Let’s break this down rumor by rumor.

1. Abandoning teardrop design for another glass body.

I never believed in the teardrop design, it’s not very practical and goes against Apples appreciation for symmetry. It is also not practical from a design standpoint seeing that the battery would also have to be a teardrop shape or take up the whole upper portion of the phone making it so top heavy and uncomfortable to hold. You know these are the things Apple thinks about. Where would the components go? And the idea of having curved boards probably scares them more that it does me!

2. Being longer (or taller) than the current iPhone.

It’s possible but not as dramatically depicted in their concept renderings. This would only work if they really did increase the screen size and change the aspect ratio. I’ll get to that.

3. A metal panel on the back.

Are you kidding me? That’s atrocious. They wouldn’t have two different surface types on the back, Apple loves to brag about how beautiful their phones are so it’ll be one consistent surface and it won’t be metal. Why? Having a glass front and a metal back makes for a horrible combination when holding the phone. The feel of metal on your fingers and glass on your thumbs will take away from the experience. It’s especially ugly considering what today’s iPhones look like.

4. Manufactured with Gorilla Glass 2.

I say this is very probable. If they’re using Gorilla Glass now, why wouldn’t they use only the best they have to offer for their phones? It can either be thinner and have equal strength or be the same thickness and be much stronger. In theory, according to the source, the phone could be 20% thinner and you know Apple can’t pass that up. I’d expect thinner glass if they do use Gorilla Glass 2.

5. An increase in screen size to 4 inches.

Don’t we see this one every year? Look, Apple didn’t just throw a dart onto a board with screen sizes to come up with 3.5 inches. Millions went into research for this number, just like any decision made at Apple. The iPhone is a PHONE, that you carry in your pocket. Therefore it is small. iPad is a tablet, large and powerful with a lot of screen to offer. They won’t make the iPhone screen bigger for the same reason they don’t make the iPad smaller. It wouldn’t serve it’s purpose. A 4 inch screen will require two thumbs to use (Like the iPad does now). How practical does that sound for a phone? Apple also likes their developers while hating fragmentation, which is what this screen would create on a smaller scale. All apps would have to be redone. Releasing this phone would mean that in the first month the older iPhones will have their vast library of 500,000+ apps still available while the new iPhone will have maybe 5,000 native apps. Where would Apple’s beloved bragging rights go? “Best app market.” It would become smaller than the market found on the Windows Phone. If you have a full sized tablet available you don’t need a larger phone and if you have a small phone available you don’t need a smaller tablet. Do you see how Apple products work together? They want you to buy both devices and I’m willing to bet that a larger iPhone screen means decreased iPad sales and higher manufacturing prices for the iPhone. Where’s Apple’s win in that?

6. New dock.

I don’t know about you but 16 pins seems like a lesser amount compared to 30… But that’s just me, I’m no genius. I’m not discrediting this one but I just don’t see the point. The 30-pin connector has been a HUGE success at Apple and doesn’t need replacing. Supporting speeds higher than any USB port offers today. A future proof aspect of Apple products, why change it?

Questions?

Comments?

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Is something I posted inaccurate?

Message me and I will be certain to get back to you.

There were some rumors that were leading people to believe that the iPhone 5 will have 4G LTE when it is released. I do not think this will happen.

It is not like Apple to invest into undeveloped technology. Today, even the not so tech savvy people know what 3G is, but there was a time when the technology was out for the public and it still wasn’t good enough for Apple to develop a 3G iPhone. They take pride in releasing products that “just work” as Jobs words it so well. Their target audience is the type of consumer that wants all the power of a super-phone without having to figure it out, like why your 4G isn’t working. Now imagine the frustration of Apple customers that buy a 4G phone that doesn’t get 4G reception. It would be like the Evo all over again, so much hype until you gave it a speed test. Don’t get me wrong, the Evo is an amazing phone now that I can get 4G on it, but I was very disappointed when I first got my hands on one.

Although, something that is possible is about half way through the phone’s cycle, Apple releases a 4G model. This would boost sales and keep the iPhone hype in the market for a much longer period of time. I thought releasing the white iPhone 4 as late as Apple did was foolish. That is, until I saw the sales on the thing.

In summary, don’t expect 4G LTE support on the iPhone 5 but rather in a later version of the iPhone 5 or the iPhone 6.

We all know how things are with the iPhone market. The one we care about most is the one that hasn’t been released yet. So while little guys like me sit here and report something someone else knows about, someone else is out there looking at the bigger picture. I’ve already heard quite a bit of rumors of specs and features of the iPhone 6, but how can you know it’s not what the 5 will have?

Apple has taken out two patents (one much more recent than the other, but both relevant) for iPhone designs. One of which is wireless charging. I’m sure the nerds reading this have heard this one, but Apple plans to implement a system of the drop and charge technology that the Power Mat, but without adding bulk to the phone. The kind of bulk that massive case of the Power Mat adds. The next is solar panels on the device to get a nice charge from the Sun. Interesting ideas.

Common belief is that these patents were taken out for the iPhone 6. It is very obvious to anyone who knows Apple that they have started work on the iPhone 6 long ago. But to take out a patent you must already be capable of developing and distributing the hardware. Otherwise everyone would take out every possible patent just to sit on the ideas until the day they have the technology to go through with it. So will we see these features in the next iPhone launch? Will it even be in September? It’s too close to tell.