The rumors are flying thick and fast today and, as a follow on from the earlier report from Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Securities regarding the Fall release of the iPhone 5, a smaller throwaway comment by the analyst is suggesting that the iPhone 6 is destined for release in early 2012 and will offer a complete revamp of the existing iPhone design (via AppleInsider).
The rumor comes as recent news concerning the iPhone 5 suggests that the device will go into mass production in September of this year with a potential late September / October release. The analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, using sources from supply lines, believes that the iPhone 6 will be released with large improvements in hardware specifications much earlier than many would expect to combat the heavy competition from Google’s Android devices.
While analyst reports should be viewed with heavy amount of cynicism, Kuo has a reasonably good track record. However, the suggestion that the iPhone 6 would launch with greatly improved hardware is something of an enigma. This could refer to the usual storage, speed, memory and power upgrades, but Apple is already pushing the envelope in all of these areas.
However, one area that this could refer to is the inclusion of Near Field Communications (NFC) technology in the iPhone 6. There has been great debate recently over whether the iPhone 5 would feature this when it is released, but recent reports have suggested that Apple is unhappy with the uniformity of the NFC standards in Europe and, as such, would not be incorporating it into an iPhone this year. Other sources, however, have suggested that it will appear in the iPhone 5. At this point, the discussion is so muddy it is anyone’s guess if it will appear or not.
The other obvious guess would be the inclusion of LTE, perhaps the reason that Apple would be looking to release the iPhone 6 so early. However, with the iPhone 5 still months away and details scarce, Apple could surprise us.
Clearly