Apple iPhone 5 Rumours: Release date, price, & specs

Discover the latest Apple iPhone 5 rumours, including release date, specs, price and features, for all the latest on Apple's next-gen smartphone.

Update: Apple iPhone 5 screen will be 4 inches and will sport a metal back A shock omission from the 2011 iDevice lineup that saw the iPad 2 land ahead of a newly refreshed iPod Touch and the hugely successful iPhone 4S, the long mooted Apple iPhone 5 release is widely expected to take place later this year.

 Long the thing of speculation, having appeared in a number of claimed leaks under a selection of variable guises, Apple iPhone 5 rumours have kicked into overdrive in recent months with reported iPhone 5 specs, features and even the odd leaked picture doing the rounds online.


Apple iPhone 5 Release Date

Almost a year late for its long expected June 2011 unveiling, the Apple iPhone 5 release date has been the thing of mystery for many months with the mythical handset now expected to follow the new launch cycle kicked off by the iPhone 4S and be unveiled in October to capitalise on the lucrative pre-Christmas shopping rush.

Amid the sea of Apple iTV and iPad 3 rumours engulfing the tech world in early 2012, the old-faithful iPhone 5 was probably feeling a little bit unloved. Well, the next generation Apple smartphone is now back on our radar with new indications of when it may land.

Respected Japanese Apple blog Macotakara has said that it has received word from "Asian sources" that Apple will launch the device in September or October 2012 which would fit with last year’s arrival of the iPhone 4S.

"According to Asian reliable source, next iPhone will be released in September or October, and this cycle seems to be kept for years," read a translated portion of the report.

If the article proves to be accurate, it would mean the company is returning to the 12-month launch cycles we saw for the first four versions of the beloved device.

Last year's October iPhone 4S launch was the only time Apple has verged from the summer cycle, making users wait 15 months instead of the usual 12 for a new handset.

While the iPhone 4S was more of an evolutionary upgrade, with a faster processor an improved camera and the addition of the Siri voice control app, the iPhone 5 is likely to bring a more revolutionary approach, perhaps with the addition of a 4G LTE internet and a larger screen size.

Apple iPhone 5 Specs

Despite the ongoing legal battles between the two companies over repeated patent infringements Samsung looks set to continue its role as a component supplier for Apple’s iDevices with the Korean firm reported to be providing the quad-core A6 chips to feature within both the iPad 3 and iPhone 5.

“Apple has been in talks with Samsung over shipment of its A6 quad-core mobile processor (AP) chips to be used in the next iPhone,” claimed insider sources have reported just days after the launch of the iPhone 4S.

They added: “It appears that Apple clearly has concluded that Samsung remains a critical business partner.”

Continuing the Apple iPhone 5 specs rumours, further reports have suggested Apple is to shave millimetres off the form of its next-generation handset thanks to the introduction of a new streamlined Sony camera sensor.

Whilst handsets and tablets continue to ship with increasingly slim form factors, the lack of cut sized camera sensors has started to slow the possibilities of skinnier devices.

Sony, however, has announced a new back-illuminated CMOS sensor tipped for inclusion within the Apple iPhone 5 that will allow for increasingly thin designs with improved functionality.

"This image sensor layers the pixel section containing formations of back-illuminated structure pixels onto chips containing the circuit section for signal processing, which is in place of supporting substrates for conventional back-illuminated CMOS image sensors," the component's description declared.

"This structure achieves further enhancement in image quality, superior functionalities and a more compact size that will lead to enhanced camera evolution."

Although unlikely, it has been claimed that following a number of unearthed patent filings Apple will incorporate an extra-dimensional 3D camera on its iPhone 4S replacement handset.

“A user may take video of a home while walking through the home and the image sensing device could use the calculated depth and surface detail information to create a three-dimensional model of the home,” one Apple patent detailed. “The depth and surface detail information of multiple photographs or video stills may then be matched to construct a seamless composite three-dimensional model that combines the surface detail and depth from each of the photos or video.”
source tthree dot com