Sources Say Foxconn is About to Start iPhone 5 Production

[Maura]

Hot off the press today, 9to5 Mac says that it has heard from a reliable source at Foxconn in China that Foxconn is about to start production of the iPhone 5. According to the source, several samples of the next iPhone are currently in circulation, each of which is slightly different from the other, so there is no way of knowing which of the samples will turn out to be the next iPhone. However, the samples do all share some common characteristics, most notably a 4+-inch display, possibly made by LG; symmetrical, rather than teardrop, thickness; longer and wider than the current iPhone; form factor for all of the samples is different from that of the iPhone 4S. According to the source, none of these samples are the final version.

As 9to5 Mac notes, possibly the most important nugget of information to glean from this story is that production of the next iPhone might be about to start very soon. If this is the case, it looks likely that the next iPhone will be here as early as the summer, unlike the iPhone 4S, which was launched much later in the year.

Source: Foxconn employee tells us that the next iPhone is ready for production, indicates likely summer launch | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence

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[Make2012better]

I look forward to get one, since I like 4 so much

[jkhonea]

I'll be extremely curious to see if it gains the 4" screen and LTE. I find it very hard to believe it won't get both.

[thewitt]

The iPhone will not get LTE until the low power chipsets are available in high volume. They will not sacrifice battery life for LTE. Too many people would be outraged if battery life was cut in half. That's likely not going to be for another year.

As for a bigger screen, forget it. Jobs made it very clear that Apple's screen size was, and I quote, "the sweet spot for phone screens" and it's very unlikely anyone at Apple disagrees with that statement.