New iPhone 5 rumour: He said, she said

And so it begins yet again. 9 to 5 Mac has a source that says Foxconn is gearing up for iPhone 5 production and that the new model will have a 4 inch, or slightly larger display.

The same source confirmed an iPhone 4S and not an iPhone 5 before last year’s event and despite various prototype samples floating around, confirms some characteristics they all seem to have in common.

Most notably:

• a larger, 4 inch display
• longer and wider dimensions
• symmetrical thickness, so no “teardrop” shape
• new form-factor that deviates from the iPhone 4/4S design

Despite still being a long way from launch, Seth Weintraub notes that iPhone 4S production did not gear up until late spring of last year. He points out that a new iPhone launch might happen round about Apple’s WWDC, which used to be the time that new iPhone models were introduced, that is, until last year.

John Gruber from Daring Fireball fame, promptly dismissed the rumour that Foxconn was gearing up for production, saying that it was “too soon”.  He also doesn’t see the iPhone 5 being longer and wider, but can envision Apple putting a larger display on the same size device.

Taking everything into account, it looks safe to start dreaming about a larger display. With Android hitting its stride, and consumers gravitating towards larger displays, the iPhone 4/4S 3.5 inch display can do with some enlargment.