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

I doubt they release it earlier. The reason they can release a new iPad in a shorter length of time is because they aren't tied to carrier contracts.

This is also apples flagship phone. Other companies release different variants of phones while apple can still sell the same phone all year long.
 
This wouldn't surprise me. I bought my 4S in November of last year and I can get the lower upgrade price the 1st of May. Usually have to wait longer than that to get the lower price.
 
Sandstorm said:
Considering the ever nimbler competition, maybe Apple is moving to half-year product cycle - both for iPad and iPhone? Tic-toc could still work fine, release one new product, then half a year later updated "S" product. Then a new product again. I wouldn't mind that. A whole year is quite long in tehcnology these days.
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Problem is they're not going to update the design every 6 months and probably not a major os update either and then you'll get people whining and moaning about how it looks just like the previous phone and Apple isn't innovating anymore blah blah blah. And if there are any new features that aren't available on the previous model(s) people will whine and complain about that too. Especially ones who aren't eligible to upgrade. There's little Apple can do to please everyone.
 
At the keynote, Tim Cook has already scripted, "We want to thank our customers. We love them. Thank you for being our beta testers for the iPhone 5. The 5S is a truly magical phone. It's going to make your wallet the thinnest yet."
 
As a recent Ex-Apple employee, I can confirm that I've seen a lot of iPhone 5's (not 5s) having a manufacturing stamp date on Dec 11 2011. It's normal to start early production.
 
In the electronics world, it is an exercise in futility, to try and keep up with the latest and supposed greatest of the day, no matter the brand. No matter what, there are going to be people who just upgraded, and feel that they got the proverbial shaft, even though they did so of their own volition.

In the end, it really shouldn't matter whether or not Apple releases a phone every year. What does matter, is whether or not one is happy with their purchase. If one isn't happy with the product(s) being offered at the time, one can either keep what he or she has until something better comes along, or change direction to a different product entirely.

Apple products are not investments. If more people would realize that, maybe there wouldn't be so much consternation involving issues like this. Self-worth should not revolve around whether or not one has the latest Apple product release, in my opinion. But, it appears for several on the forum, it is all about being able to brag for 6 months, that one does have the latest and greatest. Seems rather petty to me.
 
Sue De Nimes said:
If an iPhone5S launches in January there will be a lot of pretty hacked off people.
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Yeah? Just like the ipad3 people? Apple are here to make money not to satisfy yours or anyone else is time frame. Apple need to up their game as they are no longer bringing ground breaking products out, the last one was the ipad, now its just versions so the only way of growing sales is to do what other companies do and bring out more versions to suit different needs.
 
sahnjuro said:
Expect both iphone and ipad lines to be updated within next 6 months, probably around February-March time frame. An accelerated product update cycle reflects the competitive nature of the mobile computing market, which has an unfortunate side effect of cutting down the lifetime of the technology in the market.
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I also expect a much faster Iphone cycle but for a different reason. In the past, Apple rolled out their release slowly to different countries. So we see their product sales growth QoQ as they build momentum of the product and release them to more countries over time. But in this Iphone release, Tim Cook is planning to release Iphone 5 to 100 countries by end of 4Q. So 4Q12 and 1Q13 sales will be great, but what will happen in 2Q13 and 3Q13? The fast launch approach stretch the supply chain like they have never seen before. But once they build the capacity to produce 50-60m iphone, shrinking thme down and then ramp them up again a few month later to prepare for another Sept/Oct launch is a pretty costly move. So Apple pay for the ramp up and then pay for the slim down in the supply chain and manufacturing capacity. It make sense for them to have faster cycle so that once they satisfy the demand for the current product, the next product is ready for launch. The one year cycle is an artificial time frame. Apple can easily make it 6 months or 9 months depending on the demand of the existing product. May be the rumor is for a lower cost Iphone. Apple is losing tremendous market share to the low end Android product (the $300-$400 unlock smartphone range). If they can design a product that make decent margin, it would be a good thing that Apple start to tackle the low end market in developing world :cool:
 
I'd have to think on this

There are two things I would have to think about before completely believing this story. 1) If they do this, I truly believe pandemonium will strike and there will be severe backlash for Apple. They can't possibly be that desperate to have to inundate the market like this. 2) That would mean that everyone on a 2-year contract would miss 3 phone iterations? I just can't feasibly see that happening.

Aside from these two rather large, glaring facts, I just can't see Apple doing R&D quite that fast. If they do this right now, perhaps that is just because there is something they wanted to get out to market. I really don't see this as a sustainable margin, though.
 
VPrime said:
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.
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That's what I was thinking. The iPhone makes a tough Xmas gift because you kind of have to be involved in the whole contract thing for your own phone usually. However, the iPads and iPods are great gifts.

Move iPhone to mid-year keep iPad at end of year. No matter what Apple does, I don't think it makes logistical sense to offer all these products at the same time, so some sort of shifting makes sense, and this is pretty logical.

It's especially nice timing that it would be the speed bump version in which the transition is made. That helped with the iPad 4th gen thing, IMO.
 
I'm currently tickled pink with my 5 and fully intend to keep it for the length of my contract.

That being said, the more iteration I see between now and September 2014 the better.
 
arn said:
I don't think you can read a January launch into this, even if u are interpret it at face value.

arn
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This must be an imposter. Arn wouldn't write "even if u are interpret" because it lacks both prosaic style and grammar.

But having said that, trying to get the "new iPhone" mill up and running this early is something I wouldn't put past him.
 
Let's look at the history of iPhone performance leaps:

Original -> 3G: Unchanged
3G -> 3GS: 2x increase
3GS -> 4: Effectively unchanged due to 4x resolution increase
4 -> 4S: 2x increase
4S -> 5: 2x increase
5 -> 5S: Likely 2x increase due to S naming moniker

Whenever the performance increases, it leaves the older generation models more in the dust. That's why, for instance, a 3G is quite obsolete while 3GS (2x faster) and 4 (same as 3GS) can both run latest iOS.
 
Apple won't do this; they know better. This is why they've been able to stay consistent and keep fragmentation under control. If you want a platform where they update phone models as often as people change their underwear, go with Android.
 
Jetson said:
There's no good reason that the iPad can't be used as a phone - except for funneling enormous $profits to phone companies :D

I'd rather use VoIP than pay AT&T.
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That's exactly it! Rather than demanding new cellular technology in a new form factor, why not enable the existing ones to act more like a phone by demanding standard protocols be used by *all* phones, regardless of OS, whether they be running an app on iOS, Android, Windows, etc., they all must adhere to a standard VoiP or video calling (that means you, FaceTime). We consumers would benefit so greatly from these manufacturers adhering to an actual standard that would allow us to choose our hardware and software.

But, as you say, the telcos will never allow this to happen, they make too much money controlling the way we communicate.
 
Apple can no longer wait a year before updates. They must release phones every 6 months from now on. Competition is fierce.
 
I have 5 days to decide whether to return my iPhone 5. Given that I'm not entirely overwhelmed by it, this news (however unlikely) is another reason to return it and wait. Given that I was prepared to wait until this time next year for the next iteration, it seems worth the risk that a new model with support for the remaining 4G frequencies in the UK will be released to co-incide with the accelerated roll-out of 4G by Vodafone and O2.

I don't dislike the 5, just don't feel its worth the upgrade cost when it will be out of date when 4G happens next year and re-sale may be difficult.
 
And most users are so stupid they believe every rumors they read.
 
The trial production order likely came down from Apple before the staff shakeup. Pretty sure they're not gonna rush any products thru without a solid double-take. Doesn't mean this rumor is wrong, but I bet a 5S launch centers somewhere between Jan/Feb as this rumor seems to suggest and Jun/Jul as had been expected prior to this rumor. Late March announcement for April delivery.
 
Oh great. Now in addition to having to throw away my iPad 3, I"ll have to scrap my iPhone 5 too.

Thanks a lot Apple :( At least this stuff is recyclable.
 
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