Bloomberg Talks iPhone 5: A5 Chip, Improved Cameras & Similar Design?

Hot on the heels of yesterday's informative article on the iPhone 5, Bloomberg today published an article - also based on information provided by sources - which both supports and contradicts the report we told you about yesterday. For those of you who did not manage to check out yesterday's article, the report - which came from Boy Genius Report - claimed that Apple's fifth generation iPhone will include an Apple A5 chip, improved cameras, a new design and that the handset will be announced in August, as opposed to September. The website claims this information comes from a "reliable source," and in the past Boy Genius Report has been successful in publishing accurate information on upcoming Apple products. However, nothing has yet been confirmed by Apple. Today, Bloomberg partly agrees with Boy Genius Report. The publication's source - "two people familiar with [Apple's] plans" - note that Apple's device will include:

[An] A5 processor, the more powerful chip that Apple added to the iPad 2 earlier this year, along with an 8-megapixel camera, up from the 5-megapixel model in the iPhone 4, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public.

Furthermore:

The new iPhone will closely resemble the iPhone 4, the people said.

At this moment, there are a few things I think we can be sure of, and a few that - for the moment - remain unknown. First, Apple's fifth generation iPhone will very likely feature an Apple A5 chip: In the past, Apple has given the current iPhone and iPad the same processor (Apple A4, for example), and this year should be no different. An improved processor is a simple but important upgrade - and developers have reportedly already testing their apps against such a handset. Furthermore, I would expect Apple to increase the quality of the handset's built-in cameras. Again, this is a simple upgrade and something Apple has done in the past. While we can't be sure of the exact quality, eight megapixels sounds about right (though, it could be higher - or lower). Two important but unknown aspects of Apple's fifth generation iPhone is its design, and release date. This year, Apple did not unveil its new iPhone handset at WWDC's keynote presentation (something the company has done in the past). Some suggest that this was to keep Verizon iPhone owners sweet (it would be annoying to buy a CDMA iPhone 4, and then for Apple to announce a new one a few months down the line). However, Apple could simply wish to space out the announcements of its two biggest products - the iPhone and iPad - or just take the limelight away from its "perfected" iPod line, moving the announcement to September. Because WWDC came and went without an iPhone announcement, we're left with a question: When will Apple announce the fifth generation iPhone? And here, we're stuck - because different people are saying different things. While many seemed to expect Apple's iPhone to take center stage at its annual September event, yesterday's source-fuelled article claimed that Apple could announce and launch the iPhone 5 in August. Personally, I can imagine Apple announcing the iPhone in September, along with a new line of iPods (at least an updated iPod touch), simply because it would make sense. However, nothing has been confirmed - so don't take my word for it. The second "unknown aspect" is the fifth generation iPhone's design (and also, it's name - though the two are intertwined). Either Apple will release an iPhone handset with a new design, or the fifth generation iPhone will look at lot like the iPhone 4. Again, in this department we can't be sure. Thisismynext claims the upcoming iPhone will feature a "tear drop" design (which would be nice), while Bloomberg today notes that the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 will look similar. If this is the case, and the two handsets look largely the same, could there be a chance Apple will call the fifth generation handset the "iPhone 4S," like it did with its third generation handset? I would like to think that Apple will change the design of the iPhone once again, though, in all honesty, I don't have many qualms with the current design (antenna issue and glass back aside). It could be that Apple merely "tweaks" the design of the iPhone 4, throws in an Apple A5 chip, improves its cameras and markets the handset as an iPhone 5. At the end of the day, we're not going to be entirely sure what the fifth generation handset will be like until Apple announces it - so don't go expecting anything. Got any predictions yourself? Please place all bets in the comments below. We should also note that Bloomberg's source claimed that the iPad 3 will feature a higher resolution screen, but considering the device won't ship until early next year, we're going to wait a little longer before we get too excited.

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