Wednesday, June 5, 2013
iPhone 5 Rumors Persist New Dock Connector Thinner Design
The iPhone 5 rumors are starting to sync, providing a basic outline of what Apple’s next phone might look like.
While it has been previously reported that the new iPhone (or what many assume will be called the iPhone 5) will have a new, smaller dock connector,Reuters is now corroborating these rumors.
The next iPhone will come with a 19-pin connector rather than the 30-pin port on the current iPhone and iPad ”to make room for the earphone moving to the bottom,” two Reuters sources who are “familiar with the matter” said.
Apple has recently moved to a new dock connector on the MacBook Pro with Retina Display and sells an accessory so the new charging port is compatible with older chargers.
The move to use a new dock or charging port would save some space and may also allow the phone to be thinner.
Which brings us to another rumor. Last week The Wall Street Journalreported that Apple will use a new type of thinner screen that will integrate the touchscreen right into the LCD.
On the current iPhone, the touchscreen is a layer on top of the LCD. The new screen technology, which is said to be currently in mass production, would allow the phone to be thinner. Previous rumors also suggested that the phone would have a slightly larger 4-inch display (the current iPhone has a 3.5-inch screen) and use the second generation of Gorilla Glass, the durable glass that covers the current iPhone. That glass is also thinner, although it provides the same level of protection.
Additionally, the next iPhone has been rumored to have LTE and a faster processor and graphics.
Apple is expected to release the next iPhone during the fall, with many reports pointing to October, close to a year after the iPhone 4S was released. The next version of the iPhone software, iOS 6, was previewed in June and is also due out around the same time. Check out some of the new features in iOS 6 here.
Reuters has also reported that Apple’s third-quarter earnings, which will be announced Tuesday, may fall short, as iPhone sales have slowed over the past couple of months as buyers await the new phone. Apple has not said issued any statement about the next version of its iPhone.
