As Apple's WWDC event fades from memory, more and more rumors are popping up about the next iPhone, a full three months before we can reasonably expect it to arrive. Here's why everyone's so excited.
iPhone With NFC
According to 9to5Mac, code acquired from leaked iPhone prototypes suggests that Apple's new hardware has NFC controllers built directly into the smartphone's power management units.
And this can mean but one thing: Apple's iPhone for 2012 will come with a smart NFC capability. The announcement of PassBook--Apple's new digital wallet app--at WWDC suddenly makes a lot of sense--because while PassBook is simply a way to corral non-wireless wallet contents like loyalty cards and it's quite definitely not a payments app, it's very close to offering a full wireless wallet experience. One can easily imagine that Apple will give PassBook powers to its older hardware but keep a full wireless wallet for the new iPhone, to act as one of its chief selling points. Then there are those mentions of an "iWallet" and talks with credit card companies in relation to Apple. And NFC would, of course, enable plenty of other tricks too, like direct device-to-device file sharing (like that in the Samsung Galaxy S3) as well as smart logins to Macs and any of the other clever ideas Apple's patented.
But let's inject a cautionary note here. These rumors are based on a dissection of a leaked prototype, in apparently fairly early stages of preparedness testing. These tests may have led Apple to decide the hardware's just not a good idea, or business decisions higher up in Apple may lead them to conclude the NFC payments market is just not mature enough yet (although, we do know Apple loves to stamp boldly into a new area like this so it can leave its prints all over it).
iPhone Chassis
Several leaked iPhone parts have now been seen multiple times online and there's a growing consensus that they actually do represent what the upcoming iPhone will be like: Thinner, taller with a 4-inch screen in a 16:9 aspect ratio just like your HDTV.
Interestingly, the design contains a curious-looking two-toned back cover, with what may be plastic segments at the top and bottom surrounding an all-metal back. A bit of logical thinking suggests these plastic inserts may wrap around the sides of the phone too, acting as the insulating plastic spacers between the parts of the phone's in-frame antennas. Meanwhile NFC antennas tend to be flat coils, and the all-metal back of the phone would suggest the antenna's aren't there...but now there's that handy plastic radio-transparent "window" on the back.
iPhone Dock Connector
Another thing that's been deduced from the leaked parts is a redesigned dock connector. Apple's said to be pursuing it in search of more internal space in the phone (to make room for more battery and technical goodies) and to improve the phone's dust and moisture resistance.
Now it's being said by TechCrunch that the smaller port has 19 pins, versus the old 30-pin connector that was used on the iPod first of all--and that's a reasonable assumption given that there are some connections on that old system that are now irrelevant. It also shows that Apple wants to make its peripherals powerful--because you can send more signals out through 19 pins than the limited 4-pins of a USB connector, which Europe is pressing to be a standard phone charging option.
Apple naysayers have already leaped upon this rumor with negative comments about how Apple may be effectively cheating money out of consumers who have to buy more peripherals now. But this ignores the fact that due to Apple holding onto the old standard for so long the iPhone is basically the only smartphone that has a vast peripheral ecosystem. We say this is a very likely thing for Apple to do, but to hold off the criticism--any number of cheap 30-pin to 19-pin converters will quickly emerge on sale.
Apple Television (again)
Barely a week goes by without another rumor about Apple's bid to reinvent the TV, and this time it's a biggie: Hon Hai (Foxconn's parent company) has already invested in Sharp's LCD plant, and now it's seemingly moving delivery of large numbers of big flat-panel LCDs to the third quarter of 2012 instead of the fourth quarter, as had been previously rumored.
If you believe Apple is making a TV, and if you believe that Foxconn and Sharp are intimately involved in the plan, then this seems to suggest the device is in late-stage prototyping and may even arrive late in 2012 to soak up sales in the holiday season.
Podcasts
Podcasts are a funny phenomenon, loved by some and loathed by others--but it's being suggested that in iOS 6 Apple's taking a decisive move to shift podcasts out of iTunes and into their own standalone app for iPhones and iPads, and that the app will perhaps include more powerful podcast-creating systems too.
We've got a feeling this makes sense for Apple, as it's already differentiated Music and Video apps on iOS devices for playback.
Retina iMacs
Alas, the latest murmur about Apple's computer upgrades says that though a redesigned iMac is due this year rather than next, it's not going to be blessed with the same amazing retina-resolution display tech as the new MacBook Pro, largely for cost-per-unit reasons.
[Images: via MobileFun, Martin uit Utrecht]
Chat about this news with Kit Eaton on Twitter and Fast Company too.