So it’s finally here. Tomorrow is the (strongly rumoured) day that the “new iPhone” will be announced officially. Whether it will also be released to the buying public is something that remains to be seen, but it’s a sure bet to say that Apple’s latest project is 2012’s hottest technology release.
But just what is going to be part of this iPhone?
Rumours are abound and have been circling ever since the release of the iPhone 4S, but there are a few that are near confirmed and we at Kumulos have brought them together in our shortlist of the most expected features of the iPhone 5.
iOS 6
A no brainer really, considering the announcement back at the WWDC. The latest iteration of iOS also managed to confirm some features of the new iPhone by proxy, including a smarter Siri, Apple’s own map app, Passbook and others.
9/16/19 Pin adapter plug
There seems to be a small amount of disagreement right now about the exact number of pins the new adapter plug will have, but every rumour and news outlet agrees that it’s a near certainty that the new iPhone will feature a small, more compact adapter plug. Get ready to buy an adapter for your old 30 pin plug people!
New headphone jack placement
With the new size of adapter plug is also coming a shift in the placement of the headphone Jack. Instead of being on top, it’s now piqued to be at the bottom of the phone, beside the adapter plug. Guess we’re going to have to get used to listening to our iPhones with them upside down.
Bigger Screen
With Samsung (Apple’s now greatest threat in the current smartphone market) putting out phones like the Galaxy S3 with a 4.8” screen, or even the Note with a 5.3” screen, and other manufacturers all hopping on the bandwagon to create phones with larger screens, the current iPhone 4S is starting to look positively compact these days. This is set to change with the new iPhone, with rumours corroborating towards an at least 4” screen to bring it up to modern specs.
Sexy new design
Apple is known the world over for being the king of aesthetic design, and yet the iPhone has seen no significant upgrades in visuals since the 3G. Again, this is looking to change, with the artistic company utilising the screen size change to also upgrade the phone’s looks. As always with Apple, what it looks like is possibly the best kept secret out of the lot, but the consensus is that the design is likely to be slimmer and perhaps more rounded than the slightly blocky current gen iPhone.
LTE 4G support
It came as something of a disappointment when the 4S wasn’t 4G capable, but perhaps understandable as this time last year 4G was not nearly as prevalent as it is now. The iPhone 5 is set to keep up with this and it is a near certainty that it will support the LTE 4G that is being rolled out across the globe.
Better performance
With the “new iPad” not sporting a next gen processor, we now look to the new iPhone instead to take on the first of the new supposedly quad core “A6” processors, along with extra RAM, which is being said to be 1Gb (anyone else remember when that amount of RAM took half a computer tower to have?). Anyways, this newer, beefier hardware should ensure the iPhone climbs back on top of Samsung and other smartphone companies using increasingly powerful chipsets.
NFC
Finally on this list is NFC or Near Field Communications. This is a young technology and only available in a couple of phones right now, so this one is less certain than the others. Passbook, Apple’s eticket organiser, does add a lot of credence to this rumour though as it is exactly the kind of app that NFC is meant for. Getting on a plane? Just load up your ticket in passbook and swipe it over the sensor, boom, boarding pass. We’ll have to see about this one as it could go one of two ways: Apple could release with NFC and push forward the adoption of the technology, or they could hold back and wait until it gets bigger.
Well there you have it folks, that’s the breakdown of the most likely things to appear in the iPhone announcement tomorrow. We’re just as excited about it as you are and we’ll be right back here tomorrow with our thoughts on the annoucement/release.
Also, if you’re already developing for iOS and you’re worried about the changes iOS 6 will bring, never fear, Kumulos is here! We’re making sure that all of our Backend as a Service platform is ready to rock’n’roll with the latests and greatest iteration of iOS, so why not sign up and get started on that new project for iPhone you’ve been wanting to do?
