Today, the China Times is reaffirming a lot of the iPhone 5 rumors we’ve heard over the last month: iPhone 5 will have that iPhone 4 look and feel, but it will come complete with a 4-inch screen, up from the current 3.5-inch (diagonal) screen. It’s also being reported by the Times that the iPhone 5 is on track for a 3rd quarter release sometime between April and June 30th, 2011, and that NFC will be included.
On the rumors
We’ve been hearing for a while that the iPhone 5 will look almost identical to the iPhone 4, with the possibility of a liquid metal backplate, instead of the glass plate that we’ve grown to love. The new rumor from the China Times lends some credence to those rumors, as well as the rumors that surfaced last week based on the ‘leaked’ iPhone 5 cases in China.
As for the release date, a 3rd quarter shipping date is right on par with the last year’s iPhone 4 announcement (June 7), iPhone 3GS announcement (June 8), and the iPhone 3G announcement (June 9). Notice a trend there? We’re not going to come right out and start a rumor, but we’d be willing to bet that the iPhone 5 announcement will take place on June 6th, should Apple continue with their first Monday in June schedule. iPhone announcements over the last three years have been like clock work, completely predictable. But there have been some suggestions that Apple may be looking to space out announcement dates for their iPhone and iPad models.
As for the bigger screen, it may be nice for consumers, but we’d suspect that it’s going to be a big headache for developers. Unless Apple sticks with the current Retina Display resolution, developers would be forced to develop 3 resolution specific graphics for the iPhone. To be fair, Apple’s warned developers time and again to create apps that are not resolution specific.
There you have it, iPhone 5 rumors du jour.
Update: The image in the post is not the iPhone 5, or a Mockup. It’s a sticker for the iPhone 4.
Article Via MacRumors
Photo Credit: The Reader’s Eye
