Apple to start assembly of iPhone 9 in February ahead of March launch

Apple is set to begin manufacturing its new, low-cost iPhone next month ahead of an official launch in March, according to Bloomberg.

Supply chain sources quoted by the media company have claimed that assembly of the successor to the iPhone SE, which could be called the iPhone 9, will start in three Taiwan-based facilities in February.

The report follows other recent claims in stating that the budget-focused iPhone will feature a design similar to the iPhone 8, which launched in late 2017.

The updated bezel-less look of the newer models will be eschewed in favour of a classic design with a bezel at the top housing the front-facing camera and a touch ID home button at the bottom.

While the look and feel of the phone are unlikely to be cutting edge, it will be powered by Apple’s latest A13 Bionic chipset and a sizeable 3GB of RAM memory.

The original iPhone SE went on sale in 2016 with just a single gigabyte of memory and a small 4-inch display.

The newer iPhone will have the same 4.7-inch screen seen in the iPhone 7 and 8.

Rumours of an SE successor have been floating around for a while now, so it’s perhaps no surprise that an official outing is just around the corner.

A separate report by DigiTimes has also lifted the lid on Apple’s plans for the iPad this year.

The popular tablet is slowly evolving into a two-in-one device, and Apple is catering to a growing number of customers who purchase detachable keyboards with a new, more complex offering.

DigiTimes says that Apple will launch an LED backlit keyboard with scissor-switch keys for the iPad in 2020.

The new scissor-switch design featured for the first time in the new 16-inch Macbook Pro and is a departure from the butterfly keys included in recent models.