Report: iPhone 5 Won’t Be a Weak Upgrade, Might Hit in August

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With the iPhone 5, Apple may not be mailing it in like previous reports would have you believe. A new rumor says the next iPhone will actually be a significant upgrade, with an entirely new design.

Apple, having already broken tradition by not announcing a new iPhone at its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month, may actually announce the iPhone 5 in early- to mid-August, with a launch later that month, according to Boy Genius Report.

Take this with a grain of salt, however, as BGR‘s anonymous sources don’t have a spectacular record with Apple rumors.

(FOLLOW-UP: Apple Rumor Ping Pong Places iPhone 5 in September Again)

So far, iPhone 5 rumors have been all over the map. A report from March said the device would have an internal antenna and aluminum body, in the style of 2007’s original iPhone. The blog This is My Next has reported that the iPhone 5 will have an edge-to-edge display and a super-slim teardrop-shaped design.

But last month, an analyst said to only expect minor cosmetic changes, with the so-called ‘iPhone 4S” coming to Sprint and T-Mobile. The only safe bet for now is that the next iPhone — whatever it’s called — will use the same dual-core A5 processor found in the iPad 2.

In any case, I do hope Apple shakes up the iPhone’s design this time around. The iPhone 4, while pretty to look at, has sharp edges that are in my opinion less comfortable to hold than a phone with gentle curves, and the rear glass panel is just another surface to worry about scratching.

The iPhone 4’s external antenna also introduced some reception issues when the phone was gripped firmly in areas with poor wireless coverage. A return to the original iPhone’s aluminum-clad frame would be welcome, while introducing more design similarities to the iPad and MacBook Air.

Short of any devastating leaks of borderline-stolen prototypes, we’ll just have to wait until August (or September, or whenever) to find out.

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