Given all of the rumors surrounding the alleged mini-iPad as of late, on top of the recent leak which shows what the next-generation iPhone may look like if alleged components prove to be true, everyone’s obviously anticipating some exciting news regarding the company’s mobile lineup this fall. iMore is hearing from sources close to Apple that they’re planning to announce the next-generation iPhone – and highly anticipated "iPad Mini" on September 12th, with the iPhone being available for purchase come September 21st. That’s just 9 days from the announcement date of the device (take note, Microsoft.)
This timeframe for a new iPhone isn’t too unexpected; last year, they announced the iPhone 4S on October 4th and made it available for purchase on the 14th. Rumors have suggested that Apple would gun for a similar October release schedule this year as well, but this new rumor suggests that they’re pushing to release it a month earlier if possible. It still falls within that period of time where they can use all of the hype surrounding the device’s launch to gain a fair amount of holiday sales.
The iPhone 4 had a 16 month lifespan (from its release to the release of the iPhone 4S), and, should this rumor prove to be true, the 4S will have a lifecycle of 11 months. It’s 5 months less than the 4, which benefitted in terms of lifespan as Apple nudged the iPhone release timeframe to the fall that year.
It’s quite interesting how at this event, Apple may unveil two rather significant products at the same time. It makes sense that, if they are entering the smaller tablet space, they’d want to compete against other established platforms in that market (such as the Kindle Fire, and Google’s new Nexus 7) for holiday season sales. Given that it’s a cheaper option than its larger counterpart, it’s likely that many who have coveted an Apple tablet but were unable to afford one will flock to purchase this.
And, while the iPad Mini won’t be a direct competitor to Microsoft’s Surface, it’s worth pointing out that the Surface will be coming out on October 26th, meaning that it will also be fighting for a peace of this year’s holiday season sales.
It looks like we have a pretty exciting third and fourth quarter ahead of us.
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