14 DAY TRIAL // A hot new rumor is poking its head out from Japan today. According to two sources that have been somewhat reliable in the past, Apple is holding its iPhone 5S launch event on June 20.
Japan’s Macotakara takes it upon itself to convey to the world a rumor stemming from Japanese periodical MacFan, which claims to have learned from trusted sources that Apple is unveiling its next-generation iPhone, alongside a cheaper model, this June.
A rough translation of the Japanese-language report reads, “The Special event of next iPhone was performed on June 20, and the Japanese periodical MacFan has published the rumor that iPhone 5S will be put on the market in July and low-priced edition iPhone will be put on the market in August.”
June coincides with the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which certainly makes a lot of sense for a new iPhone unveiling.
Apple has launched the last two iPhone models in fall for the past two years, but all of the models before them were launched at summer events (mostly WWDC).
Apple is said to be planning a major redesign of the software, rather than the hardware.
“In the special event, it is predicted rather than the hardware that an illustration of iOS which adopted a new design may take the lead.”
This also bodes well with rumors about the new iPhone’s design. Apple generally reiterates the chassis once every two years, with incremental S-upgrades in between bigger monikers (i.e. 4, 5, 6).
The Cupertino giant is rumored to launch a redesigned iOS 7 with updated graphics and (going by all the hype surrounding app-switching concepts) maybe even a new multitasking mechanism.
That’s not to say we should take MacFan’s word for granted. For all we know, Apple could be unveiling its iWatch at WWDC 2013. But for lack of a better source, we’ll have to relay this rumor untouched to our readers.