Galaxy Note 20 and iPhone 12 release dates just leaked — mark your calendars
Wondering when your favorite flagship phones might be available later this year? A Korean news site is now listing release dates for both the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Apple iPhone 12 to help set your expectations.
South Korea-based ETNews covers the technology market with an eye toward the supply chain used by phone makers to create their flagship devices. That gives the publication a pretty good idea of when upcoming phones might ship at least in the Korean market.
In a report on the 5G-capable phones coming to Korea in the latter half of 2020, ETNews said that the Galaxy Note 20 will be announced on August 5 at a Samsung online event. The phone will then ship a few weeks later on August 21.
That’s in line with previous rumors about Note 20 dates, including those previously published by ETNews. It’s also in keeping with Samsung’s typical schedule of announcing a new flagship phone, taking pre-orders on the device and then releasing it to retailers a couple weeks later.
The information about the iPhone 12 is less concrete, but given the uncertainty surrounding that phone’s release, it gives us a better sense of when Apple’s next phone will hit the market. According to ETNews, the domestic release of the iPhone 12 is slated for October.
Typically, Apple holds its iPhone launch events during the first part of September, with the phones hitting stores a week to two weeks after that. This year, Apple’s production scheduled has reportedly been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic with no one exactly sure when the new phones will arrive.
iPhone 12 rumors have been all over the map, with some anticipating a delay of only a few weeks while other have raised the specter of the iPhone 12 not arriving until November. The ETNews report of an October launch sounds like it’s right in the middle of that theoretical time frame.
5G phones from Samsung and Apple aren’t the only flagship models coming out this fall. The ETNews report also references a device from LG, code-named “Wing,” that’s coming in October. A type of foldable phone, the LG Wing reportedly features a 6.8-inch display that can rotate, revealing a smaller 4-inch secondary screen underneath.
But it’s the iPhone 12 vs. Galaxy Note 20 that figures to be the smartphone showdown of the fall. Apple’s latest smartphone will include four different sizes, ranging from 5.4 inches all the way up to 6.7 inches, while the Note 20 is expected to come in 6.4- and 6.9-inch versions.
Apple’s phones are likely to feature the forthcoming A14 processor while the Note 20 is rumored to feature a Snapdragon 865 Plus system-on-chip. All phones are expected to feature 5G connectivity, though the less expensive iPhone 12 models may not be able to connect to high-speed mmWave-based networks.
