Apple Asks Foxconn to Ship High and Low-End iPhones in Early September

Monday August 19, 2013 11:46 am PDT by Jordan Golson

Apple has asked Foxconn to begin shipping new high-end and low-end iPhones in early September, claims The Wall Street Journal. The report echoes previous rumors that Apple will release a new iPhone 5S and a lower-cost iPhone 5C that comes with a plastic back available in numerous colors.

low_cost_iphone_render_colors

Rendering of low-cost iPhone

Apple Inc. has asked assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. to begin shipping both a new high-end and low-end iPhone in early September, people familiar with the matter said.

Apple's suppliers in Asia started mass-producing components in June for both a standard iPhone featuring a metal casing and a lower-cost version, people who work at those companies said.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 5S and 5C at a media event on September 10th, alongside the final unveiling of the iOS 7 operating system.

Popular Stories

RIP, MacBook Ultra

Monday October 19, 2026 9:37 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Apple today sent out invites for an experience in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 28, and the "Pro and tell" tagline on the invitation likely means that the rumored MacBook models with touch-enabled OLED displays will stick with MacBook Pro branding instead of the once-rumored "MacBook Ultra" name. The long-rumored "iPhone Ultra" ended up being named iPhone Duo, so speculation that Apple...

• 164 comments

Here's What Apple's Apps Look Like on the iPhone Duo

Tuesday October 20, 2026 11:12 am PDT by Juli Clover

With just three days to go until the iPhone Duo is released, Apple is getting ready for the launch. Behind the scenes, the App Store now has screenshots of Apple's built-in apps running on the Duo. We've seen some apps in marketing materials, but images of the ones we haven't seen give us an idea of what it will be like using the iPhone Duo day to day. Many apps are shown in landscape...

• 116 comments

Apple Announcing New Products Next Week: 'Pro and Tell'

Monday October 19, 2026 9:05 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple's Greg Joswiak today hinted at new product announcements coming next week, sharing a social media post that says "Can't wait to pro and tell next week." Rumors suggest Apple is planning to debut the new MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen display, an M6 entry-level MacBook Pro, an M6 iMac, an iPad mini with an OLED display. Can't wait to pro and tell next week....

• 129 comments

Top Rated Comments

sulpfiction

172 months ago

And give us a tracking #.

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Ryth

172 months ago

What does that mean "shipping in early September"? Anyone know?

That means that they've asked Foxconn to start shipping the palettes of iPhone 5S and 5C to Apple warehouses and distributors for a launch sometime in September after the announcement. Basically they are deploying the massive quantities of the iPhone to where they need to be for launch, whether that is warehouses for Apple, Verizon, Spring, AT&T, T-Mobile, or other worldwide carriers/distributor warehouses. These phones have been assembled for probably a few weeks and have been packaged/boxed and put on palettes. I'd love to see Foxconn's warehouse and their stock of this stuff and then the massive truck rollout to the airports and shipping companies.

----------

This might be a stupid question, but why can't someone just talk to a worker on the assembly line and get new information on the iPhone?

Go ahead and walk into Foxconn if you can. It's a fortress city. And no employee there is going to risk their job. It's actually good pay and benefits for that nation.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Defender2010

172 months ago