There might never be an iPhone 13: Here’s why we think so

Apple is going to launch a new iPhone series later this year, it might not be the iPhone 13. Superstitions are powerful things!

If other reports are anything to go by, there isn’t going to be an iPhone 13 next year either and Apple just might move straight to the iPhone 14 in 2022. (Representative photo of iPhone 12 Pro).  (Apple )

Like every year, Apple is going to launch a series of new iPhones around September. We expect it to be the iPhone 13 series, but till the launch the guessing game about what exactly the new devices will be called is expected to continue. For the sake of continuity, we are all referring to the upcoming devices as the iPhone 13, but a bunch of recent reports have suggested that there actually might never be an iPhone 13.

A potential name that's being thrown around a bit is - iPhone 12S. Bloomberg had an article in January this year that cited Apple engineers saying that the upcoming line-up is going to come with only minor upgrades over the last iteration, the iPhone 12 that is - so, more like the ‘S' version of iPhone 12. Apple tipster Jon Prosser, who has a track record of being pretty accurate, has also pointed towards an iPhone 12S.

And it will not be wholly out of place if you think about it. Apple has used this naming scheme in the past with the iPhone 6S that came in 2015 after the iPhone 6 and also the iPhone XS that came in 2018 after the iPhone X.

If other reports are anything to go by, there isn't going to be an iPhone 13 next year either and Apple just might move straight to the iPhone 14 in 2022.

Why though?

The number 13 has long been linked with “bad luck” with many people, including smartphone companies avoiding naming a device with that particular number.

Now, Apple has never really not named their products with that number - there is the A13 Bionic for example. However, this time it's not about a chip or a software update, the smartphone that's going to be launched later this year is going to be a consumer product and Apple will want people to buy it. Particularly since the iPhone is Apple's marquee product and is responsible for nearly 50% of its revenues. Given that, Apple might just want to steer away from the number 13.

Besides that, if Apple goes with the iPhone 12S nomenclature, it could be setting the stage for a significant overhaul with the iPhone 14 or iPhone 15. Like for example, Apple skipped the iPhone 9 and followed the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus with the iPhone X. And the iPhone X was a big upgrade over the older models in terms of design.

There is really no knowing what the iPhone 14 or the iPhone 15 might look like. SPeculations suggest that one of them could be the much-awaited foldable. Reports have pegged that a foldable iPhone might come about by 2022 while Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that it might come by 2023. We'll just have to wait and watch.