iPhone 13: rumored portless shift to MagSafe, 120 Hz display, possibility of an in-display fingerprint sensor, and a confirmed Snapdragon X60 5G modem

The iPhone 12 series is still fresh from the oven, but rumor tidbits about next year’s iPhones have already started making their way online. This year’s iPhones sport great hardware no doubt, but they disappointed prospective buyers in one major aspect — lack of high-refresh rate displays, which has almost become a staple feature in the Android world today. The iPhone 13 (or whatever it will be called) may finally include high-refresh rate displays similar to the iPad Pro.

Replying to YouTuber Sam Sheffer on Twitter, known Apple leaker Jon Prosser seems to be confident that the iPhone 13 will indeed sport 120 Hz displays. Prosser also ruled out the possibility of USB-C and predicted a 50-50 chance for an in-display fingerprint sensor on the next wave of Apple iPhones.

While many expected Apple to move to a more universal USB-C charging solution, the iPhone 12 still uses the company’s proprietary Lightning connector. However, with Apple introducing the MagSafe ecosystem that enables easy wireless charging and hooking up compatible accessories, we may not see a USB-C port on the iPhone at all. In fact, Prosser even goes on to say that Apple may make upcoming iPhones completely portless. Of course, this also depends on how well the MagSafe ecosystem matures in the next year or so.

The other new feature that will surely make its way to the iPhone 13 (at least on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max models) is Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X60 5G modem. The iPhone 12 series uses the Snapdragon X55 5G modem since that was the latest available Qualcomm offering during the iPhone 12 development process. Now, an excerpt from the Apple-Qualcomm settlement filing unearthed first by Danny Walsh on Twitter and posted by MacRumors reads,

Apple intends to commercially launch (i) New Models of Apple Products during the time period between June 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021 (the “2020 Launch”), some of which use the SDX55 Qualcomm Chipset, (ii) New Models of Apple Products during the time period between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022 (the “2021 Launch”), some of which use the SDX60 Qualcomm Chipset, and (iii) New Models of Apple Products during the time period between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2024 (the “2022/23 Launch”), some of which use the SDX65 or SDX70 Qualcomm Chipsets (each a “Launch” and collectively the “Launches”).”

For those not in the know, Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon X60 5G modem in February this year. The Snapdragon X60 is fabbed on TSMC’s 5 nm process and can aggregate 5G mmWave and sub-6 GHz bands while also supporting aggregation of sub-6 GHz TDD and FDD bands so that carriers can maximize spectrum usage and capacity by combining the high performance of mmWave with the wider range of sub-6 GHz. The Snapdragon X60 modem also supports Voice over New Radio, which alleviates the need to fallback on 4G for voice usage.

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