US Edition The launch of a brand new iPhone is now just a matter of hours away, and rumours abound as to what upgrades Apple might have in store for the hotly anticipated smartphone. As ever, the California-based tech company is keeping its cards close to its chest, with very few - if any - concrete details available for public consumption. Top analysts have however been speculating about possible directions for the phone expected to be called the iPhone 6. So what do they predict?
Ming-Chi Kuo - KGI Securities analyst:
Analyst Ming-Chi Juo of KGI Securities published a report with some key spec forecasts for the new iPhone.
Read more: iPhone 6: live coverage
According to Kuo, both the rumoured 4.7- and 5.5-inch models of the iPhone 6 will be launched tomorrow, and will both offer 128GB of storage. This would double the iPhone 5s’ current maximum capacity of 64GB, and is likely to happen “in a bid to meet the large capacity demand of consumers as well as to differentiate themselves from competing models”. He predicts however that shipments of the larger 5.5-inch model will not occur until sometime after the smaller model’s release.
One of the most pervasive iPhone 6 rumours has been that of a scratch-resistant sapphire screen. But Kuo quashes this idea in his report, saying: “Due to drop test issues, neither 4.7-inch nor 5.5-inch iPhone 6 will have a sapphire cover lens”. According to the analyst, while sapphire is already used on the surface of the fingerprint sensor and the rear camera lens of the iPhone 5s, and could potentially expand further with new models, it won’t be doing so with the iPhone 6 screen since sapphire is prone to shattering.
Kuo also said in his report on Thursday that the iPhone 6 will boast a barometric pressure sensor, which he predicts will provide support for the likes of weather apps, and possible new health functions like taking breath measurements.
In addition, the KGI Securities analyst believes that the new iPhone will have a programmable power button, which he said will be "programmable to being integrated with specific applications." While it had been suggested that the latest iPhone will feature a new Lighting cable or redesigned USB power adapter, Kuo notes that "cost concerns" and "limited improvements to overall user experience" mean Apple is actually unlikely to introduce this.
Ernest Doku - telecoms expert at uSwitch.com:
Despite the iPhone's status as a cult classic, Doku says that for Apple, "the pressure is on to deliver more than a super-sized iPhone." He went on to say that if rumours are to be believed, "Apple will be catering to the explosion in growth of wearable devices as well as big-screen smartphones, pioneered by Samsung".
Doku suggests that spruced up software in the form of iOS 8 could be a key selling point: "A refined user interface, building on the huge operating system revamp of last year, will be essential in keeping things fresh for Apple fans."
Rod Hall - JP Morgan analyst:
According to Hall, JP Morgan sees two possibilities for the iPhone 6: “Either Apple produces a small number of high end devices with sapphire or they produce none. Although we have channel indications that some sapphire devices will be produced, we actually lean toward Apple selling no sapphire phones this year. On sapphire as a feature — we see it as a huge phone seller.”
Since the screens are reportedly unscratchable (except by diamond) and virtually indestructible, Hall predicts that “most people will want sapphire when and if it ever becomes available.”
Marco Veremis - CEO and founder of Upstream:
Veremis claims that "We can safely pre-empt that the new iPhone will do well in the west, a market which provides low-hanging fruit for Apple."
The potential appearance of an NFC chip in the new iPhone was a particular point of interest for Veremis. He suggests that this, along with Apple’s recent partnerships with Visa, MasterCard and AmEx, “points to Apple making a major move within the payments arena, by creating a new mobile payments platform”.
He went on to suggest that if this is the case, Apple is in an excellent position to launch its own mobile wallet, “thanks to having more than 800 million credit cards on file from iTunes”. The rumoured Apple mobile payments platform would allow users to use their iPhone to pay for items in-store, without having to use cash or card. Veremis argues that “If Apple succeeds in driving mass conversion to mobile payments, it will be a significant achievement, and one which will alter the western retail landscape tremendously.”
On the other hand, he also suggests that the NFC feature may have its utility muted within the emerging markets, where the mobile payments infrastructure is very different. According to the Upstream founder, “With far fewer consumers owning a debit/credit card, or even having access a bank account, Apple will struggle to have the same influence on mobile retail payments.” He suggests that partnering instead with native mobile operators in order to spur changes to payments methods would be a potential way around this, since it circumvents the need for cards to make purchases.
Ramzi Yakob - strategist for digital agency TH_NK:
According to strategist Ramzi Yakob, “Innovation in payments will be Apple’s next game-changing moment. And this could be that moment.” Yakob drew a parallel between the iPhone and social media, commenting that while social media existed before the smartphone’s release, “it was the app that took it mobile, local, and real time.”
He went on to say that payment technology is not just about simplifying our lives by making physical Credit Cards, Storecards, Oyster Cards surplus to requirements; “it’s about connecting us usefully to an internet of things. What we’ve been missing is the devices and standards to make it happen: Apple may be about to answer that question.”
Gene Munster – Piper Jaffray Apple analyst:
As in previous years, there have been rumours that an iWatch will be announced alongside Apple’s new smartphone. But Munster predicts in his report that since this would dilute an iPhone announcement, it’s by no means a certainty, and gives an iWatch announcement only a “50% probability” of occurring tomorrow.
Munster also writes that two iPhone 6 models, one with a 4.7-inch display and the other with a 5.5-inch display, will feature improved battery life, a faster A8 chipset and more memory.
With new products and services such as an iWatch, HomeKit, HealthKit and payments all possibilities for the new iPhone, Munster raised his price target for the new phone from $105 to $120. He also estimates sales of 6.5 million new iPhone 6 units during launch weekend, which would be a 28 per cent decrease from last year’s total sales. According to Munster, this drop would be due to “channel fill” of more than 3 million iPhone units last year, when Apple replaced all iPhone 5 units with the iPhone 5c, boosting total sales for the opening weekend.
Dan Salmons - Managing Director, PayPoint Mobile and Online:
With rumours that the new iPhone will feature payment technology, Salmons asserts that Apple need to make sure that it's "more than a fat credit card". He argues that not every payment option is right for everyone or every product. In fact, he says, there have been plenty of experiments in mobile payments that have failed, because "they basically set out to take something pre-existing for which payments via cash or cards worked perfectly well, and simply tacked a mobile dimension on to the end."
While he admits that a lot of the enabling technology used for these systems was very clever, "in a lot of these cases, the proposition for the consumer was just not compelling enough". He went on to say that while mobile payments are getting simpler, in most cases, they still have a job to do to displace cards and cash.
"As long as cash and cards remain the favourite means of payment, businesses looking at opening up the mobile channel have to be sure that they are giving consumers clear reasons for purchasing via their phones. After all, if all the phone does is make a payment, it’s no more use than a fat credit card."
Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen - CEO of Encap Security:
Jørgensen claims that the most notable difference with the new iPhone is with security. He mentions rumours that Apple has persuaded banks to reduce transaction fees because Touch ID will deliver a higher level of security. And banks around the world are already integrating the Touch ID into their applications. But, he adds, "while it’s trickier to subvert a fingerprint than a password, it’s not impossible: Touch-ID was ‘hacked’ less than a month after introduction. And while you can issue a new PIN or password you can’t issue a new fingerprint – not without it being very messy. A single factor, however futuristic, will always be vulnerable to attack."
He concludes that since Apple has already suffered reputational damage from the iCloud breach that revealed a lot more than some celebrities wanted, "It can’t afford to make the same mistake with mobile money."