iPhone 5 Release Date: Apple's Big Unveiling Set to be iPhone 4S?

(Image: Designed by ADR Studios / Concept Phones www.Concept-Phones.com)
Concept image of the iPhone 5.

By Ravelle Mohammed , Christian Post Reporter

October 4, 2011|1:36 pm

Apple’s highly anticipated “Let’s Talk iPhone” event is underway and several tech websites have been live blogging the event. The iPhone 4 accounts for more than half of all iPhones ever sold, which begs the question: Could this be the reason for the rumored iPhone 4S?

What does this mean for the iPhone – will there be an iPhone 5 or just the iPhone 4S?

Chris Taylor, live blogging for tech site Mashable, wrote, “At this stage, if Apple is launching an iPhone 5, it will be one of the best last-minute head fakes in tech history.”

Sources close to Apple revealed to TheNextWeb that the iPhone 4S, featuring an 8-megapixal camera and new GPS capabilities, will make its debut today.

The 8-megapixel camera will have “enhanced optics” and the phone will have “more definitive GPS features.”

The iPhone 4S “is much more powerful than an iPhone 4” and “feels like the high-end device,” another source revealed to TheNextWeb.

Apple’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” event has analysts speculating whether the invitation alludes to what will be announced.

"In the past, Apple has used its invitation to include cryptic hints as to what it will announce," Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a letter to investors.

The phrase on this year's invite, “Let's talk iPhone,” may be a simple play on words, but may also refer to new speech-based features for the iPhone,” he added.

The new smartphone is rumored to have a voice-control system known as the “Assistant” and 1GB of RAM, tech news site TUAW wrote.

"With every new version of iOS, Apple has previewed most of the new features, but has reserved some hardware-specific features for the hardware announcement," said Munster and Andrew Murphy, also an analyst for Piper Jaffray, in an investor note released Tuesday.

Munster and Murphy added, "We believe one of the unannounced features of iOS 5 may be voice-recognition technology leveraging Apple's April 2010 acquisition of Siri, a voice-recognition app and service.”

According to analysts, the new smartphone is expected to sell for $199 to $299 and an updated iPhone 4 could also make it onto retail shelves for a price as low as $99.