Many pundits predict a summer iPhone 6 release date. It's quite likely that Apple is moving to a two-phones-per-year upgrade cycle, but we'd bet on a springtime 5S model and a bigger, iPhone 6, update in the Autumn, probably September.
Digitimes reckons predicts a summertime reveal for Apple's next generation phones, which again fits with a WWDC unveiling. In May it became clear that US carrier Verizon introduced an iPhone 5 price cut of as much as $100 USD.
Reports in April also suggested that Foxconn has added as many as 10,000 assembly line workers per week to its Zhengzhou plant as it readies itself for the iPhone 6 release date.
But Jefferies analyst Peter Misek reckons we'll see an iPhone 5S first, with a June 2014 release for the iPhone 6. Citi's Glen Yeung also believes that we won't see an iPhone 6 or cheap iPhone until 2014.
iPhone 6 casing
Multiple rumours say Apple's working on plastic cases for its next iPhone, mixing plastic and metal in such a way that "the internal metal parts [are] able to be seenoutside through special design." Could these imagesApple.pro be a new iPhone 6 complete with plastic casing? The cynic inside us says no, but you never know...
It's unclear whether such cases would be for the iPhone 5S or iPhone 6, or if Apple is simply considering making cheaper iPhone 4s to sell when the iPhone 3GS reaches the end of its life.
Speaking in March 2013, a KGI analyst said it believed Apple would turn to manufacturer Pegatron to make up to 75 per cent of low cost iPhone products. Indeed, rumours in early June 2013 pointed at a $399 price point for the cheap iPhone 6. We've also seen further supposedly leaked images of an all-white, plastic handset, but we're really not sure of the provenance.
The iPhone 6 will finally do NFC
That's what iDownloadblog reckons, quoting Jefferies analyst Peter Misek: it'll have a better battery too, he says. Many Android phones now boast NFC.
PayPal's chief information security officer, Michael Barrett said this during a recent keynote speech: "There is going to be a fingerprint enabled phone on the market later this year," he said. "Not just one, multiple."
See our video below on what Apple needs to do to slay Samsung's Galaxy S4
iPhone 6 processor
Not a huge surprise, this one: the current processor is a dual-core A6, and the next one will be a quad-core A7. The big sell here is more power with better efficiency, which should help battery life.
Expect to see it in the 2013 iPad first, and expect to see an improved A6 processor, the A6X, in the iPhone 5S.
iPhone 6 camera
Apple's bought camera sensorsSony before, and this year we're going to see a new, 13-megapixel sensor that takes up less room without compromising image quality.
An Apple patent, uncovered by Apple Insider in May 2013, shows a systeman iPhone can remotely control other illuminating devices - extra flashes. It would work in a similar manner to that seen in professional photography studios. Interesting stuff.
iPhone 6 eye tracking
One thing seems certain - Apple can't ignore the massive movement towards eye-tracking techother vendors, especially Samsung. It seems a shoe-in that Apple will deliver some kind of motion tech within the next iPhone, probablyuMoove.
The new iPhone will have better 4G LTE
On its UK launch, just one UK network had 4G LTE: Everything Everywhere, which currently offers 4G on the 1800MHz band. In 2013,the other big names will be coming on board, offering 4G in other frequency bands. International iPhones already work across different 4G bands to the UK, so you can expect the UK iPhone 6 (and possibly the iPhone 5S) to be more promiscuous than the iPhone 5.
By the time the iPhone 6 emerges, iOS devices should also have "nonclassified communication approval" statusthe US FCC, which means they won't need to go through a lengthy approval process.
iPhone 6 Wi-Fi may be 802.11ac
Apple likes to lead Wi-Fi standards adoption - its Airport really helped make Wi-Fi mainstream - and there's a good chance we'll see ultra-fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi in Apple kit this year. It's faster than Lighting, and not very frightening.
iPhone 6 wirelessging
Wirelessging still isn't mainstream. Could Apple help give it a push? CP Tech reports that Apple has filed a patent for efficient wirelessging, but then again Apple has filed patents for pretty much anything imaginable.
The tasty bit of this particular patent is that Apple's tech wouldn't justge one device, but multiple ones. Here are more details on the iPhone 6 wirelessging patent.
Meanwhile, a further Apple patent seems to imply that future iPhones will be able to adjust volume as you move them awayyour ear.
And could the iPhone 6 really have 3D? It's unlikely, but the rumours keep on coming.
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