next generation

Although these next generation iPhone battery photos from 9to5 Mac may not be much to look at, they give us some more insight into the iPhone 5 hardware coming this fall. With a larger display and an LTE radio, the iPhone 5 will require more power in a slimmer package.

Assuming Apple goes with the battery pictured above, the component is slightly thinner and increases capacity to 1440 mAh over the iPhone 4S at 1430 mAh. Voltage is also increased in the new battery from 3.7 to 3.8 volts. As it turns out, these increases are not as large as some were expecting to see.

The smaller, 19-pin dock connector expected to arrive with the next generation iPhone may be a different design after all. Leaked photos on 9to5 Mac show a dock connector cable with 16 pins, including 8 on each side. Apparently only 8 pins would be used in the iPhone 5, with the other side reserved for future use.

The plug has contacts that look more like a USB cable or SD memory card, and would not have to be oriented in a particular direction to connect. This symmetrical design simplifies the process of plugging in a dock cable to the port at the bottom of the iPhone or accessories. Speaking of which, there is some concern that the new design will render many third-party accessories obsolete, despite a rumored adapter.

Do you hate when your iPhone doesn't automatically switch to 3G if your Wi-Fi connection is too slow? A new feature in iOS 6 will solve this problem. The new option called "Wi-Fi Plus Cellular" allows your iPhone to automatically switch to a cellular connection when Wi-Fi isn't doing the job. iPhone owners can also manage their data usage by toggling specific services on and off. As you can see from the picture below, the cellular option allows you to turn off access to iCloud Documents, iTunes, FaceTime, Passbook Updates and Reading List.

The "Wi-Fi Plus Cellular" option was discovered within the Settings menu in the latest iOS 6 beta by AppAdvice. The blog also discovered a toggle for Shared Calendar Alerts within the beta. When enabled, the new feature will notify you whenever the shared calendar is modified.

Apple has recently been awarded a long list of patents related to the iPhone according to a report from Patently Apple. One of the most important is a patent detailing the user interface that iOS uses to display electronic lists and documents. It may not sound like much, but this covers a wide range of functions seen on many smartphones today.

Not only this, but a patent for a smaller dock connector looks similar to leaked parts and rumors suggesting that the next generation iPhone will sport a 19-pin connector. The iPhone 5 renderings above reflect an artist's conception of the port, which would shave valuable space off of the existing 30-pin connector.

Now that Apple's nano-SIM card standard has been approved by the European Telecommunications Institute (ETSI), reports are coming in that European carriers are stocking up on the cards. The reason? Apple's next generation iPhone will utilize the smaller SIM. So much for those larger iPhone 5 SIM trays that purportedly leaked out to parts sellers in Asia.

Apple's nano-SIM card design is pictured above from The Verge, inside the outline of a standard SIM card. By shaving 40 percent of the size from the SIM card, Apple can free up space for other things in the device. BGR confirms from multiple sources that Apple is supplying carriers with nano-SIM adapters so they can test the cards on their networks.