"iPhone 13" packaging leaked in photo, confirming name

A photo has been recently found circulating the media, showing what seems to be packaging stickers which Apple uses to seal their products, marked for an "iPhone 13." The discovery was made by a known leakster, DuanRui, who posted the photo on Twitter after seeing it on Chinese social media site Weibo.

Although DuanRui emphasizes that he doesn't "have first-hand information," the photo seems to cement the prevailing rumors that Apple's newest flagship lineup will indeed be an "iPhone 13" series, and won't be named anything else. 

As of late, a fair amount of netizens and misleading articles have been spreading rumors that the upcoming iPhone series could be called the "iPhone 12S" series. While these "tipsters" have never had any substantial evidence to back their theory, they had managed to gain some traction on the internet.

The idea behind the "12S" theory was that Apple might want to avoid the negative reputation that the number 13 has around the world, being widely regarded as a harbinger of bad luck. This is why people thought Apple may go that route and avoid calling their newest lineup "iPhone 13," but it seems this is not to be.

While circulating images and such leaks are usually never considered infallible proof until officially confirmed by the company, it makes sense that the image above is legitimate. Besides looking real enough, as MacRumors notes in a news post, it's fairly normal to come across leaked images of upcoming iPhone packaging this close to the launch date—if not of the iPhones themselves, or related accessories. 

It's nice to see Apple isn't putting much stock in old wives' tales, but is sticking true to their naming system—hopefully everyone else will see it that way, too, at least eventually.

Interestingly enough, a survey held a couple of months ago by SellCell revealed that the majority of consumers were put off by the prospect of owning a smartphone named iPhone 13.

A whopping 74% of iPhone users seemed to prefer any other name but "iPhone 13." From a variety of theoretical alternatives the survey presented, "iPhone 2021" appeared to be the most popular, and only 13% of Apple fans voted for the name "iPhone 12S."

The date of the official event announcing the next iPhone series is currently believed to be September 14, with the models awaiting a global launch on September 24. That is, if a leak that appeared just today by the famous tipster Jon Prosser is to be believed.