Neil Hughes
The claims stem from an article at the Chinese news website Sina.com discovered by analyst Brian White with Topeka Capital Markets. In a note to investors shared with AppleInsider on Thursday, White relayed details from the report, which suggested that only 30 percent of the battery volumes produced currently meet Apple's standards.
The unnamed battery vendor is reportedly working to solve the problem as development of Apple's next iPhone ramps up ahead of an anticipated release later this year.
Rumors of a battery production issue come on the heels of a second story from ifeng.com discovered by White that suggested Apple might want to launch its next iPhone as soon as the end of August. However, the analyst still believes that Apple will launch its sixth-generation handset in September.
"If there is a battery challenge, we trust that Apple will be able to figure it out in time for a September launch," White wrote.
White's prediction of a September launch for the next iPhone is earlier than some others anticipate. Last year, the iPhone 4S launched in mid-October, and some industry watchers expect Apple will wait about a year before launching a new handset.
Apple's next iPhone is generally expected to have a 4G LTE radio for high-speed data connectivity. Its dock connector might also get a major redesign with a new, smaller form factor featuring 19 pins.
Reports have also claimed the next iPhone will feature a larger 4-inch display that will be taller than the current 3.5-inch screen and will adopt a new 16:9 aspect ratio with a resolution of 1,136 by 640 pixels.
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33 Comments
The SoC is not still on Samsung's 45nm? I guess soon Apple will have to switch to Intel (again) for performance/watt reasons and I would rather an Intel chip than a Samsung in my next iPhone.
Here we go. What's next? The screens can't be made. The SoC error rate is too high. The shorters have to get the negative stories flying so that they can get AAPL down around $500 in order to buy-in before the holiday season gets ramped up.
If this has any truth to it, I hope it's because Apple will be employing some new superior battery tech that just isn't up to the yields of the old stuff yet.
Brian White sourcing some obscure Chinese website is up there with Bloomberg and Shaw Wu for lacking in a history of accuracy. I'm taking this with a quarry sized salt lick
The only part of this that I think might be true is the end of August thing. because of the school utility in iOS 6 I could see Apple 'launch' the iPhone in mid to late august with iOS 6 available immediately but the phone not actually going on sale until mid - late Sept.
Brian White sourcing some obscure Chinese website is up there with Bloomberg and Shaw Wu for lacking in a history of accuracy. I'm taking this with a quarry sized salt lick
The only part of this that I think might be true is the end of August thing. because of the school utility in iOS 6 I could see Apple 'launch' the iPhone in mid to late august with iOS 6 available immediately but the phone not actually going on sale until mid - late Sept.
You're kidding, right?