It's time for another installment of This Week In Apple Rumors, where we bring you the latest speculation and gossip about the machinations and iWidgets coming out of the notoriously secretive company in Cupertino. This week we heard rumors about an Apple "phablet," the next iPad, the iWatch, the long-awaited television and, believe it or not, the iPhone 6.
Bigger Display for the "iPhone 6"?
The iPhone 5S and 5C have only been out for a few weeks, but people are, of course, already talking about the next iPhone, which we're just going to call the iPhone 6. Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies LLC, piqued interest this week when he said in a research note that "[t]he iPhone 6 will likely have a new design and a 4.8" display."
That would make it quite a bit bigger than the iPhone 5, which has a 4-inch display, although would put it in line with smartphones like the Nexus 4, Moto X and HTC One.
But that's not all!
An Apple "Phablet"?
Say it ain't so! David Hsieh, an analyst at DisplaySearch, thinks that Apple will take a page from Samsung's book and release a 5.7-inch phone. Such a device would certainly qualify as a phone-tablet hybrid, which some insist on calling a "phablet." These large-screened phones have become very popular in the Asia-Pacific region, outselling tablets and laptops, according to IDC, the technology market research firm.
New iPad & iPad Mini Coming Soon
The new iPad and iPad mini will be unveiled on Oct. 22, according to AllThingsD, and both iPads are expected to come with a host of predictable upgrades. The iPad, which will be the fifth generation of the tablet, will probably be thinner, lighter and faster -- it will have the 64-bit A7 chip that's in the iPhone 5S, AllThingsD reports -- and, of course, it will have a better camera. And as The Wall Street Journal reported in August, the second generation iPad mini is expected to have a high resolution "Retina" display.
The jury is still out on whether or not the new tablets will feature Touch ID, the fingerprint unlocking technology that's on the new iPhone 5S.
Notorious teenage Apple leaker Sonny Dickson has what he says are some images of the new tablets.
"iWatch" Watch:
We've been hearing for months about the so-called "iWatch," a wearable device everyone thinks Apple is developing. Much of the speculation -- and it's only speculation -- has focused on the device serving as a type of extension of an iPhone. But VentureBeat relayed a research note on Thursday from Brian White, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, that says a supplier described the iWatch to him "as much more than an extension of your iPhone but as a multi-purpose gateway in allowing consumers to control their home (i.e., heating/cooling, lights, audio, video, etc.)."
Apple recently poached a prominent designer who had worked on the Nike+ Fuelband, and Bloomberg reported in February that as many as 100 employees are working on the device. But it's anyone's guess when -- and if -- this thing will be released.
Apple Television To Feature Sharp and LG Displays?
We can't write about Apple rumors without mentioning the long-rumored television that the company is supposedly working on. Misek, the Jefferies analyst who this week said that Apple will come out with a bigger-screened iPhone, wrote in the same research note that Apple is buying "thousands of TV panels" -- 55, 60 and 65-inch -- from LG Display and Sharp.