Sprint Will be Getting the iPhone 5

As of right now, the iPhone is only available on two major wireless carriers here in the United States. AT&T, which was originally the sole carrier of the iPhone, and now Verizonboth offer the device.

Rumors have been circulating over the past several months suggesting that Apple will finally extend the iPhone to both T-Mobile and Sprint this Fall, but so far there has been no official announcement.

Now, The Wall Street Journal has decided to chime in on the matter, and is reporting that a Sprint-branded iPhone is a lock for this October…

WSJ editor Dennis Berman sounded the alarm from his Twitter account a few minutes ago. Apparently, the publication has concrete evidence that Sprint will be carrying asmartphone from Apple this Fall.

“Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the iPhone 5 in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, closing a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier’s lineup and giving Apple Inc. another channel for selling its popular phone.”

According to the report, the device won’t be available to Sprint customers until mid-October. And since the iPhone 5 has been slated to launch October 7th, it sounds like Sprint might be late to the party. But better late than never I always say.

The news isn’t that surprising, given the recent reports floating around that the iPhone 5 will support both GSM and CDMA networks. Why wouldn’t Apple want a shot at Sprint’s 50 million+ subscribers?

With Sprint getting Apple’s smartphone this Fall, you have to assume T-Mobile won’t be far behind. And with the addition of two major carrier partners in the U.S., expect Apple to do big things this holiday season.

Are you currently a Sprint customer? Would you switch to Sprint if it got the iPhone 5?

iPhone 5 Pre-Orders to Start September 30, Launch October 7

The iPhone 5′s expected launch date has changed several times over the last few months. We’ve heard everything from August to October, and everything in between.

Recently, however, all of the rumors seem to be settling on a late September to early October availability date. And Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac all but confirms that timeframe in this new report…

“We’ve independently heard that Apple has plans to begin selling the next generation iPhone on Friday, October 7th; the date first reported by TiPb. According to our sources, Apple has been weighing between launching the newiPhone on October 7th or October 14th, but with the product’s latest stages of pre-mass-production currently moving along nicely, Apple is presently shooting towards a launch on the 7th.”

Gurman also reports that Apple plans to offer pre-orders for their upcoming smartphone, something they omitted during the iPad 2′s first weeks. Apparently the pre-orders are scheduled to start Friday, September 30.

The information certainly makes sense. Apple could hold an event in the first few weeks of September (their typical iPod event) and give it a few weeks to to sink in. Not to mention that the story jibes with a recent report from TiPb, who has also pegged October 7 as the launch date.

A September pre-order means that we’re just a few weeks away from ending this madness. Obviously the dates are subject to change in the event of any problems, but I will definitely be clearing my calendar for the first week in October.

What about you?


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Apple Increases iPhone Orders to 56 Million Units, Get Ready for iPhone 5

Apple expects to be selling quite a few iPhones later this year, according to a new report by DigiTimes.

The site claims that Apple has ramped up its iPhone orders to a staggering 56 million units – 6 million units up on its original order…

Much of that order, 20 million units, are expected to be iPhone 5 units, and they are to be shipped in Q4 2011. The report suggest that Apple has only asked for 5 million units in Q3, which points to a release being late in that quarter.

The iPhone 5 rumor-mill is in full swing these days, with claimed release dates being discounted left and right. With DigiTimes having a somewhat patchy record with such things, we’re not sure how large a pinch of salt to take with this news, but we’re fairly sure at least a pinch is needed.

Which particular rumor do you subscribe to?

[TUAW]

Clearing Up iPhone 5 Rumor Confusion

As Apple’s next media event draws near, rumors are flying left and right about when the event will take place, what will be announced, etc. When it gets this close to showtime, the rumor mill goes into full throttle. Various news sites and tech pundits share their knowledge of Apple’s secret plans through unknown, “reliable sources” that always seem to be “familiar with the matter.”

You probably already know this, but Apple is going to release a new iPhone soon. Some even think that Apple will release two iPhones soon. Most think that Apple’s next announcement will be iPhone-centric, and the event is definitely going to take place before the holidays.

But honestly, that’s all anyone knows right now. Still, let’s try to clear up some of the confusion…

It’s easy to get caught in the rumor crossfire when you read Apple sites, and sometimes it helps to take a step back and look at everything from a 10,000 foot view.

This past Friday is a great example of how confusing and contradictory the Apple rumor mill can be. In one day, a rumor came out that Apple’s next media event would take place on September 7th. This report was then followed by a debunking of that rumor within hours from a more credible source. In the same day, a separate rumor was published that Apple’s next event would take place on October 7th. AllThingsD then felt the need to reiterate its previous report of an October date, by saying that “it’s all coming” in October.

Whew. If you follow Apple rumors/news as closely as I do, that’s one confusing day.

Why are Apple rumors so contradictory? And why are so many sites publishing — for the most part — far-fetched speculaton that will never actually come true?

It’s simple:

1. People love speculating about Apple.


2. Apple missed it’s typical iPhone announcement date this year at WWDC, and people are itching for what’s next.


3. Nothing has leaked or been hinted about from Apple about plans for the next media event.

Last year, there was the infamous iPhone 4 leak at a certain bar near a certain fruit company’s headquarters. This year, short of a few rumblings that don’t really mean anything, nothing has been explicitly uncovered about what Apple has planned for the next iPhone.

Here’s what the iPhone 5 will most likely be like:

1. It will have a faster, A5 processor.


2. It will have a better camera (probably 8 megapixels).


3. It will differ from the iPhone 4 design-wise.

That’s all we really know. And, honestly, even those three things could be wrong.

Then there’s the wild conspiracy theory that Apple will release a second iPhone modelalongside a new flagship device. As Apple’s next announcement draws nearer, the rumor of a cloud-based, cheaper iCloud-Nano-Lite-iPhone hybrid is gaining more and more traction. There’s a very good chance that Apple will unveil a new iPhone to take on a cheaper market, although that device could end up being a 3G-equipped iPod touch.

(All I’m saying is that, if a second, cheaper iPhone does come out, I called it back in April.)

In terms of when Apple will unveil it’s next iPhone, here’s what we know:

1. The next iPhone(s) will come out before the holiday season.


2. iPhone hardware will be the main focus of the next Apple event.


3. The event will probably take place by mid-October.

Apple has always held it’s music/iPod event in September, but the unusual nature of Apple’s product announcement dates in 2011 hints that the next event will be different. Apple won’t announce new iPods before a new iPhone, because that would make investors go nuts. Apple also won’t wait until after Christmas to announce a new product, because that would hurt their potential bottom line on top of making the investors go nuts.

With all this said, it’s important to reiterate that no one really knows anything. This is all informed guesswork based off history and industry intel.

Here’s what we know:

1. People love to speculate about Apple.


2. There will be a new iPhone eventually.


3. What we don’t know about Apple is why we love Apple so much.

Leaked Photo of iPhone 5 Prototype Running on China Mobile

We actually haven’t seen too many “leaked photos” of Apple’s next smartphone over the last few weeks. We’ve seen some really cool concepts of what the device might look like, but nothing claiming to be the actual device.

Today, 9to5Mac passes along this photo, of what appears to be the next iPhone, that has been circling the gadget blogs this morning. Though the photo doesn’t offer much information regarding the design of the device, the mysterious gadget does seem to be running a version of iOS…

The photo shows the infamous About screen, which offers all kinds of details about an iDevice, including disk capacity and carrier name. If you notice in the picture above, this iPhone is sporting a baseband version which hasn’t been released yet, 06.10.01.

You’ll also see in the snapshot that there is no IMEI number, much like the iPhone 4 prototype that was spotted on eBay a few days ago. Could this really be a a picture of an iPhone 5 prototype? Maybe.

Photoshop enthusiasts know that the large flash in the middle of the iPhone’s display can be easily created. But the iOS About screen with perfect font matching and screen glare would be hard to produce.

Another interesting fact is that the device appears to be running on China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in the world. We’ve heard countless Apple rumors concerning the company, including COO Tim Cook’s recent visit to China Mobile headquarters.

Leaked photos should always be taken with a grain of salt. Aside from last year’s iPhone 4 debacle, Apple has a pretty solid record of keeping its secret projects under wraps.

Is this the next iPhone? Would you be disappointed if it was?

Update: Engadget’s Chinese Editor-in-cheif Richard Lai has informed us that the photo is fake. He notes that when the pic is blown up to native resolution, the font spacing of the Chinese print looks off. And seeing as how we can’t read chinese, we’re going to go with him on this one.

Are the iPhone 5 and 4S BOTH Coming in September?

If you’ve had enough of the next-generation iPhone rumors, you may want to skip over this pst. As before any major Apple product launch, the rumor mill is working over time with everyone trying guess Apple’s next move.

While most of the gossip aligns with a September launch, the hardware debate seems to ping pong back and forth. Some folks believe we’ll see a major update to the iPhone line (iPhone 5), and some think it’ll only incur minor changes (4S)…

And then there are some folks that believe that we’ll see both iterations this fall. Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore sent a note out to clients this morning speculating that Apple will be releasing both an iPhone 4S and an iPhone 5.

Whitmore believes that the iPhone 4S will be a modest upgrade from the current model, and get this, will be sold unlocked and contract-free for around $349. The iPhone 5 will be more of a substantial upgrade and match price points from previous models.

While these are some pretty bold statements, the analyst says there’s a method to his madness:

“With Nokia and RIM struggling, the time is right for Apple to aggressively penetrate the mid range smart-phone market (300-500 category) to dramatically expand its total addressable market and market share.”

This is an interesting theory, but I’d have to agree with 9to5Mac’s Christian Zibreg that $349 doesn’t necessarily fall in the mid-range smartphone market. Especially with so many sub-$200 Android offerings.

iDB actually received a tip back in April of this year that Apple was planning on releasing 2 very different models of the iPhone this fall. Our source’s story actually lines up pretty well with Mr. Whitmore’s predictions.

Though we can’t confirm any of the above information, it certainly is food for thought. In my opinion though, Apple would have to make the iPhone 4S substantially less expensive than $349 to be competitive.

What do you think, will we see 2 iPhones this fall?

A Sleeping OS X Lion Stirs

The iPad 2 nears! An iPad 3 is on the horizon! iPhone 5 is coming! Maybe an iPhone nano! New MacBook Pros! New iMacs! Maybe even an Apple television! Of all the Apple rumors out there right now, there’s a odd lack of talk about something we know is coming — and soon: OS X Lion.
Back in October of last year, Apple gave an official sneak peek of Lion and stated that it would launch in “summer 2011″. The first official day of summer is exactly 4 months away. And yet, Apple has been largely silent about the new OS since that preview four months ago. We now have the Mac App Store which we know will be a key ingredient, and likely points to some other things about the OS as well. But there has been no official update out of Apple about Lion. So where does it stand?
Well, first of all, from what we’re hearing, Apple is now using it internally. That they’re testing it shouldn’t be surprising, but it’s apparently being widely used internally. Recent statistics seem to confirm this. Looking over the TechCrunch logs, it seems that OS X 10.7 (Lion) has been seeing a surge of usage in recent weeks. After peaking in late August/early September, stats fell off a bit. But now they’re soaring again, indicating that full-scale internal testing is underway.
And while we already know some of the new features thanks to Apple’s preview, there are still a few surprises, apparently. One of these is a much-anticipated UI overhaul. But that means that developers are going to need to be ready when it rolls out. And along those lines, we’re hearing that a developer beta should begin soon. There’s no firm timetable for this yet, but again, we’re only 4 months away from the summer. Apple has also been busy prepping the lastest version of OS X Snow Leopard, 10.6.7. And developers have been receiving builds of it for weeks now. But that development cycle will remain separate from the OS X 10.7 track. Meanwhile, new MacBook Pro updates are slated for this Thursday, and that may include hardware slightly modified to run the new OS X better. These are likely to be the last hardware updates before OS X Lion hits. Bigger trackpads for better multi-touch support? A dedicated SSD element for the OS? We’ll see. All we know for sure is that the sleeping Lion is stirring, and about to get a lot louder so it can roar this summer.


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