Apple expected to launch next-gen 'iPhone 5' in October - report
Apple's next iPhone may arrive even later than expected, with a new rumor claiming the handset will not go on sale until the month of October.
Citing a source familiar with Apple's plans, John Paczkowski of All Things D reported on Monday that Apple's fifth-generation iPhone will arrive in the month of October. Separate sources reportedly said that the device will arrive later in the month.
The latest rumor contradicts recent reports which have claimed the so-called "iPhone 5" will debut in September. In addition, AT&T employees have allegedly been prohibited from taking vacation during the last two weeks of September, which has suggested to some that a new iPhone could launch in that timeframe.
"Sources with knowledge of the situation say reports claiming AT&T has blacked out employee vacations during the last two weeks of September in preparation for the retail debut of the next iPhone are misinformed," Paczkowski wrote.
In recent days, cases claiming to show the new design of Apple's fifth-generation iPhone have been appearing in large numbers in China. The proliferation of those cases has fueled speculation that the launch of a new iPhone could happen soon.
An October launch would be later than most expect, and much later than the typical June-July timeframe that Apple has used to launch new iPhone models in years past.
At this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple did not unveil any new hardware. Instead, the company showed off iOS 5, a software update it promised is coming this fall, presumably alongside the next-generation iPhone.
In early July, one report claimed that Apple's component suppliers in Taiwan were gearing up and preparing materials for production of a fifth-generation iPhone in October. Most rumors have suggested that the upgrade will include an improved 8 megapixel camera, along with the speedy A5 processor already found in the iPad 2.
Citing a source familiar with Apple's plans, John Paczkowski of All Things D reported on Monday that Apple's fifth-generation iPhone will arrive in the month of October. Separate sources reportedly said that the device will arrive later in the month.
The latest rumor contradicts recent reports which have claimed the so-called "iPhone 5" will debut in September. In addition, AT&T employees have allegedly been prohibited from taking vacation during the last two weeks of September, which has suggested to some that a new iPhone could launch in that timeframe.
"Sources with knowledge of the situation say reports claiming AT&T has blacked out employee vacations during the last two weeks of September in preparation for the retail debut of the next iPhone are misinformed," Paczkowski wrote.
In recent days, cases claiming to show the new design of Apple's fifth-generation iPhone have been appearing in large numbers in China. The proliferation of those cases has fueled speculation that the launch of a new iPhone could happen soon.
An October launch would be later than most expect, and much later than the typical June-July timeframe that Apple has used to launch new iPhone models in years past.
At this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple did not unveil any new hardware. Instead, the company showed off iOS 5, a software update it promised is coming this fall, presumably alongside the next-generation iPhone.
In early July, one report claimed that Apple's component suppliers in Taiwan were gearing up and preparing materials for production of a fifth-generation iPhone in October. Most rumors have suggested that the upgrade will include an improved 8 megapixel camera, along with the speedy A5 processor already found in the iPad 2.
Comments
Apple's next iPhone may arrive even later than expected, with a new rumor claiming the handset will not go on sale until the month of October.
Received a call from my network operator offering a low tariff on my current iPhone to cover period between the end of the contract and the iPhone 5 becoming available. They said they were being told by Apple the iPhone 5 would be available sometime October to December, delayed due to a "component problem".
Tomorrow will see a headline Apple expect to launch next-gen 'iPhone 5' later this month and then it'll be back to September and the 2012... until we finally see a "Apple beings inviting members of the press to September media and music event"...
Still, I continue to visit AppleInsider because rumors are better than no news!!
It is pretty frustrating when I read that it will launch in the beginning of September, then end of Sep and now in October! The more the lauch is delayed, the later it will come to my country!
Still, I continue to visit AppleInsider because rumors are better than no news!!
Nothing has been announced, therefore there is no delay. So the news might be frustrating, but it's not news, just people back tracking on early guess work and fiction so they don't look stupid in a few weeks when they are proven wrong.
If this is true, it must new news to everybody at Apple, because they said that their revenues would be impacted by a product transition in the current quarter. To me, that seems like it must be the new iPhone, and it means that it will be well before the end of the quarter, because a few days of sales of the new devices shouldn't have that much of an impact on the quarter, even of they sell a lot in the first few days--especially since international sales are such a big portion, and they are likely to roll it out in the US first. A more likely scenario, I think, is that the 5 will be out in a few weeks, and a lower-cost alternative will be released slightly later.
This. A thousand times this. AllThingsD has good sources generally, but they're wrong here. Apple THEMSELVES said there's a transition that will have an effect on their numbers ending September 25th. This doesn't mean a launch September 24th either, as that wouldn't have a large enough effect to even be worth mentioning.
Nothing has been announced, therefore there is no delay. So the news might be frustrating, but it's not news, just people back tracking on early guess work and fiction so they don't look stupid in a few weeks when they are proven wrong.
That's a good point, however, compared to Apple's past iPhone release cycles, this does appear to be a delay. Not to say that Apple had ever published an iPhone product roadmap and target release dates. So, there may be a possible component delay, or maybe a feature will be implemented that was thought to be nixed. LTE?. Although, past announcement has almost always shown that Apple had been conservative on releasing some new-desired technology until they felt the time was right. So I'm not holding my breath on LTE.
I'm also wondering if iOS5 may be a reason for the delay. I suppose Apple will want to release both concurrently, much like the recent Lion/MacBook Air/Mini release. This may be the first time that Apple will be releasing a major OS update and new phone together and that makes things a little more difficult as Apple doesn't want to have egg on their face like MobileMe and Antennae Gate. Not to mention, major changes with iCloud and over the air updates. There are a lot of new things happening at the same time, and as good as Apple is, they are probably being extra cautious to avoid any possible mis-step.
This. A thousand times this. AllThingsD has good sources generally, but they're wrong here. Apple THEMSELVES said there's a transition that will have an effect on their numbers ending September 25th. This doesn't mean a launch September 24th either, as that wouldn't have a large enough effect to even be worth mentioning.
Unless the component issue is a new one...
So the likely scenario is announce it later this month, goes to Fcc for testing and hits customers hands in late September or early October and Bob's your uncle.
Apple's next iPhone may arrive even later than expected, with a new rumor claiming the handset will not go on sale until the month of October. ...
I'm starting to wonder if Apple isn't making a bit of a mistake making us wait so long for the next model. If it arrives in October that will be four months or more past when most people would have expected to upgrade.
If you make people wait, they may realise that they don't actually *need* the new product at all. Compounding that situation, is the fact that by all accounts it's shaping up to be a less than spectacular upgrade. While its true that they have no real competition from any other phone as of yet, it's also true that the salad days of smartphone adoption are over and that the users are getting more sophisticated and making deliberate choices between one smartphone and another. At the very least, a late iPhone that isn't that spectacular when it arrives might absolutely *need* Christmas sales so as to disguise it's slightly lamer sales.
Unless the component issue is a new one...
That is a possibility, but you'd have to think for Oppenheimer to even have the go-ahead to reference such things, that successful production would have to be a foregone conclusion.
I mean, I guess even if you're 99% sure that everything's on track and on schedule, there's still a 1% chance things go awry.
Maybe this is the 1%?
This still smells like a red herring to me.
If they announce it sometime this month, doesn't it then go to the Fcc for testing? And doesn't that usually take 1-2 months?
So the likely scenario is announce it later this month, goes to Fcc for testing and hits customers hands in late September or early October and Bob's your uncle.
In the past, Apple has gotten the FCC to do the testing quietly before the product exists without announcing results until the day after their announcement of the product.
If this is true, it must new news to everybody at Apple, because they said that their revenues would be impacted by a product transition in the current quarter. To me, that seems like it must be the new iPhone, and it means that it will be well before the end of the quarter, because a few days of sales of the new devices shouldn't have that much of an impact on the quarter, even of they sell a lot in the first few days--especially since international sales are such a big portion, and they are likely to roll it out in the US first. A more likely scenario, I think, is that the 5 will be out in a few weeks, and a lower-cost alternative will be released slightly later.
This. A thousand times this. AllThingsD has good sources generally, but they're wrong here. Apple THEMSELVES said there's a transition that will have an effect on their numbers ending September 25th. This doesn't mean a launch September 24th either, as that wouldn't have a large enough effect to even be worth mentioning.
It's not a 100% certainty, but in the past a "product transition" has always referred to Apple dropping a product, adding a new product, merging two product lines into one, or some combination of these. An expected new version of a product they already sell doesn't really affect the bottom line in the same way.
A new version of the iPhone, however changed or delayed, is not something that could properly be called a "product transition." Anything can happen, but I would expect they are talking about something else.
It's not a 100% certainty, but in the past a "product transition" has always referred to Apple dropping a product, adding a new product, merging two product lines into one, or some combination of these. An expected new version of a product they already sell doesn't really affect the bottom line in the same way.
A new version of the iPhone, however changed or delayed, is not something that could properly be called a "product transition." Anything can happen, but I would expect they are talking about something else.
Maybe the new iPhone has smaller margins than the first, and/or they release a new lower-end model with smaller margins that they expect to take some share from the high end, and/or they start selling the iPhone 4 for $50 when they release the new model and expect a lot of people to settle for that instead. I'm not sure how else they would allude to an event like this in their conference call without giving away too much.