iPhone 6 Concept Image by Dani Yako
iPhone 6 Concept Image by Dani Yako Dani Yako via Concept-Phones

The iPhone 6 on release date, according to the latest reports from China, will indeed sport a phablet-size screen that easily matches that of leading Android rivals, specifically the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

A report by G4Games, pointing to Chinese social media site Weibo as source, claimed that the larger iPhone 6 screen will reach 5.44-inch and that the front panel is made of sapphire glass material as indicated in earlier forecasts provide by analysts.

But the same report also noted that bigger iPhone 6 will likely be plagued by supply issues, somehow affirming the earlier take by Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities that insufficient stocks will mar the late 2014 launch of the first Apple jumbo phone.

Kuo blames the supposed iPhone 6 display panel manufacturing issue for the delay and supply crunch, which according to G4Games will be mainly caused by higher cost of using sapphire glass cover in the device instead of Corning Gorilla Glass.

As a result, production expenditure for the supersized iPhone alone is feared to spike to a high of 50 per cent, which could force Apple to impose considerable hikes in the device's retail price.

It is projected that when the iPhone 6 hits store shelves in China, each unlocked unit will require cash setback of around $1285 for the basic 16GB model. G4Games also revealed that a 64GB iOS phablet is in the works but this will expectedly come at a very steep price mark.

The Weibo information also projected of only 10 million units for the giant iPhone 6, which indicates of likely stock outs soon after the gadget's commercial debut. Analysts are convinced that even with exorbitant pricing, the upsized iPhone is set to become a hot commodity - with the very high consumer demand depleting the supplies quickly.

It is understood too that the problems will be exclusive only to the bigger iPhone 6 as the 4.7-inch model will not use sapphire as glass cover. According to BGR, Kuo has predicted that the material will only be used across the board in succeeding iPhone builds.

Apart from having a bigger display and a more robust protection in the sapphire glass, the two iPhone models are anticipated to deliver major bump ups from the previous builds - likely headlined by a 64-bit A8 processing chip and the killer features-stuffed iOS 8.

Release date of the iPhone 6 phablet is pegged at around 2014 Christmas time or a few months after the 4.7-inch model launch in September or October of the same year.