iPhone 5 Headed Into Production – Summer 2012 Release Likely

It looks like the iPhone 5 might be available to consumers much sooner than many have predicted. According to 9to5mac.com, the iPhone is close to going into production–or at least that’s what an unnamed source from Foxconn in China tells the site. Foxconn, of course, has a contract with Apple to manufacture iPhones, so this report might just hold some weight to it.

iPhone 5 Release Date Rumors

As you might recall, the iPhone 4S geared up for production in the spring of 2011 and was released on October 14, 2011. Assuming the iPhone 5 goes into production in early February or March 2012, the iPhone 5 release date could be as soon as June, but more likely during July or August.

Even more interesting are the details that the unnamed source dropped to 9to5mac. According to the source, there are a couple different versions of the iPhone 5 currently being passed around as samples so that only the best one actually goes into production. Given the iPhone’s past history of leaking sample iPhones, it’s possible that we might just see the iPhone 5 samples leaked before Apple officially announces and showcases the device (likely to be at their annual developers event in June).

Possible iPhone 5 Features

Additionally, the source mentioned some of the potential features that the iPhone 5 may have. It’s looking like the iPhone 5 will have a screen that is 4 inches or bigger. The screen will reportedly be made by LG and could be made of the same material as LG’s HDTVs are.

The iPhone 5 is also not likely to have the teardrop-shape that many others have previously reported. According to the source, the iPhone 5 will be longer or wider to accommodate the bigger screen size. The two samples that have been passed around between iPhone 5 engineers do not have the same shape and form factor as the iPhone 4 and 4S. However, this could change as neither version is the final one.

Will the iPhone 5 Release Really Happen this Summer?

What makes the report far from confirmed is the fact that, if the iPhone 5 launches during the summer of 2012, this will be only 8-10 months after the previous iPhone model, the 4S, was released. Apple may find that releasing the new iPhone 5 so soon after the old one will upset a lot of users who upgraded to the 4S because they did not think the 5 would be available for a while.

However, it’s worth noting that all iPhone releases, with the exception of the 4S, occurred during the summer, which coincides with Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). In order for Apple to get back to this schedule again, they would have to either wait 20 months before releasing the iPhone 5 (unlikely) or release the new phone less than a year after the last one.

On the whole, 9to5mac seems to be a pretty reliable source as they were correct in the prediction that the 4S would be released last year and not the iPhone 5 as many predicted. So it’s possible that this summer release prediction might come true as well.

What Do You Think?

Do you think Apple will release the iPhone 5 as soon as Summer 2012 or do you think it’s likely that Apple fans will have to wait another year before the next generation of the iPhone? Leave a comment below and give us your predictions.