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iPhone fan art

How much speculation can a single man spark? Jefferies analyst Peter Misek  (again) seems confident about Apple launching the iPhone 5S by June. According to his predictions, Apple should start production of the iPhone 5S by March to unveil it at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Apple’s iPhone 5 sales are slowing, but analysts are interpreting the declining sales figures as indication of Apple cutting down on production of the iPhone 5. Peter Misek says that production is down from 40 million to 30 million. In his opinion there are very few changes between the 5 and 5S models.   (more…)

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Contrary to reports that Apple is retiring the iPhone forever, 9to5Mac pulled over these Chinese snapshots of what they say is Foxconn assembly line. And on that assembly line—yep, The Next iPhone. Maybe. More »

Almost everyone is prying on Apple’s next-generation iPhone. We’ve heard countless reports about what the next iPhone will look like. Some reports are even suggesting that the Cupertino-based technology giant will launch as many as three iPhones this year. If all of that is starting to sound crazy, consider this entirely new perspective from Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty. Huberty says that the next iPhone will look exactly like the iPhone 5. However, Huberty isn’t basing her claims from leaked photos or components. (more…)

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The Apple rumor mill just keeps on flowing as we just reported on an analyst predicting the company will release an iPad Mini 2 with Retina Display, a cheaper iPhone and the iPhone 5S all this year as if he loaded a shotgun with rumor pellets and shot his analysis all over the Internet. It seems that same analyst wasn’t done as he’s predicting something that could certainly change the landscape of the mobile industry if it turns out to be true.

KGI Securities Ming-Chi Kuo is predicting not only will the iPhone 5S be made available this year, but it’ll also come with a fingerprint sensor built underneath its Home button. The purpose of implementing a fingerprint sensor is simple: better security throughout a number of applications, like Passbook, as well as being able to use your fingerprint to unlock your phone.

We’re all for rumors, but this one seems to be a bit of a stretch as we can’t even begin to imagine how much more expensive the iPhone 5S would be if it had a fingerprint sensor built into it. We’re also a bit skeptical of this claim seeing as the “S” iPhones don’t tend to offer big advancements like this, instead, “S” iPhones tend to be faster and thinner than their predecessor.

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The iPhone 5 wasn’t released all that long ago, but increasingly reports are saying a follow-up could come sooner rather than later. Today, Jeffries analyst Peter Misek said in a report that his supply chain checks anticipate a launch in June/July with a March production start date. The report backs up an earlier claim from Topeka analyst Brian White, who said at the start of January that an iPhone 5S will begin production in March or April for a May/June launch.

These reports are still just analyst predictions, based on research culled from supply chain sources and other channels but generally not sourced from Apple directly, but the fact that they agree so closely on the anticipated timeframe for launch is an indicator that there could be more here than just idle speculation. Misek had previously predicted that an iPhone 5S could launch sometime in mid-year 2013, though at the time he didn’t discuss any more specific timeframe than that. Misek added that he has seen info that points to two iPhone 5S prototypes being tested, but thinks that one could in fact represent a new low-cost device, like the one that was reported as in development by the Wall Street Journal last week.

In terms of device specific, Misek didn’t have much to add, except to clarify that he’s no longer seeing evidence of a 4.8-inch screen on the upcoming device, as he mentioned in his report last month. It’s probably a safe bet to assume that if Apple is planning a mid-year refresh, it won’t go messing around with screen resolution, if only to make the issue of developer fragmentation less acute than it already is.

Analyst predictions are far from consistently accurate, but the fact that at least two are now receiving similar info about a potential iPhone 5S is noteworthy. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the yearly update cycle might no longer be an adequate way to operate in the smartphone market, given the increase in competition from Samsung and its much more varied product line. A mid-season update makes a lot of sense, but it’s early days yet to be counting any chickens.