Ahead of the supposed iPhone 5S release date this fall, Apple is reportedly already ramping up production on its next-gen flagship smartphone. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, who has given multiple release date predictions this year, suggests that Apple’s production partners expect to be pumping out devices as early as the end of this month.
According to the report, “He estimates production plans at 25 million to 30 million units, split pretty much evenly across the 5s and its new lower-cost sibling.” Apple is rumored to be releasing a budget-friendly, low-cost iPhone alongside the iPhone 5S and iOS 7 this fall.
The prediction by Misek comes at an unusual time as a conflicting report by South Korea tech publication DigiTimes is under the impression that iPhone 5S production will be constrained due to technology issues in implementing a speculative fingerprint sensor. That report indicated that “Poor yields of fingerprint-recognition chips and LCD driver ICs will likely force Apple to reduce first-quarter shipments of the rumored iPhone 5S.”
For both the iPhone 5S and low-cost iPhone, disclosed specs are scarce as Apple is notorious for keeping its goodies under wraps. It’s thought though, via leaked images, that the low-cost version will be outfitted with small port for a microphone, a headphone port, two screw holes a centered Lightning port, and four holes for the speaker off to the bottom right. Inside the rear shell are holes for a camera and LED flash.
A set of leaked photos back in June indicated that Apple may be gearing up for a dual-LED flash camera as well as an upgraded A7 processor chip, and double the pixels of the current-generation iPhone 5 which may augment from 730,000 pixels to 1.5 million.
This isn’t the only issue Apple is said to be facing when it comes to implementing new technology in its upcoming devices. The Cupertino company is rumored to be considering two upgraded versions of the iPad mini, one with minor tweaks to be released this fall and the other to include a Retina display and to be released in 2014 at the earliest. The reason behind crafting two versions is that Apple simply hasn’t been able to figure out how to pack the pixel-heavy Retina display in its 7.9-inch iPad mini display. The regular-sizes iPad with Retina display (4th-generation) is nearly two inches larger, measuring in at 9.7-inches.
[Image via AllThingsD]
