Rumor: ‘very thin’ Apple phablet delayed into 2015 over battery production issues

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The next iPhone, if swirling rumors are anything to go by – will come in two flavors. A smaller model with a 4.7-inch screen optimized for one-handed use and a larger-screened device incorporating a phablet-class display measuring 5.5 inches diagonally.

Corroborating earlier reports that the 5.5-inch model could be pushed back to 2015, a Taiwanese outlet is now claiming that the device is indeed facing a delay over production issues pertained to its supposedly very thin battery components…

According to the latest scuttlebutt from Taiwanese news site The Commercial Times [Google translate, via GforGames], Apple’s engineers in their pursue of “a very thin device” have faced roadblocks as its battery cell suppliers are finding it difficult to meet Cupertino’s demands.

Specifically, Apple has apparently commissioned its battery suppliers – which include LG Chemical and Samsung – to produce components measuring 2mm or less.

Technical requirements are said to have posed challenges as standard smartphone batteries have a thickness of roughly 2.8 – 2.9 millimeters.

The 4.7-inch model is on track to launch in September, according to the outlet.

As such, reports claim that the 5.5-inch iPhone 6′s release date will be delayed to 2015, or, in other words: until Apple’s suppliers will be able to meet these technical requirements and output a decent yield.

The story mentions that the device is internally referred to as the iPhone Air.

We’d find such a name to be highly improbable were it not for the iPad Air, which debuted last Fall with the new moniker, much to the surprise of watchers and fans.

iPhone 6 concept (NowhereElse and Martin Hajek 001)

Both Apple and its suppliers internally refer to the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 as the iPhone Air. The report goes on to caution that the moniker “is not set in stone,” leaving open the possibility that the device might go on sale under a different name.

Here’s a not-so-probable iPhone 6 Pro concept.

I guess the authors of this thingy haven’t heard a Steve Jobs quote which goes something like “if you see a stylus, they blew it.”

Would you immediately pick up a 4.7-inch iPhone as soon as it became available or wait out until an iPhablet came along?