Apple's iPhone 5 release has been pegged at mid-September and production has already started, according to various reports. The new iPhone 5 will come with a new "nano-sim" system to enable the device.
The Apple iPhone 5 has gone into production in Shanghai, according to a report in DigiTimes magazine and will launch in September. Citing industry sources in Taiwan, the website said contract manufacturer Pegatron has begin building the new phone in a factory in eastern China. Pegatron is one of several manufacturing giants that make consumer electronics for Apple, along with Foxconn Technology and others.
The new phone is also expected to include 4G mobile broadband capability, but only offer compatibility with networks in the US. 4G networks in Europe and the rest of the world transmit on different frequencies and so are incompatible with US systems, according to the Guardian. The new iPhone 5 will introduce a new 19-pin power and control connector on its base, dumping the 30-pin connector first introduced with the third-generation iPod in April 2003.
Although these are all reports and Apple itself has not yet released any official announcements - and probably won't until the actual product rollout - a new study shows there is already an "unprecedented demand" for the iPhone 5.
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"Overall smartphone sales should spike to an all-time high this fall -- and of course Apple is going to be the number one beneficiary," noted Dr. Paul Carton, 451's vice president of research. "But besides Apple, and to a lesser degree Samsung, no other manufacturer is likely to benefit from this coming wave of demand."
The survey of over 4,500 North American buyers showed a strong uptick in consumers likely to buy Apple's latest: 31 percent, as compared to 21 percent in October.
