A recent report from the Chinese media claims that Apple
will be launching both an iPhone 5S and a 5" iPhone 6 both during this
year. The translated version of the report reads:
“A source told Chinese mobile phone information site
Laoyaoba.com that he has seen the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 at Apple's suppliers.
Both models may be released in 2013, according to the website's microblog on
Thursday evening.
- The source noted that the iPhone 5S resembles the iPhone
5, and the five-inch iPhone 6 is lighter and thinner.”
In addition to the previous speculations that suggest Apple
is seriously considering a larger form-factor iPhone in the near future, this
report just makes the statement more credible. However the early reports suggested
the larger iteration of iPhone wouldn't see the light of day in 2013, while the
latest ones continue to point to a 4.8"-5.0" device coming sooner.
There have been numerous speculations on how such a larger
model might make sense in Apple's iPhone lineup without compromising the
quality of the existing apps, especially when comparing it to Samsung's current
offerings.
Considering the fact that Apple has its entire manufacturingprocess shifted in China, these sightings appear to be credible, while the timing
is still under question, as Apple may not be able to launch this much different
device in 2013. So it seems we should expect the parts of this larger device to
also begin to leak out of China, if Apple does actually begin ramping up
production for 2013.
