Ready for launch? The latest iPhone 5 rumours

Published on 30/08/2012 10:21

APPLE is known for upping the ante at every product launch, and rumours about the next generation of its smartphone - the iPhone 5 - have been circulating online for a couple of years.

But with a launch next month now seemingly inevitable - the latest date according to one leak is September 21 - and the production process surely at an advanced stage, the speculation is firming up into more than a geek’s wishlist.

Here we run through some of the headline rumours, ordered according to likelihood.

PROBABLE

• The iPhone 5 will have a longer, slimmer design than the iPhone 4. Leaked images appear to show that the iPhone 5 will be more similar in dimensions to the Samsung Galaxy S3.

• It will have 4G LTE connectivity - the fourth generation of mobile communications standards. Everything Everywhere, the firm which owns T-Mobile and Orange, is due to roll out its 4G network in mid September. A coincidence?

• The new iPhone will run on a quad-core processor. Some Android devices already run on these faster processors.

• The standard 30-pin connector on the base of the device will probably be changed to a smaller 19-pin size, rendering many iPhone accessories obsolete.

POSSIBLE

• It will potentially carry an improved 12-megapixel camera.

• There is a fair chance it will include AirPlay Direct. This would be a new version of Apple’s AirPlay system, and would allow iPhone users to send music direct to speakers, even if they are not connected to Wi-Fi.

PROBABLY NOT

• The iPhone 5 probably will not carry near field communication, a form of technology which allows smartphones to communicate with each other by touching them together and opens up the possibility of paying for things with your phone.

• The device will probably not be launched at the same time as an ‘iPad Mini’. A smaller version of Apple’s popular tablet is in the pipeline, but it is understood that the firm doesn’t want to detract from the fanfare by bundling the launches together.

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