It is the time of year that Apple announces its next generation version of iPhone and before a new Apple product comes there are speculations from Apple fans and media of the features the up coming Apple product.
Last year people were expecting an iPhone with a completely new look and larger screen. However, Apple introduced iPhone 4S which has the same design as iPhone 4, but some new features like a better camera and Siri. As is the case with this year's launch, there are many rumors floating around along with proofs such as photos of various parts and components of the to-be launched iPhone and some entries in beta releases of iOS 6. The announcement date of the new iPhone is speculated to be on September 12th 2012 (Update: Confirmed as per Apple's invite) and release date on September 21st (Update: Confirmed).
Let us see what are the rumors that are floating around and wait till the launch date to confirm if the rumors are really valid.
| Features | Rumors | Actual (in September) |
|---|---|---|
| Name | iPhone 5 or the New iPhone. Update: The Apple invite for September 12th event points out to the name iPhone 5 | Confirmed (iPhone 5) |
| LCD Screen | Taller & thinner 16:9 Retina Display (640x1136 resolution) using in-cell technology. | Confirmed |
| Processor | Dual Core A5X with Quad Core Graphics (same as the New iPad but with lower clock speed). Update: Speculations about A6 processor. | Confirmed (A6 processor) |
| Memory | Storage upto 64 GB (same as before). Upgrade in RAM to 1 GB. | Confirmed (upto 64GB storage, 1 GB RAM) |
| 4G/LTE support | Speculations of 4G/LTE support based on the New iPad's support for 4G. | Confirmed |
| Near Field Communication (NFC) | Speculations of NFC & mobile payment support based on the Passbook app (or eWallet) in iOS 6. Update 1: Possibility of fingerprint reader embedded in the phone body for identification/authentication with the Passbook app. Update 2: NFC may not be present in this version, but may be added in future versions of iPhone. | Confirmed (NFC not present) |
| Camera | Upgrade in both cameras. Facetime camera may be positioned centrally. Update: Possibly same 8 MegaPixel rear camera with a bigger aperture than iPhone 4S and HD front facing camera. | Confirmed (same rear camera, same aperture with additional tweaks. Facetime camera with HD 720p) |
| Design | Taller and thinner body with thickness 7.6mm (smaller by 1.7mm than the iPhone 4/4S) having the same design as iPhone 4/4S except with a metal back panel and the 9mm headphone jack moved to bottom. | Confirmed (exactly as was shown in leaks) |
| Dock connector | Smaller 9-pin or 19-pin connector instead of the current 30-pin. | Confirmed (8 signal digital 'Lightning' connector) |
| Battery | Slightly higher capacity battery (1440 mAh 3.8 Volt) for maintaining the larger screen giving the same amount of talk-time as previous models. | Confirmed (better talk-time than previous model, 1440 mAh 3.8 Volt) |
| SIM card | Redesigned SIM card tray for the new nano-SIM card. | Confirmed |
| iPad Mini | Rumors about 7.85-inch iPad Mini coming in late 2012. Update: Announcement possibly in October at a separate event. | Unknown |
| Apple TV | Possibility of new Live TV features for Apple TV. | Unknown |
| AirPlay | Speculated upgrade of AirPlay Direct (or AirPlay 2.0) allow users to wirelessly stream music without the need of a WiFi network using Bluetooth. | Unknown |
| Earphones | Possibility of a fully redesigned earphone. | Confirmed (Earpods) |
As the working of Apple is highly secretive and mysterious, we will only know if these rumors are true when they announce their product in September 2012 (possibly 12th September). Until then we can only speculate. The list of rumors will be updated after the product launch to bust or confirm the rumors...
Till then, hold on tight!!!
Update: Most of the rumors stated above have been confirmed to be true and the iPhone shown at the event was exactly the same as in the leaked photos.