'iPhone 6C', the 4-inch MINI to be unveiled soon – rumours
Fresh rumours are circulating that maybe the iPhone 6C, Apple's 4-inch mini, will be unveiled alongside the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus this month. A supply chain source of DigiTimes said that the iPhone 6C could be arriving in the second quarter of 2016 and indications are that it will use 14/16nm FinFET chips from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Samsung.
Recently, there was an image leak of a small 1,715 mAh battery meant for the smaller iPhone 6C that appeared on NoWhereElse.fr, a reasonably reliable site that provides credible leaks and rumours, especially with Apple products.
A report surfaced in July that Foxconn, a major Apple supplier, had bagged a contract to manufacture the metal bodies for iPhone 6C. The previous iPhone 5C had colourful plastic bodies. This report was based on comments from Jefferies analyst, Ange Wu, according to Barron's Asia.
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In the meantime, according to AppleInsider, analyst Timothy Arcuri of Cowen and Company made a comment that suggested that many were displeased with Apple's move to larger screens and were having trouble with handling the larger handsets. Apple thinks there is still a market out there for low-end, smaller screen handsets and hence could be once again revisiting its iconic colourful iPhone 5C and ramping it up for a modern version, that is the iPhone 6C.
Along with financial and analyst-led reports and speculations, there is also a manufacturing one. There are confirmed reports that Foxconn has gone in for a major expansion of its workforce to manufacture the iPhone 6C so that it hits the markets in November. Foxconn claims that it has already received the 4-inch screens that will go into the iPhone 6C handset.
Though all these reports are conflicting as to the release date of the iPhone 6C, it lends credence to the fact that Apple does have something up its sleeve apart from the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus.
