iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus appear in web traffic logs, but not iPhone 6c

iPhone 6 Retina HD

Yesterday, we told you that reliable leaker Evan Blass claimed on his @evleaks Twitter account that it “Sounds like iPhone 6s, 6s Plus and 6c will all arrive concurrently.” Blass has proved himself extremely reliable in the past and has leaked accurate details and images pertaining to unreleased smartphones.

But now research firm Fiksu says it couldn’t find traces of the iPhone 6c in logs, unlike iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus which it captured in web traffic logs and identified as ‘iPhone 8,1’ and ‘iPhone 8,2’.

“Rumors about the fall introduction of new iPhones and iPads are heating up, with indications pointing to a September 9th announcement of the new devices,” Fiksu wrote. “As a result, we did a little digging in our data to see if we could spot any new Apple hardware—and we did indeed.”

In July, they spotted two unreleased iPhone models identified as ‘iPhone 8,1’ and ‘iPhone 8,2’. By comparison, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus’s identifiers are ‘iPhone7,1’ and ‘iPhone7,2’, respectively.

Fiksu web logs new iPHones

The first number in Apple’s hardware designation denotes a major hardware revision and the other number identifies variations within a model so clearly this is an indication that Apple has been testing the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices since last month.

The rumored iPhone 6c would bear a major new hardware identifier which doesn’t appear in Fiksu’s web traffic logs. That we’re not seeing a third device being tested doesn’t mean the iPhone 6c is non-existent: maybe Apple began testing it in August or, as others have suggested, the iPhone 6c is not ready for prime time yet and will be released in 2016.

Fiksu’s traffic logs encompass data collected from popular apps, including travel, games and lifestyle apps. “The overwhelming majority of the usage is coming from the US, with a couple of hits from Germany and Brazil,” writes Fiksu.

What’s your opinion on the iPhone 6c? Will Apple release it this year or the next? Or has the firm scrapped plans to market mid-range “c” iPhones, do you think?

Source: Fiksu