The latest Apple release never fails to stir up the rumour mill, but the next iPhone – dubbed the iPhone 5 – has been the subject of some particularly bizarre stories, including an incident in which a model was possibly stolen. As always, Apple has remains silent on all rumours, fuelling the speculation on the internet.
Release date
Rumours about the release date have been flying around for a while, but Apple's fairly predictable product release schedule means the next iPhone will likely appear in October or November. The latest tip on the web is the first week of October, which would be slightly earlier than expected, according to a Best Buy employee in the US.
Design
Over the last few months, there has been a lot of speculation as to where Apple will take the design of the next iPhone. Earlier this year analysts suggested a smaller, cheaper model would be the likeliest direction, while others predicted a larger screen. The most recent rumours suggest a 'teardrop' design, with a curved screen, which would certainly set the new iPhone apart from previous incarnations and every other smartphone on the market.
Features
Several months ago, there was a lot of speculation that Apple would employ near-field payment technology in its next phone, which would allow users to pay for their lattes and train tickets with a simple swipe of their iPhone. Apple may well have been considering this idea, but later rumours suggested payment technology will not be a feature on the iPhone 5. Apple is said to be concerned by a lack of a universal standard and will be developing its own instead.
A much-improved camera does appear to be a likely feature on the iPhone. The web is abuzz with an image of a plate of sushi that was posted to the Flikr account of an Apple software engineer, which claims to be made with an iPhone 4. While the picture itself is unremarkable, the photo data reveals it was cropped from an 8 megapixel image to 5 megapixels, and with a different lens to that of the iPhone 4.
This could be a fraud, or a publicity stunt from Apple designed to crank up the rumour mill ahead of an official announcement.
Either way, it's no surprise that Apple would improve the camera, given that rival smartphone maker Samsung already has an 8 megapixel camera on its Galaxy SII.
One feature that has already been announced is iCloud, which allows Apple users to access their content on multiple devices, anywhere. According to Apple's website, this feature is 'coming this fall' which would tie in nicely with the launch of the iPhone 5.
4G
The next generation mobile network is on its way, and several 4G compatible phones have been released. Given that Apple is usually ahead of the pack on new technology, it would seem likely that the next iPhone will be 4G. Having said that, there are few suggestions that Apple is planning to make its next phone 4G, so this we'll just have to wait and see.
SIM card
Apple brought out its own microSIM for the iPhone 4 and the iPad, and rumours suggest that the next generation of iPhones will have no SIM at all. Given that most people want to use their iPhone with another provider when they travel overseas, this would be a massive improvement on the fiddly process of extracting and switching a microSIM.