Chinese branded smartphones are performing well in their home country, affecting sales of worldwide leaders Apple and Samsung, but buzz is said to be growing in China among customers who are holding out hope for an iPhone with a larger display.
Apple is preparing to ramp up production of displays bound for next-generation iPhones which, according to Reuters, will launch this fall in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch varieties.
New snapshots that purport to show a prototype of Apple's so-called "iPhone 6" have emerged from China, though the device pictured bears some bizarre inconsistencies that call its authenticity into question.
Apple and sapphire manufacturing partner GT Advanced Technologies are looking to expand operations at the companies' Mesa, Ariz., facility, possibly to accommodate higher yields for an as-yet-unknown component, AppleInsider has learned.
Apple is readying two variants of the so-called iPhone 6 with significantly larger 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays for a September launch, according to a Thursday report from the Land of the Rising Sun.
While Apple remains coy about plans to incorporate sapphire into its product lineup, a new patent application published on Thursday suggests the company is at the least experimenting with the hard material for use in touch-capable displays.
Batteries for Apple's next-generation iPhone may be assembled on fully automated production lines in China, rather than through manual labor, a new rumor out of the Far East claims.
Smartphone manufacturers are expected to continue their battle for pixel-pushing dominance in 2014 with new cameras of 13 megapixels and beyond, but according to one insider, Apple is currently expected to sit out on the megapixel race this year to concentrate on other ways to better images from its next iPhone.
A report out of the Far East on Tuesday claims Pegatron has started recruitment operations for a new plant in China that will supposedly start manufacturing Apple's next-gen iPhone in the second quarter.
If Apple were to launch a redesigned iPhone with a screen size around 5 inches this year, it would become the "motherlode of all upgrade cycles" for the company, helping to reaccelerate year over year growth, one analyst believes.
A pair of fresh rumors from Taiwan claim that Apple's 2014 product line is far from settled, as the company is alleged to have shelved plans for a larger-screened iPad and is purportedly facing supply issues at its new Arizona sapphire plant.
Chinese microblogging site Weibo lit up Thursday after images purporting to show Apple's next-generation iOS 8 with new mobile versions of OS X's TextEdit and Preview apps — as well as the rumored new "Healthbook" application — surfaced alongside fresh claims of a new 5.7-inch iPhone.
Shares of Apple rose Tuesday morning after Pacific Crest upgraded its rating on the stock to "outperform," citing high expectations for the company's next iPhone, which the firm expects to sport a 4.7-inch display and $299 starting price tag.
While rumors of a partnership between Apple and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have lingered for years, yet another report on Wednesday claims once again that the Taiwanese chipmaker is now producing chips for the company — namely a next-generation "A8" processor for the 2014 iPhone.
During a conference call on Tuesday, Corning Glass executive Tony Tripeny named the apparently numerous drawbacks to using sapphire crystal in a mobile device, something which Apple is widely expected to do with an upcoming iPhone.
Though GT Advanced Technologies Inc. did not reveal this week exactly when it will be supplying sapphire glass to Apple en masse, the company did issue a public statement revealing that its arrangement with the iPhone maker is "progressing well."
The latest sketchy report out of the Far East claims Apple is working on two jumbo-sized iPhone models this year, and even goes as far as to claim that executives at the company may not refer to a larger, more premium 5.6-inch model with the existing "iPhone" brand.
A trio of "blurry cam" photos purportedly showing Apple's next-generation "iPhone 6" chassis have made their way to the Web, with the part sporting rounded corners and a thin design matching the current-generation iPad lineup.
Rumors about Apple's next iPhone continue to fly, with the latest questionable stab claiming the company is planning to launch a so-called "iPhone 6" this September with two larger screen sizes: 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches.
A Tuesday afternoon rumor out of South Korea suggests that Apple may be considering an edge-to-edge display for the eighth-generation iPhone, while Japanese media reports that Sony is in talks to supply front-facing FaceTime camera modules for the handset in addition to the rear iSight camera components.
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Neil Hughes
AppleInsider Staff
Mikey Campbell
Shane Cole
Sam Oliver
