Foxconn tooling up for iPhone 5

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? ®