iPhone 5

Just like the original iPad debuted with an Apple A4 chip, iPad 2 is coming with an Apple A5 chip. What does that mean? In typical fashion Apple has been short on details saying only that it's dual-core, 1GHz, 2x faster for computational tasks and 9x faster for graphics, all while preserving the 10 hour battery life that made the A4 famous. They don't think we need to worry about what CPU or GPU they're using and how much RAM is on board to let that power breathe. But here's the thing -- many of us want to know exactly that.

This is the chip that will also power the 2011 iPhone 5, iPod touch 5, and Apple TV. We want answers. We can handle answers! So... stick with us after the break for everything we know about the new Apple A5 chip... and what we can guess.

A supposed image of an iPhone 5 part has appeared on Chinese reseller’s website. The image in question looks like the digitizer panel for the iPhone 5. The design is similar to the one used on the current iPhone 4 however it appears to have a larger screen. These assumptions however are not scientific as no measurements have been released with the image.

Earlier this morning we told you about rumors of the iPad 2 being delayed until June, but Jim Dalrymple from The Loop claims the rumors are completely false. He states that in addition to the iPad 2 being on track he also doesn't believe the other rumor making the rounds today -- that iPhone 5 would be delayed until September either:

Just when I was beginning to wonder where Digitimes was with their crazy iPhone 5 rumor they show up with a doozy, claiming iPhone 5 is going with a 5-inch screen to better compete with the slew of large size Android devices from the likes of Motorola and Samsung.

The component suppliers noted that the production lines for Apple's next generation iPhone have begun testing, and Apple is interesting in expanding the screen size to 4-inches to support the tablet PC market as the vendor only has a 9.7-inch iPad in the market.

According to a rough translation from tw.apple.pro, Apple may be prototyping an iPhone with a physical slide-out keyboard.

The site's source claimed that Apple has built three prototype models for its anticipated "iPhone 5," and one of them has a "sliding cover" that conceals a keyboard.

The translation also mentioned the rumored iPhone Nano which has picked up a lot of traction recently, as well as a prototype similar to the iPhone 4 but with upgraded internals.

No doubt to quell rumors and steady the stock price, the Wall Street Journal's always well informed Yukari Iwatani Kane reports that Steve Jobs is still at the helm of Apple, running it from home and working on iPad 2 and iPhone 5.

The 55-year-old Mr. Jobs, whose ailment hasn't been disclosed, has been taking business meetings at home and on the phone, these people said.

He also has been seen on Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus and in public in Palo Alto, Calif., with a company executive, said people familiar with the matter.

China Mobile Chairman, Wang Jianzhou, was quoted yesterday saying that Apple will support next-gen TD-LTE.

These two years we have been discussing the issue. Right now the situation is moving forward. Apple has made it clear they will support TD-LTE.

China Mobile, has been negotiating with Apple for years, to develop a TD-SCDMA supported iPhone for their current 3G network, and TD-LTE for their future 4G network.

China Mobile hasn't signed a deal with Apple yet because Apple doesn't currently support TD-SCDMA, which China Mobile use for their 3G network, but with Apple's new CDMA phone for Verizon, Wang hopes that Apple will consider supporting TD-SCDMA.

Bloomberg citing an analyst citing "engineers who are working on hardware for the Apple project" reports that Apple will be including NFC (Near-Field Communications) technology in their upcoming iPad 2 and iPhone 5 product revisions, along with the killer iTunes Store transactional system to back it up.

Italian hacker Zibri went digging through iTunes and turned up some more hints that Apple just might be going with Qualcomm's hybrid GSM/CDMA hybrid chipset for iPhone 5.

In the picture above you see a "chunk" of code from the latest iTunes. Maybe, for the most of you, names like "partition.mbn" or "AMSS.MBN" means little or nothing. For me and a few others that means only one thing: QUALCOMM. Those files are the building blocks of any Qualcomm baseband.

Citing sources, AppleInsider claims Apple is not only going dual-core for their rumored iPad 2 and iPhone 5-bound Apple A5 chipset's CPU, but also its PowerVR GPU as well.