iPhone 5 Rumors Heating Up

The iPhone 5 rumors continue, and this time they're backing up something we've suspected for a while--Apple's next phone may be all metal. It also looks to be simply a better phone all around.

A few rumors from a while back suggested that Apple's next iPhone revamp would ditch the glass back and adopt a metal one instead--added to the stainless steel antenna-frame of the iPhone 4, this means the iPhone 5 would be an all-metal affair. Now there's an extra boost to this rumor courtesy of a previously reliable source inside Foxconn (Apple's Chinese manufacturer partner) who's seen a prototype edition, and notes that the factories are ramping up into mass production for the device.

An all-metal back makes sense for a bunch of reasons: The glass back of the iPhone 4 was beautiful, but it meant there were two fragile surfaces that could shatter if you dropped the phone, it added a lot of weight to the device's construction, and it was subject to a stress-fracture rumor involving sliding cases. Replacing the glass back with a metal one solves several of Apple's production problems.

 The phone would be more resilient, it could reduce production costs, it reflects Apple's unibody design for its computers, and in one swoop it ditches the production problems associated with light leakage and bad paint that delayed the white iPhone 4. A metal back could also be shallower than the glass one would allow, which could let Apple back a bigger battery inside the case--a move that would boost the iPhone's powers, and add back some of that "quality feel" weight.

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