iPhone 5S will looks the same as iPhone 5 claims analyst

Apple’s next premium iPhone, which may be the iPhone 5S, will feature the same exterior build as the current-generation iPhone 5 according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty.

Apple recently filed documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission which show the company isn’t spending as much on 'planned purchases of production equipment' as it was ahead of the iPhone 5 launch two quarters ago.

Apple’s expenditure has dropped from $4.5 billion to $904 million. It’s known that before the iPhone 5 launch Apple’s expenses went through the roof as it refitted its manufacturing for the new design.

Huberty’s report points to the US SEC filings as evidence that Apple isn’t repeating the same expenditure and suggests, logically, that this indicates the next iPhone won’t have a new design.

‘Lower planned purchases of production equipment sets up for higher iPhone 5S margin. The 10-Q discloses $904M of commitments for equipment purchases compare to $4.5B just two quarters ago when Apple invested in new in-cell touch displays for the iPhone 5,’ reads Huberty’s report.

'The decrease is likely due to iPhone 5S not requiring significant hardware changes,’ she added.

This is also interesting when you consider the rumours about a proposed budget iPhone made of plastic, which may or may not launch alongside the next premium iPhone.

Apple would surely have to make similar investments once again in order to produce such a model, although feasibly, if it isn’t being released alongside then such figures might emerge later in the year.

We’ve seen pictures leak of the budget iPhone from iLounge, a previously reliable source, but this could just be a prototype.

That said, the US SEC report also points to $10 billion capital expenditure this year, an increase of $2 billion year-on-year.

According to Apple’s finance chief Peter Oppenheimer $9 billion of this will be used for ‘buying equipment that we will own that we will put in our partners facilities’.

So...instead of $4.5 billion Apple is investing $9 billion on equipment, it's just from capital expenditure instead and the equipment will go in partner company facilities.

Call us crazy, but that still sounds like it could be a manufacturing re-fit.