"iPhone 5" Delayed Because of A5 Heat Issues?

After antennagate comes heatgate.

"You're holding it too much."

"Using any mobile phone will result in some production of heat. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone..."

You mean to tell me that a processor that Apple exclusively controlled the development over won't fit into an enclosure that has also been exclusively developed by Apple, specifically one of two (or more) form factors designed specifically to house said processor? And on a manufacturing process that they've already manufactured on?

Sorry, don't buy it.

Oh no! This could be the misstep that allows RIM to retake the smartphone leadership crown!!!!!

So, how exactly does one qualify "minor" vs "major" changes? Until now, we've heard fairly routinely that the next iPhone will get an 8MP camera, an A5 chip, and HSPA+ support. While that is quite a bit of horsepower, a lot of people still qualify that as "minor" upgrades and will only qualify it as a major upgrade if the case is changed.

I do think that if the A5 chip is dropped from the update, I'd start considering more of a minor update, but I do think we should being a little more purposeful about how we describe what we expect a "minor" vs "major" update to be.

Sounds to me like somebody is toying with the "analysts"

You realize that the enclosure people and the chip design people are different right? They've probably never even met.

It's bad metaphor time!
Have you ever overeaten? You know the size of your stomach, and yet you put more food on your plate than you should have. I don't buy it.

I'm talking about the phone enclosure.

If you're referring to the chip packaging, of course that's done elsewhere, but Apple would have been intimately aware of the process as it went along. To think that they would know what they were dealing with in terms of package size (which, BTW, a larger package gives the chip more area to dissipate heat) yet still made a blunder of this level when they had so many knobs of control over the whole process is hard to swallow.

Your analogy isn't relevant. They would have known precise quantities for each throughout the process.

So, how exactly does one qualify "minor" vs "major" changes? Until now, we've heard fairly routinely that the next iPhone will get an 8MP camera, an A5 chip, and HSPA+ support. While that is quite a bit of horsepower, a lot of people still qualify that as "minor" upgrades and will only qualify it as a major upgrade if the case is changed.

I do think that if the A5 chip is dropped from the update, I'd start considering more of a minor update, but I do think we should being a little more purposeful about how we describe what we expect a "minor" vs "major" update to be.

IMO, even if it is the A5 and nothing else, that's still major. greater than 2x the CPU power and many times over GPU power.

I've been thinking this all along. Think about it. The iPad 2's chip is a lot bigger than the one in the iPhone. They need to move to smaller die sizes. This will not only create a smaller chip but one that is more energy efficient.

Bigger die size means bigger package means more area to dissipate heat. Bigger die is only bad in that it eats area from the board for other things. Also, smaller chip does not imply more efficient. Efficiency is a rating of processing power vs. energy used. If you increase in size, you also increase in processing power, and not all circuitry is always actively being used. Unused portions are often power gated so they can "sleep" and sip power.

In my opinion, I can buy that the iPhone 5 has been delayed because of some difficulty in assembly, problems acquiring parts, etc. I do not buy that Apple made a blunder on heat dissipation when all of the variables were in their hands.

A later summer/early fall iPhone 5 launch also makes sense in the context that verizon iphone 4 and white iphone 4 launches have prolonged the iphone 4's life. This release also allows it to coincide with the ipod touch releases and additionally evens out the demand curve for A5 processors when you consider the iPad 2 boom and iphone 5 will be close to half a year apart as opposed to a mere 2 months.

Maybe Apple should make the back aluminum instead of glass.

This is one of those rumors out of Apple that is controlled by Apple in order to make sure peoples high hopes aren't crushed (cause everybody wants technology in their phone that is way before the time). If they tell you they are coming out with an iPhone 4S or whatever other rumored names and they come out with an iPhone 5 with new everything, then we will all be excited... I don't buy it.

Pretty sure they have been working on iPhone 5 since before iPhone 4 was launched...

So, how exactly does one qualify "minor" vs "major" changes? Until now, we've heard fairly routinely that the next iPhone will get an 8MP camera, an A5 chip, and HSPA+ support. While that is quite a bit of horsepower, a lot of people still qualify that as "minor" upgrades and will only qualify it as a major upgrade if the case is changed.

Jesus, since when is a much faster CPU/GPU, twice as fast network speeds and almost 2x as better of a camera, a minor update for a phone!? What are we expecting, nuclear powered and doubles as a hover board?

And yet you mom and dad remain hopelessly bonded in Apple darkness.

wtf?if it's not a problem for us why change?just so we could say we're cool because we got an Android with 5000 settings?we want a phone that just works turn on and there it goes.