iPhone 6 rumors are indicating that the next Apple smartphone will have a curved chassis design and similar display glass, which differs from the square design employed in the past.
Apple Insider, citing Japanese blog Mac Otakara, said that the “iPhone 6” will have “rounded edges” and will have curved glass in a similar manner to the Samsung Galaxy S III. Apple Insider says that the blog has had success in the past with leaks about Apple products.
The cover of the iPhone 6 will sit flush against the the rounded corners, according to Mac Rumors, citing the same blog.
“The report also claims that Apple will do away with the rear glass antenna breaks found on the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s in favor of an all-aluminum design. Such a move would likely mean that Apple is incorporating significant changes to its overall antenna layout, perhaps positioning current radios in different locations,” Mac Rumors writes.
A few other reports have said over the past few months that the iPhone 6 will have slightly rounded edges, but not many have said the handset will have curved glass.
Bloomberg News last year reported that curved glass will be used, but the Wall Street Journal in January reported that a curved display won’t be used on the next-gen phone.
This week, Taiwan’s Commercial Times reported that the iPhone 6 could be pushed back until 2015 over battery issues, but this seems highly unlikely. Battery cell supply companies are currently unable to meet the demands of Apple, the paper reported.
Other reports have said the phone will probably come out in the third quarter of 2014.
AP Update: Apple takes steps to lift sagging stock price
Apple upstaged Wednesday’s release of its fiscal second-quarter earnings by announcing plans to send more cash to its shareholders and split its stock for the first time in nine years. This is what Apple is doing:
— The Cupertino, Calif., company will spend an additional $30 billion buying back its slumping stock through the end of next year. The commitment increases Apple’s stock buyback program to $90 billion. Apple Inc. has invested about $46 billion in its stock since the program began in 2012.
— Apple’s quarterly dividend is being increased 8 percent to $3.29 per share from $3.05 per share. Making the payments will cost Apple more than $11 billion annually. The dividend has now risen by 24 percent since Apple began making the payments nearly two years ago in an about-face from the co-founder Steve Jobs’ long-standing resistance to parting with the company’s cash. Jobs died in October 2011 after a long battle with cancer.
— A seven-for-one stock split will be executed in early June. The maneuver will result in a dramatic decline in the trading price of Apple’s stock to account for an increase in Apple’s outstanding shares. Apple is counting on the split to fuel demand for the stock by making it more affordable for more people to buy. Had the split occurred at Wednesday’s closing price of $524.75, the stock would probably begin trading at around $75. The stock has been hovering about 25 percent below its peak price reached in September 2012 amid concerns about the company’s slowing sales growth and pace of innovation.
— Apple fared better than analysts anticipated during the opening three months of the year, largely because a 17 percent increase in the number of iPhones sold offset a drop in iPad shipments. The company’s earnings rose 7 percent to $10.2 billion, or $11.62 per share. That topped the average estimate of $10.19 per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet. Revenue climbed 5 percent to $45.6 billion — about $2 billion above analyst projections.
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