New iPhone 5 rumors, release date, photos, and more
The introduction of a new iPhone every year is a given, but the details of what that device will look like and the new features it'll bring are rarely so straightforward. So far this year, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal have come out strongly in support of the idea that we'll see a new 4-inch (or even larger) form factor, plus there's all the usual SoC speculation, invited by the introduction of the 2012 iPad and its upgraded chip. Follow along here as we work to disentangle the useful information from the thickets of rumor surrounding Apple's next flagship phone.
The iPhone 5: a secret unkept
When it comes to secrecy, Apple isn't so much doubling down as it is multiplying by zero. The iPhone 5 is a handset of many firsts for the Cupertino company — it moves to a larger screen, an all-new Lightning dock connector, and in-cell touchscreen technology, among other innovations. But it's also the first device to bear the name iPhone whose spec sheet we knew almost in full ahead of its unveiling.
Initially, we learned about the 4-inch display. That came from The Wall Street Journal on...
Apple announces 4-inch iPhone 5 with LTE, Lightning connector, September 21st release date
The new iPhone is finally official. Apple has named its sixth-generation smartphone the iPhone 5 and Phil Schiller has detailed its full set of features, specs, and release details. Measuring 7.6mm in thickness and 112 grams in weight, this is the thinnest and lightest iPhone that Apple has ever made, and is constructed "entirely" out of glass and aluminum. The new iPhone looks pretty much identical to all the leaks and mockups we've seen in the past few weeks — evidently Apple wasn't able...
Our live blog of Apple's iPhone 5 event starts today at 10AM PT, 1PM ET
Read the live blog right here!
We're once again at the tail end of an annual ritual, the iPhone rumor cycle, and we're just hours away from finding out what Apple has been working on for the past year. Will the iPhone 5 look exactly like the leaks, effectively an elongated 4 / 4S with a new mini dock connector? Will it support LTE on every US carrier? Are there any surprises in iOS 6 that Cupertino has been keeping under its hat? Will it even be called the iPhone 5 at all? Everything will be...
Vodafone stockpiles 500,000 nano-SIMs, hints at imminent iPhone 5 announcement
We've seen plenty of evidence suggesting the iPhone 5 will ditch Micro-SIM cards in favor of the Apple-designed nano-SIM standard, and now Vodafone UK has made that switch a near certainty. Just one day before the latest iOS handset is expected to make its debut, the carrier mistakenly posted a blog article titled "First photos of Vodafone nano-SIM cards." In the post — which was quickly deleted but preserved thanks to Google Cache — Vodafone reveals it presently has a huge stockpile of...
EarSmart filtering tech for Siri 'unlikely' to be included in iPhone 5
Audience, the Mountain View-based company which develops the earSmart audio filtering technology embedded in Apple's A5 chip, has announced that Apple is "unlikely" to use the system in the next-generation iPhone, set to be announced next week. EarSmart is known to power the iPhone 4S's Siri voice assistant feature, but third-party hacks have long enabled users to run the app on the iPhone 4 and iPod touch, devices which lack the A5 chip.
Writing in a statement last night, Audience clarified...
Official: Apple holding iPhone 5 event September 12th, and we'll be there live!
The industry has been abuzz with rumors that Apple was planning a reveal of its next iPhone in mid-September, and now we know the truth. The company has just mailed out invitations to an event in San Francisco on September 12th at 10AM PT at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts — where Apple has historically launched new products. The Verge will be there covering the event live, with minute-by-minute updates on everything and anything announced.
The next iPhone has been heavily rumored over...
The iPhone 5: see how the rumors look and feel (video)
Among the more anonymous booths at IFA this year, a mockup for Apple's next-gen iPhone has surfaced, looking like a fully realized compendium of all the rumors and leaks we've been hearing about the device. It has an elongated screen, a shrunken dock connector, a repositioned headphone jack, and a two-tone back cover. First spotted by GSM Israel, the mockup is making sporadic appearances at one particularly keen case maker's stand, usually ensconced in color cases.
We were told volume...
New Apple earphones for iPhone 5 allegedly appear on video
It's been a while since Apple last updated its pack-in earbuds; the current model with the in-line remote and mic came out in 2008, and the design of the buds themselves dates back to 2006. That may be about to change with this month's all-but-certain release of a new iPhone, however. Vietnamese site Tinhte, which has a reasonable track record of getting hold of pre-release products, has posted a video of some earphones with a striking new design allegedly bound for the new iPhone 5.
WSJ: Sharp suffers iPhone 5 screen production delay as LG and Japan Display start shipping
Sharp's president Takashi Okuda said that the company would be shipping displays bound for the new iPhone by the end of August, but that plan appears to have hit a bump. The Wall Street Journal reports that while LG and Japan Display have already begun shipping the new screens to Apple, Sharp is yet to even start mass production. Since Apple is using three suppliers this is unlikely to delay the iPhone itself, but it's possible that it could lead to supply problems upon release.
The screens...
iPhone 5: making sense of the rumors
We're almost a year on from the iPhone 4S' launch, and the world seems to agree that the time is right for a successor. We've been tracking some of the rumors about what many have dubbed the 'iPhone 5,' but we don't blame you if you feel a little overwhelmed — there's a lot out there and it's hard to know who to trust. With that in mind, we thought we'd sift through the most compelling rumors and let you know how we think Apple's next phone will shape up.
design
This time last year the...
LG Display starts mass production of in-cell panels, ready for new iPhone
LG Display has begun mass production of touch screens using in-cell technology, with the panels expected to be included in Apple's latest iPhone when it is unveiled next month, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The inclusion of capacitive touch sensors in the displays themselves allows for a thinner overall form factor, an advantage for devices such as smartphones and tablets. As well as LG Display, the screens will be produced by Japanese manufacturers Sharp and Japan...
New iPhone USB cable with smaller dock connector surfaces
It's almost a given by now that the next iPhone will feature a redesigned, smaller dock connector; we've heard the rumor for quite some time, and have seen alleged handset cases show up with the compact port. Now a photo circulated on Twitter by Jack Yao of Chinese accessory vendor Veister appears to show an example of a cable that'll use that port. There's little to distinguish it from an official Apple product, but it could also be a third-party replacement. If that's the case, though,...
An LTE iPhone could be the most disruptive thing in the UK mobile market since the original
Today's been rather a momentous day in the UK mobile arena, following local regulator Ofcom's approval of Everything Everywhere's plans to use existing spectrum to roll out LTE service early. Vodafone, O2 and Three have complained in unison against the market distortions that would result from one carrier having 4G while everyone else waits for an oft-delayed auction, but their biggest fear may yet remain unspoken: a de facto exclusive on the next iPhone.
Photos emerge of alleged new iPhone and iPad Mini dock connectors
As the rumored September 12th Apple announcement draws near, the inevitable parts leaks appears to confirm some of the rumors we've heard thus far. The latest comes from repair company iResq, which claims to have photos of the dock connectors for the new iPhone and iPad Mini. While the images don't confirm the existence of either product, 9to5 Mac notes that the dock connector shown in the photos sits beside a the headphone jack on both devices, which seems to corroborate a Reuters report...
Apple to start taking pre-orders for new iPhone September 12th, says iMore
According to iMore, Apple will begin taking US pre-orders for its next-generation iPhone on September 12th, the very same day the company is expected to unveil the product. That would represent a significant shift over recent years, where Apple has traditionally waited a few days following a hardware event (and surrounding media blitz) before letting customers reserve a handset. The gap has been closing, however: eager buyers needed to wait more than a week to pre-order the iPhone 4 in 2010,...
iPhone 5 coming into focus as dock connector, motherboard, and assembly photos emerge
If everything we've heard lines up, we're less than a month away from the introduction of the next iPhone — and as such, the rumor mill is churning out a wide variety of leaked potential parts and body designs. One of the biggest points of speculation thus far has been the new iPhone's dock connector — for months, we've been hearing that Apple would abandon the 30 pin connector it has used on iOS devices since the iPod way back in 2003 in favor of a smaller plug. That rumor has picked up...
Mobile
iOS 6 scales to rumored 'iPhone 5' resolution, adds fifth row of apps to home screen
We've seen plenty of mockups and rumored parts for Apple's next iPhone that show an elongated form, but a report from 9to5Mac provides the most convincing evidence we've seen so far: 9to5Mac says that it was able to run the iOS Simulator at the next iPhone's rumored resolution of 1136 x 640, and that iOS 6 is "completely scalable to a larger display." The report indicates that this is the only resolution that supports scaling, and that when scaled, iOS 6 adds an extra row of app icons to the...
Mobile
Sharp to begin shipping displays for the next iPhone this month
Following its rather downbeat quarterly earnings disclosed earlier today, Sharp had one bit of bright news for its near future: the company is about to start shipping out a new iPhone display this month. President Takashi Okuda is quoted by Reuters as delivering the information, which fits neatly into the roadmap that has been built up by the last few weeks of speculation. Sharp, along with LG Display and Japan Display, had already been identified as a likely manufacturer for the next-gen...
Apple
Sources: next iPhone likely to be unveiled on Wednesday, September 12th
The rumor cycle this time around for the next iPhone has been a bit unusual — multiple leaks have all depicted the exact same components — but it looks like we'll be seeing what Apple has up its sleeves come Wednesday, September 12th. Our own sources familiar with the matter have confirmed that date, and multiple websites have similar reports as well. iMore broke news of the September 12th date earlier today, and AllThingsD's sources have pegged Apple's event for the week of September...
Purported 'iPhone 5' case makes video debut
Typically, the time preceding the launch of a new iPhone is spent trying to decipher which of the many competing hardware "leaks" contains any semblance of truthfulness, but this year everyone seems to agree on one particular redesign. The side-encompassing backplate we've been seeing since late May is back, paired with the front cover that showed up in the first assembled photos of this handset over the weekend. Today, Macotakara has video of the same assembly, giving us the first glimpse of...
Apple
Alleged 'iPhone 5' device shown fully assembled for the first time
We've heard quite a bit about the "iPhone 5" — or whatever it'll be called — and we've already seen a handful of photos and a video of the supposed next-generation Apple smartphone. Now we're getting a complete picture of the device thanks to Chinese supplier iLab Factory. What's different this time is that the phone is fully assembled in the shots offered by the site. There's nothing terribly surprising, and we'll remain skeptical until Apple reveals the next-generation iPhone, but with...
'iPhone 5' moving to 19-pin dock connector to make room for headphone jack, Reuters reports
Reuters is reporting that the next iPhone will indeed have a new, smaller 19-pin dock connector port, further corroborating rumors we heard last month. The reason for the change is apparently that the headphone jack will be joining the dock connector port on the bottom of the device, though the iPod touch already uses a similar configuration. Such a move would likely break compatibility with the majority of iPhone and iPod docking devices in the market, but it's possible that they could be...
Mobile
Verizon CFO hints that the next iPhone will launch in Q4
During Verizon's conference call discussing its Q2 2012 financial performance, CFO Fran Shammo let some information slip out about the next iPhone launch. When asked what might have held customers back from upgrading their devices in Q2, Shammo said that "of course there's always that, uh, rumor mill out there with a new phone coming out there in the fourth quarter, so people may be waiting." While there's a chance that he was referring to the next Nexus phone, this felt more like a...
Next iPhone will use in-cell technology to produce a thinner screen, says WSJ
We've heard rumors that the next iPhone's screen will measure "at least" 4 inches, but Apple may be planning to introduce a new display technology to ensure the screen remains thin. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is expected to use in-cell touch display technology, reducing the thickness of a device and ensuring it remains lightweight — perhaps in preparation for an increased screen size. Focus Taiwan originally reported in April that Apple's next-generation iPhone may include...
New iPhone will reportedly switch to smaller 19-pin dock connector
Rumors have been flying around for a while that Apple is planning to ditch the trusty 30-pin dock connector that it introduced with the iPod in 2003. We first heard reports last month that the change would come with the next iPhone, and then alleged photos of the handset turned up showing a smaller port in the dock connector position. Now TechCrunch is reporting that the shrunken port will indeed make its debut on Apple's next phone, and specifically that it will have 19 pins.
This comes from...
Apple
Latest iPhone leak video claims to show redesigned back cover
We've already seen multiple sources pointing toward an elongated 4-inch iPhone for Apple's next smartphone refresh, which were recently augmented with video of the purported front panel for this enlarged device. In order to complete the picture, today we've got a video of what's claimed to be the rear side of the same handset, although the narrator of today's video is playing coy and puts it as a question rather than a statement.
Still, the design on show looks to match the leaked pictures we...
Apple
Taller new iPhone screen allegedly shown in leaked video
Another piece of information about the new iPhone has leaked, apparently backing up rumors that it will be taller than the iPhone 4S. In a short video, Japanese site Macotakara shows off a 10.33-cm (4.07-inch) screen and a front panel that's quite a bit longer than the current-gen phone it's placed against. It's otherwise similar in shape, with the same width but a slightly lower Home button. The panel looks much like the one 9to5 Mac said it obtained earlier, including a FaceTime camera...
Apple
Alleged new iPhone backplate photos appear, show elongated form and smaller connector port
Two separate iPhone part suppliers have leaked nearly identical-looking versions of what appears to be a backplate for Apple's next iPhone, both of which support rumors of the device's lengthened body and redesigned dock connector. Parts supplier iFixyouri has provided 9to5Mac with what appears to be a black backplate for a new iPhone, showing the phone's form factor and a smaller dock connector port, and extra room at the bottom of the shell which the supplier says will be used by Apple for...
Mobile
Next-gen iPhone rumored to have 1136 x 640 resolution, redesigned dock connector
Following a flurry of reports earlier this month of Apple ordering up new 4-inch displays for its next iPhone, 9to5 Mac is today joining the rumor mill with affirmation that Apple is indeed in the process of testing a new model with a larger and higher-resolution display. Citing an iPhone 5,1 and iPhone 5,2 that are presently in the pre-EVT (Engineering Verification Test) stage of internal testing, the site claims both variants will be equipped with a 3.95-inch screen spanning a more...
Steve Jobs was 'closely' involved in upcoming iPhone redesign, says Bloomberg
The next iPhone will have a larger screen than the 3.5-inch form factor that has characterized Apple's smartphone through all five of its iterations so far — that's what The Wall Street Journal told us two days ago, Reuters affirmed yesterday, and Bloomberg is reiterating today. An extra bit of information coming out of Bloomberg, however, is that Apple's former CEO, Steve Jobs, "had worked closely on the redesigned phone before his death in October."
Back in 2010, Jobs famously criticized...
Apple
4-inch iPhone rumors reaffirmed by Reuters sources
Reuters has added the weight of its own sources to yesterday's Wall Street Journal report that Apple is ordering up larger displays for its next-generation iPhone. Whereas the WSJ had word of a new display measuring "at least" 4 inches, one of Reuters' insiders states that it will be exactly a 4-inch screen. Otherwise, there's agreement between the two news outlets in terms of the suppliers and timing, with both identifying South Korean and Japanese display makers as getting the orders in...
Apple
Next iPhone will have bigger screen, measuring 'at least' 4 inches, reports WSJ
The Wall Street Journal is this morning reporting word from Apple's suppliers that the iPhone maker has placed orders for new iPhone displays, which measure "at least 4 inches diagonally." Production is said to be commencing next month, with the WSJ identifying LG Display, Sharp, and Japan Display Inc. as the three major panel suppliers that Apple is contracting.
A move up from the iPhone's persistent 3.5-inch form factor has started to feel overdue in the current climate of 4.7- and 4...
Apple
New iPod touch hardware and A5X-equipped iPhone in the works, according to rumors
9 to 5 Mac has found references to an "iPod5,1" in an internal iOS 5.1 build, suggesting that the current iPod touch (known as iPod4,1) will see some changes. Apple last refreshed the portable music player in September 2010 — the iPod touch announced at iPhone 4S keynote in October 2011 was the same as its predecessor save for a lower price point and a white color. There aren't any specifics, but it seems likely that Apple will update the iPod touch's processor from its current A4 chip to...
Apple
Is this what the iPhone 5 will look like? (updated)
There's no shortage of rumors swirling about the iPhone 5 right now, but we've got some enlightening information (and an image) that might help paint a better picture of what Apple's next play in the mobile market could be. While the current crop of chatter on the internet suggests the iPhone 5 will be little more than a spec bump to the iPhone 4, that's not the story we've been hearing at all. In fact, the device could look something a little more like the image above -- an image which is...
