Apple Gearing Up for iPhone 5 Production Ahead of Summer Launch? [Updated]

[LeCorsaire]

I don't understand what purpose it serves to spread rumors like this?

except for hurting Apple's sale of current products? I start to think this website was either hosted by Apple haters or extremely dumb people.

 

[SockRolid]

Ummm. 2013? I thought we were debating 2012 June or 2012 October, which makes it either 8 months or 1 year...

Ummm. Apple will be selling iPhone 4 at least until the 2013 iPhone is released.
Probably much longer, actually. I seem to recall that the iPhone 3GS was released in summer 2009.
And it is still being sold, presumably until the 2012 iPhone is released. That's 3 years of production.

So let me revise my calculation:
Normal iPhone model life is 3 years, or 36 months.
iPhone 4S schedule slipped by 4 months.
4 months / 36 months = 0.111, or 11.1%

iPhone 4 production will continue for just 11% less than any other iPhone from the 3GS onward.
That's not an "extremely short lifecycle" as stated in the original article.

 

[MacSince1990]

4" hi-res screen, 1.2 GHz quad-core A6, 768 MB DDR3 and 32GB flash standard please

 

[The Mad Hatter]

It's a phone, not a tablet, computer or television. Of course watching a movie on it is going to be small.

It's a freakin' telephone.

Maybe you should get this:

Image

Mmmm, won't that screen look GREAT with all your ear/face juices all over it, using it as a phone? ;-)

 

[MacSince1990]

Neither of these workers looks suicidal, maybe they'll deliver early?

That's really in poor taste.

 

[marcusj0015]

You know this is complete BS because it has all the tell-tales of being a compilation of fanboy wishes, reality be damned:

1) Launch less than a year after the launch of a previous generation when no iPhone has ever launched on such a shortened schedule before. Even though they're obsessed with the company, fanboys bizarrely ignore Apple's previous business patterns despite the fact that the schedule of Apple's product launches is one of the most predictable things about it. There is a financial motive to taking a year+ to launch a new product - it gives Apple the chance to recoup startup costs and drive down costs even more. Apple isn't going to give up that to fulfill fanboy "I want my toy now!" whining.

2) Bigger screen - the ultimate fanboy fantasy, regardless of the fact Steve Jobs - and Apple leadership - have been against it for the very good reason that it would undercut a great advantage of the iOS platform - the continuity and unity of iPhone apps across devices. No matter. Fanboys want their bigger screens and they'll believe any rumors that dangles it in front of them.

This is nothing more than a rehash and recycle of the then-Phone 5/4S rumors. It didn't happen with the 4S and it's not going to happen with the 5.

Umm. the iPhone to iPhone 2 launch was less than a year...

----------

Bookmark your post and come back after iPhone 5 release.
The bigger screen is a fact since its on prototype phones.

Apple have many times said that they won't do things, and later do them anyway. Technology advance and make things possible. Apple aren't fanatical, they are practical. If a bigger screen means better user experience, they will deliver it.

Apple have been against larger screens because of battery times. With new technology this is solved.

The release schedule: iPhone is a software platform. Thats why Apple can deliver the best/one of the best user experiences. iPhone 4S was delayed because of iOS. If Apple have iOS 6 ready, they can release iPhone 6 earlier.

We will know soon enough. iOS Beta + parts showing up. Apple is so big today that we always knows about 1-3 month before something is released.

(like that iPad 3 have started manufacturing = event before 1 month)

I love how you're claiming a rumor as fact. yes, someone ON THE INTERNET said the iPhone 5 AKA the rumor that won't die, will have a bigger screen, therefore it MUST have a bigger screen!

 

[siurpeeman]

Umm. the iPhone to iPhone 2 launch was less than a year...

no, it wasn't. the 3g came out almost two weeks after the 1 year mark of the original iphone.

however, the 3gs was released almost a month before the one year mark of the iphone 3g.

 

[Moonjumper]

Apple pulled out of keynotes at shows so that they could launch stuff when it was ready and not be tied to schedules.

There will be a roadmap, but I don't think even they know yet when the next iPhone will launch. The date will be based around when iOS 6, LTE and other things are ready.

Android phones are evolving fast, and with much shorter model lifespans than the iPhone. The new iPhone will be launched at the earliest possible date they can.

As for the name. Only the 4 properly matched the generation as the 3GS was an update expanding the name of the previous generation. Therefore calling the next generation 6 is unlikely, otherwise the current model would be called 5.

Perhaps they will just describe it as the iPhone. Most Apple products don't have the generation in their title.

 

[marcusj0015]

Nope. iCloud and iOS was not ready.
They could not technically release Iphone4S last summer since iOS wasn't ready.

iOS slipped 3 month = why 3 month delay. This is just fact.

Apple have said many times that they ship things when they are ready. Its an enormous waste of resources to have stuff just laying around for 3 month to hit a holiday season.

Remind me again, why a new iOS MUST accompany a new hardware release?

 

[nfl46]

I'm a day 1 iPhone 4 owner and wasn't eligible for an upgrade when the 4S was released. You signed a 2 year contract when you purchased a 4S.

Yes, but every year, I was able to get the new iPhone using an early upgrade...October to June won't be a year (it suppose to be 20 months or so, but they still gave it to me after a year), so I'm not sure if they will honor that early upgrade so I could get the new iPhone at the 399/499 price.

 

[marcusj0015]

I really hope the screen size doesn't get bigger, but many people seem to be falling for "bigger is better." Apple probably needs to increase the screen size to "compete," which is unfortunate for two reasons:

1: I don't want to carry a brick around in my pocket.

2: Dustin Curtis makes a good point about the screen size and usability of 3.5" vs bigger screens (http://dcurt.is/2011/10/03/3-point-5-inches/):

Image

With a 3.5" screen, your thumb can reach across the whole screen, thus the iPhone is a "one hand" device. When the screen size increases, you need to use two hands to reach the entire surface.

YOUR hand, not mine.

 

[newyorksole]

Remind me again, why a new iOS MUST accompany a new hardware release?

They do it every year.

Preview the OS and they announce a timeframe for release.

Then the iPhone invitations go out and they announce the new OS will be out before the iPhone and the new phone will include the new OS.

 

[applefanDrew]

iOS 5 took longer than expected b/c of problems integrating Siri into the firmware.

 

[Four oF NINE]

I don't understand people that are so obsessed with a new/different shape for the iPhone, that's hardly the point of offering a newer version. The size and shape of the current 4S is perfect!!

 

[Dr McKay]

I had a similar problem trying to get some files of my Mac.

Image

Wait! They're "in" the computer!

 

[Tiger8]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Ummm. 2013? I thought we were debating 2012 June or 2012 October, which makes it either 8 months or 1 year...

Ummm. Apple will be selling iPhone 4 at least until the 2013 iPhone is released.
Probably much longer, actually. I seem to recall that the iPhone 3GS was released in summer 2009.
And it is still being sold, presumably until the 2012 iPhone is released. That's 3 years of production.

So let me revise my calculation:
Normal iPhone model life is 3 years, or 36 months.
iPhone 4S schedule slipped by 4 months.
4 months / 36 months = 0.111, or 11.1%

iPhone 4 production will continue for just 11% less than any other iPhone from the 3GS onward.
That's not an "extremely short lifecycle" as stated in the original article.

Oh ok iyou are counting the whole thing, including the years when it gets priced down and becomes secondary or free. I got you.

But we all know biggest sale are when the phone is 'current generation', and that would be 33% shorter for the iPhone 4s.

 

[juliusaugustus]

More of the same nonsense that preceded 4S release. Apple is not going to significantly increase screen size and physical footprint of the next iPhone. They will be happy to leave the "hummer sized phone" market to Android.

So Apple wants to surrender an entire market of Phones to the competition. Man do you realize how stupid a statement like that is. There are many people who want bigger phones you people with different needs than you. As for being hummer sized I don't get that statement most of those phones you speak of are the same size overall as the iPhone and also I carry a 7" tablet and I used to carry a 4.8" tablet in my pocket, both fit in my pocket no problem.

 

[ddarko]

Umm. the iPhone to iPhone 2 launch was less than a year..

No it didn't. The iPhone launched on June 29, 2007. The followup iPhone 3G - there is no "iPhone 2" - launched on July 11, 2008. More than a year:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone

The iPhone 3GS launched June 9, 2009, less than a year after the iPhone 3G but only by a handful of weeks. That does nothing to undermine the pattern Apple has set to space releases by around a calendar year or longer. Sometimes they will go longer because of software - 4S took longer while waiting for iOS 5 and iCloud - but they've never gone drastically shorter than a year. If the iPhone 5 was released in June or July 2012, that would be 8/9 months after the 4S, a full 33/25% short of a year.

A June/July launch would also mean the 4S would be superseded a mere 5/6 months after it went on sale in the Chinese market, undercutting the sales of the 4S in a market that is already Apple's 4th biggest and by far Apple's biggest future market. Apple thinks and acts global and because of the staggered sales of the 4S across worldwide markets, it's not going to cut short the 4S sales in markets where it just launched or still haven't launched by launching the 5 in the summer to please early adopters. Apple isn't interested in what early adopters want. Summer 2012 is not going to happen.

So Apple wants to surrender an entire market of Phones to the competition. Man do you realize how stupid a statement like that is.

Apple routinely doesn't enter markets when it doesn't think it's worthwhile. You're confusing what you want with what Apple is going to do. They're not the same.

except for hurting Apple's sale of current products? I start to think this website was either hosted by Apple haters or extremely dumb people.

The purpose is the sites "reporting" these rumors get more site traffic --> more ad revenue. Simple as that.

 

[bibimbap]

"...although he does not appear to suggest that he has specific knowledge on that aspect."

I think you mean either, "on that aspect ratio" or "in that respect".

 

[ABernardoJr]

Not necessarily. Given has utterly failed to meet demand at every iPhone launch... perhaps they are looking to launch with something approaching sufficient supply this year. An extra 2-3 weeks to build up inventory to meet that initial demand bubble would reduce the lines and substantive scalper factor that seems accompany every iPhone launch.

Indeed, one of Samsung's current ad is based on clowning folks blowing their life off to sit around in line waiting for something show up. It has been a cute marketing gimmick to line up customers outside of stores every year, but at some point it should sink in to more customers that they are being pimped out for free when this happens year after year after year ......
Folks who keep drinking the Apple kool-aid of "Aw shucks we had no idea we were going to run out of product" should start to ring hollow.

The problem keeps getting worse every year, so it shouldn't become obvious that they aren't trying to solve the problem at all. Doing a longer run-up to build inventories before launch would partially solve the problem.

The iPhone is neither the first nor the last product that people are going to line up for, and this isn't something that should be a reason for criticism for Apple's approach. Do you really think announcing a few weeks earlier is going to do anything substantial? What seems more likely is this: Announce the phone X amount of weeks before launch, people line up Y days before. Announce the phone X+3 (or whatever it may be) weeks and people are still going to line up Y days before launch.

People want iPhones and so they wait in line, partly for the product and partly for the experience. Why would a few extra weeks after the announcement make people want their iPhone any later/less? That makes very little sense at all. This wouldn't solve the problem, because the hype is going to build back up right before launch anyway.

And back to my point about iPhones being neither the first nor last products demanding lines. Ask sneakerheads if it matters when something's announced. Mere *rumors* of retro'ed Jordans can surface a YEAR before and guess what happens, people still line up when the release day approaches. The only "way" to stop a line like this is to stop selling them in stores where lines can form, and that makes even less sense than an extra few weeks before launch.

Now I do think they could take a stronger approach in keeping lines orderly and fair, but that's another story, which still does not get partially solved by adding 2-3 weeks.

 

[Cougarcat]

So Apple wants to surrender an entire market of Phones to the competition. Man do you realize how stupid a statement like that is. There are many people who want bigger phones you people with different needs than you. As for being hummer sized I don't get that statement most of those phones you speak of are the same size overall as the iPhone and also I carry a 7" tablet and I used to carry a 4.8" tablet in my pocket, both fit in my pocket no problem.

Apple doesn't care to cater to all tastes and needs. They will build what they feel is the best phone. They'll most likely never build a cheap non-smartphone, nor will they ever build a phone with a physical keyboard, because they feel that those qualities make for a worse phone. Apple doesn't care about marketshare--they care about profits.

If they feel that a 4" device makes for a worse one, then we won't see it.

All that said, I think a 4" device is likely.

 

[Rennir]

except for hurting Apple's sale of current products? I start to think this website was either hosted by Apple haters or extremely dumb people.

If you feel like the quality of this site and it's articles is going down the drain, you and your fellow comrades can either a) leave macrumors and join another forum or b) Talk to the people running the website about it. Just what exactly do you think continuously whining about it in every news or rumor thread is going to do for you? If you have a problem, solve it.

 

[ChrisTX]

The carriers are not going to subsidize hundreds of dollars for a new phone for someone less than 12 months in to a new contract. Even if the next iPhone is release in the fall, your not getting an early upgrade.

iPhone 4S users will be eligible for a subsidized upgrade when the iPhone 5S is release. Ask how many 3GS owners got an upgrade early for the 4. Not many.

I understand this, and that was my point. My contract is up at the end of February so an Early summer release would be awesome for me. Very reluctant to get an iPhone 4S when the next gen iPhone will be released some time this year. That an iOS 5 runs like butter on my iPhone 4. Only Apple knows when it will be released.

 

[Agent-P]

Alright, time to address all the quotes I've gathered through this thread....

If Apple release the next iPhone in the summer, what will they announce in the fall?
iPods are no longer significant enough on their own, to warrant a standalone event.
Here's how I see the mobile rollout strategy:

Spring: iPad.
Summer: WWDC & new iOS.
Fall: iPhone and iOS release(feat. iPods).

I'm kind of thinking this is how it will be too. However things would change if their rumoured iTV comes into existence. Then I think they would put that as their fall release to pick up holiday shoppers.

And if I'm really in a hurry, I just pick up the entire table...

Haha, this just made my day. Picturing that is just the best.

*hint* Iphone5 will be released 3 month after iOS 6 beta.
The reason for iPhone 4S delay was because of iOS5 and iCloud integration.

Thank you. Whenever we hear about iOS 6 is when we'll get a decent time frame for the next iPhone release. Although the reason for the iPhone 4S delay was the iOS/iCloud status, I think it makes for a better overall release schedule for the year since the iPods are losing steam. That was clearly seen in Apple's most recent financial reports.

this ^
why the 6th generation iPhone with 4th generation wireless tech (LTE) would be called the iPhone 5 is beyond me

Maybe because if you average the generations it becomes the fifth? --> (6+4)/2=5

except for hurting Apple's sale of current products? I start to think this website was either hosted by Apple haters or extremely dumb people.

The point of posting rumours and such is to try and create one place to find all the rumours. Some people (myself included) enjoy reading the rumours and leaks before a new release. Rather than scouring the depths of the internet and checking many different websites, I would rather come to a couple of sites like MacRumours and find the various rumours/leaks all gathered together.

 

[hitekalex]

So Apple wants to surrender an entire market of Phones to the competition. Man do you realize how stupid a statement like that is.

Yep, they sure did "surrender" the market to competition. I guess that's Verizon iPhone outsold all Android phones combined last quarter.

There are many people who want bigger phones you people with different needs than you.

Good. And those people can buy one of the dozens of Android 4.5" hummer phones that feel like a brick in most people's pockets and have to be plugged into the outlet by lunch because of their horrendous battery life. I had an EVO once, it was an oversized piece of junk.

Apple is too smart to get into that silly "race to who can make the biggest phone", that's all.