iPhone 5 predicted to be just 7.9mm thick

At Apple, design is everything. Not only does the company want the best looking devices on the market, they also like to be ahead of competitors by having the thinnest gadgets, or by shipping displays with a resolution far above anything that has gone before. So, when there’s an opportunity to reduce the thickness of the next iPhone by 0.44mm, you’d expect Apple to take it. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at KGI Securities, that’s exactly what Apple is going to do for the iPhone 5 by using a different touchscreen solution. The almost half a millimeter saving would be made possible by a switch to an in-cell touch panel. By embedding the touch sensor in the actual LCD display, it removes the need for separate sensor layer. In turn, you get a reduction of thickness by as much as 0.44mm because not only is that extra layer gone, but you can bond the cover glass directly to the LCD. If we take the iPhone 4S as a base, it is 9.3mm thick. Replace the touchscreen for an in-cell solution and that drops to 8.86mm. That is of course assuming there’s no other component inside the iPhone casing that requires the extra 0.44mm of height. Such a saving would not beat the Droid Razr with its 7.1mm thickness (although that doesn’t include the Razr’s hump), but it could be just one of several thickness savings in the iPhone 5. Kuo also suggests Apple will employ a metal back and thinner battery in order to save on thickness. The end result is a phone predicted to be just 7.9mm thick. Including a thinner battery may set alarm bells ringing about battery life, but if Apple includes a larger display, the iPhone 5 would probably end up with a larger, yet thinner battery inside due to the extra width and height afforded by a larger screen. Again, that’s assuming Apple is happy to increase the overall size of the phone a bit. One final benefit of this new touchscreen is a significant reduction in manufacturing time for the phone. The existing 12-16 days could be reduced to 3-5 days because only 3 bonding stages are required instead of the iPhone 4s’ 6 stages. Whatever surprises the iPhone 5 holds, Apple must surely be putting the final touches to its design. The next iPhone is expected to launch this Fall, or be announced as early as WWDC in June.