The launch date of Apple‘s new iPhone 11 has just been revealed via an accidental leak by the tech giant itself, Forbes reports. The date was uncovered by Portuguese-language sleuth site iHelp BR, which discovered a screenshot labeled “HoldForRelease” hidden inside iOS 13 beta 7. The image is of an iPhone home screen with the calendar set to September 10.
September 10 is a Tuesday, which according to Forbes is historically when Apple likes to reveal its new iPhones (last year was an exception, as the Tuesday of the launch week was September 11).
This news ties in with last week’s leak, which — as first reported by Japanese site Mac Otakara — suggested a shipping date of Friday, September 20. That news was revealed accidentally by the president and CEO of Apple partner SoftBank, Ken Miyauchi.
During SoftBank’s quarterly earnings report, Miyauchi inadvertently said that the latest iPhone will go on sale 10 days before the end of September. The slip-up happened while Miyauchi was answering a question about a new telecommunications business law that will delay sales of the phone in Japan. After realizing what he’d said, Miyauchi later said “No one knows when the iPhone will launch” in an apparent attempt to cover up his gaffe.
While the September 20 release date hasn’t been confirmed by Apple, it does fit with previous releases. Reporting on Miyauchi’s gaffe, Forbes compiled earlier iPhone release dates, with the iPhone XS arriving on Friday, September 21, 2018; the iPhone 8 on Friday, September 22, 2017; the iPhone 7 on Friday, September 16, 2016; and the iPhone 6S on Friday, September 25, 2015.
