Apple has been very secretive, as always, about its upcoming iPhone. We know nearly nothing for sure. There are speculations of a different form factor, advanced hardware, software upgrade and what not; and yet Apple folks watch all this with amusement and continue with their work. Now, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has claimed that Apple will launch the next iPhone in October.
Naturally, Munster’s claims are based upon vague estimates and nothing more. Nonetheless, being an analyst who has access to far more data than most people do, and who has a knack to probe things deeper, we can take his word as one of the few credible possibilities.
Munster does have a logic to his claim too. According to him, currently Qualcomm’s 28nm chips are short in supply. The next iPhone is nearly sure to be LTE supportive. And the LTE chips will come from Qualcomm, given the relationship of the two companies over the past.
Due to shortage of Qualcomm’s 28nm chips, Apple can either go to a different vendors to get its chips or delay the release of the iPhone till late Q4. Munster is of the opinion that Apple will delay the launch to Q4.
He also speculated as to what major changes we can expect to see in the next iPhone. According to him, Apple has been following a certain pattern of software and hardware upgrades and for the next-generation iPhone, we are in for ‘the mother of all (hardware) upgrades.’ Essentially, this may include a different form factor featuring a bigger screen. Whereas that sounds cool, given how hybrids like Galaxy Note have really turned out to be excellent pieces of hardware, it all remains mere speculation.
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