Another day, another report on Apples highly anticipated iPhone 5, this time from Mac blog iLounge, which claims via a reliable source to have confirmed details of a thinner, longer smartphone sporting scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 2 on the front, a metal panel on the back and a roughly 4-inch screen, larger than the 3.5-inch screen found on the current edition of the iPhone.
In addition, the next iPhone will have a smaller dock connector with fewer pins and will be roughly 20 percent thinner than the iPhone 4. Approximate measurements are 125mm by 58.5mm by 7.4mma 10mm jump in height, nearly 2mm reduction in thickness, and virtually identical width, the article said. According to our source, Apple will make one major change to the rear casing, adding a metal panel to the central back of the new iPhone. This panel will be flat, not curved, and metal, not ceramic.
While theres no shortage of rumors and anonymous sources speculating on the design specification, iLounge has a pretty good track record when it comes to their information. The site had earlier reported details about the then-upcoming new iPad, claiming it would be thicker and boast a better camera, both of which turned out to be true. The sites claim that the new iPhones screen size would change the aspect ratio of the screen has also raised a discussion about application resolution and other app development considerations.
Should Apple really switch to a widescreen 16:9 orientation, they could use the extra space to, say, render banner notifications unobtrusively, right above the running app, suggested the Apple blog iDownloadblog. Another solution: drop the physical home button and replace it with a virtual counterpart occupying extra space at the screen bottom.
The iLounge report doesnt mention anything about a possible release date, which some reports suggest could come at Apples Worldwide Developer Conference, or as late as Octobernot that anyone should worry. A recent report from global securities and investment group Jefferies mentions that they do not think it matters economically to Apple when the phone is launched, and investors should not stress about it.
We have penciled in 15 million iPhone 5 shipments for [the third quarter], out of their 40 million total estimate, and 50 million total iPhones in the fourth quarter, the April 28 report noted. Beginning in September, Apple will have more than 175 million iPhone subscribers globally. Assuming a two-year replacement implies a base case of about 20 million iPhones a quarter.