Apple to Begin Trial Production of iPhone 5S for Earlier Than Expected Launch?

[lk400]

Originally Posted by Jetson

So what's the significance of the "S" in the iPhone 5S moniker?

Scuff-proof

[turtlez]

Originally Posted by Sue De Nimes

If an iPhone5S launches in January there will be a lot of pretty hacked off people.

I think there will be a lot of pretty hacked off people if the 5S launches before July haha

[lk400]

Originally Posted by turtlez

I think there will be a lot of pretty hacked off people if the 5S launches before July haha

I think that there will be a lot of hacked up people if the iPhone 5S launches.

[VPrime]

I think apples goal is to switch the iPhone and iPad release dates.

iPhone over summer and during WWDC, and iPad just in time for school and early fall.

[pedromartins]

I hope Apple does it and all of those stupid people that demand one year of exclusivity (stupid nonsense... 0 logic... just plain stupid nonsense) go buy something else... So we can buy Apple products when we want instead of having to wait 1 month.

Who cares if Apple makes 1 dollar or 15billion in net profit... As long as they make the best products and turn net profit above 0, We are all good.

Then again this is Digitimes, so if anyone is believing it because of this report, well, i feel sorry for you.

[Boomish69]

I do hope Apple gauge public reaction as they certainly need to drop this whole "s" model superceding the previous iphone, I loath the copycat principals of Samsung but they are ruling here in the UK, selling tons more than an iPhone 5 and are building a very odd anti Apple elitist buyer base, I have friends that simply won't buy Apple because of this. I hate to say it but I saw an S3 and it looked a far nicer phone than the iPhone 5 so I can see why, wether it operates as good I don't know but the little play I had felt impressive.

[everything-i]

Yeh cos when your getting low yields on current leading edge components the best thing to do is move to the next version which pushes things even further and is going to be even harder to make

[macs4nw]

Originally Posted by Advil

.....I know this is a dead horse, but I'm bummed we never saw the teardrop design that was rumored when the 4s came out.

I also thought that teardrop mock-up looked awesome!

Originally Posted by grahamie

they probably need to do this kind of thing now. competition is getting tougher.

Oh no, another endless daily stream of iPhone rumors.

But if this proves to be correct, it shows that APPLE is perhaps getting away from these 'predictable timeframe' releases, when, the last few months of the outgoing model, their sales really take a dip, because people are waiting for the next version. Also, as grahamie above has pointed out, it's hard for APPLE to 'sit' on newer components, waiting to include them in their next iToy, while the competition releases new models like clockwork.

[lozpop]

It's not like 3-4 years ago, now the competition is forcing Apple to accelerate its products timeline. Apple can not wait a full year to release an iPhone "S", so I think that a good timeline could be to launch the "S" version of the iPhone after six months, in order to launch a brand new iPhone every 12 months.

[Macman45]

Originally Posted by Moshe1010

iPad 3 --> iPad 4 story again.

I hate to admit it, but you are probably going to be proved right...BUT...If they do double up on GPU / CPU then surely they would have to call it the 6? I don't think Lithium Polymer technology has caught up far enough to do much more. If Apple stick to the battery life expectancy, then we may have to wait until battery capacity and size catch up.

[8a22a]

Originally Posted by Macman45

When and if it's released, unless it's a leap like the ipad 4 proved to be ( and it might well be) then I'm not going to bite. If they use the faster CPU and graphics engine then I can't see them calling it the 5S....It would have to be the 6.

I'll stick with my 5 if it's minor stuff.

That's usually what S upgrades are, same housing, better internals.

----------

Originally Posted by lk400

I think that there will be a lot of hacked up people if the iPhone 5S launches.

Namely Samsung.

[turtlez]

Originally Posted by arn

I don't think you can read a January launch into this, even if u are interpret it at face value.

arn

careful, you might upset the blind apple haters :P

[The Phazer]

Originally Posted by everything-i

Yeh cos when your getting low yields on current leading edge components the best thing to do is move to the next version which pushes things even further and is going to be even harder to make

Well, it might be if you're able to make structural changes on the design that result in much better yields.

"We've changed the shape of the back slightly as Foxcon's yields are terrible" is a bad news story. "Here's the new iPhone!" is a good news story, broadly.

I don't expect it would be a significant change, but there are surely ways to simplify the assembly, and if you throw in a minor spec bump then you look like the good guy. The computing hardware doesn't seem to be the issue, the case is.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was actually slightly thicker, and there was no black anodised option. If they give it a better battery then it would ward off criticism, but make it *much* easier to make.

[colmaclean]

I'm getting pretty fed up with having to go to a store every two weeks to keep my tech at the bleeding edge.

Apple needs to take it to the next level and allow us to download hardware updates through iTunes.

[Fruit Cake]

In other news, Tim cook hires gypsies to run and chant in apple store...

[2992]

yeah, that's gonna be the mini iPhone

[MrAwax]

Originally Posted by tillathenun

If this is true, I imagine it'd be more a case of just expanding LTE coverage to all the networks not included in the first round.

The other way of looking at it would be that they're actually scared by Samsung's apparent dominance and they're playing catch-up?

The CDMA iPhone 4 was sold 6 months after the GSM iPhone 4, with NO changes except for the radio chip.

So we could have an iPhone 5 supporting more/other bands as we already have multiples models of iPhone 5 (Verizon, ATT, Asia, Europe) without the need for a 5S.

[JaySoul]

The only reason would be to go back to the summer release cycle, which I preferred, as it is warmer then.

[Traisoon]

Argh.. Now I have to spend again!

[guillemn]

Originally Posted by kot

They aren't even able to satisfy the demand for the 5 alone. Now they expect to manufacture even more of iPhones for the upcoming launch of the next generation iPhone?

Exactly. Still they do not reach the demand, I seriously doubt that they start a new model manufacturing in the middle of a product launch...

[Lancer]

I remember another report just days after the 5 came out claiming the 5s would be out in 6 months and the iPhone 6 in late 2013... I haven't got the new iPhone 5 yet as I'm stuck with Leopard until the new iMac comes out in Dec and I can't they sync my next iPhone (and/or iPad) If this rumor is try then I might just hold on to my 3Gs until the next iPhone come out, correcting any problems the current iPhone 5 has.

[gto55]

why not, may be apple wants to stay in touch with android phones on technical features, so they may have to replace their products every 6/7 months, changing their former timeline.

[Belly-laughs]

can't believe this phone tech hype. power already overwhelms ability. i'm not upgrading until it runs osx when i dock it, or it's utter sex.

[iMikeT]

!@#$!!!!!! I ordered my iPhone 5 nearly a month ago and it's due in about two weeks. Should I cancel and wait for the 5S?

[odaiwai]

Originally Posted by Advil

I know this is a dead horse, but I'm bummed we never saw the teardrop design that was rumored when the 4s came out.

A friend of mine has one: it's a mainland China iPhone knock-off with a really poor screen which is about 4", but quite low resolution. It runs some old variant of Android (I think) with an iOS like UI.

Unbalanced, too. All the weight is on the thick side.