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As Apple prepares to unveil its upcoming latest flagship iPhone 6s smartphones on Sept. 9 at a launch event, rumors are circulating that a new iPhone 6c basic model also could be part of the new product haul for consumers.
The iPhone 6c rumor was reported in an Aug. 12 story by NDTV Gadgets, based on a relatively vague Twitter post by frequent tipster Evan Blass, who posts under the name “@evleaks.”
“Sounds like iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and 6c will all arrive concurrently,” wrote Blass in his Twitter post. No other information or attribution was provided in the post.
The rumor also had circulated earlier this year, according to NDTV Gadgets, when reports said that iPhone 6c devices were expected in the second half of 2015. “In addition, Nowhereelse Website reported a week ago that the rumored iPhone 6c could sport a slightly bigger battery than iPhone 5s at 1715mAh,” the story said. “Other rumors add that Apple could introduce new colors with its iPhone 6c handset. The device is also being said to feature a 4-inch display.”
Meanwhile, another Website, Fiksu, contradicted the report in its own story, saying that it doesn’t see evidence of a potential 6c release at this point, according to the NDTV Gadgets report.
The world apparently will just have to wait until Sept. 9 to find out if the iPhone 6c rumors are true or false.
Earlier this week, Apple’s anticipated new iPhone 6s, which is expected to be unveiled at the Sept. 9 new products event, was rumored to be receiving an improved and stronger backplate to prevent the bending problems that were experienced by some iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus (pictured) owners when the handsets went on sale in September 2014. The bending issues occurred for some users when they had the phones in their pants pockets and bent over or sat down, according to earlier eWEEK stories.
The stronger backplate was revealed by Unbox Therapy’s Lewis Hilsenteger, who creates video reviews and reports about a wide range of consumer products including smartphones, in an Aug. 10 video he posted on YouTube.
“It looks like Apple is making some changes based on my inspection of this new upcoming iPhone 6s,” Hilsenteger said in the video. Though a comparison of the existing backplate design from an iPhone 6 and an iPhone 6s appear to look the same at first glance, “the area around [the] home button and the power switch appear to be significantly thicker on the 6s backplate compared with the standard 6,” he said.
Those were the areas where some iPhone6 devices bent for consumers in widely circulated reports last September. Hilsenteger’s research found that the outside dimensions of the latest backplate are slighter larger in width and height, but that the key differences are that it is almost twice as thick at the place where the volume buttons are located, adding strength in a vulnerable point. The old backplate was .044 inches thick at the button openings, compared to .07 inches thickness in the new backplate, he said.
“It’s obvious that Apple has increased the thickness at various weak points in the back chassis of the iPhone 6s when compared to the 6,” he said.
The original “Bendgate” reports of bending iPhones came from around the world after the phones debuted, according to an earlier eWEEK report. The bending issues were widely circulated online at the time along with graphic photographs that purport to show iPhone 6 phones with mild or more severe bending. Some 10 million iPhone 6 devices were sold on the first weekend when they went on sale.
The reported phone bending problem was not the first time that a potential problem has cropped up with new iPhones. In July 2010, Apple dealt with antenna issues surrounding its then new iPhone 4 that were inspired by consumer complaints of poor call quality when they held their phones. Called “Antennagate” by the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the time, the problem was the location of the antenna inside the devices, which was solved with an add-on thin rubber case.