on this new case in Best Buy's inventory, indicates that its source say that it cannot be "merchandised" until Sunday, April 5th.
The April 5th date is rather curious, as Apple doesn't typically announce new products on the weekend. However, the publication seems to think that Apple could actually announce the smartphone sometime this week, with availability coming next week. It's all pure speculation at this point though, and we haven't been tipped off to any other indicators that the iPhone 9 would be launching this week.
Apple is expected to launch both an iPhone 9 and iPhone 9 Plus, which would be based on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus respectively. The phones are expected to look nearly identical to their "donor" chassis from the outside, which means that we should see similar specs for the display, Touch ID system, and rear camera(s). However, inside the iPhone 9 and iPhone 9 Plus will make use of the current generation Apple 13 Bionic SoC that's found in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro families.
As for pricing, we wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone 9 kicks off the festivities with a starting price of $399. For comparison, the cheapest iPhone currently available from Apple is the iPhone 8, which starts at $449.
Earlier this month, Apple announced its new iPad Pro family (which includes a new A12Z SoC and LiDAR) and a new MacBook Air, which includes the Magic Keyboard and 10th gen Intel Ice Lake processors.
