iPhone 5 Rumors Abound: October Launch, Unibody Case

iPhone 5 Rumors Abound: October Launch, Unibody Case:

The iPhone 4S launched in October, and the next iPhone could as well. Photo: Brian X. Chen/Wired

Now that the new iPad has settled in the hands of millions of Apple fans, attention shifts to Apple’s next major product refresh, the device we’ll simply (if not prematurely) call iPhone 5.
It’s early in the game, and we basically know nothing about Apple’s upcoming iPhone. Nonetheless, speculation about the next iPhone’s specs and features is in ample supply, as three separate rumors were reported today. Here we look at the reports in order from most reasonable to least reasonable, and analyze them in historical context.

Launch Date

Most iPhones have launched in June, concurrent with Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. 2011′s iPhone 4S, however, launched in October. A number of reports are pegging Apple’s next iPhone for an October launch as well — the latest intel was sourced from a head of human resources at a Foxconn factory in China. The Foxconn employee told reporters with South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper that they just got the order, and the phone is slated for October.
Athough the source of this rumor is questionable (considering Foxconn employees seem to be giving out conflicting information like candy) we still give it a 50/50 chance that the phone will arrive in October. As far as rumors go, those are pretty good odds.
Source Reliability: Dubious. How much access to Apple’s plans does a Foxconn HR manager have?

Rumor Reasonability: Relatively high.

Internal Specs

9to5 Mac reported it received inside information about the internals of Apple’s next handset: 1GB of RAM and a variation of the iPad’s A5X processor, a dual-core architecture with quad-core graphics technology.
The iPhone 4S and 4 both only have 512MB of RAM and frankly, run iOS 5 just fine. However, the latest iPad, which sports an A5X chip, has been upgraded to 1GB of RAM.
The iPhone 4S did snag the same dual-core A5 processor as the earlier-released iPad 2, so there is precedent for the iPhone adopting iPad technology. What’s more, as far as rumor predictions go, 9to5Mac’s sources have been spot-on on more than one occasion.
Source Reliability: Pretty good. 9to5mac has a good track record.

Rumor Reasonability: Moderate.

The Look

Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White took a trip to China and came back with big things to say about the next iPhone. White says it will have a “four-inch screen and a new, sleek look that [Topeka Capital Markets] believe will require a Unibody case.” White also pegs an August or September launch at the earliest, given the iPhone 4S’ debut in October.
We’ve heard that Apple’s next handset could have a 4-inch or larger display before, and a number of analysts agree that a larger display is very, very likely.
White has previously posited that Apple will release its own television, an iPad mini, and a redesigned iPhone 5. None of these devices have seen the light of day — but that doesn’t mean they won’t arrive in the future; it just means White likes to make predictions. White did posit that Apple’s last iPhone would “shatter” single-day sales records, but I think we all could have predicted that.
Source Reliability: Dubious. White has an unclear track record.

Rumor Reasonability: Moderate.