Report: Apple to unveil iPhone 6 on Sept. 9

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will unveil its next iPhone at an event on Sept. 9, according to multiple reports, giving a set date to the culmination of months of speculation about what is expected to be a major update to Apple's premier product.

The reports, which came first from Re/code and then from Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, indicated that Apple plans to announce to new models of the iPhone, one with a 4.7-inch screen and one with a 5.5-inch display. Re/code also said the devices would sport faster A8 processors. Those screen sizes have been bandied about for months in reports on the next iPhone, which is expected to be dubbed the iPhone 6. Apple declined to comment, according to the reports.

The timing of the launch would fit with Apple's iPhone announcements in recent years, with a media event in early or mid-September followed by the start of sales shortly thereafter. If the event is held on Sept. 9 it will come in the middle of CTIA's "Super Mobility Week" trade show in Las Vegas, and could potentially draw attention away from the conference.

Apple has asked its suppliers to produce between 70 million and 80 million units of the next iPhone by Dec. 30, according to a Journal report last month. That volume would represent the largest ever for an iPhone launch and could indicate the demand Apple is expecting for its first iPhones with displays that would match the larger ones common on other smartphone platforms.

The July WSJ report, which also cited unnamed sources, said that the initial production run for the next iPhone, widely expected to be called the iPhone 6, is going to be considerably larger than the order last year of between 50 million and 60 million versions of the iPhone 5s and 5c.

Other details about the next iPhone are starting to come into view as well. During his company's second-quarter earnings call, Mavenir Systems CEO Pardeep Kohli cited the importance of the Apple's support for operator-enabled VoIP services in its upcoming products, including the iPhone 6, which Kohli said will support Voice over LTE. Apple has said it will support Wi-Fi calling, also termed voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi), in iOS 8.

Other reports have said the next iPhone will finally support Near Field Communications technology to enable mobile payments, as well as wireless charging and a Cat 6 LTE radio that can support theoretical peak downlink speeds of 300 Mbps.

Meanwhile, rumors continue to swirl that Apple may use the September event to also announce a new wearable product, which many have dubbed the iWatch, and which is expected to be geared toward health and fitness monitoring.

For more:
- see this Re/code article
- see this Bloomberg article
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)

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