2015/04/19 9:30 PM
With the launch of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Watch just around the corner, enthusiasts of the consumer electronics titan pondering what Apple has in store for the iPhone in 2015. Normally the iPhone schedule is pretty straightforward, but this year will be convoluted by the fact that the tactic Apple has in mind has not yet been nailed down.
Apple can be a tricky firm to understand under the most favorable circumstances, as it usually plays its cards carefully shrouded. Even when an in the background gossip, for example, the Apple Watch becomes very much part of the public domain, Apple declines to corroborate this openly. Consequently, the launch of the first ever smartwatch and wearable gadget from Apple was one of the worst kept secrets ever in the history of consumer electronics. Yet Apple just affirmed its real presence about 18 months after rumors about its existence first showed up in the media.
Therefore, getting any inside data from Apple is very hard. And this makes the iPhone product lineup for 2015 especially interesting, as experts are very much in disagreement about what shoppers can expect.
iPhone 7 Launch Date
Earlier in the year, it was very much expected that Apple would release an iPhone 7 amid 2015. This is the typical strategy of Apple; it reboots its smartphone every year with a new model. Though, despite the fact that the iPhone is generally given a new number to indicate that it is a new smartphone gen, there have been occasions when the enterprise has revealed that a specific release is very much an upgrade of past iterations in the series, therefore, the existence of the iPhone 5s and 5c.
And as 2015 has developed, it has been increasingly widely reported that Apple might consider a similar upgrade to the iPhone 6 during 2015, while pushing the release of the iPhone 7 back until 2016.
iPhone 6S – The 4-inch version
As per these gossipy tidbits, it has been speculated that Apple would release a small version of the iPhone which is in accordance with the vision of Steve Jobs. The late CEO and founder had communicated his preference for rather small smartphone screens by contemporary standards, and rumors emerged that Apple would try to fulfill this preference by creating a 4-inch display iPhone amid 2015.
At the point when the speculation first emerged, it was believed that Apple might launch this proposed 4-inch version of the iPhone as a companion device for the Apple Watch. It was recommended at this time that the small scale iPhone would hence launch at the same time as Apple Watch. Obviously, we now know that this impression was off base, and that if Apple is going to release a smaller version of the iPhone in 2015 that it will be essentially later in the year.
So once the smaller iPhone failed to emerge, experts and media generally expected that we would see a full-fledged iPhone 7 sooner or later amid 2015, presumably at sometime in Q4. And this release was required to be a genuinely progressive version of the iPhone including remarkable design specifications and the kind of special features that were generally considered to be truant from the iPhone 6.
iPhone 7 Delayed Until 2016
However, as of late there have been further reports which propose that Apple will indeed postpone the release of the iPhone 7 until 2016, which would mean that there would need to be an iPhone 6S release sooner or later amid 2015. It is absurd that Apple would not release an iPhone at some point amid the calendar year, so it would need to depend on an updated version of the iPhone 6 if the futuristic iPhone 7 is to be postponed until 2016. If Apple does pick this plan, it is even possible that we might have to sit tight until October 2016 for the iPhone 7, albeit many media reports have proposed a significantly earlier launch date in 2016 than this.
Models
If Apple does postpone iPhone 7 until 2016, the question still remains as to what models of the iPhone 6s will be released. The mumblings about a supposed 4-inch version of the smartphone have definitely not died down, and this would seem to bode well for Apple, as it would effectively represent a new product niche.
It is easy to forget this now, but at the beginning of 2014, Apple actually experienced some problems with its share price and sales figures. At that point, the consumer electronics giant failed to amaze the city with its latest revenue and profit information, and Apple stock was seriously downgraded. This was naturally a blow for the corporation, and there was disbelief at this time that Apple would be able to create successful new product ranges and increase earnings.
These concerns seem to be a thing of the past considering that Apple has seriously increased its share price in the latter half of 2014 and early months of 2015. And, moreover the corporation posted some amazingly impressive figures during the last 12 months, not least the largest single- quarter profit in recorded business history, and achieving the feat of becoming the first $700 billion market cap company.
But huge businesses such as Apple are always considering every part of their operation, and the addition of a 4-inch iPhone to its portfolio of smartphones could make commercial signs for the corporation. And it would be a simple way for Apple to create a new product niche during 2015, in a year in which it is already manufacturing and releasing its first ever smartwatch.
Apple has always been cautious about new product releases, ensuring that it has perfected any new features before releasing devices into the public domain. Considering that the iPhone 7 is expected to be a huge takeoff from the current iPhone 6, and even something of a reboot for the series, it looks possible that the iPhone 7 will be posponed until 2016. This would allow Apple to consolidate the implausible commercial success of the iPhone 6 with an iPhone 6s release and blow consumers away once more next year.
