Wednesday 5 December 2012

iPhone 6 release date, rumours and leaked images - Macworld UK

iPhone 6 Release Date

Welcome to our iPhone 6 release date, rumours and leaked images article, here we plan to do everything that the title suggests. We are going to bring you everything we know about the new iPhone 6 release date so you can know exactly when the new iPhone 6 is coming out. Also we are going to bring you a few of the juiciest spec rumours that are flying round the web's most trusted iPhone websites too. Finally we have a some iPhone images that we'd like to show you. So sit back and relax we're got the new iPhone 6 covered.
As this is Apple, the iPhone 6 is not officially announced yet. But Apple is not as secure as it'd like to be, and there are many juicy iPhone 6 rumours floating around, and some of the iPhone leaks in the past have turned out to be fairly accurate.

(Like this iPhone front panel we saw before the last iPhone launch)

Having said that, a lot of iPhone 6 rumours turn out to be Chinese whispers or plain attempts to test people's gullibility.

New iPhone 6 release date

There are two main theories regarding the iPHone 6 launch date. One is that it'll come six months after the iPhone 5, the second is that it'll come 12 months after the iPhone 5.

iPhone 6 will arrive in June 2013

The first iPhone 6 release date rumour is that Apple has now moved to a six-month cycle for it's iOS products, and the iPhone 6 release date will be March 2103, alongside an IPad 5. Ed Valdez at Technoarti suggests that Apple is moving to a six month cycle

Valdez gives six reasons, but they're pretty lame. Such as "Apple needs a wow factor", "Apple needs to lead against Samsung" and "The bulk of iPhone sales take place int he first three to four months after its release". Bear in mind that Apple launched the iPhone 5 in Korea and 50 other countries in December 2012. So it doesn't just launch in the US and then that's it, the iPhone rollout moves across the globe. 

iPhone 6 will arrive in October 2013

The second theory is that Apple will stick to its late-season launch and the iPhone 6 release date will be October 2013. This is what we'd currently bet on, although the amount of iPhone 6 rumours and iPhone 6 image leaks in the run-up to June may change the situation. 

The six-month cycle for iOS products makes sense because it means Apple can always be using the latest chipsets and technology. But it's based on the rapid deployment on the iPad 4, just six months after the iPad 3: it's a bit of an assumption that Apple is planning to do this to every product from now on. Research shows that most people buy a new iPhone ever two years, so releasing a new model every six months doesn't mean Apple will sell more, or even make more iPhones, just design more. Apple is rumoured to be selling up to 53 million iPhones in the December quarter alone.

iPhone 6 rumours

There are a lot of iPhone 6 rumours around, but because it is so close from the launch of the iPhone 5 it is hard to distinguish what is a specific iPhone 6 rumour, from general Apple iPhone rumours. Some rumours that were attached to the iPhone 5 are now being incorporated into the iPhone 6. 

The iPhone 6 will have a Smart Home Button that is oblong-shaped and touch-capacitive

This one's been around since forever (well, early 2011 at least). One iPhone 6 rumour suggests that Jony Ive (or Sir Jonathan Ive as he's now formally known) is ready to introduce a wider oblong home button that will be touch-capacitive. The iPhone 6 Home Button will not just push to return to the Home Screen, but you'll be able to swipe your finger left and right over it (we presume to move left and right between Apps, like the four-finger Multi-Touch gesture that you find on the iPad).
This iPhone 6 rumour has some basis in fact, and we believe Apple has at least been experimenting with this idea (we have been reporting on it for a while).

The iPhone 6 will be an iPhone 5S

One iPhone 6 rumour is that it will be an iPhone 5S and actually be a pretty small update. Visually it will be identical to the iPhone 5, with its larger 4in display, Lightning port and thinner case.

Since the iPhone 3G, Apple has consistently launched a model one year, then the same model but upgraded next year with the 'S' for 'Speed' moniker. So it seems a good bet that the iPhone 6 will be an iPhone 5S with the same case.

Some analysts, like Paul Brown at Strategy Analytics seems to think so: "On the back of a lack of recent innovation from Apple and negative press, we are starting see growth in the number of previously highly-loyal customers who are considering whether or not they will purchase a new iPhone for their next device." 

This does seem to overlook the fact that Apple will almost certainly introduce new iOS 6 features in the iPhone 6 along with faster internal components, even if it does have the same external case.

iPhone 6 rumour: Smart Bezel

Apple has taken out several patents on a Smart Bezel (the plastic front surrounding the screen). In other words the Bezel will be able to display information as well as the screen. We've reported on the iPhone 6 Smart Bezel a few times, and Patently Apple, the source of many an Apple rumour has this article on the latest Apple patent on a Smart Bezel.

In Apple's own words: "The primary display could be used to convey visual content to a user, and the secondary display could be used to guide a user providing inputs to the device. For example, the secondary display could be selectively illuminated to provide one or more indicators that represent where or how a user can provide inputs to the device."
What kind of level of information the Smart Bezel could display is up for debate. It certainly wouldn't be a 'screen extension', more like flashing buttons and symbols. This could guide users to tap parts of the screen, or indiciate new messages and suchlike.

iPhone 6 Smart Bezel

The iPhone 6 will have an A6X processor

Apple traditionally updates the iPhone with a new internal procoessor. The iPhone currently has a A6 processor, while the latest iPad has an A6X. That seems like a fair candidate for the next generation of iPhone CPU. The A6X is a dual-core CPU with a quad-core GPU. Veruss the A6 which is a dual-core CPU with three graphics cores.

Giving an additional graphics core to the iPhone might not make much difference to performance, however (it's required on the iPad to power the Retina Display).

Rumour: iPhone 6 will have A7 quad-core processor

The iPhone is typically ahead of the curve when it comes to performance. And Apple could skip the dual-core A6X and go straight to the A7, which would possibly be quad-core CPU and quad-core graphics.

Of course, given Apple's track record this would only happen if the A7 processor did not impinge on heat dissapation, battery life, or device bulk (all of which Apple is fanatical about).

But let's assume it can. What would the iPhone do with all this power? Aside from more powerful games, it could be used to power more iOS features, although everybody seems to struggle with ideas for what.

Although these guys over at Hot Hardware seem to think an iPhone 6 with quad-core A7 processor a bad idea, suggesting that virtually all phone software outside of Nvidia Tegra games, is designed for two-cores. So what's the point?

iPhone 6 leaked images and concept art

There are few iPhone 6 leaked images, most leaked images seem to refer to earlier iPhone 5 models. These could be iPhone 6 prototype designs (Apple typically works several years, and iterations ahead) or they could be iPhone 5 designs that didn't make the grade.

This Yanko design displays what the iPhone 6 could look like if it includes LiquidMetal casing

iPhone 6 Liquid Metal Case

This article will be updated as more iPhone 6 or IPhone 5S information, rumours, and leaked pictures as they become available.

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