Apple will unveil the iPhone 5 early tomorrow morning and there has been no shortage of rumours about what to expect. Here’s Tech Guide’s rumour round-up.
More than any iPhone which has gone before, there seems to be an abundance of information circulating about it along with leaked pictures of the device.
If this is the case there may not be many surprises when Apple finally reveals the new iPhone.
But the fact there is so much information could also mean that these rumours are all wrong and that Apple produces something completely different.
Remember October last year when all the rumour sites were predicting an entirely different iPhone but what we got was a slight change to the iPhone 4.
No other company in the world has the problem of managing expectations like Apple does.
Until Apple actually introduces the iPhone 5 at the Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts in San Francisco – the same place where every iPad had been unveiled – we won’t know for sure.
But in the meantime here’s our round up of the main rumours:
DESIGN
The new iPhone will be thinner than the iPhone 4S thanks to some new technology that incorporates the multi-touch layer into the LCD layer of the of the screen. The look of the phone will be similar to the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S but with a rumoured thickness of just 7.6mm. CERTAIN
SCREEN SIZE
The iPhone had had the same size screen since it was first released in 2007 but, with the main trend among the latest smartphones being larger screens, it seems Apple will increase the display size for the first time to 4-inches. The leaked images and mock ups all seem to show a taller device that is the same width as the iPhone 4S which means the display will have a wider aspect ratio to make it even more attractive for watching movies. CERTAIN
4G/LTE
There have already been reports about the iPhone 5 having support for faster 4G/LTE networks but not for all carriers so there will be some countries which will be disappointed. Hopefully Australia’s 1800Mhz 4G networks will be included. LIKELY
SMALLER DOCK CONNECTOR
A whole industry was created around being compatible with Apple’s famous 30-pin dock connector that was first seen on the iPod and then inherited by the iPhone. These products included speaker docks and various accessories. But one of the strongest rumours is the shift to a much smaller 8-pin connector that’s about the size of a micro USB slot. CERTAIN
HEADPHONE JACK
With the new rumoured smaller dock connector this has created more room on the bottom edge of the device which is where the headphone jack will be relocated on the iPhone 5. CERTAIN
CAMERA
The camera in the iPhone 4S is already high quality with enough resolution to remain unchanged in the iPhone 5. But in the last few weeks there have been some murmurs the device may have a higher resolution camera possibly as high as 12 megapixel. POSSIBLE
NFC
Another common feature on a lot of the latest smartphones is NFC (near field communication) which allows for instant file transfer and mobile payments from your linked bank account or credit card. The buzz around this feature being included has cooled significantly in the last month. UNLIKELY
NANO SIM
It was the iPhone 4 which introduced the micro SIM. Well get ready for the SIM card to get even smaller with the introduction of a Nano SIM which is smaller still. It is basically no wider than the area of the metal contacts on the SIM card. LIKELY
A6 PROCESSOR
Apple has been producing its own silicon to power each new device with each being an improvement over its predecessor. The new iPad introduced in March contained the A5X processor and A6 is the likely designation give to the iPhone 5’s processor. With the likelihood of faster network speeds with 4G the processor has to be able to handle the job. We can expect the A6 to be a quad core processor with even less demand on the battery. LIKELY
EARPHONES
Another item which has hardly changes over the years are the included headphones that come with the iPhone and iPods. Images popped up on the internet last week showing what appear to be redesigned earphones that offer more noise isolation. POSSIBLE
RELEASE DATE
There are strong suggestions that the iPhone 5 could be released as early as September 21 in the US with the possibility of a release in other countries, including Australia, a week later on September 28. But last year the iPhone 4S was released on the same date here in Australia as it was in the US but, because of the time difference, Australia was actually able to buy it sooner. LIKELY
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