Photo shows iPhone 5 silicone cases now arriving at AT&T stores

Silicone cases for the iPhone 5 have started to show up in AT&T stores according to an image received by MacRumors. The images, if authentic, set to rest the constant questions volleying back and forth over whether or not Apple will release a device called the “iPhone 5″ or just a device called the “iPhone 4S” this year. The cases suggest, as most reports have stated, that the iPhone 5 will indeed sport a thinner profile and a mute switch on the opposite side of the phone. In addition to Friday's leak, on Thursday BGR exclusively published an image of AT&T internal inventory system that revealed an incoming stock of Case-Mate cases for the iPhone 5. BGR also published exclusive first images of the Case-Mate cases on September 15th, before the company quickly pulled them from its website. Apple will hold a press conference on October 4th in Cuperinto, California after which we will finally be able to put these rumors to rest.

iPhone 5 cases pop up in AT&T's inventory database

With only five days left before Apple officially spills the beans on its latest smartphone creation/s, we have yet another iPhone 5 related rumor. This time, it comes from AT&T's own inventory database, where cases for the most anticipated smartphone to launch this year have surfaced.

As you can see above, the covers, designed for the yet to be announced iPhone, come courtesy of Case-Mate - one of the major suppliers of this type of accessories for the current iPhone generation, and feature three different varieties. In case you are interested how they look, click here.

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iPhone 5x4S placeholders pop up at Cincinnati Bell

The truth about Apple's next generation will be unveiled in less than 48 hours, but that's not stopping the speculation train from churning out its last steam to its final destination. Here's a screenshot of Apple's iPhone 4 placeholder at the website of Cincinnati Bell's pre-paid service, i-Wireless, accompanied by a $639.99 price tag and a handful of specs: 32GB, 4-inch screen and 4G data speeds. Our friends over at TUAW have also procured a screenshot (after the break) from the same site, displaying a $99.99 16GB iPhone 4S, sporting a 5MP camera, 3.5-inch screen and an A5 processor. Of course, there's also a chance these are just placeholders, but we're hoping Tuesday's announcement will bear dual fruits, nonetheless.

Radio Shack inventory screen pegs iPhone 5 for Sprint

Every retailers involved are preparing themselves for the massive sales that will hit them once Apple announce their new iPhone(s), and it seemed that in US, almost all carriers will have the new iPhone in their lineup, unlike last year's launch where we see only AT&T had the iPhone 4 (followed few months later by Verizon).

If this screenshot, apparently culled from Radio Shack's inventory system, is any indication, Sprint will indeed be among the carriers offering the iPhone 5. That lines up just right with previous reports from Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, slating the phone to hit the Now Network in mid-October. There's no indication of actual dates at this point, but if Sprint's getting Apple's next-gen iPhone, we're guessing we'll hear more about it on Tuesday.

Alleged iPhone 5 cases pop up at AT&T stores, thinner and wider

Just days before the official "Let's talk iPhone" event kicks off in Cupertino rumors about the next-gen iDevice are heating up - big time. The latest are the iPhone 5 cases that had popped up in AT&T's inventory database. Well now we have pictures to share of them.

A ninja dressed in AT&T shop assistant clothing has sent these pictures to MacRumors. They show the previously leaked Case-Mate cases for the iPhone 5. Judging by them the next incarnation of the iPhone will be way thinner than the current iPhone 4, the LG Optimus Black and the Samsung Galaxy S II - somewhere along the lines of the iPad and sharing the same design as the slate with similar tapered edges.

And in case you'd like to see what the next iPhone could look like based on these cases, you can check out the video below. It's in German but there are English subtitles so you're covered. There are tons of pictures too.

This iPhone 5 mockup was made using CAD drawings, CNC tools and some aluminum. Now we should stress that if you haven't already guessed it this isn't the next iPhone and it's not some real-life prototype Apple lost in a bar or anything of the sort. It's just a very crafty mockup based on the leaked case designs so far and nothing more.

Still this could turn out to be very close to the real deal but we'll know the answer to that one in just 5 days anyway.

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Is this Apple's cheaper iPhone 4?

See that? That just might be the cheaper iPhone that Apple's rumored to formally unveil on Tuesday. Gizmodo Brazil managed to get a hold of a purported iPhone 4s from within a Brazilian Foxconn factory, and while the hardware itself looks just about identical to the iPhone 4 that exists today, there's a new SKU that's leading to understandable speculation. The N90A model number that popped up has certainly emerged before, but where things really get interesting is the "reprovado" ("disqualified") labeling. Is this batch an early set of prototypes that didn't quite pass QA? Will the eventual iPhone 4s even look anything like the iPhone 4 that's on shelves today? You can bet we'll be on hand in Cupertino to find out, and there's no time like the present to clear out your Tuesday morning / afternoon / evening schedule (depending on time zone, of course) to find out with us.

Apple inventory points to new iPhone 5, 4S and iPod

With just two business days to go before Apple's scheduled October 4 event at its Cupertino HQ, the rumor mill is kicking into overdrive. While we know that it's an iPhone event, Apple has not confirmed anything regarding an iPhone 5, an iPhone 4S, or even, given that the fall event is traditionally for iPods, if it will be making any changes to the iPod line. However, a few recent additions to the company's inventory system suggest that all three of the above rumors might be true.

9to5Mac reports that three new iPod models have cropped up in Apple's inventory system with the codename N81A. N81 being the codename for the 4th generation iPod touch, 9to5 believes that these N81A models are the same device with a minor tweak: The color. Yep, the main theory is that this is just the 4th generation iPod touch in white. Thrilling!

More interesting is the appearance of a modified iPhone 4. This model carries the N90A codename, which is just a small difference from the iPhone 4′s N90 moniker. Considering the iPhone codename ‘N94′ has appeared in the iOS SDK several times, we're going to assume that N90A refers to something close to the iPhone 4 while N94 is the iPhone 5.
If you're not a fan of the iPhone 4, you might be interested in learning that the iPhone 5 has also cropped up in Apple's inventory system. 9to5Mac has since reported that the next generation of iPhone, under the N94 moniker, has appeared in the inventory system. Roll on Tuesday!

iPhone 5 to have 21 Mbps HSPA+ data speeds?

Apple won't unveil the iPhone 5 until next Tuesday, but we may have stumbled upon some early details about Apple's next generation smartphone.

China Unicom's, the world's third largest telecom provider, attended MacWorld Asia and had an important presentation today. Deputy Director Huang Wenlian was making the presentation and stated that the iPhone 5 would utilize China Unicom's own HSPA+ 21 Mbps network. This is very interesting since the HSPA+ network would provide three times faster speeds than the 3G speeds on the iPhone 4 and previous iPhone models. This statement also checks up with Apple's dislike of the use of LTE since it would make the phone to thick and Apple likes to make its newer models thinner.

Although this statement doesn't officially confirm that the iPhone 5 will support a HSPA+ network, it is very likely. We will let you know all of the official details of the iPhone 5 on Tuesday, so stayed tune!

Next generation iPhone comes with HSPA+, no LTE after all?

We know that Apple won't be unveiling its next superphone for a few more days, but we may have a tasty tidbit about the iPhone 5 ahead of schedule. So the story goes, China Unicom's Deputy Director Huang Wenlian was making a presentation at Macworld Asia, and stated that the new iPhone would utilize the company's HSPA+ 21Mbps network. Now, we aren't saying it's a sure thing, but it appears that Tim Cook could deliver a handset with thrice the data speeds of its predecessor next week. Then again, remember that AT&T was fitting an Apple Store with some LTE equipment? And yet there was a contradicting report way back earlier in the beginning of the year that Apple's Tim Cook mentioned that Apple will not be looking into LTE as of yet. Anyway, all will be known this coming Tuesday.

What to Expect From Apple's 2011 iPhone Event

Steve Jobs may not be presiding over this year's long-awaited iPhone announcement, but that's not putting a damper on any of the excitement. Rumors of the coveted new mystery product (or products) have been swirling for months, but Apple will finally pull back the curtain at its Oct. 4 event.

Hard and fast details are few and far between, but we've got a pretty good track record in predicting new iPhone and MacBook announcements in the past. So we've taken a look at what little information there is available, and here's what we think is waiting for us down at 1 Infinite Loop come Tuesday morning.

Powering the iPhone 5 will likely be an A5 processor, as it's been spotted in purported photos of the next-gen model's insides. The latest news also points to the iPhone 5 touting 1 GB of RAM, which makes for better gaming, browsing and more memory-intensive tasks.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The rear-facing camera could also get a bump up from the current iPhone's 5 megapixels to a sharper 8 megapixels. That's the magic number for the industry currently, with Android smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S II and Motorola Droid 3 already touting as much. Photography is key to the iPhone experience — especially with iOS-only apps like the ever-popular Instagram — and we don't see Apple skimping out in that area.

Appearance-wise, the iPhone 5 may sport a new metal back, as opposed to the iPhone 4's glass-covered rear. Case design mock-ups point to a device that's incredibly thin, with tapered edges and a larger, edge-to-edge display. A number of mock-ups and case designs are showing an elongated hardware home button on the device, which seems a bit odd to us, as we thought Apple would be more likely to remove some hardware and turn that button into a capacitive-touch space.

We were inititally skeptical that Apple would release two iPhones this fall, a new iPhone and an incrementally updated or budget "iPhone 4S." But hints from different sources suggest that a budget "iPhone 4S" could very likely make an appearance at Apple's iPhone event.

For one, Apple board member Al Gore used the plural form when he said there would be "iPhones coming out next month” at a conference he spoke at in September.

CEO Tim Cook also previously stated that Apple would not be "ceding any market" and that "price is a big factor in the prepaid market." Feature phones make up just about two-thirds of the nation's mobile phone scene (not to mention foreign markets like China and India, where the prepaid phone market is huge). By producing a budget iPhone, with reduced storage capacity and cheaper data plan options, Apple could reach out to a large portion of the market that's been holding out on purchasing a smartphone.

In an effort to gain ground among the growing legion of Android users, Apple may introduce the iPhone to a third carrier — namely, Sprint — in addition to its existing relationships with AT&T and Verizon.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Increased distribution is a key component of Apple's marketing strategy, according to Shing Yin of Citadel Securities, a position that wasn't a major concern when the iPhone initially launched into the smartphone space.

T-Mobile recently confirmed it will not be carrying the iPhone this year. T-Mobile subscribers will have to get their smartphone kicks with Android, which the network is wholly embracing.

We've seen an iOS 5 preview at WWDC 2011 earlier this year, and it's been available to developers in beta form for some time, so there are no surprises here. With iOS 5, the next iPhone will house a number of features currently accomplished by third-party apps. Examples include photo editing (something Camera+ currently excels at), image and document sharing (which falls in the realm of Dropbox) and a "Read Later" functionality (currently performed by Instapaper).

iOS also seamlessly integrates SMS and MMS messaging with iMessage and will allow for FaceTime-ing over a 3G connection rather than just a Wi-Fi connection.

One of the latest bits of exciting news we may be seeing Tuesday is the introduction of voice control on the iPhone. This purportedly comes by way of a feature called Assistant, a piece of software built by Siri, a start-up Apple purchased in 2010. Assistant will only be able to run on the iPhone 5, as it requires its beefed up CPU and additional memory.

Assistant would let you tell your phone something like "Send a text message to Joe Schmoe saying I'm going to be in town next Wednesday," and then it would complete the task. It would also have a conversation mode to glean more information from the user in order to provide optimal results.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

It's unlikely that Steve Jobs will make a surprise appearance at this year's iPhone announcement. Jobs stepped down as CEO. It's new CEO Tim Cook's time to shine now, and his place to lead the event. Like past announcements, there will probably be a handful of executives — VPs like Jonathan Ive and Phil Schiller — taking turns introducing and demonstrating the various new and improved features of the phone. But Steve Jobs will not be stepping out from behind a black curtain. If there's "One more thing…," Mr. Cook will be the one dangling the carrot on a string.