If you were hoping for a major iPhone redesign in 2019, prepare to be disappointed. As per Nomura analyst Anne Lee, Apple is not going to make any major changes to its 2019 iPhones. The devices will continue to have the same form factor as the existing models.

Lee in her latest investor’s note claims that Apple will not be following its usual tick-tock design cycle. Apple usually refreshes its iPhones design in a major way once after every 2 years. However, for its 2019 iPhones, Lee believes Apple will retain the same form factor and instead focus more on adding AR related features.

“We think the three new iPhones in 2H19F will likely have the same form factors (body size and displays) as the 2H18 iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max, with some added AR [augmented reality]-related features,” she wrote in a research report published Friday.

With iPhone sales already slowing down, the lack of a redesign is unlikely to bode well and will fail to attract customers. Due to this, Lee expects iPhone sales to drop from 213 million in 2018 to 204 million in 2019 and then dropping to as low as 200 million in 2020.

Apple will instead save the massive redesign for its 2020 iPhones when they are expected to launch with 5G capabilities as well.

“We think 2019 could be the last year the iPhone uses the iPhone X design architecture, in preparation for initial hardware specs for 5G (sub-6GHz) and AR (augmented reality), before greater architecture upgrades in 2020F for 5G and a more comprehensive AR system,” Lee wrote.

Our Take

At this point, it is still too early to tell if Apple will indeed not be refreshing the design of its 2019 iPhones in a major way or not. However, given how a similar thing panned out with the release of the iPhone 6-iPhone 7, this definitely sounds plausible. The 2018 iPhones itself have failed to attract consumers due to their high price tag and limited innovation and this move from Apple is only going to further dent its sales.