Story highlights
- Apple is inviting the media to an event in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 12
- The event is widely expected to be the launch of the next iPhone
- Among its rumored new features are a slightly larger screen and a smaller dock connector
It's looking like Apple's next version of its iconic smartphone will be called the iPhone 5.
On Tuesday, the secretive company sent e-mails to members of the media, inviting them to an "invitation-only event" in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 12.
The event is widely expected to be the launch of the next iPhone, but in typically cryptic Apple fashion, the invitation reveals little about what will be announced. The tagline says only, "It's almost here."
Of course, that never stops Apple obsessives from parsing the invite for clues. This time, the shadow of the number 12 reveals a not-so-subtle "5," reinforcing speculation that the new device will be called iPhone 5 instead of iPhone 4G or something else.
Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – Fifty years ago, the first push-button telephone was introduced. The electronic system featured Touch-Tone dialing and was offered to Bell customers on November 18, 1963. Click through the gallery to see a visual history of the telephone.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – Alexander Graham Bell invented the liquid transmitter, the first practical means of sending voice calls, in 1876.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – This 1924 phone booth in London features a wall-mounted phone with separate mouthpiece and receiver.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – The telephone has come a long way from the 1930s, when rotary-dial models like this one were popular.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – This rotary phone in Reading, Pennsylvania, could be used to summon police, ambulance or fire services at a moment's notice in the 1930s.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – Rotary-dial telephones with separate mouthpieces and receivers were commonly referred to as "candlestick" phones. This model from the mid-1930s features the rotary dial in the shaft of the telephone.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – This 1950s rotary phone features an attached mouthpiece and receiver.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – Here English troops call their loved ones in 1956 after being told to prepare for duty in the Suez Canal Zone. Payphones were common until cell phones became popular and affordable.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – Some of the first push-button phones are pictured here in 1971.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – French skier Franck Piccard talks on his mobile phone after an event at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – This mobile phone was marketed by Racal-Vodac Limited in 1997 to serve either as a portable unit or as a mobile unit installed in a car. The unit was sold with a battery charger and extension antenna for areas with poor reception.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – Cell phone manufacturers made great strides between 1997 and 2004. The Palm Treo 600 smartphone, pictured here in 2004, integrated telephone with e-mail and Internet-browsing capabilities.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – Motorola's MPx wireless device, released in the second half of 2004, took the smartphone to a new level with Wi-Fi capabilities and a fully functional keyboard.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – The first-generation Apple iPhone, released on June 29, 2007, had people lining up for days to buy one. A huge advancement in phones at the time, it incorporated a touchscreen, apps, e-mail, Web surfing and a host of other features.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – The BlackBerry Bold 9930, shown here, was one of many BlackBerry devices so popular in the early 2000s they were dubbed "CrackBerries." Popular for business applications because of their full keyboards and advanced e-mail capabilities, most BlackBerrys have since been eclipsed by flashier smartphones.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – The iPhone 4S, released in 2011, expanded on the iPhone's innovations with its high-resolution screen and Siri, Apple's voice-activated virtual "assistant."
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – The original Motorola Droid was the thinnest of its kind at its 2011 release. Motorola's Droid Razr Maxx, seen here on display at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, has a longer battery life than previous models.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – Last year, Samsung's Galaxy S III overtook Apple's iPhone 4S to become the world's best-selling smartphone for the third quarter, according to research by Strategy Analytics.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – The iPhone 5 looks similar to previous models but has a larger screen and is lighter and thinner than the iPhone 4S. The phone also comes with a faster processor called the Apple A6, which connects to mobile carriers with a 4G LTE connection.
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Photos: Photos: A visual history of the telephone
A visual history of the telephone – BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins displays two new Blackberry 10 smartphones January 30 in New York. The Z10, left, features an all-touch keyboard. The Q10 features a classic BlackBerry tactile keyboard.
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The official announcement of the September 12 date confirms what several media outlets first reported five weeks ago, citing anonymous sources at Apple.
2007: First iPhone announcement 01:45
2010: iPhone gets face-lift 01:29
A fall iPhone release has been considered a foregone conclusion by most observers for months. Among the device's rumored new features are a slightly larger screen, a faster processor, a smaller dock connector and possibly NFC technology that would make it easier for shoppers to make payments through their phones.
iMore, the first blog to pinpoint the September 12 launch date, has also said pre-orders will begin that day and that the phone will be released nine days later, on September 21.
Many pundits also expect Apple to launch a smaller version of its popular iPad tablet at a separate event, likely in October.
Next week's Apple event will begin at 10 a.m. PT. CNN Tech will be liveblogging the announcement.
