An Avian Securities research note earlier this month stated that mass production of the iPhone 5 won't begin until September, pointing to a later 2011 or early 2012 launch. A new note on Monday, April 18, issued by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo with Concord Securities echoes that information, and offers purported details of the iPhone 5, as well.

Kuo has been told that the iPhone 5 will go into trial production in August and mass production in September. In addition, his supply chain sources indicated that Apple's next handset will not feature an all-new-design, but rather only "slight modifications" from the iPhone 4.

has heard that the iPhone 5 will include the faster A5 processor already shipping in the iPad 2, as well as a higher resolution 8 megapixel rear camera. Additionally, he has been told that Apple will switch to a Qualcomm baseband for both GSM and CDMA models, along with a new antenna design, which hopefully will finally and completely fix any "death grip" issues.

Kuo's report, however, states that Apple will unveil its iPhone 5 at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), scheduled for June 6 through 10 in San Francisco. However, other reports, and Apple's own statements have pointed to WWDC 2011 being software-focused (iOS 5 and Mac OS X 10.7 Lion), with no new hardware introductions.

Kuo added that the next major revision of Apple's smartphone will be the iPhone 6. He said that his sources say that Apple plans a new design and much improved hardware specifications for the sixth-generation iPhone, and that those sources have also indicated that the device could go on sale as early as the first half of 2012, which would be earlier than usual, based on the iPhone 5's later launch. The reason given: "fierce competition" with Android devices.