The next best thing to getting a new iPhone in the summertime is hearing what's in the works for the likely September release of Apple's popular phone. And the latest word is that the phone "is expected to be thinner and lighter" than the iPhone 4.
How much thinner or lighter, we don't know; the iPhone 4, which came out last summer, weighs 4.8 ounces and is .37 of an inch thick. There's also been discussion of a curved screen on the next model, as well as an 8-megapixel camera (compared to the 5-megapixel one it has now).
The Wall Street Journal Wednesday also noted the 8-megapixel camera as being likely for the new iPhone, as well as a sleeker, slimmer version, based on reports from "some suppliers of components to Apple."
Not only are the dimensions and camera of interest, but so is the timing for what is apparently a more complex piece of equipment than the current version. This is the first year since the iPhone came out in 2007 that its summer release has been pushed back.
The Journal noted that two sources "cautioned that shipments of the new iPhone could be delayed even more if (iPhone global assembler) Hon Hai can't improve its yield rate, as the new iPhone is 'complicated and difficult to assemble.' ":
Last month, Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou said at the company's annual general meeting that the yield rate of Apple's touch-screen devices hasn't been satisfactory, which weighed on Hon Hai's profitability.
"The touch-screen devices are so thin. It's really difficult to install so many components into the iPhones and iPads," Mr. Gou said. "We hope to raise the yield rate and volume in the second half which will help improve our gross margin."
It goes without saying, Apple hopes so, too. The company "told us to prepare to help the company meet its goal of 25 million units by the end of the year," one person at an Apple supplier told the Journal.
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