2019 iPhones Will Reportedly Wirelessly Charge Other Devices, New iPads Incoming

Thing's aren't all rosy in the iPhone realm today. Apple has been forced to go back to Qualcomm modems in the German market to get around a sales ban. In addition, consumers are upgrading their smartphones on a much longer upgrade cycle than in years past. However, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has published a research note that predicts what we might see from Apple on the iPhone and iPad front for 2019 that could spark an upgrade craze from customers.

Kuo says that the 2019 iPhone line will include a 6.5-inch and 5.8-inch OLED model and a 6.1-inch LCD model -- the same as the current crop of devices. Kuo expects that the followup to the iPhone XR will get 4GB of RAM and that all models will use a frosted glass casing and gain larger batteries. The glass case will allow for wireless charging of other devices, and the larger battery will mean adequate runtimes while charging other devices.

Kuo also notes that the 2019 iPhone will gain new UWB (ultra wideband) tech that will be specifically used for positioning and navigation when indoors. Also predicted is upgraded Face ID tech using a higher power flood illumination sensor, and a triple rear camera system with wide, telephoto, and ultra-wide lenses. Sadly, Kuo also predicts that all three models will continue with the Lightning connector rather than USB-C. He also predicts that the three new models will have the same notch as current devices.

Kuo also talks about predictions for the 2019 iPad models expecting a pair of new iPad Pro devices, a 10.2-inch iPad, and a refresh of the iPad mini. The entire line is expected to use new processors for improved performance. Kuo expects that the current 9.7-inch iPad will be replaced with a 10.2-inch unit; he offered no predictions on the pair of new iPad Pro models. Rumors about new iPads have been circulating for a while now, with new iPad mini hints showing up in iOS 12.2 last month.