Apple is allegedly preparing to trial production of a follow-up to the iPhone 5 in December, according to rumors. The initial production of what could be called the iPhone 5S suggests that Apple may be changing its release schedule to favor a more rapid iteration of the company's flagship product, matching the short update period that the iPad went through.
Reported by Digitimes, the trial production will take place in December, and consist of between 50,000 and 100,000 units. Apple is also reportedly accelerating the certification processes for components, and could potentially start full-scale production of a new iPhone in the first quarter of 2013.
The same source claims that Apple is likely to release another iPad iteration the quarter after the iPhone 5S ships, with the lower-than-expected display resolution being given as the main reason for change. It was not made clear if the same would occur for the iPad mini, it having a resolution of 1024x768 compared to the 2048x1536 of its full-size stablemate.
