iPhone 6 Rumors: Conflicting Reports Say Release Dates in June, October 2014

Pedestrians pass the Apple store location on fifth avenue Thursday, June 6, 2013, in New York. A leaked document has laid bare the scope of the government's surveillance of Americans' phone records — hundreds of millions of calls — in the first hard evidence of a massive data collection program aimed at combating terrorism under powers granted by Congress after the 9/11 attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

iPhone 6 rumors continue to swirl, and a new one says the Apple smartphone will be released in June or July 2014, conflicting another report from a Chinese tech site saying it will come out in October 2014.

Apple has not given any indication of an iPhone 6 release date or even the specific name of a new smartphone.

According to the Investors Business Daily, Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Mehdi Hosseini wrote in a research note that the phone will likely come out in June or July 2014.

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference coincides with the June release date, and tech companies usually announce new products during such events.

“Although there is no color yet on the iPhone 6 specs, our recent checks in Taiwan and Korea suggest Apple has already begun negotiating with its memory suppliers to secure capacities,” the note reads.

The iPhone 6 is “actually expected to be a more meaningful product refresh,” Hosseini said.

However, C Technology reported that the phone will come out in October, which is consisted with release dates for previous iPhone models. The iPhone 5s came out in September 2013.

Last week, Apple was granted patents to make convex, or curved, screens, which could be used for the iPhone 6. The patent, according to CNET, says that Apple has found a way to make curved sensor displays that won’t get damaged easily.

Tech website MacRumors suggested that the screen size of the next iPhone offering will be larger.

“Apple has been experimenting with a wide variety of screen sizes, with rumors suggesting a range of 4.7 inches to 5.7 inches, bringing the next iPhone in line with competing Android and Windows phones that have all adopted larger displays,” it says.

According to Bloomberg News, there will be two new models in the later half of 2014. The phones will feature glass that curves down toward the edges, and both will have better sensors.

The screens will also be 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, the report said.

A report from Forbes also suggests that Apple will be using a sapphire cover over the iPhone 6′s fingerprint reader and camera. The report noted that Apple inked a multi-year deal with GT Advanced Technologies to produce industrial-grade sapphire.

Sapphire is nearly unbreakable, and like diamond, is highly scratch-resistant.

Other reports say the phones will have a faster processor.