If you’ve read any tech sites in the last few months, you’ll know that the iPhone 5 is well and truly on the radar, and while as per usual there’s no official word from Apple on the matter, there are some solid bits of info: patent applications and job vacancies, plus the usual raft of leaks from anonymous sources and insiders “close to the matter”. From the mass of information, we’ve pieced together what we know so far. Click through for a round-up of iPhone 5 features we can expect to see.
Chipset
One of the most solid bits of info we’ve got about the iPhone 5 is that it will have an A5 chipset under the hood. There’s even been a leaked photo of it sitting pretty inside an iPhone 5 prototype.
Samsung factories are working overtime with reports suggesting that Samsung has agreed to “quadruple monthly shipments of processors to Apple”.
Read more: iPhone 5 A5 processor
NFC Tech
NFC tech popped up most recently in the Google Nexus S, and Apple wants in on the action too, and has hired itself an NFC boffin. On top of this, there’s been a clutch of patents filed by Apple to do with NFC tech and its uses, which will mean that you can pay and travel using your smartphone, and also fling things between your smartphone and Mac.
Wireless syncing is already a confirmed feature of iOS 5, but could also mean that, with a wave of an NFC iPhone, and any Apple computer turns into your own – same settings, look, bookmarks, preferences.
Read more: iPhone 5 NFC Mac data sharing incoming
Slimmed Down Body
Another change to the next iPhone is its physical shape. Leaked cases galore indicate that we’re looking at a slimmer, but wider, iPhone 5. In turn, that suggests a bigger screen inside, and could also explain the seemingly larger battery already spied. Maybe it’s the same size battery, just slimmer and wider, rather than deeper and more powerful?
Some reports have also claimed that the size of the iPhone 5 will be shaved down to even smaller proportions by a new method of making capacitive screens which uses smaller conductive nodes underneath the screen.
Read more: iPhone 5 thinner body incoming thanks to new tech
Improved camera
A slew of patent applications revealed a raft of improvements we can expect to see in the iPhone 5. There’s been a patent application for masking skin tones, that will stop you looking washed out by flash, and there’s one for correcting blurry snaps and for reducing noise, the latter of which should mean better low light performance.
Read more: iPhone 5 and iPad 2 camera patent bonanza
It’s already out in public
The iPhone 5, as secret as it is, has already leaked in full. At least one prototype is known to be missing, after an Apple employee left it in a San Fran bar. A case of history repeating itself? Absolutely. Apple’s iPhone 4 suffered the same fate just before release.
The less than likely…
Home Button scrapped?
The iPad 2 and iPhone 5 could also have no home button, although this is one of the more far fetched, rampantly speculative rumour knocking around the blogosphere. BGR guessed that the new batch of multi-touch gestures were indicative of a plan to kill the home button on both devices. BGR claimed that Apple was already testing home button free iPad and iPhone devices, but admitted that the rumour was “pretty wild”.
Read more: iPad 2 and iPhone 5: No home button
Glove-friendly screens?
Hitachi Displays has developed a new touch panel capable of detecting input through insulating material like plastic or cloth which means you wouldn’t need to expose your pinkies to the cold, and could carry on using your iPhone 5 or iPad 2 even when you need to be wrapped up warm…
Read more: iPhone 5 and iPad 2 glove friendly screens incoming
What’s top of your wishlist for the iPhone 5? Shout out in the comments!
