T’was the night before the Apple announcement, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Okay maybe thats a bit melodramatic but to us Apple geeks, the evening of an Apple announcement is a special night indeed.  The last few months have been full of non stop iPhone 5 rumours, part leaks, fake videos etc. which only goes to show the worldwide interest in the next iPhone.

In less than 24 hours, we’ll know everything.  Will we be disappointed? Maybe.  As usual, there’s no way that Apple is going to be able to live up to all the hype surrounding the next iPhone but I thought I’d sum up the most popular rumours out there before the Cupertino company reveals all tomorrow.

1. Bigger screen

Of all the rumours, this is the one that looks to be the more credible from various part leaks but also the one that makes the most sense from a consumer point of view.  Smartphones in the last couple of years have been pushing the boundaries of what one might have considered practical a few years ago.  With the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3 with it’s 4.8 inch screen to the HTC One X’s 4.7inch screen, flagship smartphones have redefined what is considered the norm to a point where the iPhones 3.5 inch screen looks puny.

A 4 inch screen would be a good compromise, a bigger screen but not too big.  With it’s rumoured 16:9 aspect ratio and measuring 1136 x 640, it will play much nicer with widescreen videos and make for an all together better media playback device.

2. Smaller dock connector

File this one also under the ‘almost guaranteed’ category too.  With numerous hardware leaks and a USB cable suggesting a smaller 9 pin dock connector replacing the current 30 pin connector, Apple is likely to ruffle a few feathers with consumers finding their accessories unable to work with the new iPhone without an adaptor.

And it may not only be the iPhone.  iMore  reported that Apple intends to replace the dock connector on most of it’s iOS devices in December, including the new iPad mini and the existing 9.7 inch iPad stating:

 iMore has learned that Apple intends to update their entire lineup of iOS device products to support the new, miniaturized Dock connector, and to do it as early the rumored September 12 special event this fall. This would include the new iPhone 5, the the new iPod nano and iPod touch, the rumored 7-inch iPad mini, and an updated version of the current 9.7-inch iPad.

And on that adaptor, Apple is rumoured to be retaining rights to be the sole distributor of the $10 accessory which will net it a cool $100m a year.

3. Headphone jack relocated

The title says it all.  Moving from the top of the phone to the bottom,  the iPhone will fall in line with the iPod Touch with having a headphone jack at the bottom of the phone.  This can only be made possible by the smaller 9 pin connector.

4.Similar design

There’s no doubt that the design of the iPhone 4 was a breakthrough.  It redefined elegance with it’s glass back and front and brushed steel band.  Continuing with the same design for the iPhone 4s, although disappointing at first, made sense and continued Apple’s tick/tock approach, updating the design every two years but updating the internals annually.

A steady stream of hardware leaks have indicated that, with the exception of the above mentioned changes, the iPhone 5 will look very similar to the current iPhone.  The steel band remains but is much thinner thanks to the rumoured in-cell touch display technology which removes the need for separate layers by incorporating the touch sensors in with the display itself.  What will please those users who are prone to dropping their phones on a regular basis is the replacement of the glass back with a two tone glass/aluminium combination that should be able to withstand more of a punishment than the existing glass back.

 

Those are the key physical changes I think we’ll see tomorrow.  They will be numerous internal changes that will interest geeks – an A6 processor, 1GB ram, 4G are all strong possibilities but to most mainstream consumers, what it looks like will strongly influence their buying decisions.  As I stated here, there may be those who are put off with Apple sticking closely to the design cues of the iPhone 4S but Apple are sure to sell millions in the lead up to Christmas regardless.

Hardware is only one side of the story though.  With iOS 6, Apple will be introducing a whole slew of new features including a new maps application including turn by turn navigation, updated Siri functionality, additional Twitter and FaceBook integration and PassBook to name but a few.  The new software will be available to users with a iPhone 3GS and above and will almost certainly come preloaded on the new iPhone 5.

At last years iPhone 4S launch, we saw the launch of Siri so there’s always the possibility that Apple could announce something new tomorrow that hasn’t already been leaked.

With the announcement from Everything Everywhere today that it is launching the UKs first 4G network within weeks, the stage is set for Apple to announce it’s first 4G phone in the UK.  Here’s hoping..

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