Edible Apple

Citing the always popular “anonymous source”, the Japanese language blog Macotakara is reporting that the next iPhone release will be of the 4S variety and, as has previously been reported, will come feature some spec upgrades along with a spankin’ new 8 megapixel camera.

Corroborating previous rumors, Macotakara writes that the iPhone 4S will sport the same form factor as the iPhone 4 and will use an ARM Cortex-A9 processor though they weren’t sure if the processor will be comprised of a single CPU or if it will be dual-core.

Oddly enough, the report relays that the iPhone 4S will come with a SIM-less design, which is at odds with what we’ve been hearing lately. Remember that last week we reported that Apple was proposing a new, smaller SIM card design after its efforts to release an iPhone sans a SIM card altogether were uniformly thwarted by carriers fearful of losing control over the customer relationship.

One other rumored feature is that the next-gen iPhone will be a “world phone” in the sense that it will support both GSM and CDMA networks right out of the box thanks to a new chipset from Qualcomm. To enable such functionality, the iPhone 4S will reportedly come with 3-4 internal antennas.

Now many of the rumors we’ve been hearing about the next-gen iPhone release date have pointed to a Fall release with a late September timeframe being the most discussed. That notwithstanding, Macotakara writes that the next iPhone is poisd for release either at the end of July or in early August. At this point, of course, the only people who know for sure when the next-gen iPhone will drop are the higher ups at Apple, but there’s no denying that with the number of attractive Android handsets multiplying each month, it’s in Apple’s best interest to get a new iPhone model out there as soon as possible.

Some other features not referenced in the latest headline-attracting rumor is that the 8 megapixel camera will be accompanied by a camera flash module located on the opposite side of the phone, a move which will purportedly result in better picture quality during less than ideal shooting conditions.

Looking forward past the iPhone 4S, the report notes that Apple’s next major iPhone release is on target for a Spring 2012 release.