Steve Jobs rumored to have worked closely on iPhone 5 redesign

According to the latest rumor, Apple's co-founder, Steve Jobs, worked one the next generation iPhone 5 design prior to his passing last October. Bloomberg claims 3 sources familiar with the matter say there will be a redesign, 1 claims the redesign will involve a bigger screen, and 1 claims the redesign involved Steve Jobs.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, has placed orders from suppliers in Asia for screens that are bigger than the 3.5- inch size now on the smartphone, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had worked closely on the redesigned phone before his death in October, one person said.

iMore previously heard that Apple had implemented a smaller micro-dock for the next generation iPhone but hadn't yet decided on a new screen size or aspect ratio. Yesterday the Wall Street Journal and Reuters claimed Apple had settled on a 4 inch screen size.

We went through a wide range of possible 4-inch iPhone variations, how Apple could implement each of them, what advantages each would bring, and what problems each would bring with them.

Given Steve Jobs' passion for Apple and involvement with the product roadmap, it's not hard to believe he would have kept himself involved in future projects even years out. Depending on the manufacturing and performance realities at the time of production, we could be seeing bits and pieces of Jobs ideas for a good long while still.

Whether or not it's ultimately true, it's reassuring to people who place stock in the "Steve Jobs was Apple" story. Regardless, Jobs created the best team in the business and with Scott Forstall running software, Bob Mansfield running hardware, and Jony Ive running design, it's more than likely we have nothing to worry about.

Given the spate of iPhone 5 rumors recently, however, one thing is clear -- Apple is starting to get things in place for the product ramp up. As we get closer to the expected fall release, more and more decisions will get made, parts will be ordered, factories will be set up, and units will begin to be produced.

Until then, all we can do is enjoy the pre-game show.