14 DAY TRIAL // The elusive iPhone 6 is coming on a Friday, on September 19, according to Chinese web portal Tencent citing unnamed sources. It will be the 4.7-inch model and it will only come in 32GB and 64GB versions, according to the report.
Translated in English, the report suggests that apfelpage.de was spot on with its claim in May that German carrier Deutsche Telekom had blocked employee vacations around September 19 to prepare for the iPhone 6 launch.
This new machine translation is even rougher than the one in May, but here’s the gist of it:
“Recently, the news from the microblogging broke the news that the appearance iPhone 6 is consistent with previous exposure images, will be available this September 19 officially on sale, priced at 5,288 yuan and 6,288 yuan.”
Converted into American currency, the latter price goes well beyond the $1,000 mark. In European currency, that’s €740.85, which is actually much less than what you’d currently pay to get the 64GB iPhone 5s unlocked in countries like Germany and France.
The alleged September 19 date is very plausible, as Apple usually holds events around that date and even launches new products on Fridays. It then boasts in a press release on Monday about the millions of units sold “in the first weekend.”
Rumor has it that there will be two versions of the phone on hand at launch, one featuring a very large, 5.5-inch display, the other a smaller but still relatively big 4.7-inch screen. For comparison, the current-generation iPhone sports a display that measures exactly 4 inches on the diagonal.
The bigger device will be harder to manufacture, according to analysts who’ve spoken with people in the supply chain. It will also have a better camera, according to one prominent Apple watcher at KGI Securities, but so will the 4.7-inch model (albeit one slightly inferior).
The investment bank’s leading Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, wrote in a research note this week, “we predict it will use a middle-mount type of open-loop VCM updated from the one used in the existing iPhone 5S. The 5.5” iPhone 6 is more likely to be equipped with OIS VCM due to lower estimated shipments and the need for more product features to differentiate itself from the 4.7” iPhone 6.”
He added, “Compared with conventional open-loop VCM, closed-loop VCM keeps records of focus points, enabling it to produce better quality pictures, focus faster and save power. Nonetheless, there are many factors that affect picture quality, and VCM specification is just one of them. Therefore, we believe overall picture quality of the 4.7” iPhone 6 will lead its peers.”