With the iPhone 5S launch event rumored for September 10th in the US (Sept 11th here), it’s time we gathered up some of our favorite iPhone 5S rumors. With the history of iPhone’s “S” model handsets being what it is, we don’t have massive expectations for the next instalment. There are a few things that have piqued our interest, though.
Mid-September release
With the rumored launch event being the 10th it makes sense to expect the iPhone 5S to hit shelves in the US within the following week and the rest of the world shortly after. Of course, this hinges on the launch date actually being the 10th.
Champagne and Graphite models
The gold or champagne iPhone 5S model is actually backed-up by a lot of video and pictoral ‘evidence’. There’s even multiple videos of people handling champagne colored shells, all of which appear to be identical.
The champagne model sounds tacky at first, but the more pics we’ve seen the more we can imagine it actually working, especially in Asia. Considering China is reportedly the world’s largest consumer of gold we can see this iBling becoming a kind of status symbol for its wealthier citizens.
Far safer for Apple is the graphite model. It’s a black handset with a gunbolt-grey rear plate, much like the darker of last year's iPhone brood.
A bigger screen
We’ll get this out of the way quickly; it’s not gonna happen. Apple has never made massive design changes with an “S” model iPhone, nor is it likely to give its developers yet another screen size to deal with after only one year. Add to that every ‘leaked’ case we’ve seen has sported a 4 inch display.
We do believe that the iPhone could use a 4.2” or 4.3” sized display, but it’s just not in the cards this time around.
A7 chip 31% faster
This rumor was fuelled by Clayton Morris of Fox News.
It makes perfect sense that the 5S would have a faster processor than the 5. The iPhone 5 is no slouch in terms of processor power, but upgrading CPU power between models is smartphone design 101. Whether or not the specifics of the rumor are true is up in the air, but the upgrade itself is a no-brainer.
NFC
NFC is one of our biggest hopes for the 5S. It’s been rumored ever since Android first introduced it on its own platform. What we want it on iPhones for isn’t as a credit card supplement; but for music accessories.
Apple already has a massive host of docks and speakers, all designed to work purely with iOS devices. If Apple were to finally adopt the NFC approach popularized by Nokia we might finally see it take off in a big way across the industry.
For the unfamiliar, we’re talking about a system where you starting playing music on your phone and then simply tap it against a speaker. Said speaker then begins to play the music instead of the phone via a Bluetooth connection. It’s the easiest way of pushing music to a speaker that we’ve ever used. It even works with headphones.
There’s no guarantee this will happen. Apple has already made a point of insulting Samsung’s need to “bump” phones together to transfer data, opting instead for an approach that uses a common WiFi network.
Separate chip for motion tracking (camera)
This is another Clayton Morris-spurred item. In a tweet the Fox News co-host mentions a chip dedicated to motion tracking.
This smartphone season’s big thing is cameras. First the HTC One hits shelves with its ultrapixels and then the GS4 standardizes the 13MP camera. Now we’re looking at totally camera-centric devices like the Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Samsung Galaxy Zoom. Even Sony appears to be getting on board with a recent teaser video showing off a dedicated camera button for its (apparent) next flagship.
Apple still has the best smartphone cameras on the market (with the possible exception of the Lumia 1020), but with this new industry-wide focus it’s going to need to work hard to stay ahead of the pack.
We have no big complaints with the iPhone 5’s camera, but we’d love to see a big upgrade this time, rather than the very minor one we saw between the 4S and 5.
Wireless charging
We actually haven’t seen any rumors regarding wireless charging for the 5S but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be awesome. Wireless charging is a super handy way of powering up a device, you just place your phone on the charging pad to charge, and lift it off to stop it.
Several phones available now support wireless charging, but if Apple puts it into an iPhone, the ecosystem around this technology will tech off. Coffee shops will have charging plates built into tables, local councils could install charging stations at bus stops – the sky’s the limit.
Fingerprint scanner
Interestingly, this is becoming one of the bigger talking points. The rumor suggests that a fingerprint scanner will be located either under the screen or inside the home button. This is intended to be an easy and safe security option for users. It’s a solid idea, but it’s been one that’s been tried before.
The Motorola Atrix sported a scanner inside its lock button back in 2011. It worked almost flawlessly and was a great alternative to a password or (the since-released) face lock. It’s something we’ve always wanted to take off but it never really did for some reason.
Maybe if Apple takes the wheel consumers will finally get on board. It’s not an amazing feature, but it certainly wouldn’t detract from a phone’s usability.
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