Although many new features for the iPhone 5 have been speculated on, few seem to be set in stone — with the exception of the A5 processor. but if the A5 turns out to be the “crown jewel” of the iPhone 5 upgrade, will that be enough to excite iPhone users?
There’s no doubt that the most talked-about piece of news concerning the iPhone 5 has to be the release date. But a close second is the swirling debate about which features the iPhone 5 will boast. There has been a steady stream of reports about a wide range of different purported features, such as a larger screen, 8 megapixel camera, NFC technology, a non-existent home button, aluminum chassis, and more.
However, there seems to be no agreement on whether any of these features will actually materialize on the iPhone 5 — they seem to “here one week and gone the next.” Even the next iOS 5 operating system has been called into question as to whether or not it will appear on the iPhone 5, with analysts suggesting that it might not be ready until the Fall of 2011.
The only new development for the iPhone 5 that all of the reports and tech pundits seem to agree on is the A5 chip.
And this, of course, is the easiest feature to predict, since it has already seen mainstream application in this year’s new iPad 2. Thus far, the A5 processor has gotten rave reviews from analysts and users alike: tech-oriented folks appreciate the bold power of the A5 and foresee it as a trailblazer for even better things to come, while the average iPad 2 user just feels the improved speed and functionality.
That being said, there was more to the iPad 2′s successful launch than just the A5: the addition of a front- and rear-facing camera, cool gyro feature, industry-leading price, and a thinner and lighter chassis all contributed to the robust sales that the iPad 2 continues to enjoy. The A5 was the “under the hood” improvement from the original iPad, and one could argue that, while it is a key upgrade to the iPad, it isn’t the most “marketing friendly” feature for un-geeky tablet users.
With this mind, what if the A5 chip turns out to be the only significant upgrade for the iPhone 5? Will that be enough to energize iPhone users to the point where they’ll shell out big money to upgrade?
Probably not.
No matter how powerful the A5 processor may be, without some accompanying “bells and whistles” on the iPhone 5, few mainstream iPhone users will see the point in putting to rest their iPhone 4. This reality is precisely why Ferrari, Lambourghini, Porche, and other exotic car manufactuers put a beautiful body on their high-performance sports cars; if their cars looked like a Prius on the outside, no one would buy them at their price point, no matter how big their engines are. (And apologies to all you Prius drivers out there.)
Truth be told, iPhone users will be looking for one big feature to get excited about. Last year, it was the addition of the front-facing camera on the iPhone 4 that excited people. Apple was able to recycle that feature on the new iPad 2. But for the iPhone 5, the A5 processor alone won’t be enough to propel it past this year’s Droid offerings — and at this point, the A5 is the only feature we can bank on.
Let us know what you think about the A5 chip, and if it would be enough to get you excited about buying an iPone 5!

What You Need To Know About the A5 Processor
One way to get excited about the iPhone 5 — even if its only major upgrade from the iPhone 4 turns out to be its chip — is to fully understand and appreciate the power and performance of the A5 in its glory. First, some of the basic stuff: the A5 chip follows in the tradition of all Apple’s mobile processors in that it is a a package on package (PoP) system-on-a-chip (SoC). This means that the whole operating system fits on the chip itself, as compared to personal computers, where the OS is stored and runs off of the hard drive.
The A5 chip is manufactured by top-notch Samsung, and although Samsung has allowed Apple to keep their production costs down, all indications are that the A5 chip is pretty pricey to make. While Apple seemed willing to eat the extra cost of the A5 processor on the iPad 2, it remains to be seen if that will be the case for the iPhone 5 — it could see an uptick in its price point at the expense of a faster mobile computing experience.
The other cool thing about the A5 is that it is a dual-core processor. This means that the CPU has two independent cores that are integrated on one circuit. What does that mean for the layman? The dual-core set-up lets you multi-task at greater speed and fluidity — it’s like having “two computers in one.”
Speaking of speed, the A5 has lots of it. It has been rated at  1 GHz on the iPad 2. However, the chip can dynamically adjust itself to save battery life. The result is that the A5 processor is basically twice as fast as the old A4, and said to be nine times faster than the A4 on graphics. So if you love your graphics on the iPhone 4, wait until you see them running on an A5-powered iPhone 5!

iPhone 5 components supplier Foxconn recently turned over staffers to Chinese authorities for leaking iPad 2 specs to case designers in 2010, well ahead of its official release this year. With this in mind, is there any chance of leaked authentic iPhone photos or specs making their way to the internet this summer?
Do you love critiquing leaked photos of purported iPhone 5 components and prototypes? There’s no doubt that every new and credible photo or video that appears on the internet ratchets up the buzz and excitement over the next iteration of the iPhone. Is the photo real, or is it a fake?
Given what recently transpired at Foxconn, one of Apple’s primary components manufacturers, chances are that few if any authentic photos of new iPhone 5 equipment will be making their way out of Foxconn’s factory in China.
The Register has reported that Foxconn turned over two of their own staffers to Chinese authorities for allegedly leaking specs of the iPad 2 to case and accessories designers in 2010, well ahead of its recent release in 2011. Writer Richard Chirgwin reported that, “The design leak allowed the third party manufacturers to build iPad 2 cases that were the right thickness and accommodate the location of the camera on the rear of the device.”

The tech community did indeed do a double-take at how rapidly the top case case designers rolled out fresh, tight-fitting iPad 2 cases, given the fact that the second iteration of the iPad 2 did see some changes to its dimensions. But considering the form-factor of the iPad 2 is relatively similar to its predecessor, most tech pundits assumed that it was simply easier to adjust base iPad case designs the second time around, versus having to “inflate” the dimensions of iPhone cases to accommodate the first iPad, as they did in 2010. Little did we all know that Foxconn employees were leaking the iPad 2 specs — and for lots of money, no doubt, especially given the mammoth size of the consumer electronics accessories sector worldwide.
We’ve reported before in an earlier article how case designers for the iPhone and iPad struggle to keep pace with Apple’s famously tight-lipped product release schedule. Thanks to Cupertino’s legendary “Worldwide Loyalty Team,” secrets are kept close to Apple’s belt, with the idea being that, the fewer the leaks, the bigger the splash when CEO Steve Jobs walks out onto that stage with whatever newfangled gadget he’s come up with. Take, for example, original iPhone: it is well-documented that it was kept a total secret from the public for 30 months from the time of its inception. Even the CIA couldn’t hold a secret for that long.
Gizmodo has a great exposé on how the Worldwide Loyalty Team works. And Gizmodo should know, considering that their own Jason Chen found himself in their crosshairs last summer when he obtained a prototype of the iPhone 4.
But for as much as Apple is resoundingly solid in containing leaks from within the U.S., controlling the security situation at their components manufacturers overseas is another story. There is no doubt that Apple’s contractual relationship with companies like Foxconn includes a security and non-disclosure clause that is probably unlike anything else in the tech industry, requiring its partners to conform to strict security standards that must be followed in order to keep the working relationship in good standing. It can also be assumed that Apple “operatives” — even from the Worldwide Loyalty Team — spend a fair share of time slinking around Foxconn’s facilities (they are a worldwide organization, after all).
But they cannot keep their finger on the pulse of every aspect of security at Foxconn or other manufacturers, which is why the iPad 2 specs were able to be leaked last year.
How The Foxconn Bust Impacts the iPhone 5
Given the now delicate nature of the iPhone 5′s release date and purported features (or lack thereof), all eyes are going to point toward Foxconn, looking for any signs that the iPhone 5 has gone into production. But any information we gain over the summer about the iPhone 5 is most likely going to be circumstantial at best; it’s hard to imagine that anyone at Foxconn would risk leaking iPhone 5 photos, prototypes, or specs, all while two of their comrades are being sweated down by the Chinese police.
One could also imagine that there are some case manufacturers shaking in their boots as well, who, up until the arrests last week, may have been feeling out the prospect of getting an advance peek at the new iPhone 5 dimensions, so that they could once again be first to market with their iPhone 5 cases.
All of that seems unlikely now.
So, the next time a shady website claims to have new parts, photos, or specs of the iPhone 5, think of those ex-Foxconn employees under the hot lamp of the Chinese investigators and ask yourself: would anyone risk leaking this stuff to the media?