The evidence continues to suggest the next iPhones will arrive September and the next 9.7-inch iPad sometime after that, perhaps October. We have a lot to look forward to. Yet one more rumor is suggesting both the iPhone 5S and low-cost iPhone will come in a variety of colors. According to AppleInsider, the Japanese website Macotakara received word from two different sources yesterday saying the new low-cost phone will have color options, though they differed slightly in their description of the colors. One said to expect navy, gold, orange, white, and gray, while the other said that the colors would be white, pink, green, blue, and yellow-orange.
The report said a test run of 1,000 units would be manufactured in June for the purpose of field testing, and mass production of the low-cost iPhone would happen between July and September.
The site also reported that the iPhone 5S would come in more than three colors. Apple is apparently considering colors such as gold, green, pink, yellow, blue, purple, silver, and slate. Macotakara said that this next phone would also have dual LED flash.
I'm not sure what to think of these rumors. The iPhone has always been so stately, and I can't quite imagine it in colors other than black and white. On the other hand, it's very believable that a low-cost iPhone with a plastic body would be more colorful. And speaking of the low-cost iPhone, it's still unknown whether it would be available in the U.S. market. Earlier rumors had suggested it would be slated for emerging markets in developing countries, where people can't afford the more expensive iPhone. But what's never made sense to me is that Apple is already selling two low-cost iPhones: the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4. So why would they make a special one for emerging markets? Anyway, it will really be interesting to see how it all plays out.
In iPad news, AppleInsider says another post on Macotakara reports that the next 9.7-inch iPad, or iPad 5, will come out sometime after the iPhone and will have a rear microphone next to the camera lens, as with the iPhone 5. Of course, one never knows if features that appear in prototypes will make it into final production. Many rumors suggest the next iPad will have the same factor as the iPad mini, and that it will be up to 25 percent lighter and 15 percent thinner — all of which seems credible.