Given that the iPad 2 was released earlier this year with a newer A5 processor, it probably won’t come as a surprise if and when Apple announces a similar move for the next iPhone -- and judging from a recent leaked photo of an unassembled handset, that’s just about exactly what you should expect.
MacRumors is reporting that a new image has surfaced from a Chinese site named Weibo which appears to reveal a partially assembled iPhone packing an A5 processor inside. Judging from the photo discovered by PhoneArena.com, the handset features a white iPhone 4-style front panel alongside a larger battery.
“The image clearly shows an A5 chip, which is of course expected for the iPhone 5,” MacRumors notes. “There has been some debate, however, about whether Apple will be introducing an iPhone 4-like model that has been unofficially dubbed the iPhone 4S, a redesigned iPhone 5, or both. If Apple does indeed release both an iPhone 4S and an iPhone 5, an A5 chip in the lower-level iPhone 4S would be a significant inclusion given that Apple has typically chosen to offer versions of its previous-generation models and technologies as its entry-level devices.”
Also of note is the battery, which appears to carry the same model number from previous leaks but offering a larger capacity -- 1430 mAh compared to the current iPhone 4’s 1420 mAh, and stranger yet, a voltage of 4.2 V where earlier photos listed the battery as 3.7 V and 5.3 Whr.
As the new photo makes its way across the internet Monday morning, there is some skepticism that it’s the real thing, so as always, we should take it with a grain of salt. However, we’d be among those pretty disappointed if the next iPhone doesn’t arrive in October packing an A5 processor. We’re just sayin’…
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(Image courtesy of MacRumors, PhoneArena.com and Weibo)
