Smaller, longer-lasting iPhone on tap?

Add another log on the iPhone rumor pile: it may be smaller.

The next iPhone might be smaller and thinner despite its new features, one report says.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The iPhone silly season is in full swing for the second consecutive year, as we get ready for Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference one week from today. A next-generation iPhone is expected to be the centerpiece of CEO Steve Jobs' keynote address, and a new report from Wired is claiming that the revamped iPhone will be 22 percent smaller thinner than the original.

The report also says the iPhone will connect to 3G networks--which isn't exactly a shocker--and will come with a GPS chip. Two tidbits that haven't been as widely discussed also made the grade, such as the new version arriving in 16GB and 32GB varieties, and featuring better battery life than its predecessor.

Apple has long cited battery life issues as the reason it didn't jump on the 3G train last year, so it would be somewhat surprising if the company actually improved battery life--rather than just keeping it constant--in iPhone 2.0. Wired's source is supposedly a software programmer at a "major software publisher," who is no doubt gearing up for the release of the iPhone's software development kit at some point in June.

[4wight]

You might want to amend that to 22 per cent THINNER. The new iPhone is not going to be quarter the size of the original!

[ecotopian]

Um, 22 percent smaller is equal to 78 percent of the original size.

[ajnauron]

22%? That's still pretty good...0.78 * 11.6 = 9.048, so 9mm. If they get the GPS working with Google Maps it'll be amazing, but this is probably a given because Jobs is on Google's board.