Following earlier rumors that Apple is all set to launch the iPhone 6 in September, new reports coming out of China say the company is ramping up its 5.5-inch variant to 128GB.
On early morning Wednesday, Chinese web portal Tencent published a new report citing supply chain sources who claimed that Apple is getting ready to launch its latest iteration of its flagship product on September 19, which falls on a Friday, the same day the last two iPhones were also officially launched. The report also says that Apple is dropping the 16GB variant for its 4.7-inch model and will offer 32GB and 64GB variants to the Chinese market instead. This comes after German mobile carrier Deutsche Telekom also told its customers that Apple will unveil the latest iPhone on the same day, apparently in an effort to convince customers with ending contracts to renew their plans with the carrier.
Just hours after the Tencent report, a new report coming from another Chinese site Wei Feng says Apple will offer a 128GB variant for its larger 5.5-inch model. The larger storage capacity, aside from the larger display, will provide Apple customers a "veritable phablet" experience and will differentiate it from the smaller 4.7-inch variant. Previously, the iPhone only had up to 64GB of internal storage, while the iPad offered up to 128GB maximum capacity.
If the reports are true, this would be the first time Apple will offer the iPhone in only two variants. The iPhone 5s and previous iterations came in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions.
Apple's manufacturing partners Foxconn and Pegatron have reportedly already started running trial productions of the iPhone 6 and are conducting a mass hiring of more than 100,000 people for the mass production, which is set to begin on the first day of July. Bloomberg also reports that Apple is planning to release both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch variants at the same time, in contrast to previous reports that the iPhone maker plans to release the smaller version first followed by the phablet model later in the year.
Aside from the largest displays for both models, Apple is also said to be including a faster processor, a slimmer design and optical image stabilization. Analyst, including Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities and known for its virtually 100% accurate predictions about upcoming Apple products, believe optical image stabilization, which has a considerable cost premium over standard auto focus, will only be available in the phablet version.
"Differing from market consensus, we don't expect the main camera of the 4.7" iPhone 6 to use OIS VCM due to production capacity restraint at iPhone 6 VCM suppliers Mitsumi (JP) and Alps (JP)," he said. "Rather, we predict it will use a middle-mount type of open-loop VCM updated from the one used in the existing iPhone 5S."
