iPhone 5 release date: 4-inch device to be launched this summer, Foxconn employee claims

According to an anonymous source at the China-based supplier Foxconn cited by 9to5Mac, a handful of sample devices for the next iPhone are “floating around,” and based on Apple’s previous production scheduling, we should expect a summer release date.

The tech blog also mentions that the iPhone 5 could incorporate a 4-inch screen (one of which is supposedly manufactured by LG) and a “longer/wider” form factor.

The source says there are a few variations between each model but that none of these devices is absolutely final in its build.

The insider also shared that the iPhone 5 could be launched during Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference set for this summer.

This isn’t the first time word of a summer launch comes up. Previous reports have speculated that the iPhone 5 could be released in the first quarter of 2012, while others bet on a Oct. 5 2012 launch in to commemoration of Steve Jobs’ death.