Well, with this story flying around, it has put this article and idea in a bit of a different light. So the following is what I wish the next iPhone would be, because this is just the start of what Apple could do.

iPhone 5, iPhone 6

There you have it*

I’ve been mulling this over for quite some time and the shear number of rumours flying round on the net have driven me to preempt a lot of people asking me ‘ What’s it going to be like?’ and ‘Why will I want one?’.

So, taken what I can deduce as an Apple watcher of many years, my knowledge of the tech industry and the information flying around online i have created the following mock up.

Disclaimer* Before I go any further, let me clarify that I am not an Apple employee (I wish) nor have I information other than deduction of the available information. This prototype is an impression and as such something I’d like to see.

[Video after the break]

With that out of the way, what can we expect. Well, I’ll cover a few of the more popular ideas firstly:

  • Larger Screen
  • Metal Back
  • New antenna layout
  • Dock connector

Up until recently, I personally hadn’t cared about the screen size on the iPhone. It wasn’t until I got to use one of the new HTC One Xs and a Nokia Lumia 800 have I considered the iPhones screen falling behind the times. The reason for not noticing this before I think was the Retina Display, which distracted us all from size by it’s amazing quality.

So a larger screen, about 4 inches and with a resolution to keep it at retina quality. I also believe as most others that the taller screen will accommodate an extra icon row.

There had been a lot of talk about an edge to edge screen some time ago. as you can see from these renders, the plastic around the front of the device (reminiscent of the original iPhone and the 3G and 3GS) gives tapered sides, giving the illusion of a screen that goes to the edge of the device.

With that plastic edging acting as the new antenna array, this allows Apple to deploy their knowledge of UniBody construction in the iPhone. It’s been present since day one with the iPad and the iPod Touch, the iPhone is the next step.

iPhone with MagSafe

With the metal back it would mean that the grill on the current phones would be replaced with perforations like the iPad.

 

The replacement of the dock connector, the ever faithful Apple dock connector has been around for the best part of 8 years and if it were to leave us now, I could see it happening and Apple selling official adapters. I’d also venture a bet that apple would not go with Micro USB and instead use another one of their patents and have a MagSafe connector that can transmit data.

Other considerations:

  • The cameras
    This is going to either stay the same but with enhancements coming software side, or will feature Omnivision’s new 16MP sensor.
  • The speakers
    These will be seeing an upgrade for audio I’d bet !
  • The headphone socket
    I’ve noticed a number of critics saying that the connector size of a standard jack hinders the size of the device but the answer sits in every version of the iPod Shuffle with a clip – it uses the contact system like a lock does.

As for iOS 6 – That’s going to be left by me till after WWDC 2012, but lets just say that the C3 3D mapping tech is a given. A panoramic photo mode seems to make sense as does a way to better manage notifications.