September 12 iPhone 5 (And iPad mini) Announcement Projected
Posted by CharlesMoore on Tuesday Jul 31, 2012 Under iPhone 5 Opinion, iPhone 5 PredictionsiMore Editor-in-Chief Rene Ritchie is reporting this morning that the site has been told by unnamed “sources who have proven accurate in the past” that Apple is planning to announce the new iPhone, a new iPad mini, and a new iPod nano at a special event on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, with consumer release of at least the iPhone to follow 9 days later on Friday, September 21. Ritchie says he hasn’t any info on a release date for the iPad mini yet, but suggests that it could be the same as for the iPhone 5. He notes that it seems likely the new iPod touch will be announced on September 12 as well, although his sources didn’t reference it, and he hedges the whole report with a prudent “if these announcement and release dates prove accurate” disclaimer.
However, it is a plausible scenario, and scheduling the actual product release for September 21 would come very close to honoring Apple’s having previously announced an iOS 6 “fall” release at the World Wide Developers Conference and reconfirmed that in its latest quarterly fiscal report, although technically, autumnal equinox falls on Saturday, September 22 this year.
Scheduling the iPhone 5 product announcement for September 12 would formally consummate the much hotter-selling product’s takeover of the prime early September time slot that has been occupied by the iPod for most of the past decade, and which would make strategic sense now that the iPod is more or less a second-tier Apple product line, albeit a still profitable one.
As for the iPad mini, I’m a bit skeptical that Apple would want to schedule consumer rollout of two different marquee products simultaneously for logistics reasons, but it’s not impossible that they would. However, announcing the device on Sept. 12, with the consumer rollout to come in, say, October, would confirm that it actually is in the pipeline, and could persuade many who are considering purchase of a 7-inch to wait for the Apple machine rather than opting for a Google Nexus 7.
Regarding new iPhone specifications, Ritchie subscribes pretty much to a dominant consensus that’s gelled over the spring and early summer that it will have a 4-inch, 16:9 aspect ratio in-cell technology display, a the new smaller 19-pin dock connector, nano-SIM support, LTE/4G support, and a larger-capacity battery, all of which I consider reasonable expectations at this point. He doesn’t speculate on what SOC Apple will power the new iPhone with. I’m still expecting the downsized dual core A5 chip that Apple’s been putting in recent iPad 2s.
A NFC “digital wallet” feature seems a longer shot for this time around, notwithstanding Apple’s reported $350 million acquisition last week of AuthenTec, a company that makes embedded security solutions for mobile devices. Engineering of any iPhone model that could be released before Christmas would have been finalized long since, so whatever new functionality that may be facilitated by Authentec’s technology will come in 2013 at the earliest.
As we reported here July 17, danbo at the Japanese language Apple-watcher blogsite Macotakara says “reliable Chinese sources” have told him production of the new iPhone has entered the manufacture phase, consistent with stockpiling of inventory for a late September or October product launch.
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July 30th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
That would be a interesting release time, Get the kick off sale under the 4 th quarter and the start the new year off with sale climbing.
Could work out for the bean counters.
July 30th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
I think this supposed release date seems likely, especially considering the fact that iOS 6 is already in it’s third version (and has been for a couple weeks now). If they fine tune it over the next 45 days then they could be very well positioned to have it finalized and ready for a new phone release near the end of September. In my opinion, there isn’t really anything indicating that this is a bad assumption. I certainly hope this is accurate!
July 30th, 2012 at 2:16 pm
I have been following this blog for some time now and have been enjoying reading all the intersting comments. This is my first comment. I hope the release date is true. I have been “stuck” with my iPhone 3G (yes, not even 3GS) because I personally do not like the square design of the 4/4S. My phone recently gave out and my friend was kind enought to let me use his old 3G until I get a new phone. If the iPhone5 (or whatever designation it gets) is just a stretched out 4S square design, then I am going to have jump ship to an Andriod phone. I do want a larger screen, at least 4-inches, but doesn’t need to go up to ridicuous 5-inches. With all the rumors of the next iPhone having a 4-inch screen would be perfect as long as they get rid of the square design. I just like the way the rounded corners of any phone contouring around the pockets as opposed to the square edges making it seem like I’m caring a pack of cigarettes (yes, I know the iPhone is a lot thinner than a pack of cigs). After all the time I have waited for the new iPhone, the design is going to play a big part in my decision of purchasing one. I wish Apple would consider adding a expandable SD slot. I know they won’t, but one can wish right?
July 30th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
@Lance, welcome to the dark side (the side where we post!) Come on in! The water is fine!
Anyhow… My wife recently got a hold of a 4S, and it surprised me how comfortable it felt in my hand. Of course, I asked Siri all kinds of inappropriate questions. I know it looks blocky, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought.
July 30th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
I will NOT buy the new i phone if it has the shape and thickness of the iphone 4s period. I want a sleeker , thinner less blocky design. I liked my old 3Gs alot more than my curret 4s.
July 30th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Hmmm, I hate being such a pessimist but, September 22nd is technically the first day of autumn like the article says, not the 21st. So technically, this can’t be true, can it? I know Charles has gone over some scenarios in the article and, although they could release the iPhone on the 21st and then drop iOS 6 the day after, or that Monday, would it make sense to ship out the new iPhones with iOS 5 just to have people upgrade a day or two later? I don’t know, I’m just over thinking things in anticipation. I’m a little anxious because I’m hoping for something really good. Plus, I hear there’s a secret feature built into iOS 6 (but it’s not supposed to have anything to do with NFC technology, or PassBook, nothing like that), interesting. I’m sure we’ll start hearing some crazy rumors once we advance into August.
July 30th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
I think that is a good release date. It comes just in time to catch the back to school croud.
July 30th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
This one seems way more likely than that August date. But then again, anyone could predict a random September or October date and it’d sound legit. All you have to do is tell people what they want to hear and they’ll beleive it lol
July 30th, 2012 at 4:31 pm
@Lance I believe there is an accessory you can purchase that allows you to connect a portable SD slot to the bottom of the phone for photos
July 30th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Wish there were definitive details on the ipad mini. With my son turning 7 in a couple of weeks, i’m thinking about getting him the Nexus 7. Just got the email today from google play that the protective case is now available. He’s used to using the Ipad2, and if I knew for sure that it would be released in Sept for a comparable price, I’d probably wait and keep him in the ecosystem. Curses on you Apple for your secrecy!
As for the NFC, my companies’ wireless card swipe machine got hit last week, and I got hit with fraud alerts on both my cc’d & debit card this weekend. A lot of people at work are saying they got hit. I’m currently waiting for replacement cards so I can begin the process of re-establishing all my auto debits. I started thinking about what kind of damage could be done if the NFC radio gets hacked. I’m not real comfortable with using this technology until it is proven to be very secure.
Hope the announcement of early September proves to be true, if that’s the case – 6 weeks to go.
July 30th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
@Jeff – I have a brother in Everett, WA (if it’s the same Everett)
It’s not really about the feel of the phone. I have plenty of friends and family members that has the 4S. I played with it enough to know how it will feel in my hands. It’s just a personal preference in esthetics. Ferrari is a great looking car, but there are people who just prefers a Porsche and vice versa. Plus, after 2 years of looking at that block, I want something fresh.
@GetSwole – Yes, but I don’t want to make the phone bigger/longer by having to add an attachement. SD slot isn’t a deal breaker for me. I wish Apple could include it in the new design and would be a great addition, but it’s not a must. It’s just a nice way to add more GB for minimal $$$.
Let’s just hope these “leaked” photos of the new iPhone isn’t the real deal or I will have to go to the “dark side”. hahahahaha… fingers crossed…
July 30th, 2012 at 5:56 pm
@Eric, my NFC debit card got hacked when I went to NYC. My bank replaced it with a non-NFC card, what does that say about the technology? I hope it is not included in the new iPhone or at least can be disabled by the user. I don’t want or need it.
July 30th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Seems to be a pretty solid date:
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2012/07/iphone-5-media-event-september-12.html
July 30th, 2012 at 9:46 pm
CONFIRMED by Jim Dalrymple at The Loop. You can take Sept. 12 to the bank folks. He’s the only tech writer that’s correct about Apple rumors 100% of the time. His “sources” are Apple executives.
July 31st, 2012 at 12:08 am
@mark, I agree that Jim D. is very correct about Apple rumors but so are others such as the Wall Street Journal & Rene Ritchie over @ iMore.com.
July 31st, 2012 at 4:24 am
Wow, mini iPad, iPod and iPhone in one go?
A few articles ago I commented that I thought a big announcement of all three together would be a distinct possibility as it would give Apple a HUGE media event and would guarentee them column inches for weeks ahead to then roll out the products.
It also ensures that all attention is taken away from Android, Samsung and any other Apple competitors for a large part of the rest of the year (the most important consumer purchasing period). It’ll also swamp the “back to school” releases of any competing products too giving Apple bragging rights and advertisement fodder going into next year.
I can’t wait…
July 31st, 2012 at 5:18 am
I don’t think that 1 day really makes enough difference to warrant holding off the launch of the new products. September the 21st is close enough to autumn to me, so I’m sure we’ll see the new iPhone and iOS 6 shipping on this date, if these rumors are true.
With regards to the stated design of the new phone, I have to say I hope it’s not true. a 16:9 ratio screen will not do what people are wanting a bigger screen for, and that’s make the content displayed on screen bigger, it’ll just give an extra row of icons on the home screen. One of the reasons people are wanting a bigger screen is for a larger on-screen keyboard, which won’t happen with a 16:9 4″ screen. To me, changing the aspect ratio is a waste of time, it’s just letting Apple say “The new iPhone now comes with a 4″ retina display” when in reality you wouldn’t be gaining any screen size, just a bit of screen real-estate.
For me though, the biggest thing is that I don’t want this to just be a 3rd iteration of a 3rd generation brick iPhone (3rd generation is iPhone 4 and 4S). I completely agree with Lance, the iPhone needs to get some curves back. It needs to look like a sexy, sleek Corvette rather than a boring boxy Fox Mustang.
July 31st, 2012 at 8:39 am
@Lance, yep, the same Everett. Work at a large employer here.
@Mark… now you did it… my hopes are all up now (again). Great job…
July 31st, 2012 at 5:24 pm
I do believe the date they are saying will become true september 22 I think Is the first day of fall… And the phone coming out the 21st… Also the the new fiscal year(2013) for companies and government start October 1st…. I agree with a previous comment that apple would want sales to be really good in the beginning of its 1st quarter ..
August 3rd, 2012 at 9:40 pm
I am beyond excited at the prospect of the iPad Mini being released. I’ve got a 4S, and won’t be able to upgrade for another 18 months or so, but I am perfectly content with this phone. But, I realllllly want the iPad mini. I’ve got money put aside for it and will jump at it… if it comes. There are a lot of the big boys predicting it and I hope they are right.
This is the first time I’ve even had my hopes up that it will come to life.
Two weeks ago, I bought a very inxpensive Lenovo ideapad 1A. What a learning curve. This is my first experience with Android anything, and I jumped into it like I was learning dos again. Kinda similar to the first Windows experience!! Well I really like it and can’t wait to mothball my 2 week old toy if the iPad Mini really does arrive.
I know Apple wants the 7″ market in their pocket and for all of us folks stuck with the 4S for 18 more months it is a sure sale.