iphone 5

Phone 5 launch

A few days ago, Apple finally got round to sending journalists an invite to the launch of its new handset, with the iPhone 5 launch officially pegged for today at 10am PT, 1pm ET, 1900 CEST or 1800 BST (6pm).

The shadow on the invite shows a 5, which almost definitely means Apple is to call its latest handset the iPhone 5 - so thankfully no more 'new' names as in the new iPad.

It looks like the new iPhone 5 will be an entirely new form factor unlike the iPhone 4S - there are full details of all the leaks below - while it looks like we'll be seeing yet another SIM card standard launch, called a nanoSIM. The leaks suggest a 7.6mm thick handset, making it 1.7mm thinner than the iPhone 4S.

We're also expecting a four-inch display, 1GB of RAM and a new quad-core ARM processor, probably called the Apple A6. 4G internet speeds will also surely be supported by the new standard, especially given the EE announcement of a 4G UK network.

As has been much rumoured - again, full details below - we'll also see a new 8-pin dock connector to replace the now common 30-pin Apple iPod, iPad and iPhone standard.