Possible Apple iPhone 5S Pre-Order Date Emerges

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Fans of Apple products have a new date to put on their calendar.

The iPhone 5S will become generally available in July after it’s delivered to retailers on June 20 that’s when pre-orders will begin, according to a French website that claims to have gotten its hands on a document making the rounds at KDDI, the Japanese telco. It goes on to say that the next-generation iPhone will feature an update to Apple’s mobile operating software (iOS 7) and offer an improved camera over the previous version (13 megapixels compared to 8MP).

Obviously, since this is third-hand information, don’t go betting your next paycheck on it. But the date does line up with what many analysts have been predicting about a summer release. This latest news makes some wonder if Apple will make the announcement at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, where it has skirted talk of new hardware in favor of software the past couple of years.

That’s not all on the iPhone front. MetroPCS customers learned this week that they shouldn’t assume they’ll get the iPhone now that their carrier has been absorbed by T-Mobile USA. (The acquisition closed on Wednesday). It could happen eventually, T-Mobile CEO John Legere told All Things D, but it’s not at the top of the priority list. T-Mobile itself only started selling the device a month ago.

"It’s not imminent," Legere told the tech site. "I think that’s safe to say."

And as long as we’re talking about the iPhone 5S, fast-forward to 2014, when we’ll likely see an iPhone 6. In his latest investor note, Peter Misek, and analyst with Jeffries, said those clamoring for an even bigger screen will get their wish, the Financial Post reported.

It was just last year when Apple increased the size of its iPhone display from 3.3 inches to 4 inches. Misek says Apple won’t be ready to release a bigger device this year, but you can bet on it when the iPhone 6 comes out a little more than a year from now. The Silicon Valley giant might need to do so to keep up with its biggest rival Samsung which now has a bevy of devices ranging from 4.5 inches to more than five inches.

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