Apple hasn’t made an announcement yet on the official release date of the iPhone 5 but an article from Reuters has mentioned that China’s largest e-commerce website Taobao has now been accepting pre-orders for the much-awaited 6th generation of iPhone. The website is even complete with design concept pictures of the new iPhone 5 and its technical specifications. Sellers from the website are requiring a minimum of $160 to pre-order and more than a dozen have been placed already, which just goes to show how in-demand Apple’s products are in China.
Apple fans were expecting an announcement about the iPhone 5 during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) held on June 2012 but no mention has been made of the replacement for iPhone 4S. Instead, the Cupertino giant introduced its new OS, iOS 6, during the event.
This has brought about a lot of speculations from thousands of Apple fans; that is why there countless rumors that are surfacing about iPhone 5’s release date.
A couple of days ago, a website named KnowYourMobile announced that the iPhone 5 will be launched via keynote speech this coming August 7. This information, they say, is from a reliable industry source that wishes to remain anonymous. The push of the launch to a much earlier date than the rumored fall launch has been driven by the aim of Apple to compete with the soon-to-be-released Galaxy S III of Samsung.
However, the Japanese blog Macotakara contradicts the statement made by KnowYourMobile. Macotakara has a good track record, as it was able to correctly predict the release date of the iPhone 4S last year. The website mentioned that the production of the iPhone 5 has started and will be released by mid-October, with mass production to take place in the summer.
Apple has been known to follow a pattern when it comes to the release of its products which is why a lot of people have been speculating that the new iPhone will be released at the same time as the iPhone 4S was released last year October 14, 2012. Because of this, they are saying that the iPhone 5 will be released on a date close to that which is in the fall, from September to October, and is consistent with the prediction in Macotakara’s blog.
As with the other Apple products which always cause a stir, it should come as no surprise that gadget lovers can’t wait to have their hands on the newest iPhone. They were disappointed when Apple released an improved version of the iPhone 4 last year, instead of a whole new iPhone. This time around, they are really expecting big improvements with the upcoming model.
Naturally, questions surround this new iPhone. Will it have a password generator? Will it have a better camera? Here are some of the rumored features of the iPhone 5:
- iPhone 5 is expected to have a quad-core processor
- Supports 4G/LTE
- Four-inch glass retina display
- Eight-megapixel dual-LED flash camera with the 3D and panoramic capability
- Scratchproof and shatterproof screen
- Longer battery life
Rumor has been circulating that Steve Jobs had been deeply involved in the design of the iPhone 5 before his death, which all the more adds to the excitement of Apple lovers out there. Whether it will be released next month or in the fall, we can all expect that Apple has worked tremendously hard to create a product that can compete with leading Android brands like Samsung. Who knows, it might even help them clearly mark their place in the mobile world.
