It's been a while since we've heard any talk regarding the rumored budget iPhone. Speculation involving Apple's secret iWatch project, and next-gen iPad models have all but taken over the rumor mill in recent weeks.
But that changes today, with a new report from Japanese blog Macotakara. The site, which has proven to have accurate sources, says that the cheaper iPhone exists, has a polycarbonate body, and will arrive in 2014...
According to one analyst, Apple's suppliers are getting ready for iPhone 5S manufacturing, which should commence in March with a likely summer introduction in mind.
With the next-gen iPhone just a few months away, Apple is apparently winding down some iPhone 5 manufacturing as sales of the handset are "decelerating faster than expected".
Per the rumor-mill, the iPhone 5S will be a mid-cycle specs upgrade sporting a faster CPU/GPU (likely a new A7 chip). Rumors are also suggesting a higher-resolution camera (possibly a 13-megapixel sensor). Some think Apple will for the first time offer the iPhone in a range of colors, though the handset is expected to retain the current two-tone industrial design...
A new patent granted to Apple today could signal a huge advance in a trimmer, slimmer iPhone perhaps made from a single block of aluminum. The U.S. patent describes "microslot antennas" cut into the smartphone body, eliminating the need for exposing hardware required for communications.
While it could make fans of minimalism - such as Apple's chief designer Jonathan Ive - jump for joy, could the patented technology cause another production slowdown?
At last, some pretty credible parts apparently belonging to the iPhone 5S are starting to emerge. A set of images posted by a Chinese tech site and allegedly depicting the iPhone 5S parts on an assembly line include several shots of the device's internals, including a vibration motor that looks to be a linear oscillating vibrator like that of the iPhone 4S.
That would be a departure from the iPhone 5's more noisy rotational motor which uses counterweight. It wasn't immediately clear whether the leaked images are authentic or perhaps show an iPhone clone being assembled somewhere in China, though latter seems to be the case. I've included a few more snaps right past the fold...
The rumor mill has been on fire over the past 2 months with talk of Apple's next-generation handsets. And so far there's been 3 recurring theories: an iPhone 5S, a 'budget' iPhone for emerging markets, and an iPhone 6 with a larger 4.9-inch display.
Well today we're adding another point for the first and last theories. A new report out of China claims that both a familiar-looking iPhone 5S, and an all new iPhone 6 with a near-5-inch display have been spotted in one of Apple's supplier factories...
Apple's 10-Q filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission shows purchase commitments for the March quarter dropping from $4.5 billion two quarters ago to just $904 million. Of course, two quarters ago Apple was ramping up iPhone 5 production and investing heavily in then new in-cell touch displays. Still, that's a huge drop.
One clever interprets this data point as a sign of the iPhone 5S not needing new manufacturing processes, in turn proving it's gonna look just the same as the current-generation iPhone 5. Notable changes will be from the inside, like the speedier CPU/GPU, better cameras and what not. Man, I should have been an analyst...
The next iPhone is very likely just a few short months away so little wonder that slowly but surely first pieces of the puzzle are beginning to surface.
iOS hacker iH8sn0w today tweeted that future-generation iOS gadgets could add a new 128GB model, twice as much as today's top-of-the-line iPhones, iPads and iPods.
And on Friday, the usually credible iLounge posted a bunch of interesting tidbits pointing to a fifth-gen Pad with iPad mini-like design and a 13-megapixel back camera being the star feature of the iPhone 5S, among other goodies.
That's all hearsay, but now a leaked part has come our way, purportedly representing a speaker assembly for future-generation iPhones...
Following up on this morning's report of Apple's plans for this year's iPhone and iPad updates, iLounge has posted a new article with additional information. The intel comes from a 'trusted source,' and offers product code names and other specifics.
The previous scoop claimed that the iPad 5 has been redesigned, with iPad mini-like bezels and size, and has a target date of October. Details of the iPhone 5S were less bountiful, but the site has now elaborated on it and added remarks on the new mini...
The often accurate Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge just published a monster report with details regarding the new iPad, and Apple's two new iPhones coming later this year. Horwitz nailed the iPhone 5 last May, and has a fairly good track record, so people tend to listen when he talks.
For starters he dishes about the iPad 5, saying the tablet has been completely redesigned with virtually no left or right bezels, and less space above and below the screen. It's described as a "stretched iPad mini," with chamfered edges, and is smaller than you'd imagine possible...
Taking notice of a rumor that Apple will spice up its iPhone with some colors come this summer, 3D artists are now envisioning what a colored iPhone 5S might look like. However, we haven't seen any compelling rendering so far. That is, until a French blog this morning highlighted a new concept by 3D artist Alexander Kormishin who attempted to depict what the colored iPhone 5S might look like. I'm not buying it, but we'll let you be the judge...
The somewhat reliable DigiTimes reports this morning that Apple will this year release two new iPhone models, not three as one analyst predicted. Citing industry sources, the trade publication claims Apple is planning two four-inch iPhone models due around summer, one of them being targeted at the midrange market segment (budget iPhone, anyone?).
Interestingly, both these devices are said to use in-cell display technology featured on the iPhone 5. This last tidbit contradicts yesterday's report out of Japan suggesting Apple asked Sharp to cut orders of iPhone 5 in-cell panels in half for the next quarter. Additionally, past reports asserted Apple is moving away from in-cell tech and evaluating a new display technology for 2013 iOS devices called Touch-On-Display...
These days, it's all but impossible to escape Apple hate speech. You know who to blame: big media. I mean, stock manipulators played even the credulous Wall Street Journal. It's not just WSJ - or NYT or Reuters, for that matter.
Anti-Apple Forbes hit new lows with clickbait headlines like this one or this one. And as crazypants analysts voice their concern regarding "Apple’s lack of a strategy in the lower-end phone”, they at the same time continue to hallucinate about a happiness or time travel machine from Apple.
And all of them get an assistance from traffic-hungry journalists like Dan Lyons whose write-ups sound bitter and idiotic. But in spite of all that FUD talk, Apple is demolishing Android in every metric that matters. None of this frenzy should matter when considering your next cell phone.
But real life can be a bitch and with so much negative publicity mounting ahead of Apple's earnings report, no wonder some of the faint-hearted fans are beginning to question their faith in the California firm. I know where my heart stands, but I want to know one thing: do you know where your heart stands? So, what's your next phone gonna be?