Apple sends invites for September 10 special event, new iPhones expected

After a flurry of rumours, we now have official confirmation from Apple that it's hosting a special event on September 10 in San Francisco, where it's expected to announce two new iPhones and the final version of iOS 7, the next iteration of its mobile OS.

Apple has started sending invites for the special event according to a number of Apple-focused publications including Jim Dalrymple's The Loop. The event will be held at Apple's Cupertino headquarters and will start at 10am Pacific Time. 

The picture accompanying the invite features a White Apple logo surrounded with circles in different colours, in line with the colourful new UI of iOS 7 and perhaps representing the colourful shells of the iPhone 5C, the alleged budget iPhone. The image is marked by a 'This should brighten everyone's day' message.

A number of rumours including some by credible publications and journalists such as AllThingsD and Jim Dalrymple, had confirmed September 10 as the most probable date for Apple hosting a special event to announce the next generation iPhone, iPhone 5S and the low cost iPhone, iPhone 5C.

The iPhone 5S is expected to come with a brand new Apple chip, the A7, alongside 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM, retaining the form factor of the iPhone 5. A 128GB storage variant of the phone has also been rumoured. The iPhone 5S is likely to come with a larger f2.0 aperture compared to the iPhone 5, that comes with f2.4 aperture. It's also likely to sport a fingerprint reader.

The low-cost iPhone or iPhone 5C has leaked several times. Alleged pictures of the iPhone 5C have revealed a plastic polycarbonate body back panel in White, Blue, Red, Yellow and Green colours, a round camera lens and LED flash, Apple logo and iPhone branding. It's expected to be powered by a dual-core CPU, and have a 4-inch screen, just like the iPhone 5, with a resolution of 640x1136 pixels. The iPhone 5C is rumoured to have 1GB of RAM, and come in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB storage variants. It'a also likely to sport an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.2-megapixel front facing camera camera and run iOS 7 complete with Siri which would be available in English, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Italian and Spanish.

The iPhone is usually made available to the public in major markets including US, Canada, France, Japan, Hong Kong, UK, and Singapore, around a week after the official announcement. Rumours have indicated that Apple will start selling the iPhone starting September 20. 

iPhone 5C leaked specifications point to dual-core CPU, Siri support

We've seen the low-cost iPhone or the iPhone 5C a number of times in multiple colours thanks to leaked videos and images. However, not much is known about the hardware specifications of the phone except that it might feature internals similar to the iPhone 5. A new report claims to shed some light on the specifications of the low-cost iPhone.

According to SIM Only Radar, the iPhone 5C will be powered by a dual-core CPU, and will have a 4-inch screen, just like the iPhone 5, with a resolution of 640x1136 pixels. The site cites a specs sheet that it received from a tipster as the source for this information.

The sheet mentions that the iPhone 5C will have 1GB of RAM, and will come in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB storage variants. It will sport an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.2-megapixel front facing camera camera and run iOS 7 complete with Siri which would be available in English, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Italian and Spanish, as per the tipster.

The iPhone 5C will reportedly be 6 grams lighter than the iPhone 5 at 106 grams and will measure 124.2 x 58.4 x 7.6 mm. The iPhone 5 measures 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm. If the rumoured specifications are true than the phone would almost be the same size as that of the iPhone 5.

It's worth pointing out that Apple hasn't officially acknowledged the presence of a low-cost iPhone. The low-cost iPhone or iPhone 5C has leaked several times. Alleged pictures of the iPhone 5C have revealed a plastic polycarbonate body back panel in White, Blue, Red, Yellow and Green colours, a round camera lens and LED flash, lightning connector port, Apple logo and iPhone branding.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 5S along with the iPhone 5C on September 10 at an event in San Francisco.

iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C to go on sale on September 20 in Japan and Greece: Reports

After emergence of September 10 as the date when Apple will host a special event, and reports of Apple asking its suppliers to begin shipping two new versions of the iPhone shortly thereafter, it appears that the Cupertino giant will indeed launch its new iPhones soon, if two new reports are to be believed.

A report in Nikkei mentions that Apple's next generation iPhone, the iPhone 5S and the low-cost iPhone 5C would launch on September 20, ten days after the phones are announced at an even in San Francisco.

Greece-based website, Techmaniacs also confirms that the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C will launch on September 20, while it also claims that Apple will release the final version of iOS 7 on September 16.

Just a few days back, image of a purported Gold coloured iPhone 5S had appeared online. The phone was pictured from various angles and sports a form factor similar to the current generation iPhone. This is in line with what we've heard earlier since the physical dimensions of the next-generation iPhone - expected to be called iPhone 5S - are believed to be identical to the iPhone 5.

The usually reliable KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also said that Apple is planning to introduce a 128GB storage variant of the next-generation iPhone, in line with company's move to introduce a 128GB fourth-generation iPad, earlier this year. The analyst also predicted that the next-generation iPhone will come with a brand new Apple chip, the A7, alongside 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM. 

Kou also believes that iPhone 5S will come with larger f2.0 aperture compared to the iPhone 5, that comes with f2.4 aperture.The analyst also reiterated that the iPhone 5S will come with a dual LED flash and fingerprint reader.

The low-cost iPhone or iPhone 5C has leaked several times. Alleged pictures of the iPhone 5C have revealed a plastic polycarbonate body back panel in White, Blue, Red, Yellow and Green colours, a round camera lens and LED flash, Apple logo and iPhone branding. However, we've not heard much about the specifications of the phone till now.

iPhone 5C spotted in new high-resolution pictures, expected price leaks

The purported low-cost iPhone just doesn't stop when it comes to making appearances online.

New high resolution photos of the alleged device have surfaced online, once again, courtesy Sonny Dickson who had earlier shared a video of a partially assembled low-cost iPhone (also identified as iPhone 5C).

Dickson has posted an entire picture gallery featuring close up shots of the low cost iPhone's back and sides, in addition to photos of its internals.

The device pictured matches the one that previously appeared in high resolution images and video.

The pictures show the same plastic polycarbonate body back panel that appeared in recent leaks, in glossy White, complete with a round camera lens and LED flash, Apple logo and iPhone branding.

At the bottom of the phone, there's a small hole for the second microphone, next to the 3.5mm headset jack port, two screw holes with the Lightning connector port at the centre, and four holes for the speaker towards bottom right.

It's worth pointing out that similar to previous appearances, the shell does not have any buttons or even a SIM-tray, though it does have holes at the designated places in line with the iPhone 5. It also doesn't have any certification logos. Perhaps the device is still a stage away from the final product. The pictures of the internals also don't reveal much as they don't feature the main board.

While the device is said to be the low cost iPhone, it's still difficult to confirm if Apple will indeed launch it this fall when it's expected to announce new devices.

It's also being rumoured that Apple will launch the phone at a price of 3000 yuan ($490 or Rs. 30,000 approximately). According to a post on Sina Weibo by C technology (via PhoneArena), as expected, the low cost iPhone might not be a budget device though it will be priced relatively less compared to the iPhone 5.

iPhone 5C, fifth-generation iPad and iPhone 5S parts spotted in fresh, separate leaks

While the purported low-cost iPhone (also referred to as the iPhone 5C) has made a number of online appearances, alleged pictures of the next generation iPad's rear shell surfaced last week.

Following up on the previous rumours, Apple focused Japanese website Mac Otakara has published(via Sonny Dickson) two new videos of partially assembled low cost iPhone (iPhone 5C) and next-generation iPad.

The first video shows the front and back panel of the fifth-generation iPad assembled together. Interestingly, unlike the back panel that appeared in leaked pictures, last week, this one shows a transparent or translucent Apple logo similar to the one seen on MacBooks. The leaked images featured a case that had the Apple logo carved out.

 

The second video shows a similar assembly of the back and front panels of the alleged low-cost iPhone or iPhone 5C. It shows the same White coloured plastic back panel that we've seen several times. It also reaffirms that the phone's front panel will be all black, similar to the image and video of the phone posted by Techdy in July.

 

New images featuring alleged iPhone 5S parts have also surfaced online courtesy Sonny Dickson. The parts include the nano-SIM tray and speaker button, flex cables for the home button, charger connector, Wi-Fi component, and speaker. However, there are no signs of a fingerprint scanner, support for which is said to be included in iOS 7.

As always, we'll add that the leaks should be taken with a pinch of salt as there's no way to verify the authenticity of the parts that appear in the video. Even if they're authentic, they could be from internal prototypes of these devices and not the final versions. 

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 5S, the next generation iPhone, along with the low-cost iPhone or iPhone 5C in fall with iOS 7. The new iPad and iPad mini are also expected to be released in the fourth-quarter.

Apple's cheaper iPhone to be called iPhone 5C?

While rumours are rife about Apple launching a new low cost variant of the iPhone, it's still not known what the purported phone will be called. 

However, a new leaked photograph of plastic retail packaging that appeared on a Chinese website shows white plastic boxes marked 'iPhone 5C' complete with the Apple logo. It's hard to confirm if the packaging boxes are genuine, or whether they're being made for Apple's upcoming low-cost iPhone. 

If we assume that these boxes are genuine, then it's likely that Apple would use them for it's budget iPhone which is rumoured to come in a number of colour options. The leaked picture was posted on Chines website WeiPhone and was first spotted by Nowhereelse.fr.

While the next generation iPhone is likely to be called the iPhone 5S, inline with Apple's nomenclature pattern for the iPhone, the 'C' in iPhone 5C could denote 'colour/ color'.

Another interesting thing to note here is that the plastic boxes seen in the leaked images appear to have a lining inside where a front cover, which would most likely be transparent, can fit. So the packaging would be pretty similar to the iPod touch's packaging to highlight the new iPhone's coloured trims. 

The budget iPhone has made several appearances in pictures and videos. The leaks hint at colourful back panels made of polycarbonate/ plastic and a 4.0-inch screen. 

A video of the phone appeared on the blog of Techdy, showing the  plastic polycarbonate body back panel of the alleged low-cost iPhone that appeared in recent leaks.

French website Nowhereelse.fr had earlier shared a couple of pictures that originally appeared on a Chinese website depicting Red, Yellow and Green plastic shell cases of what looks like the back of a new variant of iPhone.

Another picture of the rear shell appeared in April, and was shared by case manufacturer Tactus. The case maker had said that the cheaper iPhone would be available in Black, White, Blue, Red and Yellow colours, citing the 'factory producing this secretive project' as a source. Tactus had informed that the actual phone might be around 9mm thick, 120mm in height and around 62-65mm in width, making it both taller and wider than the iPhone 4 and 4S.

Apple-focused Japanese blog Macotakara had also suggested that the new low-cost iPhone will come in multiple colours.