iPhone 5 may not be getting that 4-inch screen afterall

Will the iPhone 5 rumors never end?
The latest rumor actually debunks one that we were kind of excited about. It’s being reported that the iPhone 5 won’t have that larger display that we were all looking forward to. DigiTimes cites sources from “upstream panel suppliers,” that say the iPhone 5 will not sport the 4.2-inch screen previously rumored, but instead will stay either with the current 3.5-inch screen size or possibly inch its way up a bit to a 3.7-inch screen. The sources say that Apple will do a bit of an optical illusion with its design by going with a thinner bezel that will make the screen look larger than it actually is.
The sources also said that the iPhone 5 would have a metal chasis, instead of the reinforced glass. We heard rumors of the next-gen iPhone having a metal back way back in April, but that’s also when we heard it would have a tapered design, which isn’t looking very likely anymore.
As for the iPhone 5 rumors we do know, and have yet to be refuted, the phone will boast an 8-megapixel camera, full HD video recording, an A5 dual-core processor, and, of course, run iOS 5. On the other hand, there’s still talk that the next-gen iPhone will actually be only a slight upgrade to the iPhone 4 but will offer the A5 processor, as well as a few other minor improvements. This may or may not be called the iPhone 4S. But don’t get disheartened just yet; there’s also another rumor that Apple will release this iPhone 4S in conjunction with the iPhone 5, and will make the 4S a slightly cheaper version so it can offer more of a mid-range price option to people who don’t want to spend $300 on a phone.

Unfortunately, according to DigiTimes, their sources say the new phone won’t be giving us a lot of improvements over the last version, so perhaps the next iPhone we see really will be the slight upgrade to the iPhone 4.

Apple is rumored to announce the new phone at its iPod event which is speculated to be held on September 7 with a mid-October release. Until then, we won’t know for sure what size screen the next iPhone 5 will have. Alas, the wait continues.