The news comes courtesy of a Bloomberg report. It says that “people with knowledge of the matter” have confirmed that Apple’s suppliers have commenced early production of the next iPhone models, expected to be unveiled in the autumn later this year.
Full scale production could begin as early as next month, according to the report’s sources. The factories are apparently gearing up to produce both 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch versions of the new iPhone, the successors to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus respectively. Both phones will be equipped with Force Touch displays and have a similar design.
Force Touch will allow app developers to experiment with pressure-sensitive smartphone displays for the first time. The technology will allow users to instigate different actions in apps depending on the amount of pressure applied to a control when pressing it.
The Apple Watch has already made use of Force Touch to get the most from its tiny display. The technology is also used on the trackpad of Apple’s latest MacBook, allowing more functions to be carried out with gesture controls without moving your hand.
The branding of the new iPhone is still a subject of controversy. Apple may simply brand them as “6S” models, as per its naming convention of recent years. Many think that the company may jump directly to the iPhone 7 line though.
The thinking is that Force Touch is such an innovative development that it warrants its own family of products. Bloomberg only mentions “new iPhone models” and does not state whether they are being branded as 6S or 7.
Apple sold 61 million iPhones in the three months up to March. The phone has been so successful that Apple has been able to oust rival Samsung from the number one spot in global smartphone sales, helped in part by the extraordinary appeal of Apple’s brand in Asian countries like China.
