The iPhone 6 release date this 2014 is happening earlier than last year, new reports said, with the 4.7-inch variant supposedly ready for rollout in August 2014 while the first Apple phablet, the 5.5-inch model is set for unwrapping the following month.

Reuters reported on Friday, citing the information first published by The Economic Daily News from Taiwan, that Apple is opting for an earlier push for both its new iPhone editions though issuance of the devices will be a month apart.

The main reason given for the more advanced iPhone unboxing is for the tech giant to realise its targeted sales numbers before the close of 2014. The same Reuters report indicated too that some 80 million iPhone 6 units, the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models combined, are mapped out for global circulation in the last five months of the year.

To clear out that enormous numbers for the iPhone 6 alone, it is suggested that getting the device to store shelves worldwide will offer Apple the lead-time it requires.

It is expected that Foxconn and Pegatron will share the responsibilities in manufacturing and shipping out in time the latest iPhone builds though it is the former who will get the bulk of Apple's iPhone 6 orders.

Also, the news agency pointed to Apple's supply chain sources from Asia as provider of the fresh information.

While the report stopped short of giving the exact dates of the successive iPhone 6 touchdowns, it is aligned with the claims made earlier by Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities - that the smaller 2014 iPhone is scheduled for unveiling in the third quarter of the year with the commercial debut to follow immediately.

The newsbreak also supported the leaked out details that surfaced earlier this week - claiming that volume production of the iPhone 6 is now underway with Pegatron taking charge of putting together the initial batches of the 4.7-inch model.

The Taiwanese device manufacturer has reportedly secured some 15 per cent of the total iPhone 6 orders for 2014. The rest Apple will source from Foxconn.

However, the Reuters report contradicted Kuo's assertions that Apple fans will have to wait until Christmas time of 2014 before they can get a hold on the jumbo-sized iPhone 6. The analyst cited display and sapphire-related production issues as the cause of the delay.

In reporting though that the iPhone 6 phablet will come out three months earlier (in September 2014), Reuters did not clarify if the production challenges mentioned by Kuo have been resolved.

Regardless, the original calendar that the KGI analysts had previously presented pointed to an iPhone 6 release date in September or October 2014, which is for the 4.7-inch version, while the 5.5-inch iOS phablet would reveal itself either in December of the same year or January 2015 at the latest.