The days of Apple ’s fortunes being tied entirely to the iPhone are over . Between iPads , Macs , HomePod , Apple TV , and Apple Watches , not to bring up a very rapidly rise services business , Apple ’s most famous Cartesian product is not necessarily the only one that matters .

But it is still the most authoritative product in Apple ’s intact portfolio . It has the most cultural significance , the broadest reach , the greatest lettre de cachet , and it is for most people the entry gunpoint into the all - important Apple ecosystem .

The iPhone XS was a predictable “ S ” model phone , taking the major designing and features of the former twelvemonth and improving performance and photographic camera calibre . For 2019 , hopefully Apple work further . Here ’s what ’s in the Bob Hope chest for the 2019 manikin iPhone .

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Apple’s Neural Engine got alotmore powerful in the A12. I think the A13 should focus on it again.

Note that general software improvements are not include here . Anything software have-to doe with that is n’t bind specifically to the new hardware is brood in aniOS 13 wishlist .

An even more powerful Neural Engine

It ’s probably a given that the iPhone in 2019 will come with a new A - serial processor , which Apple will likely call the A13 ( if it ’s not superstitious ) . Apple ’s manufacture better half will almost for certain not be ready with the new 5 nm manufacturing process in sentence for next class ’s iPhone — TSMC require to make 5 nm chip for mate like Apple in 2020 .

Apple ’s Neural Engine get alotmore muscular in the A12 . I recollect the A13 should focus on it again .

That means another micro chip build on the same 7 nm process . We probably ca n’t gestate huge leaps in public presentation and battery life , but Apple will probably still add to the electronic transistor count and give us a fully grown and more herculean chip .

apple a12 neural engine

Apple’s Neural Engine got alotmore powerful in the A12. I think the A13 should focus on it again.

Hopefully , just as it did with the A12 , Apple will give the Neural Engine the Leo ’s portion of new potato chip real the three estates . This is the part of the chip specialized to processing machine learning and AI algorithms , which increasingly factor into everything Apple does . It ’s a big part of Siri , the camera app , the Photos app , Augmented Reality , and more . developer can utilize CoreML to target the Neural Engine and run their own simple machine learning code faster .

Let ’s see an A13 withdoublethe Neural Engine performance of the A12 . Take it from 5 trillion operations per secondly to 10 trillion . The CPU and GPU are already so much faster than the competition , they do n’t involve a cost increase . But as AI and machine learning more and more becomes the core of iOS and its apps and service , race up the Neural Engine can have a big impact .

A crazy-good camera

Every iPhone has a good camera than the one before . That ’s been true since the very first model and it ’s not going to break anytime soon .

But it ’s time for Apple to do more than just improve the image processing . A third genus Lens on the back , perhaps a encompassing - angle hired gun , could admit for some interesting new computational picture taking options in addition to simply make iPhone user another elbow room to take icon .

Is it time for a third photographic camera in the back ? Or maybe a 2d wide - angle selfie camera ?

iphone xs x camera bump

Is it time for a third camera in the back? Or maybe a second wide-angle selfie camera?

An additional wide - slant tv camera on the front might be even more useful — it ’s in taking selfies that people seem to have the most hassle get everything they want in inning .

But beyond new hardware , Apple has to really break out all the stops with unexampled software package picture taking sport . Google ’s Modern Night Sight mode is a everlasting exercise of the sort of semi - observational feature that iPhone substance abuser would fuck to play with . Nvidia ’s engineering science togenerate irksome - mo footage from regular footageis the kind of feature of speech that would mate utterly with the knock-down Neural Engine in Apple ’s modish chips .

Of course , even snap should seem good , but we should be able-bodied to domore . The iPhone necessitate to be able to permit us take the kinds of word picture you never could before .

iphone xr notch

Face ID is great, but a second-generation TrueDepth module could take it to the next level.

A second-generation TrueDepth module

In the iPhone XS , Face ID is faster than it is on the iPhone X. That ’s mostly due to improvements in the amphetamine of the strong enclave and the Neural Engine . The actual TrueDepth module itself has n’t really been meliorate .

present ID is peachy , but a second - generation TrueDepth module could take it to the next tier .

I ’d like to see a 2nd - generation TrueDepth ironware module . It ’s probably too much to trust for it to as if by magic wither to the size that could fit in the tiny iPhone X bezel without a pass , but it could work well at its current size of it . It should work with your speech sound turned to any orientation course , as it does on the novel iPad Pro . It should be more reliable in more lighting conditions , including those where there ’s a vivid light behind you ( using Face ID with the twelve noon sun overhead can sometimes be a challenge ) . The angle of view should be a bit wider , so it works with the earpiece resting on the desk next to you .

iphone xr ports

It’s time for Lightning to be replaced by USB-C. Rip off the band-aid. It’s the right thing for the future of the platform.

We can all remember how much beneficial Touch ID got when the iPhone hexad present a 2nd - contemporaries faculty . envisage that leap in timber , the “ magical ” it - just - works feeling , implement to Face ID .

Switch to USB-C

Macs heraldic bearing via USB - C , iPhones and iPads charge via Lightning .

But thenew iPad Prohas switch to USB - C , so that bewilder the whole “ USB - C is for Macs and Lightning is for Io ” division out of whang .

It ’s sentence for Lightning to be replaced by USB - C. Rip off the band - aid . It ’s the right thing for the time to come of the platform .

iphone xr benchmarks battery

iPhone battery life is certainly not bad, but everyone always wants more. A bigger battery is the simplest way to get there.

It ’s time to unite the system . Apple ’s all - in with USB - ampere-second on the Mac ; it does n’t putanyother port on Mac laptops , and iMacs have an abundance of USB - ascorbic acid port . Just make everyone ’s biography easier and swap Lightning for USB - C on all iPhones and iPads . Give us one cable to rule them all .

Sure , it might require that the iPhones be atinybit deep to accommodate the port , but that ’s okay . That just give Apple room for …

A bigger battery

I never take heed anyone kvetch that the iPhone is n’t fragile enough . Or that other premium phones , like the Galaxy S9 or the Pixel 3 , are too thick . I heareveryonecomplain that they want long electric battery spirit .

iPhone battery life is certainly not bad , but everyone always wants more . A vainglorious bombardment is the simplest path to get there .

Here ’s the pitch : make the new iPhone justonemillimeter thickheaded . That would take it to 8.7 mm , less than a half - millimeter thick than the iPhone XR ! It would still look and feel extremist - premium , and you might even be able to get rid of the tv camera bump for an astonishingly moneyed design .

iphone charger usb c rumor

Rumors of an USB-C fast-charging adapter in the iPhone box didn’t come true this year.

That would provide room within for a thicker , mellow - capacity battery , and room for the USB - C plug , too ( as previously mentioned ) . It ’s a win - win - profits .

A fast charger in the box

Apple still ships thousand - dollar earphone with a 5 - watt battery charger in the box . The phones are capable of charge much quicker , but you ’d never get it on it if you do n’t go out and buyanother charging adapter .

hearsay of an USB - vitamin C tight - charging adapter in the iPhone loge did n’t come on-key this twelvemonth .

sooner this year , we heard several rumorsof an 18 - James Watt USB - C transcriber interchange the 5 - watt in - box adapter . lamentably , they were not proven unfeigned .

It ’s metre to put a fast USB - C battery charger in the box . This penny - pinching from the world ’s most successful tech fellowship , at the expense of the exploiter experience , on some of the most expensive phones money can corrupt , is justshameful .

An always-on display

Technically , Apple could add this to any of its phones with an OLED display with an iOS update , but it would n’t surprise me to see the company make it sole only to a new model .

Showing the prison term , date , and some other elementary glanceable info ( like the weather , and mayhap an unread messages bet ) at all clip on the screen could easily be accomplished with minimal big businessman draw .

It would be good for the fight to reduce screen time , too . How often do we pick up our phone just to check the time , appointment , or weather only to get sucked into a ocean of notifications . If a warm glance down at my desk could give me that info without even touching my phone , I would beak it up less often , and get distracted by never - end social web arguments a lot less .

Make the small one smaller

If Apple ’s going to make three iPhone size again , it would n’t be a defective melodic theme to make the smallest one a piddling bit modest . Currently , the 5.8 - inch iPhone XS does n’t quite scratch the itching of those who yearn for a new iPhone SE . Some citizenry arereallyattached to little phones , and while I do n’t think Apple call for to specifically place that market with a four - inch poser , a head-shrinker down to 5.2 column inch or so would really make a mickle of those pocket-size headphone lover glad .

Yeah , a smaller phone would have room for a smaller battery . But the show being lowly would help . And did I mention that the Modern iPhone should be thicker , to lodge a larger battery ?

A price reduction

HA ! Who are we kidding . In the iPod days , Apple used to give us more every year for less money . But the iPhone price seems to only go in one direction , and Apple ’s expand cost - of - entry shows no foretoken of stopping .

A really good set of Leontyne Price for the new iPhones would be : $ 699 for the more low-priced model ( the heir to the iPhone XR ) , $ 849 for the iPhone XS heir , and $ 949 for the iPhone XS Max successor .

Those would still be high - ending , exchange premium phones , but maybe a little easier to afford .

Since Apple is almost certain to maintain its sky - high iPhone price ( if not raise them even high ) , how about giving us a little more value ? Put the headphone adapter back in the box , give us a USB - C flying rouse power adapter , and maybe even kindle the base storage to 128 GB ( at least in the most expensive models ) .