4 Big Rumors We've Heard About the iPhone 5

We've all been spending a good deal of time chasing iPad 2 information, much of which can be found here and here. Anything that can be discovered at this point, short of going to a factory or reading Steve Jobs' and Jon Ive's minds is out on the internet. We are sure plenty more information will leak in the coming weeks, but you can rest assured knowing that we will work hard to keep you updated on anything iPad 2 related. That doesn't mean the fun's over. The iPhone 5 is also sitting high in rumor mill circulation.
We aren't even sure it will be called the iPhone 5, but we go with that name to use it as a reference point.
That said, let's all take a look at what we have heard about the iPhone 5 so far:


1) Will Use Qualcomm Chips

This rumor has been circulating for a while, and it's definitely not going away. The word is that Apple is using Qualcomm chipsets. This is now likely because of the Verizon iPhone, which uses CDMA technology rather than GSM, as AT&T uses. Qualcomm manufactures chipsets that are GSM/CDMA, which would fit both networks. This sounds likely for Apple, who would rather minimize SKUs than split their product line into GSM and CDMA.

2) Equipped with A5 Processor

 

It's said that the iPhone 5 will run on Apple's A5 processor, which is said to be a Cortex A9-based multi-core chip. The iPhone 5 is also rumored to be loaded with a Qualcomm chip with a CDMA, GSM and UMTS baseband processor. This will no doubt make the device much faster and better at rendering video content. On a small screen like what we expect to see on the iPhone 5, high-def video content may not be a big deal. However, on the gaming end, that means rendering more polygons. If you think that iPhone games like Infinity Blade look great, wait until they start making use of multicore processors.

3) Slimmer, and Completely Redesigned?

Okay, maybe not that thin.

There is also speculation that the iPhone 5 is a fair amount thinner than current models. This is because of smaller conductive nodes for the touchscreen. This comes from a patent application that popped up recently for a method of creating a thinner capacitive touchscreen. It would be interesting to see where this goes if used.

4) Like the iPad 2, May Lose the Home Button

While the iPad is definitely getting multitouch gestures, and so far most of them replace functions of the Home Button. However, we don't see anything of the sort coming to the iPhone...yet. Still, that's not to say we won't see those come to the iPhone. After all, iOS 4.3 is still in its first stages of beta, there is a long way for it to go before it comes anywhere near being a finished product. One of the rumors we've read mentions that Jobs didn't want any physical buttons on the iPhone from the start. This may finally be when we will see the functionality Jobs wanted when the iPhone was being conceptualized.

More on the iPhone 5
Right now, rumors on the iPhone 5 are harder to come across than rumors for the iPad 2. That's to be expected as the iPad is expected to launch within the next few months. The iPhone 5 release date will be announced in June, based on Apple's history of announcements for the device.
What features do you expect to see from the next iPhone? Let us know in the comments.