Apple‘s new iPhone will be announced on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, according to a report.Yeah you read it right. It's finally coming.
The blog iMore reports that Apple will announce the new iPhone — possibly called the iPhone 5 along with iPad Mini and new iPod Nano via a special announcement on that day. The products will then hit the stores 9 days later on Friday, September 21.
This information comes from sources who have proven accurate in the past.
Last week, French website, App4Phone.fr said the release date will be Sept. 21, citing sources from manufacturers in China.
The new iPhone is also expected to be thinner and have a larger screen. It would support a 4-inch, 16:9 screen, with NFC while all new iOS devices would come with a smaller Dock connector.
iOS 6, which was announced during Apple's WWDC 2012 keynote on June 11 and includes a new, Google-free Maps app, and Passbook, is expected to get an official debut during the September 12 event as well, and if Apple sticks to previous patterns, a release sometime around Wednesday, September 19.
Last year, the iPhone 4S was announced on Tuesday, October 4, 2011, and released 10 days later on October 14.
Demand for the new phone rewarded Apple with a profitable fourth quarter. But the third quarter suffered as smartphone buyers held off purchases in anticipation of the new iPhone. Releasing a new phone in September ensures that Apple ends the calendar third quarter on a high note, with the expected heavy demand extending into the fourth quarter.
The mini iPad is expected to sell for less than the £320 iPad 2 and will compete with Amazon Kindle Fire and the Google Nexus 7 for the market in smaller tablets.
The sources also say that Apple will be using the event to announce the next iterations of the iPod Nano and iPod Touch.
iPod Touch is rumored to take on the design and hardware of the iPhone 4S while the design for the new iPod Nano is anybody’s guess at this time.
"We try very hard to keep our product roadmap secret and confidential," Apple chief Tim Cook said last week.
Before the holiday rush starts in October so a September launch is perfect to capture the attention of a nation that’s starved for an iPhone 5.
