Apple is widely expected to break with tradition by introducing its much-rumored 4-inch iPhone 5se in March, but despite predictions that this could net Apple an extra 10 million+ unit sales per year, it may not be enough to reverse the larger trend of slowing iPhone sales.
Apple is reportedly adding a new supplier to help build its eagerly-anticipated 4-inch “iPhone 5se” — giving up-and-coming supplier Wistron a piece of the iPhone-producing pie in an an attempt to “nurture” it as a non-Foxconn Apple manufacturer.
It seems that most people agree that Apple has plans to release a 4-inch iPhone in the not-too-distant future. What no-one, it seems, can agree on is what Apple will call said handset.
So far the name we’ve heard most often has been the iPhone 6c. Now a new report coming out of China suggests that this will be the first of a whole new range of iPhones — with its proper title rumored to be the iPhone 5e.
We’ve heard plenty of conflicting reports about when we should expect a new smaller, 4-inch iPhone “c” from Apple, but Piper Jaffray’s resident Apple analyst Gene Munster suggests that Cupertino would be wasting its time by releasing a sequel to 2013’s iPhone 5c.
Why? Because, Munster claims, customers don’t really want smaller handsets at all.
A 4-inch iPhone 6s — resembling an “upgraded iPhone 5s” — is on the way in the first half of 2016, says renowned Apple prognosticator, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo claims the handset will come with an A9 processor and metal casing — although customers shouldn’t expect Apple to incorporate its 3D Touch technology into the handset, as a way of differentiating it from the premium iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models.
Rumors about Apple making a return to the 4-inch form factor for future iPhones have been doing the rounds since late last year.
While they seem to have quietened down as of late, however, a new report injects some life into the story by claiming that Apple display panel maker AU Optronics is one of several companies involved with manufacturing 4-inch iPhone panels — for a device which could ship as early as Q1 2016.
For years now, Foxconn has been expressing its interest in replacing its workers with robots, raising the possibility that future iPhones could be built with machines. In fact, in December of 2012, Foxconn quietly began testing a program to replace human workers with iPhone-building robots.
But now, it appears that Foxconn is hitting the accelerator on the program. Foxconn CEO Terry Gou has just told shareholders that they will be deploying some 10,000 “Foxbots” to start building iPhones soon.
Apple will unveil the iPhone 5 on September 12th. Pre-orders are expected to begin the same day. Industry experts agree that this year’s model is the most anticipated iPhone release yet, and Apple is expected to enjoy record sales this holiday season. You’re probably itching to see what Apple has up its sleeve this time, especially if you’re coming off a two-year carrier contract with the iPhone 4.
The iPhone 4S was announced on October 4th, 2011. Despite all of its new features and improvements, the 4S didn’t really fulfill all of the “iPhone 5” rumors that predicted a totally new form factor, larger display, 4G, etc. For that reason, the 4S triggered some disappointment among Apple fans.
Now it’s 2012 and Apple is expected to finally unveil the redesigned iPhone 5 we’ve all been waiting for. In Cult of Mac’s rumor roundup, we examine everything we think we know about the iPhone 5.
It’s been all but confirmed that Apple is holding its fall iPhone event on Wednesday, September 12th. The rumored 8-inch iPad mini is also expected to be announced next month, although it’s been unclear if Apple will ship the device at the same time as the new iPhone.
According to a new report this morning, Sharp will begin shipping larger 4-inch iPhone displays throughout Apple’s supply chain this month as production for the September launch ramps up. Production of the iPad mini’s smaller display is also expected to begin in August leading up to Apple’s event in September.
When the iPhone was first launched in 2007, it was designed to support one screen resolution, and nothing more. Later, with the launch of the iPad and the Retina display on the iPhone 4, Apple had to optimize its concrete user interface elements for larger, higher resolution displays. Today, we have not only a Retina display on the iPad, but a rumored 4-inch iPhone as well, likely debuting in the fall.
With all of these different screen resolutions to handle, Apple has stealthily implemented a feature into iOS 6, one which will allow developers to intelligently scale their apps to fit nearly any screen resolution.
