Apple's next smartphone will reportedly be called the iPhone 13 after all, despite earlier rumors that the company plans to skip the number 13 in order to launch the iPhone 12s in 2021

This was reported by the Economic Daily News, citing sources and supply chain checks, which claimed that the device will accurately mirror the iPhone 12 lineup If true, the regular 61-inch iPhone 13 would be joined by a 54-inch mini, a 61-inch Pro, and a 67-inch Pro Max

Normally, this would be a moot point After all, when the last two products were called iPhone 11 and iPhone 12, it doesn't take a pattern-spotting genius to figure out that the next numbers will be consecutive

In any case, if there was ever a time to revert to the old pattern of adding an "s" version of a handset every year, it is now a recent survey of 3,000 Apple users found that 183% avoided buying a handset called iPhone 13 for fear of the ominous number "13" The survey found that 183% avoided purchasing the phone called the iPhone 13 because they feared the ominous number "13

Given that, it matters little whether anyone at Apple believes that there is no such thing as an ominous number, or if push comes to shove, a large percentage of superstitious respondents will buy anyway If even a fraction of the company's potential customers shun products with the number 13, it could lead to millions of dollars in lost sales

If this is true - and it must be emphasized that other sources, including the fairly reliable Jon Prosser, claim that the 2021 model will be the iPhone 12s instead - it is a rather odd move for a company that has never cared much about the missing number It's a strange move After all, neither the iPhone 2 nor the iPhone 9 exist, so it wouldn't matter if the iPhone 13 didn't exist

There are precedents elsewhere The most obvious is the nemesis Samsung, which removed the nine digits between the Galaxy S10 and S20 A more apt comparison, however, is OnePlus, which went straight from the 3T to the OnePlus 5, presumably because the number 4 is associated with death in China

Whatever the final name, we expect some interesting improvements from Apple this time around: the iPhone 13 Pro version will have a 120Hz refresh rate for the first time, improved battery life thanks to a more efficient 5G modem, and improvements in related technologies in general and related technologies in general