iPhone 5s

Interactive iPhone 5S concept lets you play with Jony Ive-sanctioned flat iOS 7

With WWDC 2013 almost upon us (five days left), the future of iOS and OS X is all but revealed. Of course, we can't tell for sure what's in store until Tim Cook takes the stage next Monday, but that's not stopping creative minds from churning out new concepts on a daily basis.

As we've gotten a bit fed up with static images, we were pleased to stumble upon a cool-looking iPhone 5S concept that incorporates a Jony Ive-fied flattened iOS 7 mockups.

What sets this one apart is interactivity. This concept is basically a web app that lets you interact with the handset and check out the revamped stock iOS apps. Per usual, you should take it with a grain of salt as it's based on what the rumor mill thinks it's learned thus far about Apple's major redesign...

Photos of alleged iPhone 5S SIM tray and various buttons

Although we won't likely see a new iPhone at WWDC next week, it is on the way. The handset is reportedly scheduled to go into production this month, and is expected to be unveiled during a September or October event.

We know little about the device, believed to be the iPhone 5S, outside of the fact that it is going to look like its predecessor. We have seen a number of minor part leaks though, with a few more turning up this morning...

Apple rumored to double iPhone 5S Retina resolution

Apple's Retina display may still be the best mobile display on the market, but not so much anymore in terms of the sheer pixel count and clearness.

Case in point: Samsung's five-inch Galaxy S4 with its full HD 1,920-by-1,080 resolution screen at a whopping 441 pixels per inch easily outperforms the iPhone 5's four-inch 640-by-1,136 Retina display at 326 pixels per inch. Another example: HTC's flagship One smartphone and its 468 pixels per inch display.

Now, a new rumor out of China alleges that Apple's next iPhone will have an upgraded Retina display with twice as much pixels as the current-generation...

New report claims budget iPhone production begins soon, 5S has dual LED flash

Say what you want about the idea of a 'budget' iPhone, but industry insiders seem to be extremely confident that the handset is coming. We've heard a number of reports over the past few months regarding Apple's efforts to create a sub-$300 smartphone.

In fact, another report has surfaced this afternoon claiming that the cheaper iPhone is on the way. This one comes from the folks over at Macotakara, a Japanese blog with a fair track record in Apple intel, who allege to have new details about the device...

Another concept imagines iOS 7 running on next-gen iPhone

Following recent budget iPhone concept by Martin Hajek (itself based on nice iOS 7 mockups by 3D artist Dámaso Benítez), German blog Apfellike.de yesterday shared a similar rendition by Jürgen Ulbrich. Like many 3D artists before him, Dámaso is striving to envision what iOS 7 running on the next iPhone might look like. I'm liking his work a lot and have included a few images and a nice video mockup right after the break...

More alleged iPhone 5S components surface, suggesting internal overhaul

BGR, the tech blog with a mixed track record, is known for occasionally leaking credible information about Apple's upcoming products. And with the next iPhone looming on the horizon, BGR has exclusively obtained high-quality parts photos believed to depict a number of internal components for the iPhone 5S.

From what we could glean from these shots, Apple's handset could undergo a more substantial internal overhaul than previously thought. Go past the fold for full details...

iPhone 5S may sport sapphire crystal capacitive Home button with fingerprint sensor

The Home button has got to be one of the defining features of the iPhone's clean rounded rectangular design. Whereas some other manufacturers add a bunch of physical buttons to their gadgets, Apple instead has moved all controls to the iOS software, leaving only the Home button on the iPhone's face.

That could change with the iPhone 5S, the next iPhone refresh expected later this year. If a new rumor is to be believed, Apple will for the first time replace the iPhone's Home button - prone to failure after long periods of use - with its capacitive counterpart.

This isn't new: many Android handsets have touch-enabled "buttons" like Samsung's Galaxy S series, for example. Apple's innovation, the story goes, involves using sapphire crystal to prevent scratches and dings and protect the integrated fingerprint sensor...

PayPal hopes the next iPhone will obsolete passwords, once and for all

In a tell-tale sign that passwords had had their day in the sun, PayPal CISO Michael Barrett took the stage at Interpo today to spell doom for existing verification methods, predicting that more robust authentication protocols based on an open standard will replace passwords. While two-step verification can bolster account security - Apple recently enabled it for Apple ID accounts - PayPal alludes that secure authentication technologies said to make their way into Apple's next iPhone may announce the impending end of passwords...

Alleged next-gen iPhone circuitboard part suggests optimized camera design

As WWDC 2013 draws near - and with supply chain increasingly pointing to Apple's procurement of components for production of a next-generation iPhone - small wonder various parts are now cropping up on the web. It's the very nature of the game: Apple just can't control each and every one of its suppliers in Taiwan and China, let alone their individual employees.

A Japanese parts retailer, which recently leaked a next-gen iPhone components, is back at it, having published Thursday an image believed to depict a motherboard component, presumably belonging to an upcoming iPhone refresh...

Apple to begin producing multiple new iPhones next month, per Morgan Stanley

A well-known Wall Street Apple observer expects Apple's manufacturing partners to start producing multiple new iPhone models in June or July, with the new smartphones introduced around September.

While the analyst note meshes with today's report of Sharp gearing up to begin mass production of the iPhone 5S screens next month and other reports mentioning multiple iPhones on Apple's roadmap, what's perhaps most interesting is word that any drop-off in iPhone demand seems to be over.

And in her additional remarks bolstered by others, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty tells investors Wednesday that Apple could sell many iPhones in China even if the device were not priced cheaply...

Alleged leaked Japanese carrier document claims iPhone 5S pre-orders start June 20

Tim Cook caused quite a bit of commotion last week when he told investors that Apple "has some amazing new hardware, software, and services coming this fall." Most folks took it as we aren't going to see anything new from the company until then.

But that may not be the case, according to a purported leaked document from Japanese wireless carrier KDDI. The internal note, meant for sales floor staff, offers up plan pricing information and some details about the upcoming iPhone 5S smartphone...

Alleged golden and gray iPhone 5S Nano SIM trays

Apple's iPhone 5 is now almost seven months old so fans are expectedly setting their sights on a next-gen model, the iPhone 5S. And as we're heading toward summer, new evidence indicates Apple is now lining up its Asian suppliers to source parts ahead of the actual manufacturing phase.

This could explain why we're increasingly seeing supposedly genuine parts cropping up all over Asia, such as this Home buttons and vibrator motors. Today's leak by Japanese parts shop Moumantai is thought to represent a SIM tray for the iPhone 5S.

It's exactly the same in shape and size to the Nano SIM trays used on the current iPhone 5, with one exception: the leaked ones are in gray and gold colors. This matches up nicely with reports of a colorized iPhone 5S, mostly sourced from analyst reports and supply chain people...