The latest in analyst predictions comes from Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty. According to Huberty, the next-generation iPhone will be slimmer and sport a quad-core Qualcomm chip with 3G and LTE compatibility across all networks.
We’ve heard plenty of rumors regarding the mythical iPhone 5, and this particular analyst claims that Apple will have its upcoming handset ready for customers in the third quarter of this year.
AppleInsider reports:
Apple will remain impervious to a broader decline in consumer demand throughout the technology industry through the release of its third-generation iPad in the first half of 2012 and the launch of a thinner iPhone later this year, analyst Katy Huberty wrote in a note to investors detailing takeaways from a recent trip to Asia.
Data points for Apple are “mostly positive,” she said, as the company is expected to maintain unit shipments this quarter, compared to a 10 percent sequential decline from the December quarter in the broader market.
Huberty also predicts that an iPad 3 will launch in the next few months — a claim that most of the industry seems to agree with. New touch panel technology will apparently make the next iPhone thinner, and Huberty notes that a new casing material will also keep the device’s form factor slim. Aluminum, anyone?
The idea of a quad-core iPhone isn’t entirely improbable, as iOS 5.1 actually references quad-core iOS devices already. Most of argued that Apple won’t bring LTE/4G to its smartphone until the carriers have the technology fully rolled out to customers. Carriers have been aggressively pushing 4G as of late, so it makes sense for Apple to at least include compatibility for the technology in 2012’s iPhone.
What do you think? Will we see an LTE-compatible iPhone this year?