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NYT: iPhone 5 announcement 'just weeks away'

by Chris Rawson Sep 16th 2011 at 9:00AM

According to Nick Bilton at the New York Times, an unnamed Apple employee has confirmed to him that the next-gen iPhone announcement is "just weeks away." The next-gen phone will be "fairly different from the iPhone 4." Bilton's source seems to confirm multiple rumors claiming the iPhone 5 will have a redesigned case in addition to an 8-megapixel camera and an A5 processor. It's not clear whether it will be this generation of iPhone or the following one that adds integrated support for NFC, but Bilton suggests that the wireless payment technology is a high priority for Apple's mobile strategy.

In the wake of a dramatic surge of Apple rumors over the past several months, The New York Times has maintained an excellent track record of anticipating product announcements with well-sourced reports, as has The Wall Street Journal. Of note, the info from the Times coincides with tips we've received from our own sources within Apple regarding possible retail vacation blackout dates in early- to mid-October.

Bilton also took note of the appearance and then disappearance of several purported iPhone 5 case designs, which showed a different device size and possible tapered edges; he pointed out that such 'leaks' are often mostly about publicity for the case manufacturer, and are rarely accidental. That's why we opted not to write about the cases when they showed up earlier in the week: we didn't think the manufacturer's behavior with the case leak merited any additional publicity.

Here at TUAW, we do our best to sort out the wheat from the chaff when it comes to speculation and rumor; we aim to stay clear of third- or fourth-hand "in person" iPhone 5 sightings, and we don't get all CSI on a blurrycam spyshot photo of a supposed iPhone 5 -- unless it's an obvious fake, in which case we'll joyfully poke fun at it.

We're a bit burnt out on rumors at this point, and we suspect many of our readers are, too. We'll consider passing them along when they match up with what we know; when they don't, we'll let them be. And when we do corroborate rumors or publish a speculative tidbit (even one that contradicts the WSJ and NYT), that's based on our independent sourcing or the reporting of a very short list of savvy & connected Apple watchers.

We consider The New York Times to be pretty reliable, so if Bilton says the next iPhone announcement may be just weeks away, that's the next best thing to hearing it from Apple.



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According to Nick Bilton at the New York Times, an unnamed Apple employee has confirmed to him that the next-gen iPhone announcement...
 

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18 Comments

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shabeer

am so exited to see hw it looks and the price
http://mknshabeer.blogspot.com

September 19 2011 at 6:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sgt. Mofo

I have to say, the secrecy in regards to the iPad 2 has played an absolutely huge role in establishing itself as the tablet de facto.

All the Android tablets (including the much hyped Xoom) were clearly a step down from the iPad. Everyone starts working on their 2nd gen tablets to beat (and not just compete) with the iPad. All of a sudden, the iPad2 comes out and not only beats all competitors out there, but beats anything that's being worked on in the pipeline. As a competing company, that must suck knowing when you finally release your tablet, the iPad 2 will have been out for a while and your supposed "newer" tech can't compete. As it stands, the competitors will always be playing catch up.

That being said, if Apple has one of these conferences, and a new product is announced, but its not really all thaty innovative, you may start to seem some backlash (and if happens two conferences in a row the chips will really start to fall).

The quad core ASUS 2nd gen Transformer is the only one that interests me at the moment. If it makes the holiday release window, it will be very interesting to say how it fares in sales.

September 16 2011 at 5:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Sgt. Mofo's comment
Sgt. Mofo

Back on point (lol), I think the announcement would've happened already, but Sprint must want to do something equally big in conjunction.

September 16 2011 at 5:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
isnoop

Amen. I was going to buy the white iPhone 4 to replace my 3GS, but by the time it finally came out, I'd just come to accept the phone I had for the remainder of the 4th gen lifecycle. Now that the 5th gen is taking so long, I'm tempted to just get a Droid and be done with it.

September 16 2011 at 5:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Elranzer

It should have been "weeks ago."

September 16 2011 at 11:59 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike M.

Burned out is right. It's starting to feel like when you have been hungry so long that when it comes time to eat you just don't feel like it. The secrecy and silence is becoming more annoying and less a marketing ploy. Growing up I used to think Apple was your nerdy tech friend who had cool stuff, now they are becoming the bitter high school nerd who became everyone's boss and they are kinda acting like jerks about it.This may have caused some backfire. Don't get me wrong Apple will sell millions of iPhone 5 phones, but they may have lost about a million potential customers also.

September 16 2011 at 10:08 AM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Mike M.'s comment
Sgt Beavis

For Pete's sake, just announce the bloody announcement already. I want to dump my iPhone 3G and AT&T for Sprint and I want to do it a year ago.. (^_^)

September 16 2011 at 10:06 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Sgt Beavis's comment
psurepublic

From what I've heard, Sprint is just getting the iphone 4, but I wish you the best my friend!

September 16 2011 at 11:05 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to psurepublic's comment
Sgt Beavis

I'll take it. :-)

September 16 2011 at 2:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down
Paul McGann

I don't think the New York Times really went out on a limb on this one. There was no new iPhone in June and so far, there's been no announcement of Apple's annual September event. I'm neither well-connected nor particularly savvy with regard to Apple prognostication but I could have made that prediction with the same assuredness about my level of accuracy.

September 16 2011 at 9:21 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
AdamC

I agree with you guys. I'm TOTALLY burnt out with these darn rumors. I just want to see the new phone already!

September 16 2011 at 9:18 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
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