iPhone 5S release date and specs: All the rumours so far - Know Your Mobile (blog)

Tipped to hit volume production in Q1 2013, Apple's iPhone 5S is already the talk of the town following a leaked image of what's said to be the handset's backpanel. It's only been three months (just) since Apple launched the iPhone 5 – so what will its successor be like? 

Here we'll examine all the conjecture and speculation so far, as well as make a few educated guesses of our own, in a bid to try and piece together a coherent picture of Apple's next iPhone. 

iPhone 5S – Design

From the leak it's clear that Apple is leaving the core design of the iPhone 5S alone, just as it did between iterations of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. That's to be expected, however, as Apple never really rocks the boat in this regard, meaning the handset will almost certainly feature a 4-inch display and the same unibody design as its predecessor. 

iPhone 5S – Hardware

As it stands, we don't know jack about the iPhone 5S's specs. That said it's fairly easy to speculate about what the handset may entail hardware-wise given the competition it'll be going up against in 2013.  

Here's a collection of predictions about what we'll see inside the iPhone 5S: 

iPhone 5S – Better LTE

A Q2 launch for Apple's iPhone 5S would be ideal for users' on O2 and Vodafone's upcoming 800MHz to 2.6GHz 4G networks. The iPhone 5 is only available with 4G on EE at present in the UK. Apple needs to remedy this as 4G becomes more readily available in the UK in the second half of 2013. 

iPhone 5S - Processor

Apple could include a new CPU, although it's unlikely given the proficiency of the one present in the iPhone 5. Having said that, the new handset could be the first Apple device to run on ARM Cortex-A15 architecture and perhaps even in a quad-core setup.

Most big Android releases, notably the Galaxy S4, will run quad-core chips based on A15 architecture so it stands to reason that Apple's will too.  

iPhone 5S - Display

1080p displays will become the norm in 2013, Apple will need to adapt to this shift or else face being left behind in the display-stakes – a field it has long-dominated with its Retina technology. 

We'd expect to see a 4-inch IPS variant with a resolution of 1917x1080 pixels – a setup that'd be in keeping with the current iPhone 5's aspect ratio but significantly bump up the pixel density. 

iPhone 5S – Imaging

Like 1080p displays, 13-megapixel cameras will also become extremely prevalent during 2013. For this reason we're expecting Apple to introduce a 12 or 13-megapixel Sony Exmor RS aboard its iPhone 5S handset, bringing some of the best imaging capabilities seen to date on an iDevice. 

iPhone 5S – iOS 7

This is the big one and potentially what the iPhone 5S will be all about – launching Apple's new-look mobile operating system. Not much is known about what Apple plans to do with its aging UI but the fact that Jony Ive, Apple's Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, has been roped in to help with an overhaul suggests it could be quite significant. 

iPhone 5S – release date

A report from China's Commercial Times on Monday said, Apple will begin 'trial production of a new version of its iPhone 5, or iPhone 5S, in December with initial production volumes likely to top 50,000 - 100,000 units, according IBT.' 

Apple is said to be keen to accelerate production of its next flagship after facing low yield rates for its current model, the iPhone 5. In terms of a release date, reports suggest Apple may introduce the iPhone 5S as early as August – perhaps even earlier. 

At present it's impossible to speculate, the company's release schedule varies from year to year. Just look at how quickly Apple updated the iPad 3. Could it begin applying this fast turnaround to its smartphones as well? 

In closing...

We'll update this piece as more information becomes available, but for now these are Know Your Mobile's predictions for what we could see implemented inside the iPhone 5S once it's officially launched. 

Stay tuned for more…