iOS is expected to get a flatter look, among other changes.
(Credit: Apple)
The overhaul of iOS will be the marquee attraction at Apple's upcoming
WWDC, according to Deutsche Bank.
In a note to investors Monday, Deutsche Bank Equity Research's Chris
Whitmore said the focus will be on iOS 7 and Mac
OS upgrades.
The note has a lot to say about the expected iOS 7 announcement.
We believe iOS is due for a
material upgrade in order to freshen and reinvigorate the 'cool' factor around
Apple's products. The general look and feel of iOS is 6 years old and is in
need of an update and some spark. It seems clear that Jony Ive's fingerprints
will be all over iOS7, which we expect to be the most significant iOS upgrade
from a visual perspective.
Deutsche Bank also expects "updates to Passbook (as a precursor to
mobile payments / fingerprint sensor authentication) and incremental
improvements to Maps, Siri and iCloud."
Changes to OS X may take cues from the iOS touch interface to drive
"greater cross fertilization of the user experience across both environments."
After WWDC,
which begins June 10, new hardware will materialize, according to Deutsche
Bank.
While we don't anticipate any
meaningful iOS hardware announcements at WWDC, our checks indicate orders for
the new iPhone are starting now for longer lead-time components. Specifically,
we believe Apple is currently placing component orders for iPhone volume
manufacturing to ramp in the August timeframe, suggesting they're on pace for a
late September launch.
Deutsche Bank also mentioned that the iPhone 5 to iPhone 5S
transition will be similar to the iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S, but "what is
unique in this cycle...will be the introduction of a new lower-priced iPhone,
which creates additional operational risk (around manufacturing cost ramps) and
likely carries lower margins, creating the potential for a negative mix
shift."
The investment bank concedes that the MacBook line may get an update but
does not offer any comments on what to expect.
9to5Mac, on the other hand, claims it has spied new MacBook models.
(source: cnet)
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