iPhone 6

It looks like Apple is preparing for its largest iPhone launch yet. The company told suppliers it is planning to build 70-80 million next-generation devices by December 30, according to The Wall Street Journal. This is a large increase from the 50-60 million iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s units Apple ordered last year. Apple is predicting that iOS users will be drawn to the new larger sized iPhone models, and hopes for an increase in sales after a disappointing performance by the iPhone 5c.

There have also been rumors that the 5.5-inch model is suffering from manufacturer delays and that it will be pushed back until 2015. Even the WSJ noted that display makers "are struggling to improve the production of the larger 5.5-inch screens".

"The production is complicated because the displays are using in-cell technology, which allows the screens to be thinner and lighter by integrating touch sensors into the liquid crystal display and making it unnecessary to have a separate touch-screen layer," explained the WSJ.

According to Taiwan's Economic Daily News, Apple's supply partner, Foxconn, is ramping up to start mass production of the 4.7 inch model of the iPhone 6 next week.

As part of its preparation, the article says that Foxconn will be hiring 100,000 new employees to help meet the overwhelming demand for the new handset. That's what the translated title of the report says anyway. In the text it says the manufacturer will be hiring 10 new people. Curiously, the 100,000 in the title and the 10 in the text are derived from the same characters, so I think there is a failure in the translation. 100,000 seems a little high, but plausible, while obviously 10 is nothing to write about. Not to be outdone, parts supplier Pegatron will be hiring half

Another photo of purported iPhone 6 hardware surfaced today, this one showing what appears to be an upgraded battery for the highly anticipated handset. The photo, spotted by French tech blog nowhereelse.fr, comes from a source in China. As always, take it with a grain of salt.

The battery in question is made by Desay Battery Co., which has been rumored to have ties with Apple regarding the iPhone 6. The photo shows that it has an 1,810 mAh (milliampere-hour) capacity, which is up from the current iPhone 5s' 1,560 mAh battery. The current battery offers up to 10 hours on LTE and 250 hours

The Wall Street Journal is the latest outlet to throw its weight behind the latest Apple rumors claiming that the company will release both an iWatch and larger iPhone 6 this fall. The WSJ report comes two weeks after unidentified Bloomberg sources revealed that Apple was preparing to begin production on two larger iPhone models. However, the WSJ report only mentioned one iPhone model, not two.

The report also said "people familiar with the company’s plans" claim Apple is working on a watch "with advanced sensors to track a user’s fitness and health." Apple recently announced a new Health app that would collect data from third-party apps such as heart rate, calories burned an so on. It has been widely speculated that this app was created to be a companion to the rumored iWatch.

At this point the iPhone 6 launch date has been narrowed down to mid to late September. Apple itself said that iOS 8 would be available in the fall, and it is all but a certainty that it will launch with the iPhone 6. Many analysts, studying Apple's supply chain, have estimated that it will launch in the second half of September. Then there is the fact that Apple restricted vacation time of its German Apple Store employees between September 15th and 28th. The latest rumor, coming from China.com, claims that the iPhone 6 will launch precisely on September 25.

Quite a few rumors have pointed to September 19th as the launch date, which is more plausible than the 25th, as it is a Friday and Apple has historically launched iPhones on Fridays. The article also says the larger 5.5" "phablet" size iPhone will be called the iPhone Air, though that doesn't make too much sense as it will be the