Black and white may not be your only color options for the iPhone 5S, if KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo is right in his predictions. 9to5Mac picked up a note in which Kuo updates his forecast for Apple’s next iPhone, and according to Kuo, Apple will offer the iPhone 5S in gold.
Personally, I don’t really see gold fitting into Apple’s design aesthetic. Apple’s recent trend has been towards the industrial and minimalist, which we’ve seen most directly in its smartphone and computer designs over the last few years. There have been flashes of color, most recently in the iPod touch and the rumored iPhone 5C, but that’s more of the iMac G3 technicolor variety.
Still, introducing a gold phone would probably be a good move for Apple. I’m sure there are plenty of rabid iPhone fans out there itching to get their hands on a product that separates them from the sea of black and white handsets. A gold phone could help spur upgrades from the otherwise-similar-looking iPhone 5.
Kuo’s other predictions are just as intriguing. He expects a sapphire home button with fingerprint sensor, which backs up rumors we’ve heard many times before. He also claims that Apple will not change the phone’s 8-megapixel camera sensor, opting instead for a larger f/2.0 aperture and a dual-flash, which is another persistent rumor that’s been making the rounds.
Kuo also expects Apple to introduce the iPhone 5S in a 128GB storage option this time around, which seems possible given the availability of the 128GB iPad. But following Apple’s current iPhone pricing scheme, a 128GB iPhone would cost a whopping $ 499 on-contract.
Finally, Kuo expects Apple to introduce a new 64-bit ARMv8-based A7 system on a chip (SoC) with 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM. Whether or not these specifications make it to the final product remain to be seen, but an updated processor is pretty much a given.
We’ll know soon enough. The iPhone 5S is expected to be introduced by Apple at a special event on September 10. The iPhone 5C, a colorful, budget-friendly new iPhone model, is expected to be announced then as well.
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