iPhone 5 rumor roundup

• Posted by Sindhuri G August 31, 2012 - Filed in Technology - 1,676 views

  After unveiling a marginally improved iPhone 4S in 2011 instead of a radically different iPhone 5, Apple has returned to its development labs to cook up (no pun intended) the next iteration of its popular phone. In 2012, we're fairly certain that the real iPhone 5 will roll out of Apple's gates and that the device should be a bigger leap forward than the 4S was.

  That's why after taking some time off at the end of last year, we've resurrected CNET's iPhone 5 rumor roundup to cover the new tidbits from 2012. So join us again in watching the rumor mill churn. We'll add to it until we get the real thing; please let us know if we've left any gossip out.

  See also CNET's iPad Mini rumor roundup and Apple HDTV rumor roundup.

  August 29, 2012
  Photos from France
  French Web site Nowhereelse.fr posts photos of what appears to be a new and unreleased iPhone. Yet, the shots don't tell us much beyond showing a larger screen size of four inches. A bigger display has been a persistent rumor all year.

  August 28, 2012
  Moscone is booked
  San Francisco's Moscone Center, the site where Apple revealed the original iPhone, the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS, and the iPhone 4, is booked solid on September 12, the rumored date of Apple's iPhone announcement event. That leaves plenty of other locations as a possibility including the theater at nearby Yerba Buena Gardens, where Apple unveiled each version of the iPad. Yet, if the site ends up being Apple's campus in Cupertino (where the company launched the iPhone 4S) the smaller location suggests that we won't see multiple new products.

  OK, scratch that thing people said about the NFC chip
  To NFC or not to NFC? Apparently, AnandTech thinks it's a no-go. The tech review site reported that because the iPhone's backside is metal and because there's only a small amount of space at the top and bottom of the phone, an NFC chip would not be able to fit. Instead, the site speculates that the small space seen before on the presumably new iPhone might just be space for a touch and display controller that'll accommodate the device's new touch screen.

  August 27, 2012
  There's space for an NFC chip
  In a recently leaked photo of the supposedly new iPhone, Apple.pro spotted what could be a small space designated for a near-field communication (NFC) chip. The area is next to the front-facing camera, and it matches the size of some current NFC chips. Though no one can say anything for sure, a Japanese blog, Macotakara, also speculated that a hole near the next iPod Touch's camera also hints at an NFC chip.