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16 May 2011
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I'm sure we've all been thinking about this at one stage or another. I'm also sure we've all read some of the rather ridiculous rumours going round, but not all of them are ungrounded. I've put together a list of both the likely and unlikely rumours, as well as what I'd like to see. Read on for more.
A larger screen: Apple is trailing behind when it comes to screen size, and the Android market isn't making things any easier for them. The HTC Evo boasts a 4.3 inch screen, and Dell is producing a behemoth of a smartphone with a screen measuring a whopping 5 inches. It's extremely likely that Apple will raise the screen size to at least 4 inches, possibly more, while retaining the beautiful resolution all us 4 users have come to love. Possibility - Likely
A larger, edge-to-edge screen could well be in the works
A better graphics chip and processor: While the A4 chip that the iPhone 4 currently sports is plenty grunty for most of us, there are a few people who would like something faster. There's been much speculation that the 5 will be getting the A5 chip (What currently powers the iPad 2), meaning we'll have at least twice the power - this is going to mean a lot for gamers in particular, although it will also mean that more conservative users can multitask without the fear of slowing their iPhone as much. Possibility - Likely
A 3D screen and 3D camera: It seems everything is going 3D lately, with TV's, laptops, and even gaming consoles all bursting through screens. Quite a popular rumour is that Apple will be sticking a 3D-without-heinous-glasses screen on their iPhone 5. My thoughts on this? I just can't see them doing this any time soon, as Apple has never seemed like a jump-on-the-bandwagon kind of company, and that's exactly what they would be doing. Not only that, they would have to drop the screen resolution to be able to accomodate something like that, meaning we'd lose our Retina display, which we've all come to love. Possibility - Extremely unlikely
A redesigned antenna: Shortly after the release of the iPhone 4, the world was swept by a pandemic quickly nicknamed the "Death Grip". For those of you who are less poetic than I, it was (is) basically a problem caused when your skin, ie hand, comes into contact with certain parts of the metal band that runs around the edge of the phone. It caused an enormous loss of reception, and essentially made the phone impossible to use comfortably. Apple quickly released a fix for the problem in the form of free cases, since the problem can be solved simply by putting anything, no matter how thick, between your hand and the phone itself. We can expect a completely redesigned antenna, probably something more along the lines of the iPhone 3GS, with the antenna being incorporated with the back of the phone. Possibility - Extremely likely
Better battery life: If Apple decides to incorporate both the better processor and a larger screen, they're going to have to improve battery life simply to keep the phone running with the newer hardware. Heck, they really need to improve battery life anyway, since we really can't get too much usage out of the iPhone 4 at the moment, especially if we're browsing internet with 3G. It's very likely we can expect a longer battery life from the iPhone 5. Possibility - Extremely likely
An improved camera. With Android phones incorporating better cameras, it's almost certain that the iPhone 5 will have a have an upgrade, possibly to 8 megapixels, with Full HD video recording. Since Apple has improved their camera each time (with the exception being the transition from iPhone 1 to the iPhone 3G, it's almost a given that we will be getting an upgraded pic-shooter. Possibility - Extremely likely
More storage. If Apple does put in these improvements, they're going to need more storage. More megapixels means bigger photos, Full HD equals more space, and an improved graphics chip means games will be larger, to accomodate the spiffier eye candy. 32GB, the largest iPhone size you can buy at the moment, just ain't gonna cut it. We can expect the iPhone 5 to have at least 64GB, possibly 128GB, or (this may be pushing it) a mighty 256GB. That last amount may be a bit too optimistic, but you never know. The other option they'll possibly shoot for will be free Cloud storage, although the obvious downside to that is the need to have internet to access your files, and we all know we don't always get reception. Add to that the issue of exorbidant data costs in NZ, and I'm definitely hoping they decide to go with a physical storage upgrade, and leave Cloud storage as an added extra. Possibility - Extremely likely
Face recognition. It's quite possible that Apple will decide to bring some kind of face recogntion/ face unlocking to the iPhone. I think they'll be quite wary of this though, as face recognition is an imperfect science at the moment. Simply changes in light, surroundings, or even a peircing or facial hair can throw it off. Still though, it's not out of the question, so it deserved a mention. Possibility - Somewhere between likely and unlikely. But I can't think of the word.
Better customisation options. Apple has noticed the Jailbreaking community, and although they don't support what we they do, it's been seen time and again that companies (such as Apple) take a leaf from the homebrew communities book. While I don't see them adding features such as Bluetooth file transfer or giving us the option to (gasp!) edit the iPhone's internal files, I wouldn't be surprised if we see features such as themes, custom lock patterns, and just a more customisable interface in general. Who knows, maybe they'll even condone Homebrew... As if. Possibility - Well, it's a possibility, right? Right?!
I won't bother going through any more rumours out there, as some of them are just downright ridiculous. Actually, what I should say is I won't bother going through them in detail. I do have a few honourable mentions, which I have gathered from asking various people what they'd like to see in the new iPhone. So, here we go:
A waterproof, crushproof, dustproof iPhone, thus removing the need of a case. Possibility - Well, just think. What would happen to all those Apple employees whos job it is to tell us that the warranty doesn't cover "user damage"?
The ability to play PS3 games. Possibility - Riiiiiight.
A hover-engine, meaning you could have the phone floating just off the table or desk, meaning you wouldn't have to worry about the glass back getting scratched. (Someone actually said this to me. But he may well have been high at the time) Possibility - Not gonna happen people, there just isn't enough fairy dust in the world to make this an affordable endeavour for Apple.
Have you got a rumour you've heard of that I haven't mentioned? Have I missed something vital? Let me know, either here or on our Facebook page.
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