The next generation iPhone could be announced as soon as June 20 if a new report is to be believed.
French publication NoWhereElse.fr (via
UberGizmo)
claims to have got access to a document from Japanese mobile carrier, KDDI, which mentions that Apple's next iPhone, iPhone 5S, will be announced on June 20 and will go on sale by July.
The document also suggests that the phone will run iOS 7 (of course), the next iteration of Apple's mobile operating system and feature an upgraded 13-megapixel camera lens.
We'd advise you to take this information with a heap of salt as it's difficult to authenticate the reliability of the document.
While earlier
rumours had suggested that we could see a summer announcement for the iPhone, new reports point towards a late release. Just a few days back, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo
came out with a new research report that said that the Phone 5S, low-cost iPhone and iPad mini 2 will begin shipping later than what was previously expected. Ming-Chi Kuo had not shared any specific time frame for the new iPhone's launch.
Recently, iMore's Rene Ritchie also
said that the next iPhone, iPhone 5S, is likely to release in August. But John Gruber of Daring Fireball had mentioned that iOS 7 was running behind.
Prior to that Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty had released a report, in which she predicted that Apple will launch the new iPhone in September 2013 after previewing the iOS 7 in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
The only thing that goes in favour of the report is that the alleged announcement date is pretty close to the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). Apple is widely expected to showcase iOS 7 at WWDC, which will be held between June 10 and 14 at its usual venue, Moscone West in San Francisco, California.
It's worth noting that Apple had shipped its last two phones, the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, in fall. Apple CEO Tim Cook also stressed the fall period of this year during a Q&A after this quarter's earnings call,
saying, "I'm just saying we've got some really great stuff coming in the fall and across all of 2014."