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Rumor: iPhone 5, iPad Mini, New iPods Coming

By - Source: Tom's Guide US | B 49 comments

A new iPhone before next summer? Maybe.

A lot has been made about the design weakness of the iPhone 4, which has a weak spot that's susceptible to considerable signal loss when touched.

It's obvious that the next iPhone will have a different antenna design, but few people would expect it to happen outside of the usual summer-launch-cycle of the past four iPhones.

iLounge reports that it has heard from one of its usually-reliable sources that the next iPhone will be launching early 2011, as soon as January. If this is true, this would mean that Apple is giving its iPhone hardware design team half the amount of time that it usually does. Of course, Apple could simply just repackage the internals of the current iPhone 4 in a new case (built-in bumper?) to fix the antenna problem.

Another rumor, which sounds far more plausible, is that Apple is looking for a cheaper way to make the bumpers that it is currently giving out for free. Current speculation is to make them out of silicone and without the hard plastic of the present design.

New iPods are also expected sooner rather than later to hit the back-to-school buying season. iPods are becoming a smaller part of Apple's business, but we'd be surprised if we didn't see new iPod Nano, Touch and Shuffle. Interestingly, the Shuffle could be getting a small 1.7-inch touchscreen.

Bridging the gap between the iPod Touch and 9.7-inch iPad could be a new 7-inch iPad for later this year or early 2011.

Ars Technica isn't so convinced about all the iPod details, but does believe that Apple could be gearing up for a new CDMA/LTE iPhone in January. If so, Verizon will have one really big announcement at CES 2011.

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Top Comments
  • 26 Hide
    The Greater Good , August 6, 2010 9:10 AM
    Rumor: A company will release a new and/or update product!

    Stay tuned!
  • 22 Hide
    rohitbaran , August 6, 2010 9:50 AM
    So, iPhone 5 will feature a fused rubber ring around its antenna to prevent signal loss. Major technology breakthrough! :lol: 
  • 17 Hide
    safcmanfr , August 6, 2010 11:37 AM
    News Flash: Steve Jobs has declared that the iPad is not too big to fit in a pocket, but that pockets are in fact too small for the iPad.

    in other news: iLounge reports that, from its usually reliable sources, Apple are about to launch an iJacket with iPockets which are 10" wide and 10" deep. Expected launch price is $500, but Steve Jobs thinks that is fair, as you get the pretty Apple logo on the iJacket collar.

Other Comments
    Display all 49 comments.
  • 26 Hide
    The Greater Good , August 6, 2010 9:10 AM
    Rumor: A company will release a new and/or update product!

    Stay tuned!
  • 8 Hide
    jenkem , August 6, 2010 9:16 AM
    revolutionary.
  • 10 Hide
    spdlmt , August 6, 2010 9:20 AM
    rumors of more rumors otw.
  • 0 Hide
    whitecrowro , August 6, 2010 9:44 AM
    Good news, they have one year to fix the '4 one.
    Fingers crossed.
  • 6 Hide
    alexmihai , August 6, 2010 9:49 AM
    so Iphone 5 will be Iphone 4 with the antenna fixed :p ? and its only 200$ :D 
  • 22 Hide
    rohitbaran , August 6, 2010 9:50 AM
    So, iPhone 5 will feature a fused rubber ring around its antenna to prevent signal loss. Major technology breakthrough! :lol: 
  • 9 Hide
    rohitbaran , August 6, 2010 9:51 AM
    Looks like apple got jumpy due to Android's increasing market share.
  • 5 Hide
    NeatOman , August 6, 2010 10:19 AM
    The iPhone 4 has a few more flaws then just the antenna. My friend had a full plastic cover over the back of the phone, but when he dropped it flat on its back the glass still shattered!!! I was thinking about getting it until i held it in my hands... the first thing i thought was its way to dense. Witch it turned out that i was right. BTW the back glass also scratched very easily with just dust between it and any case it had placed over the back. Also the phone has the glass corners way to close to the edge, where the week point of glass is! IMO the antenna is the least of concerns. The phone is like a beautiful smart woman, that had a frontal lobotomy due to malignant cancer and has 6 months to live. The antenna thing is like a funny looking toe on nice legs, you wont really mind unless you think about it WAY to much.

    I got a Galaxy S phone instead, 14% lighter and 4" is really not to big :)  i even forget its in my pocket! Battery is very similar to the iphone but looses out because the screen sucks up more juice, after all they have almost the same processor (SOC), gyroscope, and battery. So i choose the one with a nicer(IMO) bigger screen, that seamed to be able to take more abuse.
  • -1 Hide
    DjEaZy , August 6, 2010 10:20 AM
    ... it seems in need to wait now...
  • 1 Hide
    pirateboy , August 6, 2010 10:32 AM
    DjEaZy... it seems in need to wait now...


    lol, you sound like this buyer :
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg
  • 3 Hide
    phantomtrooper , August 6, 2010 11:20 AM
    Isn't an Ipad mini just an Ipod touch, which they already have...
  • 2 Hide
    Silmarunya , August 6, 2010 11:26 AM
    PhantomTrooperIsn't an Ipad mini just an Ipod touch, which they already have...


    No, an iPad mini is an iPod medium.

    They should stop using the name iPad and start using iPod Touch Mini, iPod Touch Medium and iPod Touch Large.
  • 17 Hide
    safcmanfr , August 6, 2010 11:37 AM
    News Flash: Steve Jobs has declared that the iPad is not too big to fit in a pocket, but that pockets are in fact too small for the iPad.

    in other news: iLounge reports that, from its usually reliable sources, Apple are about to launch an iJacket with iPockets which are 10" wide and 10" deep. Expected launch price is $500, but Steve Jobs thinks that is fair, as you get the pretty Apple logo on the iJacket collar.

  • 8 Hide
    insider3 , August 6, 2010 11:47 AM
    Smart company. Create a phone with a ****** antenna design. Sell millions. Create a new phone months later; have everyone switch, and sell more.
  • 4 Hide
    adikos , August 6, 2010 11:51 AM
    i can hear the fanboys drooling already as they love nothing more than rumors.
  • 2 Hide
    the last resort , August 6, 2010 11:55 AM
    So, the iPhone 5 is really just an iPhone 4, the iPad mini is just like the original iPad in that its just an iPod touch (except for the all important size), and the new iPod's are basically renamed iPods of old.

    I see what you did there Apple.
  • 4 Hide
    Stryter , August 6, 2010 11:57 AM
    PhantomTrooperIsn't an Ipad mini just an Ipod touch, which they already have...


    Shhhhhhh, *whispers* yes, it is just an ipod touch, but the fanbois don't know that.
  • 0 Hide
    mrmotion , August 6, 2010 12:10 PM
    Since they release a new one every bloody year, why bother?
  • 2 Hide
    Anonymous , August 6, 2010 12:24 PM
    Releasing an iphone5 that soon would leave apple open to a US class action suite, claiming that apple knew the i4 had multiple flaws that required a redesign and should have been recalled.
  • 1 Hide
    henryv2010 , August 6, 2010 12:29 PM
    The problem with Apple is quite obvious. It's just one company and it can't stay competitive enough. These rumors may be false because Apple has never kept up in pace with the rest of the world. It can't afford to change its technologies fast enough as opposed to the Android phones which are being built by numerous companies competing with each other. For example, it's iMac and MacPro series were so outdated. Everyone else has already switched to the i-series and yet, Apple was still selling Duo Core iMacs and MacPros. Apple just can't keep up with the rest of us. It has always been Apple trademark to be behind all of us. I mean all of us because we build our own companies and we build them to the latest technologies.

    This is a hard story to believe. But then who knows??? Steven Jobs is a really rich man.

    It might just be forced to change like the auto industries. It used to be that they would change models every 4 to 6 years but some of them especially Nissan has been changing models whenever it feels it needed to.

    This will be good for Apple but then most Apple fans are old, well-off teachers, home-makers, mommas and poppas who don't have anything else to do, journalists, ... basically people who don't use their Apples for nothing serious like me ... people who basically browse the Net, type up a letter, email friends, ... light stuff that don't put too much strain and stress on their Apple. Even my cheap Toshiba out performs my $2,500 MacBook Pro. Sad, huh??? Yep, sure is sad. Especially, when their Genius stated himself to me.

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