It's inevitable: as soon as Apple launches one iPhone, speculation over the next iPhone begins. It's usually bookended by two summers, since Apple has traditionally announced next-generation iPhones at its Worldwide Developer Conference in June.
But this year was different. Apple didn't reveal a new iPhone at WWDC 2011, instead using it to announce the new iCloud and iOS 5.
Which means we've covered roughly 15 months of iPhone 5 rumors, some with more credibility than others. It's confusing for all, but fortunately the folks over at AllAreaCodes have created a nifty infographic listing out key iPhone 5 rumors and when they began. The first rumor, according to this graph, dates back to November 2010 and claims Apple will include a near field communications (NFC) chip in the next iPhone, which would let users transmit information between devices; NFC is one form of technology that powers mobile payments.
Afterwards, people quibbled over everything from the launch date (June, September, October, November?) to carrier support (T-Mobile and Sprint too?) to the curvature of the outer casing (teardrop or box-shaped?).
And in the leadup to Apple's iPhone event on Tuesday, the rumors have become more sophisticated to include details like what sort of 4G network it'll run on and the extent of voice recognition it'll pack. Click here for more recent iPhone 5 rumors not included below, as well as PCMag's own speculation over What the iPhone 5 might look like and Six Amazing Phone Technologies We Want in iPhone 5.
On Sunday we reported the latest, but probably not the last, iPhone 5 rumor: an alleged Radio Shack leak shows an iPhone 5 on Sprint's network.
With Apple expected to announce a next-generation iPhone tomorrow, hopefully, for both our sakes, it will end the madness over iPhone 5 buzz. Let's talk iPhone 6.
