Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:
Earlier: When Apple (AAPL) unveils its next generation iPhones later this year, the company may launch two models at once, MacRumors notes. Analysts widely expect Apple to launch two iPhone 6 models: one with a 4.7-inch screen and the other with a 5.5-inch screen. Most recent reports have pointed to a September launch for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, while predicting that the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 would reach consumers months later, or possibly even early next year. Some reports suggested that Apple’s supply chain partners had encountered problems manufacturing the larger handset, pushing its launch date back. However, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White has issued a new research note indicating that the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 model will launch alongside the 4.7-inch model, likely in September. White cites supply chain checks and the fact that Asian iPhone accessory makers are now producing accessories for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 as supporting his conclusion. White’s outlook also corresponds to recent reports that Apple’s supply chain partners have overcome the production issues surrounding the 5.5-inch iPhone and are expecting to produce 20 million units this year.
Split: Apple is moving more television ad production in-house, Bloomberg notes. The move is seen as another sign that the iPad-maker’s long-time relationship with marketing powerhouse TBWA\Chiat\Day is fracturing. Recent reports indicate that Apple has been beefing up its in-house marketing team, hiring former ad firm executives. TV spots promoting the iPad Air using a voiceover by Hollywood actor Robin Williams that ran last year were created by Apple’s in-house marketing team. Relations between Apple and its external marketing partners began to break down in 2013 after Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller complained that ad agencies weren’t counter-attacking ads run by arch-rival Samsung. In response, Apple began increasing its own in-house marketing talent.
Un-Healthy: Apple’s recently unveiled HealthKit app for iOS 8 is giving one Australian company a headache, the Daily Mail notes. Melbourne, Australia-based HealthKit, a software startup co-founded by Lachlan Wheeler and Alison Hardacre, provides online connections between healthcare providers and clients’ online medical records. Apple’s new HealthKit app, which will launch with iOS 8 later this year, compiles health monitoring data from a variety of sources. Hardacre said: ”We have a business with the same name and a similar product, if they had done a quick Google search they (Apple) would have seen that. It’s not fair.” The Australian company said it is considering legal action against the iPhone-maker to protect its name. Australia’s HealthKit has been in business since 2012.
For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.
