Its existence remains a pigment of everyone's imagination but experts are increasingly convinced that the iPhone 6 release date is dawning upon us - though not this year but by mid-2014.

Prior to its appointed launch date, Apple's calculated silence on the matter has already generated rumours that piece together how the big-screen iPhone will look and function. Essentially, the only missing link is the confirmation coming from the tech giant.

Yet en route to its actual availability date, which analysts said will take place on June 2014, Apple watchers are holding on to what they believe as solid features that the oversized smartphone will show off.

Feature-rich phablet experience courtesy of the revamped iOS 7

It was widely reported that Apple is pouring great amount of resources, money and human talent, to come up with an Android killer platform in the iOS 7. The expectations are high for the company to deliver better navigational apps and more intuitive gadget environment to erase the debacle that marred the iPhone 5 rollout last year.

That episode saw considerable migration to the Google system and without mentioning it, Apple would want to win back these former believers. By the time the iPhone 6 is delivered, the enhancements deployed by Apple with iOS 7 would have been perfected, giving it a window time of more than 12 months from hereon.

Latest patent information from Apple seems to indicate that mobiles phones would be smarter with fresh device innovations, realising the tech giant's goal of designing the smartphone as the extension of human functions. With the iOS 7-powered iPhone, we should be able to manipulate other machines and devices - cars and televisions for example - thanks to Apple's constant mobile engineering breakthroughs.

Apple will again reinvent the smartphone via the iPhone 6

Closer analysis of Tim Cook's latest hints pointed to exciting new offerings from iOS devices. The Apple big boss has stressed that no large-screen phones will ever come out of the company's production lines with glaring compromises. That declaration simply adheres to Apple's pursuit of excellence.

Its representation is the likely new cutting-edge phone design that the iPhone 6 will deliver next year, dutifully following the tech giant's template of revising the iPhone design after a lull period that experts called as the 'S' year.

We expect the iPhone 5S this year and after that, the Apple mobile phone will take on a new look far different from its rivals. One clue is offered by the new Apple patent that points to the creation of a wrap-around smartphone with no Home button and relies on smarter technology for revolutionary ways of controlling it. The iPhone 6 will spawn a new breed of smartphone that others will scramble to copy, again.

Larger than expected iPhone 6 screen

Rumour has it that Apple will go as far as 4.8-inch for the iPhone 6. That should be impressive enough for a company that in previous declarations insisted that 4-inch is the optimal phone screen size.

But Mr Cook apparently shifted gears when he said that once the technology trade off reflected in big-screen smartphones has been resolved, Apple would be ready to meet consumers' demands for supersized mobile phones.

Along that line, it is highly likely that Apple will breach the 5-inch mark given the right mix of technology. It was reported this year that Apple engineers were having issues in re-scaling Retina for the smaller 7.9-inch iPad Mini but there was no mention of the task not being accomplished.

By mid-2014, the smaller Retina display would have been solved and Apple should be ready to manufacture en masse screen displays within the 5-inch and 7-inch scales, which exactly is the realm where the iPhone 6 will operate comfortably.