iPhone 5S, Bigger And Low-Cost iPhones, iWatch, iTV, iPad 5, And iPad Mini 2: Apple Is Working On All Of Them

By Binu Paul email: b.paul@mobilenapps.com | Feb 15, 2013 06:53 AM EST

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The Apple rumor mills keep rolling and there seems to be a lot of things to speculate about including iPhone 5S, large-screened iPhone, a low-cost iPhone, iWatch, iTV, iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2. While a lot have come out on the tech media about many of these products, Apple is yet to clarify many of these speculations.

Well, we had many leading media organizations publishing leaks about watches, television projects and low-cost iPhone from Apple. iMore, which has been accurate about many predictions including lightning connector and iPad mini's launch, now summarizes the Apple rumors of the past week based on its trustworthy sources.

Citing on his 'sources who have provided accurate information in the past,' iMore's Rene Ritchie said the iWatch product is moving ahead, though nothing concrete about its specification sets or timelines are known at this point in time. However, Rene feels that the idea of iWatch is going to be a huge hit and it will prove critics wrong as other Apple products such as phones and tablets did in the past.

As far as the iTV is concerned, the project is still on but with no significant movement. However, Rene said the realities of that market haven't changed.

Coming to the major Apple rumor in the recent past, he says the iPhone 5S is definitely in the making and the device will be the major phone product from Apple in 2013, just as the iPhone 5 was last year, the iPhone 4S was the year before, and so on.

The rumored 4.8-inch iPhone 6 appears to be still a prototype than product. "Last month I did the math on how Apple could scale the existing iPhone 5 platform to a 5-inch form factor, and followed up with how the interface would scale to 5-inches with it. Technically, it all seems solid. In terms of go-to-market, however, it doesn't sound imminent," he wrote.

Though the low-cost iPhone has been on the drawing board for years, Apple decided to slash the prices of its previous model iPhones than going for a cheaper version. "Massive deals with carriers in emerging markets, or the prospect of reducing the iPhone 5 to cheap or free on contract, and the pressure that puts on margins and ASP (average sales price) could be what ultimately causes Apple to change strategies and introduce the less expensive model," the report said. While the prospects of a less expensive iPhone seem to be all worked out for the company, it's only the release date that is in question now.

Talking of the iPad product line, Rene feels Apple will have to bring some improvements to the efficiencies of the screens and its LED, the chipsets, and the batteries to build a full-sized iPad casing (that of iPad mini) or to bring the iPad mini display up to the full size iPad's Retina quality.

"Sexy next generation hardware aside, I still feel like the next couple of years need to be more about iOS 7 and 8, iCloud and Siri, than iOS devices, and even given the recent management changes and turnovers, people sound excited about not just the atoms but the bits as well," Rene concludes. Although his predictions are nothing new or exciting, given his accuracy in the past when it comes to Apple products, the post is a worth read.