Apple iPhone 9 spotted on Chinese e-tailer website before official launch

Apple’s much-rumoured low-cost iPhone SE 2020, aka iPhone 9, has been reportedly spotted on a Chinese e-tailer website before its rumoured launch on April 15.

One of China’s first online retailer, JD.com, has put up a placeholder page for the affordable iPhone on the website. The microsite was taken down at the time of writing this article. However, MySmartPrice managed to get a screenshot of the listing. Interestingly, the website references the upcoming smartphone as an iPhone 9 and not iPhone SE 2020 or iPhone SE 2 as rumoured in the past.

While the microsite does not reveal any specifications or even the availability details, it does hint that the new iPhone is indeed launching soon.

Apple was initially rumoured to unveil the iPhone 9 on March 31. However, the launch date was pushed to April 15 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Some reports also suggested that the iPhone 9 was tipped to launch as iPhone SE 2020 on April 5, which did not happen.

iPhone 9 specifications have been tipped in the past. The low-cost iPhone will borrow the design chassis of the iPhone 8 and continue to have thick bezels at the top and bottom of the display. Apple will bring back its iconic Home button on the iPhone 9 for Touch ID. 

Apple is said to launch the iPhone 9 in two display sizes — 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch. Further, both the affordable iPhones are tipped to get powered by the latest Apple A13 Bionic chipset, which is also found on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro (Review). Apple will also put an NFC chip in the two new iPhones for enabling Apple Pay support. 

Apple could launch the iPhone 9 at a starting price of USD 399 for the base variant with 64GB storage. This should make the iPhone 9 and the iPhone 9 Plus an appealing option for iPhone 6/ iPhone 7 users who want a faster iPhone but do not wish to spend a premium.