The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are only a few months old, but reports are now flying in about Apple’s next-generation iPhones
Sometimes it might seem like the tech industry works in mysterious ways, but when you step back and take a look at how things pan out over time, it's quite a predictable creature. What's true for one firm is also true for another, including one of the industry's leading lights; Apple.Apple has a pretty well-established MO by now, and although the fine details have been tweaked and adjusted over the years (it used to launch new iPhones in the Summer, for example, but has spent several years launching in September instead), year-on-year we see consistent patterns, which gives us a good idea of what to expect, and how to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the rumour mill.
So it's not much of a surpise then, that all of the rumours are lining up to predict a September launch event for Apple's next batch of iPhones. On top of this, it appears there isn't going to be any leapfrogging to an iPhone 7. No, we're getting Apple's usual habit of an incrementally updated 'S' branded model over the previous generation - in this case the iPhone 6 - meaning we're looking at the iPhone 6s being prepped for launch.
We say incremental, in the sense that it won't look massively different or offer any major new features, instead, as with previous iPhone 'S' category phones we can expect the same overall package with some fine tuning. A turbo-charged processor, better battery life, and enhanced camera capabilities usually form the baseline of what you can expect from a new iPhone 'S' device.
It started with a few whisperings from users of Chinese social network Weibo; allegedly the iPhone 6s is entering production right now. But as of July 3, a report from DigiTimes is now adding to the pile citing its usual "sources in the upply chain".
According to the report, Apple's manufacturing partners, Foxconn and Pegatron, are now receiving component shipments and gearing production for a September launch.
"Initial shipments of new iPhone devices in the fourth quarter of 2015 are expected to total at least 50 million units, estimated the sources. Among these suppliers, Pegatron, Zhen Ding, Flexium and Largan have continued expanding their production facilities in order to meet increasing orders from Apple, the sources noted."
Turns out these "estimates" might have been a little off the mark, too. According to sources speaking to the WSJ, Apple is pushing for the BIGGEST order of iPhones EVER for Q4 2015. Apple wants it suppliers to build 85-90 million iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus units before the close of Q4 2015. Apple isn’t changing the display size either, keeping 4.7in and 5.5in for both models, but this is the biggest initial order Apple has ever placed with its suppliers.
And this makes sense too if one looks at just how well the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have been selling in 2014/15.
“We had an amazing quarter, with iPhone revenue up 59 percent over last year, strong sales of Mac, all-time record revenue from services, driven by the App Store, and a great start for Apple Watch,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The excitement for Apple Music has been incredible, and we’re looking forward to releasing iOS 9, OS X El Capitan and watchOS 2 to customers in the fall.”
“In the third quarter our year-over-year growth rate accelerated from the first half of fiscal 2015, with revenue up 33 percent and earnings per share up 45 percent,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We generated very strong operating cash flow of $15 billion, and we returned over $13 billion to shareholders through our capital return program.”
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are expected to be incremental updates, unlike the big changes we saw Apple implement last year. Still, there will be plenty of key updates to the phones and this should result in excellent sales once again. A more powerful chipset with faster LTE chip is expected to debut inside the new iPhones, alongside Apple’s Force Touch display technology and 12MP camera with 4K video capture. Apple is expected to launch and release the new iPhones during September 2015, according to the WSJ, meaning they’ll be here in just shy of two months.
The news follows on from a Bloomberg report from June, claiming production would begin in July.
Will incremental work this time around, though? It certainly has done in the past, but still there are some analyst firms that believe Apple should strike while the iron is hot – the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are selling, quite literally, like Ben & Jerry’s at Fat Camp – and push on with more innovation, more change and bigger and better features. Check out Macquarie Research’s recent note to investors, for example:
“However, looking ahead, we think that the comp issue becomes a much more significant issue in the September and December quarters. The fact is that there was significant build up demand for a larger screen heading into the iPhone 6 launch. While there are certainly many other factors impacting AAPL, this simple fact can't be overlooked. Demand for a larger screen drove much of the incredible growth in iPhone units over the past year. Since the new phone will not be a size upgrade, we are concerned that the growth simply won't be there. We are well aware that this is incredibly simplified, but because it is simple doesn't mean it won't impact the growth and stock.”
In addition to this there has been talk about Apple umming and ahhing over the name of the handset too. As the story goes, Apple feels the updates inside the next iPhone will be so significant they might warrant a full jump in numbers -- iPhone Xs updates have always been incremental. Always. Whereas the iPhone X represent big, sweeping changes to the look, feel and specs and hardware.
Having said that, we can’t really see how Apple would get away with calling this next handset the iPhone 7 when it looks identical to last year’s model -- consumers just wouldn’t buy it. For now, and despite what some have said, we believe Apple’s next iPhone will be the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. The iPhone 7, potentially alongside a new iPhone 7c range, will appear in 2016/17 and represent a bigger step forwards for the company, with a new design, new hardware and potentially a 10nm 64-bit CPU and near-DSLR-like imaging capabilities.
iPhone 6s Release Date
Apple’s iPhone 6s and, we presume, iPhone 6s Plus will go on sale in the UK on September 25, according to a leaked email seen by Mobile News.According to the source, the “new iPhone” as it is referred to in the memo will go on pre-order on September 18, with a release date pegged for September 25.
“Vodafone has told internal staff the next Apple iPhone handset will be released on September 25,” said the report. “In an email to staff seen by Mobile News, the operator outlined pre-launch information, including that the operator will begin taking pre-orders for the device from September 18.”
The name of the handset was not revealed, however. The handset was simply referred to as “the new iPhone”, meaning it could be either the iPhone 6s or, as some reports have suggested, the iPhone 7.
MacRumors noticed that KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks that the next's iPhone's internal hardware and features will be improved to the point that Apple will skip the "S" model for the next iPhone and just call it the iPhone 7, reports Business Insider.
Upgrades are expected to include the “biggest camera jump ever”, according to blogger John Gruber, who describes a "weird two-lens system where the back camera uses two lenses and it somehow takes it up into DSLR quality imagery.”.
Wireless charging, or some kind of Apple-style wireless charging, is expected. Ditto for Force Touch Glass on the display. The handsets will apparently run on Apple’s new, Samsung-made A9 chipset will is shaping up to be a 14nm setup and should deliver some rather insane processing grunt, especially if combined with more RAM.
Upgrades are expected to include the “biggest camera jump ever”, according to blogger John Gruber, who describes a "weird two-lens system where the back camera uses two lenses and it somehow takes it up into DSLR quality imagery.”.
Wireless charging, or some kind of Apple-style wireless charging, is expected. Ditto for Force Touch Glass on the display. The handsets will apparently run on Apple’s new, Samsung-made A9 chipset will is shaping up to be a 14nm setup and should deliver some rather insane processing grunt, especially if combined with more RAM.
Sources close to Apple have confirmed the iPhone 6s/iPhone 7 will look pretty much identical to the iPhone 6, according to 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman. One of the key differences Apple is apparently keen to push is the inclusion of Force Touch.
“To go with the new hardware, Apple has designed iOS 9 to be Force Touch-ready and is working to let developers integrate Force Touch into App Store apps. Force Touch on the iPhone will be used to clear up some control space across the system, and potentially replace some long press-and-hold button interactions,” noted Gurman’s report.
iPhone 6s/iPhone 7 users will be able to use Force Touch Maps to drop new pins inside Maps, inside media players for pressure-sensitive scrolling, and inside the Calendar application for adding new events, as well as across iOS 9 for quickly looking up word definitions.
This article has grown A LOT over the past few months, so for the sake of simplicity we have now broken it up into sections, see below, in order for you to find out exactly what you’re looking for without having to scroll down the article for months and months and months. Each section will be updated as new information becomes available, as it was before.
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