iPhone 6 with 5.5-Inch Display Could Be Delayed Until 2015

Samsung’s SDI battery division and LG Chemical are being hard-pressed to produce some of their thinnest batteries yet for the unannounced “iPhone Air” launching towards the end of this year, as some analysts have predicted.

Taiwan’s Commercial Times says Apple wants the battery for an upcoming iPhone to be less than two millimeters thick, in what is giving the aforementioned cell makers “headaches.” The unannounced phone is dubbed “iPhone Air” in the report, and it is this particular model that Apple wants to equip with a 5.5-inch “phablet” display, the paper says. Analyst Ming Chi Kuo working with KGI Securities wrote in a recent research note that Apple is indeed planning to deploy such a device, but that the Cupertino company won’t be able to deliver until the very end of 2014 because of several manufacturing issues (possibly including the battery problem). And while the 5.5-inch model will seemingly be called iPhone Air, the smaller 4.7-inch version will adopt the iPhone 6 dubbing, sources say. Apple has two more products called “Air,” one in the tablets category, the other in the notebook line.

iPhone 6 is expected to ship much earlier, indicating that manufacturers are having less trouble churning out the parts for this particular model. There’s even a chance the iPhone Air could be delayed until 2015. A rough machine translation of the key takeaway in the report reads, “By the large size of the cyclone blew smartphone, previously came on the market, Apple will launch two large iPhone, a 4.7-inch, two to emphasize slim 5.5-inch models. Currently 4.7-inch progress clearer, should be available in the second half of this year, but due to technical difficulties iPhone Air may only come out in the next year.” Apple’s first scheduled event for 2014 (in the absence of other announcements that may come soon) is the Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off on June 2 and lasts until June 6.

At the opening keynote, Tim Cook and his fellow executives are expected to spend a great deal of time discussing the latest innovations in software, perhaps with the release of early iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 snapshots (as developer previews). iPhone is no stranger to WWDC, but Apple has refrained from launching new iPhone versions at the event for the past two years. Most analysts expect the company to hold tradition and unveil its new smartphone(s) in fall, again.

iPhone Air concept
Image credits to SET Solution

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