Semiconductor analysts at Barclays claimed that compared to the designs of iPhones last that were launched by Apple last year, there would be limited changes in design by the company in the current year.

A third camera lens on the back would be present in the new iPhones, Barclays said, which conformed ot earlier reports about the next iPhone model.

Apple’s 2019 iPhones will again offer “relatively few design changes” and Apple has plans of making bigger updates for its iPhones in 2020, said Barclays semiconductor analysts in a note to investors.

The iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max were launched by Apple in September 2018 and all of the models were quite similar ot the iPhone X that had been launched by the company in 2017.

Apple would be starting production of its new range of iPhones in July or August, though with “builds starting down ~10%” year on year to 65 million units, Barclays said it expects. There has been a stalling in the grwoth of iPhone sales in recent years because of the tendency of people to hold on to their current phones for a bit longer as well as because of a slowdown in the Chinese economy – the largest market for Apple’s iPhones outside of the United States.

“There are relatively few design changes ahead of a more material update in 2020 (5G, world facing 3D, acoustic fingerprint),” Barclays said,. The note from the bank also noted that an additional camera would be added at the back of the new iPhones and would also ship both OLED and LCD models as it did last year with respect to the iPhone XS/iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR, respectively.

“We expect LG finally enters as a second OLED source (volumes 10-30%),” the company said.

In its newer iPhones and iPad Pro products, a big focus on its facial recognition product has been put by Apple which clearly indicates a shift away from the Touch ID fingerprint sensors used extensively by it in earlier versions of iPhones. But Barclay’s believe that Apple will put a fingerprint reader inside the screen, similar to those in the phones of its rival companies such as Samsung, Huawei and OnePlus, said Barclay’s analysts when referring to “acoustic fingerprint” readers.

The predictions about Apple by in the Barclays’ note is very similar to the analysis doen by TF International Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo, a well-known Apple analyst, who has extensively talked about Apple’s plans for 5G in 2020 and its 2019 iPhones.

Apple may be planning a successor to the iPhone SE, the Barclays analysts also said. Launched in 2016, the iPhone SE featured a 4-inch display that was a hit among those customers who sought a phone which were smaller and more affordable. Barclays said a “few suppliers” have said that phone will launch with water-resistance in early 2020.

“While it makes sense for Apple to retain a smaller form factor in 2020, the earlier timing is a bit confusing to us and initial estimates seem too robust (we heard 20-30M in 1H),” Barclays said.

(Adapted form CNBC.com)

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