Australian retailers have been told that Apple is set to launch an entry level low cost 4″ iPhone in November.
Australian retailers have been told that Apple is set to launch an entry level low cost 4″ iPhone in November.
Apple’s key partners which include JB Hi Fi, Harvey Norman and Dick Smith will start selling a new range of iPhones late in September with the new low cost model tipped to go on sale six weeks before Xmas.
The last time Apple launched an iPhone in November was the first ever model, unveiled by former chief executive Steve Jobs back in January 2007, before going on sale Australia in the November.
The reason for the delay is believed to be component supply according to sources.
A new low cost iPhone has been muted for several months after Apple accidentally uploaded an image of what appeared to be the iPhone 5c sporting a Touch ID fingerprint sensor in its home button – a feature only the iPhones 5s, 6 and 6 Plus currently have.
The picture was quickly replaced by Apple.
Taiwanese trade site Digitimes had speculated that the 6c will debut some time in spring 2016, featuring 14/16nm FinFET chips manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.
Images purporting to be of a newly pink iPhone 6s have been doing the rounds online, though the credibility of the pictures is unknown.
The next generation of Apple iPhones will be called the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus they are tipped to be launch on September 9.
The new model will run iOS 9, the latest version of Apple’s software for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, which was announced at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in early June.
Updates and features include Siri becoming more proactive in recognising your behaviour, longer battery life and improvements to existing apps including Maps and Notes.
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are expected to look very similar to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and come in the same 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch size variants.
One of the most significant features of the new model could be the addition of Force Touch technology, which is used in the Apple Watch and latest Macbook to enable users to more easily navigate the device.
Reports suggest that this would allow users to press down hard on the iPhone’s touchscreen to provide a different response to a usual tap. For example, it could make navigating menus more quickly, with something previously requiring two or three button taps now requiring just one Force Touch press.
Other rumoured features include a DSLR-quality camera, a new processor – the A9 – produced by Samsung, and a scratch-resistant sapphire glass screen.
The iPhone 6s’ sale date has been given away in a leaked internal email from Vodafone. The email reveals the newest handset will go on sale on September 25, with pre-orders being accepted from September 18. The memo, seen by Mobile News, does not clarify the exact name of the model, called simply ‘the new iPhone’.
If it is announced on September 8 or 9, this release date would tally with the usual pattern of an announcement in the second week of September, followed by a release two weeks later.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has asked its suppliers to produce a record number of new models – between 85 million and 90 million compared to last year’s 70-80 million, suggesting strong faith the new generation of iPhones will outsell its predecessors.
