iPhone 5 May Arrive in First Week of Oct: Top 10 Rumored Specs

Apple iPhone 5 is grabbing attention from all corners as new rumors are emerging each day over its release date and specifications.

Meanwhile, all signs point to an early October release date. Apple had said that its new mobile operating system iOS 5 with more than 200 new features would be available in fall. It needs no explanation that iPhone 5 would come preloaded with iOS 5 with support for iCloud.

Fall officially begins in the last week of September -- and for the iPhone 5 to have the iOS 5 pre-installed in it, the launch should be in October. Moreover, Apple would want to release iPhone 5 in the first week of October to lure holiday shoppers that would generate strong sales during Christmas and New Year for the technology giant.

Several Wall Street analysts have confirmed the possibility of a new iPhone in October.

We expect new product launches including a new iPhone in early October with store training to begin soon, Wedbush Morgan analyst Scott Sutherland wrote in a note to clients.

There have been a lot of rumors regarding the possibility of the iPhone 5 being available on 4G networks for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. The consensus from analysts and tech experts seems to be that the iPhone 5 will not have 4G support.

In addition, there have been reports since early this year that Apple is testing an iPhone that incorporates NFC technology. Users can simply pay for goods by waving their iPhone in front of a contactless payment scanner.

It is also said that Apple had disclosed in some of its meetings that it won't feature NFC on the next iPhone. The Independent said that Apple will sacrifice NFC in its next iPhone due to lack of industry standards about the technology.

There are huge expectations from iPhone 5, which is expected to boast significant hardware and software upgrades. Take a look at the top-rumored specifications of the most anticipated smartphone in the U.S. market:

A5 Chip

For any smartphone, processing power is vital. Apple is rumored to fit an dual-core A5 chip in to iPhone 5 with clocking speed of at least 1.2GHz to 1.5 GHz. A5 chip is not new to Apple devices as it powers iPad 2. A5 contains a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU with NEON SIMD accelerator and a dual core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU. Apple lists the A5 to be clocked at 1 GHz on the iPad 2's technical specifications page, though it can dynamically adjust its frequency to save battery life.

Design

Apple products are known for their beautiful design. iPhone 5 is expected to adopt a teardrop design that is supposed to be slimmer and lighter than past iPhone models.

Meanwhile, an analyst with Rodman & Renshaw said the form factor of iPhone 5 could be a slightly smaller version of the iPad 2.

There are also rumors that the new smartphone, which may have an edge-to-edge display, would come with an aluminum plate casing rather than the current glass backing. Rumors suggest a more uniform design across all of Apple's mobile devices as aluminum may be the consistent material used in the upcoming iPad 3 and iPod lineups as well.

Display

Apple is expected to release iPhone 5 with a slightly bigger screen ranging from 3.7 to 4-inch to counter Android rivals. Rumors of a curved glass display on iPhone 5 have been doing the rounds ever since DigiTimes reported in May that Apple had placed an order for glass cutting machines which are capable of making curved glass covers.

8MP Camera

In the tech world, a 5-megapixel camera seems passé -- as sad as that might sound to some -- it's true. Like the dual core processor, several of iPhone's competitors in the Android world have phones with 8-megapixel camera.

Hence the rumor mills effortlessly churn out one proof after the other for the next iPhone featuring an 8MP camera. According to a CNET report, iPhone 5 will have an improved flash unit for its camera. Citing industry sources, the report says Apple has reduced orders for iPhone 4's current LED flash.

At this point an 8MP camera on the iPhone 5 looks like a foregone conclusion.

World Phone

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 5 as a World Phone -- both GSM and CDMA compatible. Another rumor suggested is that the iPhone 5 will feature a SIM card slot for other countries except the U.S, allowing users to insert any SIM card when traveling abroad.

Wireless Charging

Apple may bring the revolutionary wireless charging capability to its iPhone 5 that would see the device gaining extraordinary mass appeal. The inductive wireless charging technology for the iPhone could boost its battery without the use of cables and plugs. By utilizing a charging dock, the iPhone can charge its battery as well as share, sync, or backup data at the same time.

Home Button

One rumor that gets repeatedly mentioned is that Steve Jobs didn't want any physical buttons on the iPhone from the start. However, reported prototypes suggest that the iPhone 5 may have a rectangular button compared to the circular one found in iPhone 4.

Fire-proof iPhone

Another rumor is that the next iPhone will be a fire-proof phone. Apple has filed a patent application for an advanced halogen-free flame retardant material which could be used in future Apple products. Patently Apple, an Apple Inc. centric blog, has reported that the new material will be integrated into the manufacturing of Apple products such as keyboards, mice, iPods, the iPad, cabling and more.

Memory

iPhone 5 is speculated to have a 1GB RAM and may come with 64GB version along with usual 16GB and 32GB models. iPhone 4, which has 512MB RAM, comes with 16GB and 32GB models.

Battery Life

Apple has always scored over competitors by improving battery life with each release of the iPhone. For instance, the iPhone 4 has 40 percent more talk time than the iPhone 3GS. The iPhone 4 offers 14 hours of talk time on 2G and up to 7 hours on 3G with a standby time of up to 300 hours. So, going by the past, we should see a better battery life on the iPhone 5 too.