NEW iPhone 6 - coming October 2012 Could the iPhone 6 Be Cut From a Single Piece of Metal?

The sixth generation of Apple's vaunted iPhone is expected to arrive in Apple stores worldwide in July 2012. Google's Android, nipping at its heels for years, is expected to overtake Apple's iPhone in market share this year, putting Apple on the defensive. If there ever were a time for the iPhone to woo and wow potential buyers, now would be it.

With every new iteration, the questions on everyone's mind are:

1. What's new? (What are the new added features?)
2. What does it look like?
3. When does it come out exactly?

Launch date change: Apple is reputedly trying to make the iPhone more attractive as a holiday gift item, so has begun in 2011 to launch the new iPhone in the fall. A fairly new iPhone is hot and not impossible to buy in late November or December, and will have not been upstaged by the latest Android phone by then. Expect October launches for iPhone from 2011 onwards.

Source: concept by Mac Funamizu

Unlocked iPhone 4

So far, Apple's been characteristically mum on the details on all future unannounced products, but the rumor mill and fake pictures are already starting to spring up.
Here's what we can probably expect:

• 4G: The iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 are belatedly available on Verizon in the United States, but 4G (LTE) is likely not going to be available until AT&T releases its own 4G service (HSPA+) nationwide, expected in later 2011 at the earliest. The iPhone 6, released in 2012, will likely be the first 4G phone available on both US carriers. This is, admittedly, a disappointment for Verizon users, since its speedy LTE network will have been deployed for well over a year and accessible with competitive (read: Android) devices during that time.
• Edge-to-edge screen. The entire front face of the iPhone might be a screen, doing away with the physical home button, or possibly integrating it into the display itself.
• Wireless charging. Removing the need for a port-cable connection for charging, the iPhone 6 might employ inductive charging, where the iPhone is placed on a charge mat and the phone battery is charged by induction. You can easily imagine buying mats for your desk, car, and elsewhere where your iPhone is typically lying around losing its charge. Since iOS 5 enabled data sharing over the air, inductive charging might allow the iPhone to finally ditch cords altogether.
• Faster chip. iOS 6 will also debut around the same time, and with each successive Apple mobile operating system, increased complexity and added features create strains on the processor. Apple is likely to move away from working with Samsung, with whom it has a number of outstanding patent lawsuits underway, and move to its new A6 chip, which the iPhone 6 will share with the iPad 3. The A6 is likely to be produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and tested/packaged by Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), both based in Taiwan.
• Polysilicon (p-Si) touchscreen mounted on Gorilla Glass. The Japanese newspaper, Nikkan, has reported a rumor that the iPhone 6 will switch to a new display material that will enable it to be thinner, lighter, and less power-intensive than current displays. If even the last claim is accurate, that will be a major boon to battery life, since a phone's display is typically the largest draw on power. This display technologically will putatively be manufactured by Sharp, starting the spring of 2012 ahead of the phone's summer launch.
  Gorilla Glass, a Corning innovation, resists breakage far better than any other commercially-available glass. Coupled with the p-Si touchscreen, the iPhone 6 will likely be the brightest- and toughest-screened iPhone yet.
• More memory. The iPhone app store shows no signs of abating in popularity, and without SD card memory expansion in Android phones, Apple will up the phone storage options available. Expect 64GB and 128GB variants.
• Improved battery. The iPhone 6 might be the first to use the organic radical battery (ORB) technology developed by Japan's NEC, which is more environmentally-friendly than current lithium ion batteries that have dangerous heavy metals. ORB also boasts an absurdly fast recharge time (about 30 seconds) and higher energy density (will be able to pack more power into a smaller battery).
• Better camera. The iPhone 6 might be the first iPhone to cross the 10 million pixel threshold with its camera, unsurprising as high-resolution images have always been a hallmark of Apple's products.
• Near-Field Communication (NFC) chip. Debuted on the Samsung Nexus S and most likely implemented on the iPhone in the 5th generation product, this newest hardware addition enables contactless communication between a phone and objects similarly embedded NFC capabilities. This should eventually enable things like paying via credit card by holding your phone over a terminal for a second, or paying for things from vending machines using your phone. The technology is similar to Bluetooth although it uses less energy and establishes a connection far more quickly (although at a much closer range - a few inches away instead of yards away).
• Form factor improvements. Apple puts a tremendous amount of emphasis on the sleekness of its products. The iPhone 6 will be no exception, with a modern, lightweight, and thin look. Expect some surprises in terms of shape and, especially, materials, as Apple hopes to push the envelope and fend off attacks from Android handmakers, its largest competition.
• Case material improvements. To round out the environmental friendliness of the new device, more advanced, naturally-sourced plastics might be used in the case. For example, isoplast polymers might replace the previously used polycarbonate case manufactured with BPA (bisphenol-A). The glass back used in the iPhone 4 has had too many breakage issues, although Gorilla Glass would make the glass far less fragile.
• Improved antenna design. After the fiasco of the iPhone 4's wraparound metal antenna, Apple has to make some ground in reception in its new overhaul. Expect a new antenna that doesn't require a special case to avoid "death grip" interference, although this will probably be a benefit that Apple will not make a whole lot of fuss about, since it would only draw attention to the iPhone 4's serious shortcoming.

• Possible innovations and features

  Apple usually includes something unique and technologically cutting-edge into each iteration of the iPhone (like the smudge-proof screen in the 3G and glass case in the iPhone 4). Here are some possibilities for the iPhone 6:

  

  • the case could be made of the battery itself (lithium ion polymer), reducing weight and improving battery life
  • the button could be phased out, replaced with a virtual button on-screen
  • face or thumb recognition as a security measure
  • the phone could be a Wifi hub using the carrier 4G connection
  • a "pico-projector" - video can be projected a short distance onto a flat surface
  • a clear "window phone" in which the phone could be transparent

  
  

  Could the iPhone 6 Be Cut From a Single Piece of Metal?

  

  A recently discovered patent reveals that Apple has plans to develop an iPhone from a single piece of metal. Could this new patent comprise the form factor of the iPhone 6?

  There’s no denying it: Apple loves to build beautiful things. Ever since the dawn of the iMac, Steve Jobs and the engineers at Cupertino have kept design, aesthetics, and form factor at the forefront of their gadgets, capturing a sense of minimalism and modern art. According to anIGN report, Apple has recently filed a patent that depicts an iPhone that is “manufactured from a single sheet of metal” as well as being ‘lighter and thinner than previous Apple devices.’”

  Before we continue, it’s important noting that the patent itself bears no information that show it to be authored by anyone at Apple. Further to that, Apple usually levies its patents in the U.S. first, since Cupertino is where all of its engineers are currently stationed. This caveat in mind, let’s suspend disbelief and imagine for a moment that the patent in question is truly an Apple patent.

  
  

  Logic of New Leaked AT&T Documents Refute iPhone 6 Spring Launch Claim

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Fresh rumors about the iPhone 6 have circulated recently that it could see a Spring 2012 release. But a new leaked document from AT&T shows that the mobile giant’s timeline for implementing 4G on Apple mobile devices may prove the Spring iPhone 6 rumor to be false.

  The new logic about apple and its iPhone franchise is that we’ll see increased iPhone iterations more frequently. That has been the logic behind new rumors — from tech pundits and serious analysts alike — who believe that an iPhone 6 could follow the iPhone 5 as soon as 5 months after the iPhone 5′s release in September. But a recently leaked AT&T document paints a rollout of 4G LTE technology for the iPad and smartphones that, through deductive reasoning, woulf prove otherwise.

  The new documents describe a “pre-LTE” phase of testing, which was either completed last year in November, or will be completed this November — the document is vague in this regard. But it does not matter, since a later section of the document lays out the different LTE phases for testing and implementation, specifically designating the pre-LTE phase for the iPad. Since the iPad 2 turned out to still be a 3G device, it is safe to assume that the iPad 3 will get 4G treatment in 2012. And since Springtime is the typical season for iPad releases, it would stand to reason that the 4G iPad 3 will come sometime then.