This morning, news is circulating regarding claims of a September iPad launch, gold iPhone 5S scratch tests, Apple products being allowed to be imported into Iran, and Apple potentially disrupting the way that mobile carriers work. Let’s take a look at each of these claims…
- First, Apple is now rumored to reveal its next-generation iPads alongside the new “iPhone 5S” and “iPhone 5C” at its September 10th media event. This is based on the following paragraph from today’s Bloomberg story about an upcoming Tokyo Apple Store:
The above paragraph makes mention of both new iPhones and iPads arriving at this upcoming event. First of all, it is highly unlikely that Bloomberg would bury such a scoop several paragraphs down in a story about a single new Apple Retail Store (Apple already has over 400 stores).
This also directly contradicts a report from the very-well-sourced Bloomberg West. The Bloomberg report from two weeks ago explicitly states that the next-generation iPads will be unveiled after the new iPhones.
It also contradicts everything we’ve heard thus far about Apple’s fall iOS Device launch plans from our sources. Apple plans to announce at least two new iPads and two new iPhones this fall, and it would be highly unprecedented for Apple to reveal all four models at a single media event. In fact, Apple announced its 2012 iPhones and iPads at two separate events: the iPhone 5 was unveiled at a September 12th event, and the new iPads were announced at an October 23rd event.
Why would Apple couple the launch of its two blockbuster products when it could own the news cycle for two consecutive months? They almost certainly would not.
Next, gold iPhone scratches. A video has made the rounds this morning showing “brutal” scratch testing to a purported gold iPhone 5S shell. The video shows that the gold iPhone 5S scratches are much more noticeable on the backplate than those to a slate/black iPhone 5 backplate. Of course, there’s no telling if the gold iPhone 5S shell is legitimate or if it is even properly anodized to Apple’s manufacturing requirements. Until someone does a scratch test on a gold iPhone 5S sold by Apple, there is no way to tell how susceptible the device is to damage.
Also making the rounds today is news of Apple being granted the ability to sell products to customers for use in Iran. This is mostly old news. The United States embargo over bringing products into Iran was lifted on May 30th of this year, and Apple updated its website to reflect this back in early July. This is based on our searching through search engine caches and web archives. Nonetheless, it seems that Apple felt now was the best time to comment on the matter.
Lastly, news is spreading this morning regarding an Apple trademark filing for the word “Startup” in Australia. Some have gone as far to say that Apple has trademarked this word to disrupt the global phone carrier industry.
This is not true. “Startup” is a word that Apple trademarked all the way back in 2011 in the United States. It refers to the area in Apple Stores in which Personal Setup is conducted. This is the process in which an Apple Store employee will help a new Mac and iOS Device customer with setting up their purchase.
