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Posts tagged with "iphone 5"

iPhone 5 To Revert Back To Aluminum Back And Internal Antenna?

A Chinese source has told Economic Daily News (translated by Macotakara) that Apple is abandoning the glass backing of the iPhone 4 in favor of an aluminum casing as well as ditching the external antenna design. According to the source the;

Decision to design similar to iPod touch instead of using glass is supposed that Apple seems to stop problems which are told widely damages from scratching, difficulties of painting white and weight of glass.

The source also reported that Apple is abandoning the current external antenna design that was plagued with controversy over the “death-grip” signal loss and attenuation issue. Although unclear, it seems that the translation implies that the “antenna will be designed to penetrate cellular and Wi-Fi waves via resin made Apple logo” which Apple actually does have a patent for.

Finally the source noted that Apple will include the new A5 processor in the fifth iteration of the iPhone, the same processor in the new iPad 2. As with all Apple rumors, including those regarding the iPhone 5, take them with a grain of salt. In particular when the source has a shaky record in previously predicting a 7-inch iPad by Christmas 2010.

[Via MacRumors]

Surprise: Leaked iPhone 5 Dock Connector Looks Just Like iPhone 4 Dock Connector

Usually-reliable Taiwanese website Apple.pro [Google Translation] posted a photo of what they claim to be a leaked part of the next-generation iPhone, most specifically the 30-pin dock connector Apple has always used to let iOS devices and computers communicate and share data with each other. The most surprising part – the dock connector doesn’t show any big difference from the one Apple is currently using in the iPhone 4. Perhaps the new one is slightly narrower in the section where it connects to the device’s logic board. Apple.pro notes part number is 821-1300-02, while iPhone 4 has 821-1093-A.

On a related note, it’s interesting to notice Apple hasn’t made any changes to its dock connector after the European commission approved a new standard a few months ago that would require smartphone makers to adopt micro-USB as a universal connector for their devices. But, then again, Apple could just get away by bundling a micro-USB adapter in the iPhone 5’s retail package – something that, admittedly, would be pretty cool in our opinion.

Last, Apple.pro says the “leaked” iPhone 5 screen we saw last week is fake. Several readers pointed out that image could be easily Photoshopped, indeed. [via MacRumors]

First iPhone 5 Part Surfaces, Shows Larger Screen

9to5mac has posted a photo from Chinese reseller of Apple parts iDealsChina showing a a purported digitizer panel for the next-generation iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5. The front panel shows a bigger display with an “edge-to-edge” screen that reduces the size of the bezels, especially at the sides. iDealsChina writes:

China’s 1st iPhone 5 photo has surfaced! From this photo it seems that the screen size will be larger than iPhone 4. There has been a lot of specualtion about a larger screen and maybe this will be one of the upgrades we will see when iPhone 5 is released this summer.

We heard that more photos of parts for iPhone 5 may be available soon. The part we would like to see is the back of iPhone 5 to verify if the rumored tapered back is true.

Several readers have pointed out that the image could be easily modified in Photoshop, but it also appears to back up the rumors surfaced in the past weeks about a new iPhone with a 4-inch screen “edge-to-edge” buit to face the competition of Android handsets sporting bigger and larger displays. In spite of the problems with a new iPhone resolution happening this year, we heard a few months ago that the iPhone 5 would be a “complete redesign” with major new features, like NFC support. It’s not clear from the photo whether or not Apple could keep the iPhone form factor at the same size and increase the size of the display at the same time.

Jim Dalrymple: iPhone 5 and iPad 2 Not Delayed→

Jim Dalrymple: iPhone 5 and iPad 2 Not Delayed

The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple pours cold water on today’s rumors of a “delay” for the iPad 2 and iPhone 5 which, he notes, can’t be really “delayed” as they haven’t even been announced yet.

From what I’ve heard this morning both products are on schedule and will ship when they are supposed to. Only Apple knows exactly when that will be, but the products are not delayed.

It seems amazing that rumors of Apple missing product deadlines are running rampant when Apple hasn’t even announced the product yet. The only deadlines that have been set are by the media, not Apple.

Jim has a great track record and his sources are usually spot-on. Like we said this morning those rumors felt very inconsistent, and we believe Jim when he says Apple is on track to ship the next generation iPhone and iPad without “delays”.

Update: Reuters and Barron’s are now claiming the rumors are false, too. Both websites cite sources close to Apple and people familiar with the matter as sources denying a delay for the rumored iPhone 5 and iPad 2 releases.

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Rumor: iPhone 5 In September?

Right after speculation of a “delayed” iPad 2 launch in June, Business Insider reports FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger said in a note to investors that the next-generation iPhone might not be ready until September:

For the iPhone 5, we continue to hear that a July launch is unlikely, with various casing suppliers and touch suppliers still ramping up, with some chip vendors not having yet received firm iPhone 5 orders, and with other sockets like the image sensor (most likely going to Omnivision exclusively, but with some potential for Sony to split that socket) still in flux. Given these factors, we think a September launch is more likely.

These reports of analysts claiming delayed launches of various Apple products keep on sounding very inconsistent to us. How come Apple is experiencing all these production issues in 2011? What about iPad 3 in September rumors, white iPhone 5? We think these reports are based on nothing but pure speculation – we really hope so.

Apple usually announces a new model of the iPhone at the WWDC in June, releasing it a few weeks later. A September launch would also possibly delay the iPod / iPod touch regular updates. A number of reports in the past indicated the new iPhone (dubbed iPhone 5) was on track for a summer / June release, featuring a new Apple A5 processor, NFC capabilities and a slightly bigger screen (this one not very likely to happen).

Here’s an idea: what of this September launch analysts have reported is about a smaller iPhone, and not the iPhone5? The New York Times wouldn’t agree.

White iPhone 4 Still Missing, White iPhone 5 Rumors Begin

The white iPhone 4 has become some kind of a myth in the Apple rumor mill and production line with its multiple delays, reports of color and light issues, magical Japanese paint and presence on various international carriers websites. With a rumored release date of “Spring 2011”, we’re still waiting to hear of any updates from Apple in regards of this mythical device that Steve Jobs proudly showed on stage at the WWDC last year.

But forget about the white iPhone 4. Digitimes is reporting today the Chinese-language Economic Daily News paper indicated Wintek has been selected to be the “sole touch panel supply for white iPhone 5s” – reportedly shipping in June.

Wintek reportedly to be the sole touch panel supply for white iPhone 5s and may replace TPK Touch Solutions to become the leading touch panel maker worldwide in 2011 as Apple plans to focus on white models for the iPhone 5, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report.

How is this even possible, we don’t know. The white iPhone 4 is nowhere to be seen and the well-informed people in China are already talking about suppliers for a white iPhone 5. If this is true, the white iPhone 4 with a Spring 2011 release would be just a few months ahead of the white iPhone 5 in June – which doesn’t really make sense. Perhaps Apple killed the white iPhone 4 altogether and it’s using the Japanese paint for the iPhone 5? Maybe there’s no white iPhone 5 at all? Maybe a little bit of both?

We don’t know. But we’re pretty sure our next iPhone is going to be black.

Why The 4-inch iPhone Screen Won’t Happen This Year→

Why The 4-inch iPhone Screen Won’t Happen This Year

In a great “Doing the math” post, Chris Rawson at TUAW outlines the single reason why the next iPhone won’t get the rumored 4-inch screen:

Apple could work around that issue by slightly increasing the iPhone 5’s width, but there’s another problem. If Apple increases the screen size to 4” but retains the same 960 x 640 pixel dimensions, the PPI (pixels per inch) value drops to about 289 ppi – well below the iPhone 4 Retina Display’s 326 ppi, and just barely at the threshold of a “Retina Display” level of quality. To maintain 326 ppi, the pixel dimensions on a hypothetical 4-inch, 3:2 screen must increase to the neighborhood of 1080 x 720, plus or minus a few pixels.

App developers would then have three sets of resolutions to support for the iPhone instead of two, and scaling from 960 x 640 to 1080 x 720 wouldn’t be anywhere near as simple as the pixel-doubling that got developers by in the early days before they were able to scale apps up from 480 x 320 resolution.

Apple doesn’t want to lose the appeal of the Retina Display, and on other other hand they can’t come up with a third resolution a year after the introduction of the iPhone 4. That would be hell for third-party developers.

Whole post is a must-read. Check out all the numbers here.

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Apple To Outsource A4 and A5 Production? iPad 2 With “Enhanced” A4?

A second report from Digitimes this evening suggest that Apple might outsource the production of the A4 chip and the rumored Cortex-A9-based A5 to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, TSMC. Apple is reportedly concerned about leakage of production techniques and specs now that Samsung is directly competing with them in smartphone and tablet market, and TSMC already provided A4 production when Samsung was unable to meet demand last year.

Apple is reportedly looking to outsource the production of its A4 processor as well as the next-generation ARM Cortex-A9-based A5 processor to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), according to industry sources. The Apple A4 processor is currently exclusively produced by Samsung Electronics, and the previous S5PC100 used in the iPhone 3GS was also developed and manufactured by the Korean company.

TSMC declined to comment on the report.

Digitimes also reports the iPad 2 will feature an “enhanced” version of the A4 chip, while the iPhone 5 will come with the brand new Apple A5 processor. A number of reports surfaced in the past indicated Apple was working on a CPU for the next iPhones and iPads, although it is unclear at this point which one will get the new A5. Several pundits also speculated Apple will adopt dual-core processors and implement RAM up to 1GB in the iPhone 5, which will likely come with a universal GSM / CDMA antenna as well.

iPhone 5 To Feature 4-inch Screen?

With rumors about a smaller iPhone floating around since last week, the latest report from Digitimes surely is interesting. According to the publication, Apple might expand the next generation iPhone’s screen to 4 inches, mainly to compete with various Android handsets that come with displays larger than the iPhone 4.

Apple reportedly will change the screen size of iPhone to 4-inch for its fifth generation iPhone to compete with the Google Android platform in the 4- to 7-inch smartphone market, according to upstream component suppliers.

The component suppliers noted that the production lines for Apple’s next generation iPhone have begun testing, and Apple is interesting in expanding the screen size to 4-inches to support the tablet PC market as the vendor only has a 9.7-inch iPad in the market.

A bigger iPhone screen would raise questions on the resolution of the device, which is currently dubbed as “Retina” thanks to its DPI on the current 3.5-inch display. Another report from last week suggested Apple might adopt Samsung’s Super LPS screen technology, which offers greater viewing angles and brightness. Engadget reported in January that the iPhone would come with a radical new design which, if the rumors are to believed, would play well with this 4-inch screen theory. Digitimes has a good track record on Apple’s production chain reports, and admittedly a slightly bigger display would be pretty cool in our opinion.

In the past months, other rumors pointed to Apple building an iPhone with NFC capabilities for easy mobile payments (although iOS-to-iOS communication would be interesting, too), dual-core processor and LTE for a summer launch “at the earliest”. Earlier today, a new report suggested Apple has been considering three different iPhone 5 models with one of them featuring a slide-out physical keyboard – again, to possibly compete with Android devices. Last, the iPhone 5 is rumored to be a worldphone with integrated GSM / CDMA antennas.