Apple is set to unveil its much-anticipated iPhone 5 and iPad Mini on September 12th and will be in the shops nine days later, according to a news report.
Apple fansite iMore, which sites ‘credible sources within Apple’ (and is often proved accurate with predictions) reports that Apple will debut the new iPhone – technically the sixth iPhone, but regularly referred to as the ‘iPhone 5’ – at a special event on Wednesday, September 12.
The news comes as a video has leaked online showing the iPhone 5’s outer shell and components, from Japanese site iLab Factory.
The leaks allegedly originated from the Chinese supply chain and is said to show the handset’s outer shell. The charger port at the bottom looks like it’s changed, as previous reports indicated.
The iPhone is supposedly due for its first radical refresh since it launched in 2007, and it is expected to be bigger than ever – at least in terms of the screen-size, which is expected to get a half-inch bump into the 4″ range.
The iPad Mini will also be debuted on September 12th – offering an almost-pocket-friendly seven-inch variant to its larger brother.
The iMore report adds that the phone and mini-tablet will go on sale nine days later – Friday, September 21, which chimes with previous Apple launches, where the phone goes on sale very soon after the announcement.
While last year’s iPhone 4S was well-received, it concentrated more on improving the software side of things rather than hardware.
While Steve Jobs regularly criticised the seven-inch tablet market, Apple is believed to be responding to the Android market, with this month’s release of the Google Nexus tablet winning strong praise and large orders.
A new iPod Touch, and a iPod Nano music player, are also both expected, although these have both been kept successfully under wraps up to now.
The leak comes on the same day the huge patent case between Apple and Samsung starts in earnest – with Apple accusing its largest rival of infringing on the iPhone’s minimalist design.
iPhones sales have dropped from 35.1million phones in the previous quarter to 26million in the most recent one.