As Apple’s iPhone 5 release is around the corner, many bloggers and news sites have come up with their own ‘reports‘ about the upcoming launch. Nowadays, we have been hearing that Apple is going to launch its next generation mobile phone in next month, but there are some people who believe that the company has once again delayed the release and iPhone 5 is now expected to arrive in the first or second week of October.
However, Charles Arthur of Guardian UK reports that Apple will stick to its September launch. Citing his own sources, he said that Apple has already started sending prototype models of new hardware to the carriers.
My carrier sources tell me that the boxes in which the new iPhone hardware is encased have been transported to carriers for testing. This is an important step in the release cycle for any phone.
Well, he might have received this insightful information from his sources, but it’s hard to believe on the unknown sources. To prove his point, Arthur has shared some more information regarding the iPhone 5 carrier testing -
The next iPhones go for their testing inside locked and sealed boxes so that the carriers can carry out checks on their network compatibility in their labs. It’s very high security, as you could guess; my understanding is that barely anyone inside the carriers gets to open those boxes, and even when they do the hardware is encased in a dummy body which means there’s no clue to what the actual phone will do.
Apple has always been secretive about their work and after the iPhone 4 leak drama last year they have surely learned the lesson. If this information is true, then we might see the next iPhone in the market as early as September. In any mobile phone manufacturing process, carrier testing is considered as one of the important steps to approve the device. And more importantly, manufacturers sent their devices to carrier companies when they have completed other necessary hardware and software tests.
We still think that there is no point in discussing these rumors and speculations, because Apple will announce new phone when they want to, and not when “sources” want to.
[...] this picture was taken “in the office of a French operator”. We know that Apple is testing its new phones with selected carriers, so the device appearing in the picture could just be the [...]