The Apple logo is pictured at a retail store in the Marina neighborhood in San Francisco, California
The Apple logo is pictured at a retail store in the Marina neighborhood in San Francisco, California April 23, 2014. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith Reuters

Apple is likely gearing up for the iPhone 7 release date this 2015 as sales of the current models, bannered by the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, are beginning to retreat. Mass production of the next iPhone could start soon as shipments of the 2014 flagship “have peaked,” a new report said.

Coming off from the nearly 75 million units of iPhone that Apple had cleared at the close of December 2014, the shipment figures are set to slip by 21.8 per cent in March 2015 and 11.6 per cent in June. Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities is forecasting that the tech giant will only ship out 58.2 million and 51.4 million iPhones, respectively, in the second and third quarter of the year.

Per the new report from 9to5Mac, Kuo declared that “iPhone shipments have peaked.” Yet the credible Apple insider noted that his data is not sounding off alarms, they merely suggest of a natural market course – that the present iPhone model is fading hence it’s time to start preparing for the refresh, in this case the iPhone 7.

iPhone 6 remains on the roll

The declining ship outs and, presumably, sales of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus and other legacy models, is hardly a concern for Apple as Kuo noted that the tech giant is witnessing sales jump from the same period in 2014. If the iPhone maker will indeed push out more than 58 million units of fresh iPhones in Q3 2015, it will surpass what was registered 12 months before.

According to Apple Insider, the tech giant shifted 43.7 million iPhones in March 2014. If the company will report nearly the same figures as contained in Kuo’s projection, the iPhone 6 is well-positioned to headline 15 million units more of sales year over year, added the same report.

And the same trend will be fairly sustained in the June quarter, traditionally a weak quarter for the iPhone as Apple fans tend to hold off buys in anticipation of the next iPhone reveal. Kuo, however, is estimating that more than 51 million new iPhones will hit the market right before the next iPhone is nudged into volume manufacturing phase.

Beating the iPhone 6

It is a tall order but Apple will naturally gun to best the iPhone 6 and if Kuo is to be believed, Apple will do the trick by brushing aside the iPhone 6S and delivering the iPhone 7 instead this 2015. In an earlier note this April, the KGI analyst claimed that Apple is leapfrogging into the iPhone 7 to pack the device with key features that the 6S cannot accommodate.

For the next iPhone, one core feature to watch for is Force Touch screen sensor that will require another major redesign of the Apple flagship. There are many changes speculated to come with the new device but one that is being underscored is the dumping of the iconic Home button.

Thanks to Force Touch, most of the Home key functions, including as the gateway to the TouchID fingerprint reader, can be integrated with the iPhone display that rumours also said will finally get its sapphire coating. The change would render the next iPhone display bigger while making the bezels around the screen thinner than ever.

On its release date this 2015, the iPhone 7 is expected to showcase A9 application processor, iOS 9 and the fresh killer featured hardcoded with the operating system. Actual touchdown of the upcoming Apple device could be as early as September this year.

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