The run up to any Apple hardware or software release just wouldn’t be the same without the influx of rumors and insane speculation that gets thrown around the world wide web, often quoted as gospel. As you can imagine, with an initial look at iOS 6 set to come sometime during the worldwide Developers Conference and the sixth-generation iPhone expected later on this year, the conjecture train is stopping at every station with sources coming out of every corner to throw their opinions on board.

We have already come across the news that iOS 6 will feature an overhauled App Store, iBookstore and iTunes Store, and even an advanced 3D mapping app, but the latest murmurings are related to the actual hardware of the next-generation iPhone and are centered around the heart of the device itself – the processor. Rumor has it that Apple are all set to manufacture the iPhone 5, or the New iPhone as it may be called, with the Broadcom BCM4334 radio chipset on board. While the model numbers of processors may not mean much to the average man on the street, but trust us when we say it does has significant advantages for device owners.

The BCM4334 model is an upgraded replacement for the BCM4330 processor that currently gives the get-up-and-go to the iPad and iPhone 4S, and will offer significant space and power savings for Apple, something that can only benefit the end user. The new Broadcom BCM4334 is a single-chip dual-band offering that has an ultra-low power consumption, with Broadcom themselves saying that it finds its home in mass market smartphone devices. The design and build processes used by the manufacturers have been changed from the previous model, with the BCM4334 benefitting from 40nm process technology, something that dramatically reduces the power used when both active and sitting idle.

What’s more, the rumored chipset also features support for Bluetooth 4.0 as well as a 802.11a/b/g/n radio with an onboard FM radio receiver. Due to the fact that this mentioned model is a combination processor, it has next-generation switching techniques that allows network connections, as well as streaming with Wi-Fi Direct. Apart from the inclusion of this Broadcom processor, the latest reports also suggest that Apple will include an AirDrop-like feature in iPhone. Apple officially introduced AirDrop with OS X Lion, which is essentially a technology to allow files to be dropped from one compatible Mac to another on the same network, and the rumored inclusion in the next iPhone is certainly an interesting one.

With WWDC just over a week away, we don’t need to wait long until we possibly see an initial sight and possibly a developer only release of iOS 6. However, when talking about the purported hardware contained within the next iPhone, the wait could be a little longer until we see what actually materializes. Keeping in mind that Apple, and all smartphone and mobile device manufacturers, are also looking to make space, and power gains with new releases, the inclusion of the Broadcom BCM4334 could be nailed on.

(via 9to5Mac)

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