Put your lie-detecting helmets on because it’s time for another load of iPhone 5 rumors that may or may not be at all accurate.
Today’s fresh batch of rumors backs up the notion that the iPhone 5 will see a complete hardware redesign, coming out thinner than the iPhone 4 and featuring a larger display and larger Home button. The story comes to us from 9to5Mac, which cites a supposed case schematic that was leaked onto the Internet earlier this week and purportedly shows an iPhone 5 with new dimensions.
The writers at 9to5Mac claim to have the actual supposed iPhone 5 cases in their possession, having gotten them straight from their source, and the outlet likens the source behind the leak to the one that dished highly accurate iPad 2 specs to the site before that device’s launch. They’re not the same source, though, but 9to5Mac says it also confirms that Asian case makers are starting to ship new cases around the world.
Here’s a quote from 9to5Mac’s story:
“We can’t tell you that the information used to build the case, that we have gotten our hands on, is different than the information revealed yesterday, but given that these cases have actually been built, and given that case manufactures are willing to spend millions of dollars on quality intelligence to maximize on the iPhone 5 launch, we have reason to believe that this iPhone 5 case is indicative of the next-generation iPhone’s design.”
The thinner hardware idea fits in nicely with rumors we’ve been hearing for a few months now that Apple (AAPL) is pushing a redesigned iPhone 5 for launch sometime this fall, likely in September or late August. Some of those reports came from the Wall Street Journal, which generally does a pretty good job with these things, although all the sources cited are anonymous so it’s tough to vet the information before a device hits the market.
But conflicting rumors remain in the iPhone arena. We’ve also heard that Apple will roll out a more incremental hardware update, which has been called the iPhone 4G or iPhone 4S. Rumors also state that Apple is looking to sell an unlocked version of its next phone right out of the gate to capitalize on the prepaid cellular market that’s very popular in Europe. That would mean not one iPhone this fall, but two.
Regardless of which, if any, rumors prove to be true, it seems the consensus is that Apple will show off its new iPhone in September. It’s still a ways off to find out what really is in the company’s plans, but the more plausible and well-reported a rumor is, the more likely it is to be at least close to reality, it seems.
