Apple’s New iPhone: News And Rumors Roundup

BY Jason

Published 6 Jun 2010

New iPhone, iPhone 4, iPhone 4G

It’s less than a day to go for Apple’s WorldWide Developer Conference 2010 Keynote address where Steve Jobs is widely expected to unveil the next generation iPhone.

We’ve reported an insane number of news and rumors about Apple’s fourth generation iPhone.

So in case you missed them, here is a detailed roundup of everything we know about Apple’s new iPhone.

Update:

Please don't forget to also checkout our iPhone 4G – Most Wanted Features

Lost Next generation iPhone prototype:

Gizmodo got their hands on Apple’s next generation iPhone prototype, which was found in on the floor of a San Jose bar inside of an iPhone 3G case and surprised the tech world by publishing photos and videos of the prototype and also disassembled it to checkout the internals.

The next generation iPhone prototype has revealed the following new features:

  • Front-facing video chat camera

  • Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)

  • Camera flash

  • Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)

  • Improved display. It's unclear if it's the 960×460 960×640 display thrown around before — it certainly looks like it, with the "Connect to iTunes" screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.

  • What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack

  • Split buttons for volume

  • Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

The lost prototype also revealed the following changes:

  • The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound

  • An aluminum border going completely around the outside

  • Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)

  • Everything is more squared off

  • 3 grams heavier

  • 16% Larger battery

  • Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery

Video Conferencing Capabilities:

Based on the lost next generation iPhone prototype and code references found in the beta versions of iPhone OS 4.0, it is very likely that Apple’s fourth generation iPhone will allow users to video chat with their family and friends.

Processor:

The teardown of the second next generation iPhone prototype discovered in Vietnam had revealed the possibility of iPad’s A4 chip in the fourth generation iPhone.

RAM:

Though the teardown of second next generation iPhone prototype revealed that Apple’s new iPhone will come with 256MB RAM, we have heard some rumors that it might include 512MB RAM (let's hope so).

Higher Resolution:

Developers have discovered references in iPhone OS 4.0 SDK Beta 3 that indicates that Apple’s new iPhone will be able to record videos at 1280×720 HD resolution instead of the 640×480 VGA resolution possible in iPhone 3GS.

Folks at SuperPhone.cz, who are claiming to have received parts of the next generation iPhone have confirmed that Apple’s new iPhone screen will be running at a resolution of 960×640.

Battery:

Based on the teardown of the lost iPhone prototype it looks like Apple’s new iPhone battery will have 16% more capacity (3.7V 5.25Whr) as compared to iPhone 3GS, which only has a 3.7V 4.51Whr battery.

Colors:

At present, iPhone units are available with a standard black colored front panel while the back casing has been offered in both black and white colors.

But we’ve seen many photos that indicate that the next generation iPhone may come with a a black or new white colored front panel.

Carriers:

We’ve heard several rumors that Apple might end AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity in the US with the launch of iPhone 4G.

It is widely speculated that Apple has been working on two iPhones, one of them for Verizon. Apple reportedly has placed an order for 10 million Verizon iPhones with Pegatron.

Verizon is apparently also working with an ad agency on the iPhone campaign.

There are rumors that Verizon iPhone might be available during the holiday shopping season. But Verizon recently commented that they had no plans to carry the iPhone in the immediate future.

We’ve also reported that iPhone HD or iPhone 4G might come to Sprint this month.

Release date:

So far, we’ve heard rumors and speculations that Apple’s new iPhone will go on sale either on June 7 (i.e. tomorrow), June 18 and June 22.

We believe that due to WWDC 2010, the earliest the next generation iPhone will be available is June 11 but June 18 seems most likely date for the launch.

What will it be called?

iPhone 4G has been a popular name for Apple’s fourth generation iPhone (for the obvious reason) but it could be misleading if it does not support 4G networks. Even if Apple’s new iPhone comes to Sprint, iPhone 4G might not be an ideal name as AT&T is yet to deploy its 4G LTE network.

We’ve heard rumors that it might be dubbed iPhone HD due to its higher resolution display and ability to record HD videos.

Photos And Videos of Apple’s new iPhone:

Here are some photos of what could be Apple’s new iPhone:

New iPhone, iPhone 4, iPhone 4G, iPhone HD - Black

New iPhone, iPhone 4, iPhone 4G, iPhone HD - White

And here’s a video:

As you can see, there seems to be so much we already know about Apple’s new iPhone but we can’t wait for tomorrow as there are things that we still don’t know and don’t forget Steve Jobs has told us that we won’t be disappointed.

Update:

Please don't forget to checkout our iPhone 4G – Most Wanted Features 

Are you excited? Which features do you really want in Apple’s new iPhone?