Apple will not include a wired pair of EarPods with the iPhone 12 as it looks to drive more sales of its popular wireless AirPods, according to two renowned insiders.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said on Wednesday that his firm’s most recent “checks” had revealed that the wired earbuds will be omitted from packaging for Apple’s next-generation smartphone, which will go on sale later this year.
The latest news from Ives tallies with a previous leak from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who revealed that Apple was not planning to pack in any wired earbuds last month.
If it comes to pass, the iPhone 12 will be Apple’s first mobile device to exclude any sort of earbuds entirely.
Analysts believe that the move is part of Apple’s desire to push its growing line-up of AirPods.
Ives said that Apple sold 65m AirPods last year and that the figure will grow to 85m in 2020.
Apple released the premium noise-cancelling AirPods Pro in October 2019, three years after it released the standard AirPods.
Apple is believed to be readying the release of an over-ear pair of headphones called AirPods Studio, which could arrive in Q3 2020.
Ives also revealed his latest expectations for the iPhone 12.
He said that there are likely to be four models with perhaps two or three featuring 5G mobile tech and one or two others packing in standard 4G.
Recent reports have not been unanimous in the belief that Apple will release a 5G handset this year.
However, Wedbush believes that ‘millimeter wave’ or mmWave 5G will be supported in at least one of the iPhone 12 models.
The use of mmWave means that high-bandwidth networking will be possible, but it could limit the ultrafast service to outdoor settings as it generally struggles to penetrate walls.
Ives concluded his note by stating that the supply chain issues caused by the coronavirus earlier this year have now been addressed, which should facilitate an October launch date.