iPhone 5 will be released in 2012 and will have a 4 in screen

While iPhone 4S is basically a remodel of 2010 iPhone 4, it is claimed that next year’s iPhone 5 will be radically redrawn and will have a bigger screen (4 in), against Steve Jobs wishes.

According to website iLounge, sources within Apple who say that the late CEO’s Steve Jobs refusal to upgrade to a bigger screen is going to be the first thing to go – the new iPhone 5 will have a four-inch screen, putting it on a par with many Android rivals.

“Our most reliable source has spoken: expect body changes for the next iPhone,” said iLounge.

“Our source says that the next-generation iPhone will not look like the teardrop-shaped version that was widely rumored for release in 2011.

“We’ve been told that the device will have a 4-inch display and will be 8mm longer than before, with a metal casing (probably aluminum).

“It is on track to be introduced in summer of 2012, and is still in the engineering phase, not early production. We suspect that poor battery life doomed the prior prototype version.”

iLounge says thet the new version is being built to cope with the increased battery drain of an LTE aerial – ie 4G.

According to an industry source, speaking to businessinsider.com, the iPhone 5 was real and was only scrapped months before the iPhone 4S was announced.

Apple engineers known to the source believed just three months before the iPhone 4S was released that a new fully re-designed iPhone would be Apple’s next big announcement.

It is also believed that Steve Jobs – who was known for having a temper – was unhappy with the phone’s bigger screen because it “fragmented” iPhones.

There were also problems with its battery life – possibly due to the high drain of the 4G LTE aerial.

The source claims to have spent about two weeks with one prototype version of the new phone, which was much flatter than the current version.

Prototype’ screen was four inches diagonal, making it bigger than the current iPhone.

It is also believed that it was supposed to have a 10 megapixel lens and, like the iPad2, the new phones were supposed to have aluminum backs.

The source claims that the iPhone 5 was going to have a nicer screen with better colours and told the magazine that the home button of the prototype was not a physical press button.

“You could touch it and hold it and physically reboot the device,” the source said.

And the new phone did have a personal assistant, but unlike being called Siri – as it is on the iPhone 4S – it was simply called “Assistant”.

Despite the disappointment felt by some fans, they may not have long to wait for the iPhone 5, because it is widely believed that it will be released in 2012.