'Fairly Different' iPhone 5 Launching in Weeks, Says Apple Engineer

An actual Apple engineer has reportedly spilled the beans on the next-generation iPhone 5, confirming that it will not be as similar to the iPhone 4 as previously thought.

Pundits have long speculated that this year Apple will introduce a new iPhone that takes many cues from the iPhone 4. But that’s not to say it can’t brings some of its own to the game.

According to an Apple engineer quoted by the New York Times’ Bits blog, the new handset would be “fairly different” from the current-generation iPhone.

This person, reportedly familiar with the new iPhone, suggested the device was substantially altered both on the outside, and on the inside.

But the engineer did not mention any parts that the iPhone 5 rumor mill hasn’t churned up.

He said there would be an eight megapixel camera on the back of the phone, and that it would sport the A5 chip currently found in the iPad 2.

Nothing new, but he did throw in a slightly more important tidbit. According to this person, the announcement is just weeks away.

There’s more. Discussing the design of the phone in greater detail, the engineer looked at renderings from accessory maker Case-Mate and said the images seemed “potentially authentic.”

If we didn’t know any better, we’d say the device housed in those cases displayed above is an original (2G) iPhone.

Then again, numerous case manufacturers have so far painted the exact same picture about the new iPhone 5 - specifically the part about the tapered metallic back.

I, for one, believe that Apple’s iPhone 5 simply must be ‘fairly different’ from the iPhone 4.

Does anyone really think Apple will take the chance of not innovating just as its iconic CEO stepped down?

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