‘iPhone Math’ rumoured as 4.8-inch model arriving June

The iPhone rumour mill has been cranked to maximum with word coming from China that a 4.8-inch ‘iPhone Math’ will debut alongside the iPhone 5S in June.

The translated news comes from China Times and it’s not clear how accurate the naming is considering it’s a highly unusual change of naming policy as far as Apple is concerned. That said, it could well be a working codename and nothing more.

As well as the larger display, the new device is said to have an 8-megapixel camera, just like the iPhone 5S.

The report also reiterates claims that this will be part of a change in Apple’s schedule, meaning it will release multiple handsets in the same year with another model sporting a 12-megapixel camera arriving by ‘the holiday season’, ie: Christmas.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen such rumours, but at present it’s difficult to know what to believe with multiple and sometimes conflicting reports coming from analysts from all areas of the globe and industry sources out of China.

It would seem at present there are a lot of rumours indicating that Apple plans to release more than one smartphone in 2013 in order to compete with growing rivals such as Samsung and to claw back market share from Android.

At least logically that makes sense, but even so it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true.

Secondly, there’s the persistent ‘budget iPhone’ rumour, again an idea based on competing with low-cost Android but specifically the low-price war started by Google with devices such as the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7.

This line of thinking says we’ll see a plastic iPhone at a cheaper price alongside the premium metal one.

Lastly, this large screen stuff.

Again, there’s a logical argument, the trend now is for bigger displays. Every manufacturer and their dog is releasing a 5-inch monster this year.

Even last year against the 4.6-4.8-inch crowd Apple’s enlarged 4-inch iPhone 5 was looking diminutive, so perhaps the time has come for the Cupertino giant to adapt?