Rumor: iPhone with LCD from next year will get metal housing

Apple may make an iPhone with a metal back next year. That writes the Japanese newspaper Nikkei, which in the past has regularly published accurate information about unannounced Apple products, although the newspaper is sometimes wrong.

Nikkei, citing an anonymous source allegedly familiar with Apple’s plans, says only an iPhone with a 6.1″ LCD will have a metal back. All iPhones released between 2012 and 2016 have a metal back, with the exception of the plastic iPhone 5c from 2013. This year Apple switched to glass backs for the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. This makes wireless charging possible.

It is unknown why Apple would want to go back to metal. It seems unlikely that the model will support wireless charging, because charging via the supported Qi standard does not function due to a metal back. Nikkei is known as a reliable source, but in the past has been a bit of a mess with rumors.

According to previous rumors, there will be three iPhones next year. Two of them have an OLED screen, with screen diagonals of around 5.8″ and 6.3″, while an LCD model would have a 6.1″ screen. It is unknown what the aspect ratios of the devices are, although it is ahead of time. the hand that the 5.8″ model will be a successor to the current iPhone X, while the 6.3″ variant seems to be the Plus version.