Doubt has been cast on the possibility of Apple launching an iPhone 5 in 2011 after a Chinese supplier claimed there was going to be “no iPhone 5 this year”.
The same supplier has provided images of components for an iPhone 4S, which it says will launch soon, and were sourced from Shenzhen in China.
Apple Insider was made aware of the parts by iRepair India, a repair service for iPods, iPhones, iPads and MacBooks.
iRepair India’s co-founder told Apple Insider that he knows the Chinese supplier in question and regards him as a credible source.
The claimed iPhone 4S components – battery, camera, home button, dock connector assembly, and display glass, according to the report – are all available for purchase now, the source said.
There has been much speculation about whether the next-generation iPhone would be a slight upgrade of the iPhone 4 or an all-new design with superior components, or even whether Apple would launch two new models in the iPhone range.
Last week, the New York Times reported that an Apple employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had promised that the next-generation iPhone would be “fairly different” from the iPhone 4, but only mentioned one new iPhone rather than two.
However, contradictory evidence was later reported by 9to5Mac, which claimed that a source had confirmed the existence of two new iPhones – one of which was suffering production delays.
