The iPhone 5 News Blog

Analyst Peter Misek reads the tea leaves of component production in Asia and predicts a major ramping up of iPhone 5 production in September, thinner profile, bigger screen, and more DPI. But what is his track record for prognosticating the iPhone 5 accurately? 

Jefferies & Co.‘s Peter Misek has written so many reports about the iPhone 5 that he might have officially earned a title for it. Financial analyst Nouriel Roubini is known as “Dr. Doom” for predicting the financial meltdown. So, is Misek “Dr. iPhone 5,” perhaps? His reports and perspectives are typically the start of a brand-new cycle in the rumor mill, and I suspect he knows it. He’s even comfortable using the term “iPhone 5″ in his reports — a working title/place holder for the 6th generation iPhone that we, the techies, use because it’s easy to do so.

Who knows what Apple will really call it.

There’s no doubt that Mr. Misek knows his stuff about the consumer electronics production scene, but when it comes to making predictions, should we be listening to him? Moreover, should investors be listening to him? Let’s take a look back at his track record on predicting the features and release date of the iPhone 5. Read More

When a new iPhone 5 parts rumor such as this one surfaces, what should a blogger write about — what the rumor implies about the iPhone 5, or whether the rumor is believable? How about both.

OK — here we go again with the iPhone home button and leaked parts rumors. This one, concerning the home button, comes from the Apple Bitch, who apparently went digging around the China-based TVC-Mall.com, which is notorious for posting and selling parts for past, present, and future Apple gadgets. Apple Bitch reports that “TVC Mall has, in the past, appeared to act as a source for leaks of other components for unreleased Apple products. In January, prior to the launch of the new iPad, replacement power cables, microphone flex cables, headphone jack connectors and a Bluetooth antenna for the unreleased device appeared on the site.”

Like every purported sighting of an iPhone part, there is a built-in dubiousness associated with this rumor. I need not remind you of the proliferation of purported “iPhone 5″ cases that were on sale for much of the summer of 2011, which tech analysts dissected in hopes of diving the new size and features of an iPhone 5 that never emerged. Heck — even CaseMate got into the fray with iPhone 5 cases before the official announcement.

And don’t forget — we’ve also seen leaked photos of home buttons before as well.

Remember this leaked photograph of the home button that appeared to explode the hopes of an overhauled iPhone 5 in 2011? We also had this photo to contend with, showing assemblers working on what was purported to be iPhone 5 glass displays with a cut-out for an elongated home button. Many believed that this photo was a sneak peak at the capacitive, multi-touch home button that had been heavily rumored for the iPhone in 2011.

On the subject of the elongated home button, the Apple Bitch appears to trust these new home photo photos, commenting that “The biggest surprise, or perhaps disappointment, for some is that the Home buttons appear to be round in shape. If the parts turn out to be genuine, then this would essentially quash any suggestion that Apple was redesigning the iPhone 5 with an oval touch capacitive Home button.” It is worth noting that if — and if is a big if here — these home buttons are legitimate, they are in fact smaller than the original home buttons used as late as the iPhone 4S. The actual circular button on the right is smaller, even though its base is the same dimensions as the old home button.

This would indicate to me that Apple could in essence reduce the size of the home button itself, while still conforming its connective features so that internal components would not have to change as much. All of this could be leading to a slight increase in screen size while still maintaining the basic dimensions of the iPhone, a notion that has recently picked up steam in the rumor mill. But we’re a long way from believing this rumor. Sure, it is possible that a Foxconn staffer stuck their hand into a vat of these home buttons and somehow (I don’t want to know how) smuggled them past security. But a more likely explanation is that tweaking a few home buttons can throw a lot of traffic to a website like TVC-Mall.com.

By Michael Nace 

Production rumors coming out of Asia often provide interesting fodder for the iPhone 5 rumor mill. Read about how an analyst now believes that the iPhone 5‘s touch panel could be manufactured in Japan — not Taiwan.

Apple’s famous (and sometimes infamous) Worldwide Loyalty Team (WLT) is notorious for keeping a tight lid on secrets surrounding upcoming Apple product releases. With the exception of a few blunders — such as the famous lost iPhone 4 (was that a blunder or a publicity stunt? I never could tell) — the WLT does a thorough job of keeping the new iPhone and iPad under wraps until its official unveiling at a time and place of Apple’s choosing.

While the WLT has a strong grip on Cupertino, however, policing Apple’s component manufacturers and assemblers in Asia has proven to be more difficult. Over the years, we’ve received hints about production from the likes of Foxconn, Pegatron, and Samsung, just to name a few. Most of the time, the purported leaked photos that come out of these manufacturing facilities prove to be bogus. But the whispers of new hirings and production schedules help to paint a picture as to when the next iPhone or iPad will be released.

Today, we’ve gotten an analysts’ opinion of the direction Apple might be moving in for its display technology on the iPhone 5 and, if his hunch is accurate, Japan could become the new hotspot for iPhone 5 release date rumors.

According to David Hsieh, vice president of DisplaySearch in charge of the Greater China market, “Apple Inc. is likely to use display technology provided by Japanese panel makers rather than Taiwan-based suppliers for its next-generation iPhone in order to achieve a thinner profile for the device,” as quoted in a report from Focus Taiwan. The reason for this is that Japanese display manufacturers like Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba, are creating in-cell displays, as opposed to the on-cell displays currently used on Apple devices. The newer in-cell technology fosters a thinner design: “Compared with on-cell technology, touch panels that use in-cell technology can be made thinner because the touch sensors are actually placed inside the color filters rather than on top of them, he explained.”

Hseih went on to explain: “Of course, Taiwanese panel makers are also developing this technology, but Japanese suppliers still run faster.”

Hseith, I believe, is simply connecting the dots here: he is taking the rumors of Apple developing a thinner iPhone 5 form factor and imagining that Cupertino will opt for the in-cell variety of touch panels, since they are thinner than their on-cell counterparts. And because Japan’s in-cell touch panel displays run faster than those in Taiwan, he is looking to Japan as an obvious supplier for the iPhone 5. Of course, Hseih could be shilling for Japanese suppliers, trying to drive up shareholder interest in companies like Sony, Sharp, and Toshiba in a play to get some market buzz going from the increasing excitement surrounding the iPhone 5 release date. We have, after all, seen this before, where analysts make claims in order to shift the market in their favor. To date, rumors associated with the iPhone 5′s screen have come out of Korea, home of Samsung, and not Japan — or at least not from Japanese sources. So, this report should be taken with a grain of salt, and we will have to see if there is any follow-up out of Japan over Hseih’s predictions.

By Michael Nace

The rumor mills have recently settled on fall of 2012 for the iPhone 5 release. But if the recent rumor from a Samsung executive is true and that a Mini iPad will debut later in the year, a June iPhone 5 release date is once again viable.

Yesterday we posted about a report from BGR that Samsung is purportedly building display components for a Mini iPad, which is rumored to be scheduled for release in the latter part of 2012. While this story is made up entirely of rumor and BGR‘s “unnamed source,” should the details prove to come true — that Apple will finally release the mythic “Mini iPad,” and that it will come later in the year — it would most definitely have an impact on how we prognosticate the iPhone 5 release date.

Theories on when the iPhone 5 would be released have cavitated back and forth between a June 2012 release at the WWDC — once the iPhone’s usual launch date and site — and a reprise of the fall launch of the late-arriving iPhone 4S. While early opinion considered June as a possibility, more recent speculation has settled on the fall — October or November.

But if the new Mini iPad is to be released sometime in the fall, what are the possibilities that Apple will compromise such a significant release with that of the iPhone 5?

It has become apparent through past Apple release schedules that Cupertino typically does not like to split their release events with too many new products. For the iPad 3 launch, Apple CEO Tim Cook had a lot to unveil, including an Apple TV upgrade, iOS 5.1, and a wealth of new features — software and hardware alike — for the iPad 3. But for as much as Apple TV is a device, it was only being upgraded; Apple did not reveal iTV, as some had speculated.

The same was true last year, when the iPhone 4S was released. A prevailing rumor was that Apple would be releasing both an iPhone 5 and 4S — or even an iPhone 5 and iPad 2, neither of which happened, of course.

Assuming that Apple will stick to releasing one big, new product at a time, seeking to give their new products some breathing room in the marketplace, it is now much more likely that the iPhone 5 release date will happen sometime in June, as once considered. With the iPad 3 being release in early March, a June-released iPhone 5 would give it 3+ solid buffer months to let the New iPad soak up big sales and media attention. After the iPhone 5 is released in June, Apple would have 3+ additional months in the summer for iPhone 5 sales to soar, before announcing the Mini iPad sometime in October — just in time for those getting ready to shop for Christmas.

And let’s not forget iTV. Where would its release fit in? Just before Christmas, perhaps?

Of course, there are plenty of x-factors along the way that could skew this schema. But it isn’t hard to imagine how the appearance of a Mini iPad could allow the iPhone 5 to get released sooner rather than later.

By Michael Nace

Apple is purportedly working on a new dock connector that would be much smaller and could help accommodate a thinner iPhone 5 form factor. But a new dock connector could mean a major headache for consumers — and still no micro USB or Thunderbolt connection.

Usually when we report on new rumored Apple innovations, it’s good news. However, with recent reports that Cupertino is working on a new micro dock connector for iOS devices that could replace the current standard model, it’s hard to imagine how this kind of innovation could benefit iPhone users in the short term.

9to5Mac is reporting that “while the current 30-pin dock connector on the iPods, iPads, and iPhones were serving Apple well for around 10 years, the company is now working on a new dock connector. Apple’s new dock connector will reportedly be a smaller version of the iOS device syncing and charging port, but it will not be micro-USB or Thunderbolt.”

Is it me, or is there an incredible amount of negative information packed into that one little sentence?

For one, changing up the dock and connector for the iPhone 5 would set off a chain reaction in the consumer electronics accessories industry that could prove detrimental to that sector, since there are so many products on the market today that use the standard 30-pin connector. A new dock on the iPhone 5 would demand a new crop of accessories, and would render users’ current accessories useless with the iPhone 5 — unless Apple offered an adaptor of some sort.

Equally as disappointing is the supposed lack of micro USB or Thunderbolt coming up for the iPhone 5 or iPad 3 as well. We recently reported on how the iPad 3 could see the addition of Microsoft Office, but without USB or Thunderbolt and the option to print, its use would be somewhat limited.

Apple has supported a long-held tradition of creating products that are strictly proprietary to the Apple ecosphere. It can be argued that, for Apple, this has been part of their winning strategy to encourage users to buy into most or all of its offerings. But when it comes to universal connectivity, it would be nice if Apple would open up a bit more with a micro USB or Thunderbolt connector. It’s hard to imagine that there is a serious downside to doing so.

By Michael Nace

Read about how rumors of Microsoft Office for iOS and the upcoming iPad 3 came and went quickly — and yet might still be alive.

High hopes for Microsoft Office becoming available on iOS in time for the iPad 3 were quickly dashed today, with Microsoft making it perfectly clear that there are no imminent plans to do so. This new revelation comes on the heels of a story in The Daily that purported to show photos of an imminent Microsoft Office app that would be available for iOS. Brian X. Chen of the New York Times is reporting that “A Microsoft spokeswoman issued this statement: ‘The Daily story is based on inaccurate rumors and speculation. We have no further comment.’ She added that a screen image included with The Daily’s article showing an Office product for iPad was ‘not Microsoft’s software,’ she said.”

Microsoft moved quickly to quash the spreading rumor of Microsoft Office being added to the iOS app store repertoire. Yesterday, a myriad of tech media outlets reported that Office could be ready in time for the launch of the iPad 3, ostensibly in March. Jonny Evans at Computerworld had this to say: “Microsoft isn’t sitting on the sidelines for iPad development. Apple’s oldest adversary and ancient ally is already developing a version of Office for the tablet. The Daily tells us iPad versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint are set to be sent for approval by Apple’s App Store team ‘imminently.’”

At first glance, it would seem that the chances of Office arriving in time for the iPad 3 are now nil, with Microsoft weighing in directly on the matter (obviously they don’t play PR by the Apple playbook, letting the rumor mill grind its own grist). But many in the tech media feel that the possibility of an imminent release of Office for the iPad is still very much a possibility.

Going back to the New York Times piece, Chen says this: “Peter Ha, tech editor at The Daily, said that a Microsoft employee had demonstrated a version of the app on an iPad. ‘The launch screen may not be final, but the app itself is real,’ Mr. Ha said. ‘We were told that the app was done and it was being tested internally.’”

So, it’s The Daily‘s word versus Microsoft’s. Who should we believe?

Microsoft most definitely has more at stake in blowing any excitement over Office being launched for the iPad 3. But it would seem odd for them to offer such a strong denial, and then turn around and reveal Office on the iPad 3 in just a few weeks. That being said, Microsoft’s denial was far from concise; by stating that The Daily’s story was based on inaccurate rumors, Microsoft still has plausible deniability should they end up revealing Office for the iPad next month. Peter Ha’s clarification may in fact fix the inaccuracies.

How Is Microsoft Office Going To Work On The iPad?

Assuming that Microsoft Office does make its way onto the iPad this year, I’m a little bit confused as to how business users will get the full use of it. The Computerworld article only mentions that “Word, Excel and PowerPoint files can be created and edited locally and online” with the new, purported Office app. Granted, having the ability to launch Powerpoint presentations and create/edit Word and Excel documents will give the iPad a real business productivity boost. But without a USB port or ability to print directly from the iPad, the productivity of Office for the iPad is limited.

Business users use Office as their primary source for creating and printing documents. Thus, it will be a cumbersome task to stunt iPad-created Word and Excel documents into an environment where they can be easily printed.

Perhaps, however — and we have yet to hear this in the rumor mill — the iPad 3 will feature print ability and/or a USB connection, and Microsoft knows this. Perhaps they know something that we do not, and because of their own insider information, this year will be the year that they roll out Office for the iPad.

By Michael Nace

Yet another newly-discovered Apple patent reveals Cupertino’s interest in 3D display technology. But will this 3D technology necessarily end up on the iPhone 5?

Regardless of whether or not you are a fan of 3D, you’ll have to admit that it has been little more than an on-again, off-again fad. I remember going to see a handful of bad 3D sci-fi movies in the 80s, which at that time was a renaissance of early 3D movies from decades before. James Cameron’s sporadically depression- and suicide-inducing film Avatar heralded yet another 3D renaissance, and because Mr. Cameron is (somehow) regarded as a pioneer and harbinger of new media, we’re now living in a new era of 3D films.

And we’ve had a rash of 3D hardware that has followed suit, including 3D smartphones. But in the faddish spirit of 3D, the 3D Android smartphones have yet to catch on.

This hasn’t stopped Cupertino from filing several audacious patents for 3D displays over the past few years, however. We have reported in the past on a 3D touch panel display patent for the iPhone, a 3D multi-touch gesturing patent, and even rumors of a 3D camera. Now, there is yet another new 3D patent, revealing an innovative 3D display that would track your eye movements by way of the iPhone’s front-facing camera to create image depth of the on-screen objects, as well as possibly navigate the screen via eye movements. Mobile Magazine explains: “The technology would involve a front-facing camera, of course, but it’d also take advantage of data coming in from the accelerometer and compass to alter the perspective of the three-dimensional visuals being depicted on the device display. The patent seems to lend itself to portable iOS devices, but it also leaves the door open for 3D eye-tracking in an iMac or MacBook. After all, Microsoft is doing the Kinect for PCs too.”

The patent image above from Patently Apple actually gives an interesting representation of how it works.

One can imagine how apple might find this particular strain of 3D technology interesting for the iPhone, since it seems to fit into the same design ethic behind Siri: create a new way of controlling and navigating the device without need of one’s fingers. If voice and eye can replace fingers, then the iPhone is one step closer to being a completely cyborg-like mobile device — the next step would nothing short of an iPhone implanted right onto our brains.

Not that I’m ready for that.

But truth be told, I don’t think Apple is ready for it either, much less any of this 3D technology. And it is particularly revealing that the lion’s share of #d-related Apple patents were filed in 2010, just a year after the fanfare surrounding Avatar. It would seem that Apple wanted to patent a few landmark 3D ideas in the wake of that new 3D renaissance as a possible investment in 3D down the road.

But as it is looking right now, 3D seems to be on the wane, and perhaps for good reason. I wrote an article last April about why Apple should put the brakes on 3D technology, cities some of the unknowns about its effect on the brain. You can rest assured that Apple’s engineers have looked much farther into the issue than I have, and if the iPhone 5 turns out to be 3D-free, I think we can then begin to assume that the iPhone might never be 3D.

By Michael Nace

More iPhone 5 release reports are swinging towards a June WWDC announcement. Is this a reasonable possibility, or a buzz builder by the media?

Immediately following the release of the iPhone 4S, the tech media went with the safe bet in speculating on the release of the iPhone 5 in 2012, assuming that it would come about a year after the iPhone 4S. While we reported very early that the iPhone 5 was more likely to get announced in June of 2012, the prevailing theory has continued to be that Fall would see the release of the iPhone 5. But a new round of articles today suggest that the tech media is beginning to rethink their logic.

Let’s start with MacRumors, who references a new analyst report “from Daiwa Securities that the iPhone 5 is expected to launch at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) to be held in June 2012.” In addition, Apple themselves already have June 11th to the 15th blocked out at the Moscone Cernter for a “corporate meeting,” which will ostensibly be the WWDC.

Going around the tech horn, IBT had this to say: “Historically, Apple chose Thursdays or Fridays to release iPhones and June 15 falls on Friday this year, which fuels the speculations about the expected release of the iPhone 5.” While Steve Jobs will not be announcing the iPhone 5 this year (unless he managed to record a message about the iPhone 5 last year that will be used posthumously in 2012), IBT’s reasoning here imagines one of Apple’s trademark “One More Thing” moments at the end of the WWDC.

Finally, Cult Of Mac stakes an interesting claim on the fact that the late iPhone 4S release is little more than an aberration in an otherwise reliable pattern of June-released iPhones: “The report isn’t a huge surprise to most, who didn’t expect the Cupertino company to make its October iPhone event a permanent fixture. Many reports circulating before the launch of the iPhone 4S last year claimed that 2010”s iPhone event was simply delayed so that the company could perfect its iPhone 5, which was postponed at the last minute and substituted for the iPhone 4S.”

As you can see, the tech media is building up some kind of consensus regarding a WWDC iPhone 5 release, albeit in a guarded manner. I have been writing about the iPhone 5 release date issue lately, making the point that the refreshed iPhone 4S would be justification enough for Apple to unveil the iPhone 5 sooner than 12 months after its release, but also note that, in order for the iPhone 5 release to be a reality in June, we will need to begin to see some actionable intelligence that mass production has begun in Asia. To be sure, the fact that Apple has blocked out the Moscone Center in mid June sounds promising, but just because we know that the WWDC is unofficially on the schedule for June still isn’t a “smoking gun” that the iPhone 5 is in the works.

Let’s keep an eye on the reports coming from DigiTimes and other Asian-based rumor sites over the next couple of months. Hopefully we’ll catch a few reliable reports of millions of iPhone 5 units being produced in the run-up to a big June release.

By Michael Nace

NFC and wave-and-pay technology was one of the first big iPhone 5 feature rumors in 2011. Now, with a bit of new NFC-related news from Mastercard, it is making its way back into the iPhone 5 conversation. But is there really anything in Mastercard’s recent comments to suggest that NFC will definitely be on the iPhone 5?

Today, new stories are breaking about the renewed prospect of NFC on the iPhone 5. The stories are coming by way of a recent interview with Mastercard’s emerging markets executive Ed McLaughlin, who had this to say: ”I don’t know of a handset manufacturer that isn’t in process of making sure their stuff is PayPass ready.” When pressed on whether this statement involves the iPhone 5 as well, his response was middling: “Um, there are…like I say, [I don't know of] any handset maker out there… Now, when we have discussions with our partners, and they ask us not to disclose them, we don’t.”

Of course, you know what’s now happening: this statement is getting transposed into an affirmation that Mastercard is gearing up for NFC on the iPhone 5. If you recall, Sony has similar gaffes last summer in relation to the 8 megapixel camera rumor for the 2011 iPhone. While the Sony stutters turned out to be revealing, we cannot assume the same for this statement.

Instead, I think that Jonny Evans over at Computerworld offers some grounding on this issue when he notes, “A quick reality check: NFC is in the field. Many Android handsets are compatible with the solution, and Google offers Google Wallet to drive the payment system. However, it’s fair to say that no one is using it,” remarking that Android is already malware-prone, which makes users reluctant to interface their personal finances with it.

Everything that Evans says above is correct. For our part, we have to consider how the fact that no one is currently using NFC on Android impacts its chances for being implemented on the iPhone 5. A more conservative perspective would argue that, like 4G LTE last year, the public isn’t quite ready for NFC technology, and Cupertino knows it. This is why they didn’t include it in iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S. It would have been “easy” to include and, from a marketing perspective, it would have made the iPhone 4S seem less like a refresh. That being said, if Apple knows that NFC isn’t going to sell well — or at the very least get used by a plurality of iPhone users — there would be no sense for them to risk investing in it for the iPhone 5.

But there is another school of thought regarding the iPhone and the current unpopularity of NFC: smartphone users might be waiting for Apple to roll it out.

There is an analog to this NFC discussion: the tablet computer. It isn’t as if tablet PCs didn’t exist prior to the iPad. In the consumer electronics industry, the know-how existed long before the iPad to make a tablet. However, the market itself had the expectation that apple would have to be the one to make the tablet mainstream, and until Cupertino released the iPad, the tablet market would be kept in waiting.

NFC might be a similar market segment: users are assuming that Apple will have the most innovative mainstream solution for bringing all of the features and issues of NFC into one acceptable, marketable package. It is assumed that they will have the answers for making it easy and fun to use, while also allowing for the utmost level of security. Even Mastercard themselves acknowledged this, as reported by Gotta Be Mobile: “Interestingly, though, despite MasterCard’s early partnership with Android and Google, McLaughlin highlights that Apple’s participation in NFC is needed to bring the technology mainstream.”

Will Apple take up the challenge to make NFC the next big thing in mobile computing?

By Michael Nace

A new report is circulating that the iPhone 5 could be released as early as May, and that production at Foxconn is already underway. May doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it might be a better guess than assuming a Fall 2012 iPhone 5 release.

iPhone 5 rumors are the easiest rumors to concoct, since Apple themselves never bother to refute them (with maybe the exception of producing several prototype form factors to throw off potential leakers). But considering that the most recent information about the iPhone 5 and its release date are coming from 9to5Mac, who purportedly has an embedded source at Foxconn, we can divine some bit of credibility in the recent rumors that the iPhone 5 could be on track for the standard WWDC June launch, instead of reprising a Fall launch, alla the iPhone 4S.

We wrote an article about the corroboration of 9to5Mac’s source and what the iPhone 5 News Blog‘s own reliable source has already told us last week, in case you missed it.

today, however, we are seeing a new wrinkle to the June iPhone 5 release date story: the notion that the iPhone 5 could be released as early as May. from TechBlog: “A new report arrives from a member of staff at Chinese producer Foxconn who says that the fifth-generation iPhone 5 is getting ready for creation in time for a May launch. It appears that, several special models and designs are ready at the place, which indicates the Cupertino-based tech giant is yet to choose upon which model to approve.”

I wouldn’t buy this May iPhone 5 release date rumor. When it comes to product release windows, May makes as little sense for the iPhone as August: why would Apple pass up a chance at using the WWDC as its venue for releasing the iPhone 5, especially since there is a sense that it will also be releasing iOS 6 in June as well. Add to this the fact that the iPad 3 will ostensibly make its debut in March, and it begins to smack of a story that was concocted to get a little link love on the heels of the 9to5Mac story.

That being said, June is still a viable possibility for the iPhone 5 to be released. Perhaps if Apple was coming off of an overhauled design, they would seek to keep at least 12 months in between releases. But considering that the iPhone 4 is now quite old, and the iPhone 4S is a mere refresh of the 4, it would be appropriate for Cupertino to release the long-awaited iPhone in a sub-21 month release period.

We should know in the next couple of months: once new reports out of Asia start talking serious news about production, we’ll have a better idea of whether June is a viable release month.

By Michael Nace