New iPhone in July, August? iPad Mini in April?
So, we predicted last month that the iPhone 5S would launch later this year in September, approximately a year after the iPhone 5 was released, September 21, 2012. The latest buzz, however, suggests we could see the new iPhone one to two months earlier, depending on who you believe.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, after issuing a report in mid-January, claiming that Apple will release not one, but two new iPhones this year in June, stays firm in a new research report released earlier today. According to Kuo, Apple will unveil an iPhone 5S and lower-cost iPhone alongside iOS 7 this June, with the devices becoming available in July.
MacRumors quotes Kuo:
[W]e expect the product differentiation between iPhone 5S and iPhone 5 will be: (1) computing power, with iPhone 5S to run on the faster A7 application processor; (2) the camera, with iPhone 5S being equipped with Smart Flash, ensuring photo quality using white or yellow flash according to lighting conditions; (3) iPhone 5S will have a fingerprint chip under the Home button, improving security and usability; and (4) the low-cost iPhone 5 hybrid casing of fiberglass and plastic will make it lighter and slimmer than general plastic casing and easier to make in various colors. However, we still think it will be heavier than iPhone 5S, which will have an aluminum casing. Thus, even form factor will be an area of differentiation.
But while Rene Ritchie at iMore, agrees with Kuo regarding specs and a summer release for the 5S; he pegs the release for August instead of Kuo’s July date.
Sources familiar with the plans have told iMore that the iPhone 5S does indeed have the same basic design as the iPhone 5, with a more advanced processor and an improved camera. With the iPhone 5S, the aim is to once again raise the bar in terms of iPhone optics, including a much better camera in essentially the same casing. Apple is planning the release of the iPhone 5S for this summer, currently for August.
Ritchie also claims a new iPad Mini 2 could debut as early as April.
We’ve also been told an April-ish launch is getting serious consideration for the next-generation iPads, but we’re really not sure what to make of that yet. iPad 5 casings have already begun to leak — the only big redesign in the line — so that could make sense. Retina for the iPad mini, however, still doesn’t sound imminent.
After doing our research, AAE is not holding our breath for a new iPad Mini in April. That seems far fetched to us. Especially one without a retina display. However, we do believe we may certainly see the iPhone 5S a couple of months early in July or even August. Our insight and sources, similar to Kuo, see Apple as wanting to regain market share from it’s competitors Samsung (with it’s Galaxy series), Google (with it’s upcoming Glass release) and Microsoft, along with stem the recent [and undeserved] plummet of it’s stock. In the last six months, share price has gone down more than 37 percent, despite record earnings.
