The iPhone 5 Was Scrapped at the Last Minute - Source

As it turns out, Apple was planning to launch a radically redesigned iPhone this year, but Steve Jobs didn’t like the screen size so they cancelled it a few months before the iPhone 4S announcement, according to person with inside knowledge. The device, boasting a complete redesign and a 10 megapixel camera, should be on Apple’s roadmap still.

An industry source who has been accurate on Apple matters in the past is telling Business Insider that the “iPhone 5” was “real and it was scrapped only months before the iPhone 4S was announced.”

The source alleges that Apple’s prototype iPhone 5 had some killer specs, including an aluminum back with a tapered design, a 4-inch (diagonal) screen, the previously rumored touch-based home button, a 10 megapixel camera, and incredibly fast performance.

The source also said that Apple wanted to use "liquid-metal" technology to make colored iPhones, and Siri was supposedly called “Assistant” during testing.

Word among Apple employees is that iPhone 5 never made it to the October 4 event because Steve Jobs had a problem with the four-inch screen.

Allegedly, the late Apple co-founder believed the bigger screen “fragmented” iPhones -  a popular belief at Apple when referring to Google’s Android operating system that runs on multiple types of hardware, with different screen sizes.

Apple will most likely introduce this new version of the iPhone next year, either at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (around summer), or at a fall event much like this year.

Numerous Apple fans were disappointed by this year’s incremental iPhone 4S upgrade. Nonetheless, the phone is selling well, with Apple reporting that it shipped four million units in the first weekend since launch.

The iPhone 4S flagship and exclusive feature is Siri, a voice-powered personal assistant that gets stuff done for you only by asking. The assistant understands not just words, but context as well.