Release date The next generation of iPhone will go on sale sometime between July and October. Our money is on September as that is when Apple launched the last iPhone and it seems the slightly later launch worked better with the new iPad coming out earlier in the year (with Apple's new Mac OS X coming in the Summer).

Nano-SIM The Micro-SIM found in the iPad and iPhone may be replaced with a Nano-SIM that is almost a third smaller. You'll likely not notice, but Apple keeps shaving off the size from SIM cards in its quest to miniaturize everything.

4G/LTE Support As with the new iPad, we expect the next-generation iPhone to feature 4G/LTE connectivity, which also has no supporting network here in the UK. The advantages of 4G/LTE are principally wider area coverage, faster speed, and a more reliabily persistent connection. But the networks are due to arrive till next year so Apple may not use the 4G branding in the UK.

Price Apple has consistently released each iPhone model at around £500 (unlocked) or has been available on a two-year contract from around £35 per month. Budget models come in the form of last year's model still on sale. So expect the iPhone 4S to become the budget model, when the iPhone 5 comes out.

Name Though the next iPhone will be the sixth-generation, many people throughout the industry are currently still referring to it as the iPhone 5. It is thought, however, that the next iPhone will follow the naming conventions of the new iPad, scrapping numbers all together.