Foxconn tooling up for iPhone 5
Bigger body, bigger screen, says factory insider
Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn is preparing its production lines for the iPhone 5, a company mole has claimed.
The throat, who previously told 9to5Mac at the end of summer 2011 that the iPhone 5 would not be launched in the near future, told the website that the new model will be longer and wider than the iPhone 4S - which is now topping the US smartphone chart - feature a new look and sport a screen that's 4in or more in size.
There are a handful of samples kicking around, none of which the final version, but the characteristics listed above are common to all, (s)he said.
Of course, it's clear that Foxconn has not yet told its Chinese factories to begin manufacturing the phone, so it's impossible to use this snippet to forecast an iPhone 5 release date.
It's suggested that the Foxconn mole's whisper points to a June/July launch and release, but given the huge success of the iPhone 4S after its October launch, Apple may reasonably tempted to milk this one for more than six months.
We don't think the iPhone 5 will be out until a year on from the 4S' launch.
And if Apple has that much lead time, who can say how the design and specs are going to change over the next six months? ®
COMMENTS
Larger screen....
I assume if this screen is in 'widescreen' format then HTC, Samsung, Sony, et al. will being suing apple for copying their designs.
What goes around....
A bit early
This is a rumour. Please stop with the rumours.
Also, isn't it a little early for switching on the apple hype machine?
Last years rumours
We heard the same crap last year when everyone expected the iPhone 5 to be released.
They were rubbish back then, they're rubbish now.
@ Ammaross Danan
All phones use 6 month old technology, because it takes them that long to design it. Otherwise you'd have to believe your chip manufacturers' salesmen, design everything blind, and sell the phone without any testing... As for underwhelming specs, I think both the iPhones 3 and the iPhone 4 had pretty much the best hardware specs on the market for a couple of months.
Obviously if you buy them later in Apple's release cycle then you're still paying top, apple premium, price for hardware that should now have got a bit cheaper. This, I suspect, is how Apple make half their huge profits on this stuff. They're still managing to get £300 for the 3GS, which should be well down on that now. Given how component prices drop, I'd be amazed if they don't make more profit per 3GS now, than they did when they launched it, at twice its current price.
The question the fAndroids have to answer is if Apple are so shit, and so overpriced, how come they sell so well? Sales are too high for it to be all iDiots. And there just aren't that many baristas in the world... Therefore, our beloved platform might not be perfect.
Insider?
I didn't realize they even made Chinese people that small.
