With just a few months left to go, the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR are nevertheless predicted to beat 85 million units by 2019, according to a new research estimate.
, coming in October, should account for over 50 percent of those shipments, Digitimes Research said on Thursday. Claims are based on "supply chain information, Apple's annual sales and iPhones' ASPs [average sales prices] of the previous years," the firm explained.
The predictions are largely in line with pre-announcement estimates from the likes of analysts like Ming-Chi Kuo. The XR in particular has often been expected to be the bestselling iPhone this fall, owing to a more affordable price starting at $749. The product sports a single-lens camera and uses LCD instead of OLED.
The 5.8-inch iPhone XS costs at least $999, and the 6.5-inch XS Max begins at $1,099, making it more expensive than just about any of its rivals. A 512-gigabyte Max is $1,449 -- higher than some Macs.
The iPhone X also launched at $999 and has sold better than some analysts anticipated, but people who bought one may be unlikely to upgrade quickly. And while the XR is in some ways positioned as a "mid-range" phone like the iPhone 8 was, its inclusion of Face ID and an edge-to-edge display may make it feel like less of a compromise.
Preorders for the XS line start on Friday ahead of a Sept. 21 launch.