The new technology, which holds the promise of internet speeds significantly faster than what is available for many smartphone users, has stoked anticipation that iPhone users will see a compelling reason to upgrade after millions in recent years held on longer to older devices.

The wave of new iPhone purchases could be enough to compare with 2014, when Apple unveiled a larger screen and sold a record number of devices, or 2017, when the company introduced higher-priced models with facial recognition leading to record revenue, analysts say.

Some investors are hoping it might even lead to the kind of dramatic growth seen in the iPhone’s earliest days, when every annual iteration promised new technological leaps and must-have features.

“I believe it translates into a once-in-a-decade-type upgrade opportunity for Apple,” said Dan Ives, an analyst for Wedbush Securities. He expects the new phone to help fuel iPhone sales this fiscal year