# iPhone 5S



## Firky (Nov 12, 2012)

I know it's the usual rumours and speculative rubbish but if this is true I'd be a bit miffed.

http://bgr.com/2012/11/12/iphone-5s-release-date-rumor/




> ---8<---
> Chinese newspaper Commercial Times claims Apple’s manufacturing partners will begin trial production of the next-generation “iPhone 5S” in December after the iPhone 5 just launched less than two months ago.


 
Is Apple speeding up iPhone release cycles to maintain its place in the smartphone industry and as a strike to the upcoming Nexus and Windows8 phones?


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## editor (Nov 12, 2012)

It's all bollocks. Some pitiful sites are already speculating (i.e. making up stories)  about the iPhone 6.


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## Firky (Nov 12, 2012)

Yeh, spotted "iPhone 6 designed by Ferrari" on my RSS feeds the other day


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## elbows (Nov 12, 2012)

Too soon for speculation, let alone an actual device.


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## maldwyn (Nov 12, 2012)

In order to compete it would make sense to have more frequent spec bumps, it's current annual release is giving away too much ground to the competition. I wouldn't be surprised to hear the 5s is already being tested.


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## Firky (Nov 12, 2012)

Their next new phone already exists albeit not in production. Well if they're anything like Sony who's R&D is usually about 18 months ahead of what is on the shelves (according to friend of a friend who works for them).


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## Hocus Eye. (Nov 12, 2012)

I wonder if they are trying to get ahead of the Samsung Galaxy 4 which will be due in May next year. Or perhaps they are worried not so much about production problems as customer disappointment with the current iPhone5. The glitter is beginning to come off the Apple image with all the competition it now has.


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## Cid (Nov 12, 2012)

Well the 4th gen ipad was a 6 month gap, so it wouldn't be surprising. Maybe a year to 5th gen ipad, retina mini and 5s in 6 months or something.


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## editor (Nov 13, 2012)

You should see the Samsung Galaxy S6 - it's amazing! Full details on www.wirefresh.com etc etc.


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## Lemon Eddy (Nov 13, 2012)

maldwyn said:


> In order to compete it would make sense to have more frequent spec bumps, it's current annual release is giving away too much ground to the competition. I wouldn't be surprised to hear the 5s is already being tested.


 
That's true, but it also raises a big problem.  It seriously undermines the desirability of a new toy if you know fine there'll be a newer, shinier one in a few months.  One of the reasons Apple gets away with charging a sharp premium is because people expect to have a bit of pose value from their latest purchase.  People are happy to pay a bit more if they can be reasonably confident that their new toy will be top of the range for a while.  If you change that period from a year to 12 months, you diminish that buyer confidence.


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## maldwyn (Nov 13, 2012)

Lemon Eddy said:


> If you change that period from a year to 12 months, you diminish that buyer confidence.


I assume you mean 6 months. 

They already suffer the 3/4 death as it is, so perhaps a major bump once a year followed by minor spec upgrade every six months could stabilise their sales.
I think the future edge will be software based.


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## Lemon Eddy (Nov 13, 2012)

maldwyn said:


> I assume you mean 6 months.


oops.


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## Kid_Eternity (Nov 13, 2012)

firky said:


> I know it's the usual rumours and speculative rubbish but if this is true I'd be a bit miffed.
> 
> http://bgr.com/2012/11/12/iphone-5s-release-date-rumor/
> 
> ...


 
Wouldn't surprise if this was true. Apple surprised a few people by releasing the iPad 4 7 months after the iPad 3. Perhaps they've finally realised they have to update more than once a year?


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## Yata (Nov 17, 2012)

wasnt the 4s called the 4s like "Iphone 4 Steve" ? Surely Iphone 5 Steve wouldn't even make sense? On that alone I call BS


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## Kid_Eternity (Nov 17, 2012)

Yata said:


> wasnt the 4s called the 4s like "Iphone 4 Steve" ? Surely Iphone 5 Steve wouldn't even make sense? On that alone I call BS


 
That was one rumour along with the 3GS being S for speed...never seen anything official from Apple to suggest either is true tbh.


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## elbows (Nov 17, 2012)

Second edition.


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## Firky (Nov 17, 2012)

iPhone 4 Steve. Haha! That's a goodun


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## elbows (Nov 17, 2012)

Speed is quite likely though. It doesnt matter anyway does it, the main point is that they like to bump the spec more often than they change the physical design.


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## elbows (Nov 17, 2012)

How about suckers?


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## maldwyn (Nov 17, 2012)

or perhaps Siri


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## Firky (Nov 17, 2012)

Sirious?


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## elbows (Nov 17, 2012)

Second coming of the jesus phone.


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## FridgeMagnet (Nov 17, 2012)

I think this is just some dumb rumour, but it is true that Apple did appear to be moving towards a strategy of just having the brands iPhone and iPad and releasing new upgraded models as and when, very similar in function but with better specs. This is what worked pretty well for them with iBooks and MBPs and iMacs after all and I think is a generally good idea - it helps to avoid alienating previous customers but the early adopters can still pick up the latest kit.

However if that was really an intention they seem to be muffing it a bit now - they're selling three different types of iPad ffs.


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## elbows (Nov 17, 2012)

I never saw any signs of them doing that with the iPhone. iPad yes, to an extent, although I wouldnt really count the ipad mini as its a different form so I would just say two where you have said three.


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## Kid_Eternity (Nov 17, 2012)

elbows said:


> Speed is quite likely though. It doesnt matter anyway does it, the main point is that they like to bump the spec more often than they change the physical design.


 
Indeed. The S class is the best version of every major hardware change, on a two year cycle which most tariffs seem to be these days. Makes business sense I guess...


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 25, 2013)

These have started up again...although the only thing of note is now the rumours are saying October for release...


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## souljacker (Jan 25, 2013)

The 's' class is becoming a nice new revenue stream for Apple. Bung in a few extras, upgrade some shit and get another 12 months of revenue.

I wish they'd do something interesting again though.


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## FridgeMagnet (Jan 25, 2013)

Nothing interesting has happened with phones for years now - they've just got smaller, faster, thinner, better cameras etc. It's all in the software and I expect it will be for the indefinite future.


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## Firky (Jan 25, 2013)

Smaller?


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## editor (Jan 25, 2013)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Nothing interesting has happened with phones for years now - they've just got smaller, faster, thinner, better cameras etc. It's all in the software and I expect it will be for the indefinite future.


Oh, I dunno. I'd say the growth of the 'phablet' and Google Now are interesting enough innovations.


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## Sunray (Jan 25, 2013)

I suspect that a 5S may well happen so that its ready for 4G offerings from the other operators, quite possibly in the next 6 months. The iPhone 5 will only work (and it works amazingly at the moment) with EE due to the frequencies they own.


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## souljacker (Jan 25, 2013)

The 'phablet' is a really crap industry buzzword. I just cant see them being anything but niche.


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## peterkro (Jan 25, 2013)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Nothing interesting has happened with phones for years now - they've just got smaller, faster, thinner, better cameras etc. It's all in the software and I expect it will be for the indefinite future.


5s better camera,speed bump,that's it.


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## FridgeMagnet (Jan 25, 2013)

editor said:


> Oh, I dunno. I'd say the growth of the 'phablet' and Google Now are interesting enough innovations.


Google Now is software/service and phablets (urgh spew) are not phone developments, just monkeying with screen size.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 26, 2013)

souljacker said:


> The 's' class is becoming a nice new revenue stream for Apple. Bung in a few extras, upgrade some shit and get another 12 months of revenue.
> 
> I wish they'd do something interesting again though.


 
Seems so.


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