Rumour round-up: Apple iPhone 5 release date
From launch date to specs: All your iPhone 5 news and speculation in one place
We're all excited about the next iteration of Apple's all-conquering iPhone but the question on everyone's lips is when can we get our hands on the smartphone. The latest rumours on the web are predicting the Apple iPhone 5 release date could be as early as August 16 after a job advert seeking specialist staff with knowledge of the smartphone was spotted on a recruitment site.
The vacancy for an Apple iPhone Sales specialists in Newcastle was posted on recruitment site Reed. The appointment is being handled by Gekko, which is looking for full-time sales staff on behalf of Apple that have experience of selling mobile phones and will be able to demo the handset to customers in stores with 'Apple' areas. The temporary position is due to commence on August 16 after four days of training and will run until October 29, which has lead many on the web to speculate this could be the day the latest incarnation of Apple's popular smartphone launches. It's customary for Apple to employ extra staff around the time its launches a new version of the iPhone.
This release date has further been confirmed by website BGRwhich claims a source revealed to them Apple plan to hold an event "in the beginning or middle of August to announce the new iPhone, with availability to follow in the last week of August".
However, this estimation for the iPhone 5 release date may be a little too early, and there's certainly plenty of conflicting speculation on the web. In April, Reuters revealed it had spoken to three sources that claimed the release date would be in September, rather than June/July, when other versions of the smartphone have been launched. Meanwhile in May, a representative from high-street phone retailer Phones4Uclaimed the device would be released on November 21.
Crave took an entirely different approach and employed "equations created from numerology, astrology and NumberWang" along with some educated estimation such as the fact Steve Jobs confirmed iOS 5 will launch in September. This is the time of year Apple traditionally refreshes its iPod line-up but as far as Crave is concerned it doesn't think the "iPod has enough glamour to shepherd iOS 5 into the world".
Of course, If we were judging simply by the pattern of previous iPhones (launched in June of 2007, 08, 09 and 2010), it should have been last month (June 2011). Apple frequently unveils its latest iPhone at its annual WWDC get-together. However, this year's, which started on 6 June, included no hint of a new smartphone.
Macotakara seems pretty certain the next iPhone will launch this summer. It cited an anonymous source that claims the iPhone after next (the iPhone 6, if you like) will launch in the spring of 2012, which leaves little space for the iPhone 5. Some Apple fans are thus speculating that July or August of this year could see the next iPhone launch, although one theory is that this will be an incremental upgrade - the 'iPhone 4S' - with more significant upgrades kept back for the iPhone 5 proper next year.
However, International Business Times, which had previously suggested a July production start and a September commercial launch, reports that delays in the production process could see this set back by one or two months. That could see the iPhone 5 delayed to October or even November.
"Our checks at multiple levels of the supply chain point to a one- to two-month delay in the production start for the next-generation iPhone vs our earlier view of a July production start," writes analyst Chris Caso, of Susquehanna Financial.
"Given past history requiring at least two months of production to build inventory in advance of customer shipments, we believe that would point to delivery to customers no earlier than October/November."
Whenever the iPhone 5 launches, the UK should follow closely on the heels of the US; the iPhone 4 launched in the two countries (along with France, Germany and Japan) simultaneously.
What do we know about the iPhone 5's specs?
Of course, it's not just the release date that we (and everyone else in the world) are contemplating. It's the specs too. Here are the hard facts we know - and the scurrilous rumours we've heard about the handset's specs.
It's largely speculation at this stage, but Macotakara's source had a fair bit of detail on this. For one thing, the new iPhone will apparently use an ARM Cortex-A9 processor, though the report didn't state whether it would be a dual- or single-core chip (an alternative rumour, however, points instead to a dual-core A5 chip). It will also be compatible with both GSM and CDMA networks.
Although largely similar to the iPhone 4 in design, the iPhone 5 (or iPhone 4S) will have an 8Mp digital camera and won't use a conventional SIM card, instead relying on an embedded SIM, according to the report.
This would appear to contradict statements made earlier this month by Orange's CEO Stephane Richard that the networks had managed to talk Apple out of using an embedded SIM, instead opting to go with a smaller and thinner removable SIM.
Will there be a white version of the iPhone 5?
Probably, although you might have to wait a while. But here's a more interesting 'white iPhone' angle: one website reckons that the recent launch of the white iPhone 4 will have a knock-on effect that delays the iPhone 5.
"Apple isn't about to introduce the iPhone 5 barely a month after it just added a new colour to the iPhone 4 matrix," wrote Beatweek.com earlier this month. Which means an iPhone 5 unveiling at WWDC "is almost certainly out".
What sort of screen will the iPhone 5 have?
There's two main rumours here: that the iPhone will have an edge-to-edge screen, and that its screen will be curved.
Digitimes reckons that Apple has 200 to 300 special glass cutting machines waiting to be moved on to production lines in its assembly plants, ready to start making curvy screens. Apple apparently bought the machines because the display manufacturers think they're too expensive to invest in when few smartphones have curved screens.
How much will the iPhone cost in the UK?
We don't know the UK price at the moment. Watch this space for further announcements.
Source -[ pcadvisor.co.uk ]
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