14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s iPhone 5 has reportedly entered trial production with an estimated shipping date of Q3 2011 according to a Chinese publication quoted by GadgetsDNA.
The China Times source report indicates that iPhone 5 has already entered the trial production stage featuring a scratch-resistant touch screen (seemingly an upgrade from the already durable Gorilla Glass employed by the iPhone 4) and a skeleton crafted from a new type of metal.
The screen is said to be four inches on the diagonal, supporting earlier rumors of the handset’s upgraded display.
The device will be launching in Q3 this year, says the Chinese source.
The report should corroborate early rumors of the new metal chassis, should it prove accurate.
A video purporting to show genuine iPhone 5 parts that surfaced in January seems to be corroborated by the China Times, which should suggest the first real iPhone 5 leak occurred two months ago.
The iPhone 5 is widely expected to pack Apple’s powerful new A5 SoC (system on a chip), with dual processing cores, 512MB of ram, and screaming graphics performance.
Recent reports have said that iPhone 5 will most likely feature a similar form factor to that of the iPhone 5, the only major difference being a four-inch, edge-to-edge touch screen.
For example, the same GadgetsDNA quoted the China-based Economic Daily News earlier this month to say that a Chinese source had leaked technical details pertaining to the iPhone 5, including a drop in ballast to reduce the risk of breaking the glass.
Additionally, the back glass panel was said to be replaced by metal.
Soon thereafter, purported ‘engineering’ diagrams of the iPhone 5 surfaced, indicating that Apple’s next handset will feature a smaller bezel and a bigger screen.
The mold engineering drawings were said to be used by accessory designers to create cases for the iPhone 5.
