Report claims iPhone 5S coming in multiple colors this summer

The next-generation iPhone, believed to be the iPhone 5S, is widely expected to land sometime this summer. This, despite the fact that the iPhone 5 just came out in September of last year, and Apple typically waits at least 12 months to update its handset.

And another report is out today in support of that theory. This one comes from the Japanese blog Macotakara, who cites sources familiar with Apple’s plans, in claims that both the iPhone 5S and rumored budget iPhone are going to be announced in July…

Macotakara (rough Google translation):

“According to reliable sources, you are more likely to speak the next iPhone will be announced in July, will be released in August from July. Has been rumored so far, iPhone and cheaper version is 5 color lineup, apparently, it seems that there is likely to be applied to three-color one color two colors also 5 iPhone iPhone 5S. However, I was not talking about the kind of detailed color sources.”

So what we gather from this information is that Apple is planning to unveil two new handsets, the iPhone 5S and the budget iPhone, at an event in July, and release them the following month. And apparently, both handsets will be offered in multiple colors.

But clearly there’s still a lot of unknowns here. For one, are these colors in addition to the two that are already offered (white & black)? And what will the other colors be? You would think that that they would match up with the new colors of the iPod touch.

It’s worth noting here that Macotakara has a mixed tracked record regarding Apple intel in recent years. While it correctly described the 7th gen iPod nano and 5th gen iPod touch ahead of their unveilings last year, it incorrectly predicted an early April iPad event.

That being said, a number of credible outlets have reported that Apple is planning to launch new handsets this summer. So it seems all but certain at this point that we’ll see a new iPhone, and possibly a budget iPhone, at some point in the next few months.

In addition to coming in a variety of colors, other iPhone 5S rumors include an improved camera system, a faster A7 processor and a built-in fingerprint sensor. And this morning, Topeka analyst Brian White said he sees the 5S coming in multiple screen sizes.